Younff Abraham Lincoln MatbemaHciei) Houser LINCOLN ROOM UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS LIBRARY Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2012 with funding from University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign http://www.archive.org/details/youngabrahamlincOOhous Young Abraham Lincoln Mathematician H|U|^jjjHj i mi JTflHl 11 m * » ^H B M ififniiiriTM Young Abraham Lincoln Mathematician By M. L. Houser Lester O. Schriver Peoria, Illinois 1943 U.0FILLUB, Copyright 1943 By M. L. Houser FOREWORD I have often wondered where the Man of Nazareth learned to put the symbols of human speech together in such relationship to each other that "Never man spake like this man." When and how did he prepare for the Sermon on the Mount and the life of service which followed it? In like manner 1 have wondered how the Man from the Sangamon acquired the capacity to produce the Gettysburg Address and the Second Inaugural, and a passion for service second only to his Lord. I think I have found the answer in the record of the life of the Master of Mankind. "And he went down with them, and came to Nazareth, and was subject unto them. And he increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man." Both these men had a special genius for service and leadership which may have been of Divine origin. Both may have been foreordained for a special mission in life. But from boyhood to maturity both these mighty souls consciously prepared for their lives of usefulness. During those years they consciously and deliberately increased in wisdom and stature and in favor with God and man. Which being interpreted means: They grew physically strong, their mental development was constant and purposeful, their consciousness of the Eternal deepened day by day, and their love for humanity became more intense as their lives unfolded. These men had almost identical educational processes. Both early matriculated in the university of nature and experience. They knew the birds, the flowers, the trees, the fields and the forests. They came in first- hand contact with nature and nature s God. In addition, they gleaned wisdom from their contact with other men. and the literature of the period. And in addition to all else, both these men, though separated in space and time by myriads of miles and years, were yet one in their desire to prepare to live and serve. The years in fudea were not unlike the years in Indiana, measured in terms of preparation for lives of service. This booklet is about the importance of the Indiana years in the life of Abraham Lincoln. It is a sequel to ABRAHAM LINCOLN AND LOG COLLEGE which Dr. Houser produced last year. The fundamental thesis of ABRAHAM LINCOLN AND LOG COLLEGE was that young Lincoln had a better than average education when he arrived at New Salem at the age of twenty-one. That thesis has been challenged by some of our Lincoln students. This year Dr. Houser has elaborated on the subject and in YOUNG ABRAHAM LINCOLN. MATHEMATICIAN has presented documentary proof of his contention. No, Abraham Lincoln was not an ignorant lout when he came to New Salem. He may have seemed uncouth by the standards of the more cultivated sections of the country, but his hands and mind were trained and ready to take advantage of every opportunity that presented itself. At thirty, like the Man of Nazareth, he was engaged in his chose)! work. It took years to prepare for that service, and we know now that that preparation was well under way before he left Indiana. We agree that his post-graduate course may have taken place at New Salem and on the Eighth Judicial District, but the foundation of his "higher education" was well laid in Kentucky and Indiana. LESTER O. SCHRIVER. 10 YOUNG ABRAHAM LINCOLN: MATHEMATICIAN It will be remembered that when the Lincolns removed from Kentucky to Indiana, in the fall of 1816, Abraham is said to have been a ready reader, and so proficient in writing and spelling that he sometimes acted as scribe for both his own family and some of the neighbors. 1 In the influx of settlers which immediately followed, were a goodly number of people who had enjoyed superior educational advantages at their former homes; and some of these newcomers brought with them their academic and collegiate textbooks. 2 It is believed, too, that while Abraham lived in Indiana, a number of his youthful associates attended schools of higher learning, and that their textbooks were "brought home and passed around." 8 Young Lincoln's passion for acquiring knowledge, and his genius for attracting friends, make it seem improbable that he ever suffered a serious lack of such textbooks as he might need, or friendly tutors to help him over difficult places in their study. • • • As interludes to his usual methods of study, Abraham, while living in Indiana, attended three terms of subscription school. Each of these probably extended over a period of three months, that time being the usual duration of such schools. 