lp him, Mr.
Graham saw a tall stranger loitering around the polling place, and
called to him, "Can you write?" "Yes," said the stranger, "I can make
a few rabbit tracks." Mr. Graham evidently was satisfied with the
answer, for he promptly initiated him; and he filled his place not
only to the satisfaction of his employer, but also to the delectation
of the loiterers about the polls, for whenever things dragged he
immediately began "to spin out a stock of Indiana yarns." So droll
were they that years afterward men who listened to Lincoln that day
repeated them to their friends. He had made a hit in New Salem, to
start with, and here, as in Sangamon town, it was by means of his
story-telling.

[Footnote A: "Abraham Lincoln. Complete Works." Edited by John G.
Nicolay and John, Hay. Volume I.]

[Footnote B: New Salem plays so prominent a part in the life of
Lincoln that the MAGAZINE engaged Mr. J. McCan Davis, of Springfield,
Illinois, who had already made a special study of this period of Mr.
Lincoln's life, to go in detail over the ground to secure a perfectly
accurate sequence of events, to collect new and unpublished pictures
and documents, and to interview all of the old acquaintances of Mr.
Lincoln who remain in the neighborhood. Mr. Davis has secured some new
facts about Mr. Lincoln's life in this period; he has unearthed in the
official files of the county several new documents, and he has secured
several unpublished portraits of interest. His matter will be
incorporated into our next two articles.]

[Illustration: LINCOLN'S FIRST VOTE.]

Photographed from the original poll-book, now on file in the county
clerk's office, Springfield, Illinois. Lincoln's first vote was cast
at New Salem, "in the Clary's Grove precinct," August 1, 1831. At this
election he aided Mr. Graham, who was one of the clerks. In the early
days in Illinois, elections were conducted by the _viva voce_ method.
The people did try voting by ballot, but the experiment was unpopular.
It required too much "book larnin," and in 1829 the _viva voce_ method
of voting was restored. The judges and clerks sat at a table with the
poll-book before them. The voter walked up, and announced the
candidate of his choice, and it was recorded in his presence. There
was no ticket peddling, and ballot-box stuffing was impossible. To
this simple system we are indebted for the record of Lincoln's first
vote. As will be seen from the fac-simile, Lincoln voted for Ja