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Portrait and biographical album of Sangamon County, Illinois . d beena soldier in the war of 1812, re-moved to Christian Co., Ky.,where lands were cheap. Herethe future Governor of the greatPrairie State spent his childhoodand received such meager school-ing as the new and sparsely set-tled country afforded. To thishe added materially by diligentreading, for which he evinced anHis father, an ardent Jackson man,was also noted for his anti-slavery sentiments, whichhe thoroughly impressed upon his children. In 1831he emigrated to Illinois, settling in Madison the labor of improving a
Portrait and biographical album of Sangamon County, Illinois . d beena soldier in the war of 1812, re-moved to Christian Co., Ky.,where lands were cheap. Herethe future Governor of the greatPrairie State spent his childhoodand received such meager school-ing as the new and sparsely set-tled country afforded. To thishe added materially by diligentreading, for which he evinced anHis father, an ardent Jackson man,was also noted for his anti-slavery sentiments, whichhe thoroughly impressed upon his children. In 1831he emigrated to Illinois, settling in Madison the labor of improving a farm was pursued forah:>ut two years, wlien the death of Mr. broke up the family. About this time AltonCollege was opened, on the manual labor system,and in the* spring of 1834 young Palmer, with hiselder brother, Elihu, entered this school and remained18 months. Next, for over three years, he triedvariously coopering, peddling and school-teaching. During the summer of 1838 he formed the ac-quainance of Stei)hen A. Douglas, then making his. ca ly aptitude. first canvass for Congress. Young, eloquent and inpolitical accord with Mr. Palmer, he won his confi-dence, fired his ambition and fixed his purpose. Thefollowing winter, while teaching near Canton, he be-gan to devote his spare time to a desultory readingof la;v, and in the spring entered a law office at Car-linville, making his home with his elder brotiier,Elihu. (The latter was a learned clergyman, of con-siderable orginality of thought and doctrine.) Onthe next meeting of the Supreme Court he was ad-mitted to the Bar, Douglas being one of his was not immediately successful in his profession,and would have located elsewhere than Carlinvillehad he the requisite means. Thus his early povertywas a blessing in disguise, for to it he now attributesthe success of his life. From 1839 on, while he diligently pursued hisprofession, he participated more or less in localpolitics. In 1843 hs became Pro
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1890, bookidportraitbiograph00chapb