4 The earliest subscription schools of Southern Indiana were often held in any vacant building which might be available. If necessary, or when more convenient, a log structure was erected by the residents of a community, often in a single day. If furnished with a fireplace, a greased-paper window, a shelf on which to practice writing, puncheon seats for the children, and a split-bottom chair for the teacher, such a school building was considered very comfortable, almost elegant. 5 Many of the early Indiana rural teachers were roving English, Scotch, or Irish adventurers of little learning and less character. The most that was required of them was the ability to teach spelling, reading, writing, and ciphering to the "Rule of Three" — "Proportion" in modern textbooks. Each teacher must solicit his "scholars," and the usual tuition charge was $1 to $2 a term for each pupil. Few competent men would work for the small compensation they could secure for teaching, especially since it was often necessary for the teacher to take part or all of his pay in produce. 11 U.OFILLU& Occasionally, a man of character and some attainments would keep a school, perhaps in his own cabin. Possibly the reason Abraham patronized only three teachers in Indiana was that they were the only ones available whose instructions would be of value to him. The only textbook required was a Dilworth or Webster spelling book. 7 One of these was sometimes ripped apart, and pieces given to various members of a family, according to their respective advancement. Sentences and paragraphs which were interspersed with the spelling lessons in these little books afforded exercises in reading ; and one of them was sometimes the only textbook a child ever studied. Aside from the spelling book, a pupil could study any book he chanced to have. 8 Except in spelling, there were no classes, each pupil reciting alone. Students in Arithmetic never recited. 9 Banta says that "it was a practice with a good many teachers to require their arithmetic scholars to copy all their sums in a 'ciphering book.' " 10 Such a copybook, compiled by an early Kentucky student, is now in the Barrett collection. Reproductions of pages from one that young Lincoln compiled in 1824, 1825, and 1826 have appeared in a number of his biographies. • • • When the present writer decided to make a special study of the "ciphering book" that young Lincoln compiled — principally because it affords documentary evidence regarding Lincoln's attainments as a student in Indiana — Dr. Harry E. Pratt, then Executive Secretary of The Abraham Lincoln Association, Springfield, Illinois, reminded him that Dr. Louis A. Warren, Director of The Lincoln National Life Foundation, Fort Wayne, Indiana, had already collected such evidence on the subject as now seems available, and had disclosed part of it in "Lincoln Lore" Nos. 67 and 596. During a short visit at the Foundation's splendid Library at Fort Wayne, Dr. Warren placed their files freely at our disposal; and he graciously gave us such help as we needed in interpreting the information which they contained. We are, therefore, indebted to Dr. Warren for practically all of the information which we have regarding Abraham's "ciphering book," "arithmetical copy-book," or "Book of Examples in Arithmetic," as it has variously been called. • • • In a letter dated Oct. 8, 1881, written to Jesse W. Weik, Green- castle, Indiana, William H. Herndon said: Soon after Mr. Lincoln's assassination I determined to gather up all the facts of his life * * * I went and saw Mrs. Lincoln — step-mother of the noble lad. * * * She told me that Mr. Lin- 12 am % / Am {Courtesy Brown University) The upper portions of two pages from young Lincoln's arithmetic copy- book, probably copied when he was sixteen years old. coin used, when a boy, to keep an arithmetical copy-book, in which he put down his worked-out sums. She likewise then told me that the boy Abraham was in the habit of putting down in another copy-book — his literary one — all things that struck him, such as fine oratory, rhetoric, science, art, etc. * * * so we commenced the search, and found this, the arithmetical copy-book, a leaf of which you now have. We could not find the other book ; it is lost, and lost forever, as our search was thorough. 11 It is supposed that Abraham's arithmetic copybook originally contained about 100 pages. The leaves were nine by twelve inches, and were sewed together at one of the longer ends with a string. Mrs. Lincoln gave Herndon what was left of it, presumably ten or twelve sheets. 