Abraham Lincoln was born on February 12, 1809, in a log cabin in Hardin
County, now La Rue County, Kentucky. His father, Thomas Lincoln, was
not remarkable either for thrift or industry. He was tall, well built,
and muscular, expert with his rifle, and a noted hunter, but he did not
possess the qualities necessary to make a successful pioneer farmer.
The character of the mother of Abraham, may best be gathered from his
own words: "All that I am or hope to be," he said when president of the
United States, "I owe to my angel mother. Blessings on her memory!"

It was at her knee he learned his first lessons from the Bible. With
his sister Sarah, a girl two years his senior, he listened with wonder
and delight to the Bible stories, fairy tales, and legends with which
the gentle mother entertained and instructed them when the labors of
the day were done.

When Abraham was about four years old, the family moved from the farm
on Nolin Creek to another about fifteen miles distant. There the first
great event in his life took place. He went to school. Primitive as was
the log-cabin schoolhouse, and elementary as were the acquirements of
his first schoolmaster, it was a wonderful experience for the boy, and
one that he never forgot.

In 1816 Thomas Lincoln again decided to make a change. He was enticed
by stories that came to him from Indiana to try his fortunes there. So,
once more the little family "pulled up stakes" and moved on to the
place selected by the father in Spencer County, about a mile and a half
from Gentryville. It was a long, toilsome journey through the forest,
from the old home in Kentucky to the new one in Indiana. In some places
they had to clear their way through the tangled thickets as they
journeyed along. The stock of provisions they carried with them was
supplemented by game snared or shot in the forest and fish caught in
the river. These they cooked over the wood fire, kindled by means of
tinder and flint. The interlaced branches of trees and the sky made the
roof of their bedchamber by night, and pine twigs their bed.

When the travelers arrived at their destination, there was no time for
rest after their journey. Some sort of shelter had to be provided at
once for their accommodation. They hastily put up a "half-faced
camp"--a sort of rude tent, with an opening on one side. The framework
of the tent was of upright posts, crossed by thin slabs, cut from the
trees they felled. The open side, or ent