12 According to a tradition, Thomas Johnson, son of John D. Johnson, Lincoln's step-brother, sold the missing pages, one by one, after Lincoln became famous, possibly while Johnson was photographing battle scenes during the war. 18 Herndon gave the sheets which he received from Mrs. Lincoln to various friends, about half of them going to Jesse W. Weik; and the scattering was completed by Weik. 14 • • • Both Matilda Johnson (Mrs. Moore), Abraham's step-sister, and Nathaniel Grigsby, a schoolmate, told Herndon that Pike's Arithmetic was the one used in their local school about the time young Lincoln was compiling his copybook. 15 Elias Mason once said young Lincoln "picked up a little of Daboll's arithmetic." 16 The name of no other textbook in arithmetic as one used by Lincoln seems to have been mentioned, and we do not-know the name of the "old dog-eared arithmetic" he once said was in their home. After comparing the two textbooks mentioned with pages from Abra- ham's copybook, Dr. Warren wrote: It is apparent that both Pike's and Daboll's arithmetic books were the original sources of the copybook, although there are but one or two instances where verbatim copies of the contents were made, and no instance where the exact illustration in examples in either of the two books are used. This observation allows one to conclude that the book was just an "exercise book" with exam- ples arranged and presented by the teacher. 17 • • • Dr. Warren has discovered the present location of eight of the Lin- coln copybook sheets, has run down their history as best he could, and has secured photostats of most of them. Judging by the subjects on their pages these sheets must have appeared in Abraham's copybook in about the fol- lowing order: 14 1. This sheet was given to Charles H. Hart by Mr. Herndon. The caption at the top of the first page is "Multiplication 1824." On the reverse" side is "Multiplication Continued." A number of problems are worked out and proven by division. The title and young Lincoln's auto- graph are written in John Hancock style. An excellent reproduction of one of these pages can be found in Tarbell's "Early Life" of Lincoln. This sheet clearly reveals the advancement in arithmetic which the boy had made when fifteen years of age. In Pike's Arithmetic (Boston, 1809), "Multiplication" is treated on pages 13 to 17 inclusive. 2. These two pages contain exercises in "Subtraction of Long Meas- ure," "Land Measure," and "Dry Measure." Answers are proven by adding the subtrahend to the remainder. In a lower corner is written a bit of doggerel: "Abraham Lincoln his hand and pen he will be good but god knows when." An excellent reproduction of one of these pages can be found in Weik's "Real Lincoln." In Pike, "Compound Subtraction" covers pages 31 to 35. 3. On this half sheet, now in the Barrett collection, there are, in addition to a repetition of the doggerel mentioned above, some lines of poetry beginning: "Time what an Empty Vapor Tis." 4. This sheet is also owned by Mr. Barrett. The caption at the top of one page is "Compound Multiplication," followed by: Q What is Compound Multiplication A When several numbers of divers Denomination are given to be multiplied by one common Multiplier this is called Compound Multiplication On the reverse side of this sheet, are two captions, "To Exercise Multiplication," and "of Compound Division," with both problems and definitions. At the bottom of the page, "Abraham Lincoln His Book" is neatly printed. Reproductions of these pages may be found in Tarbell's "Early Life" of Lincoln. In Pike, "Compound Multiplication" and "Com- pound Division" are treated on pages 84 to 98. (Daboll, 51-56) 5. The top portion of this sheet is owned by Brown University, and the upper parts of its two pages are reproduced herein. The caption at the top of the first page, very elaborately written, is "The Single Rule of Three." It is followed by examples fully worked out. At the top of the reverse side appears the following: Q What do you observe Concerning the 1st and 3rd terms A they must be the same name and kind Q What do you observe Concerning the 4th term A it must be the same name and kind as the 2nd 15 fff ^JJL^ „Mr~ L T«£.. 09W- ffif~#tn»~*. <#?* 4 03 {Courtesy Lincoln National Life Foundation) Page from young Lincoln's copybook, done when he was barely seventeen. Q What do you observe of the three given terms taken together A that the two first are suposeition the last is a demand Q how is the third term known A it is known by these or like the words what cost how many how much Q how many sorts of proportion are there A two direct and inverse In Pike's Arithmetic, "Single Rule of Three Direct"; "Rule of Three Inverse"; "Compound Proportion, or Double Rule of Three"; and "Con- joined Proportion" are treated on pages 100 to 130. (Daboll, 100-113) If we use Pike as our standard — and other textbooks followed approxi- mately the same order in the treatment of various subjects — we find that in 1824, Abraham was studying "Multiplication," a subject which begins on page 13. On March 1, 1826, two years later, as we shall subsequently find, he was studying "Discount," a subject which begins on page 220. That indicates that he mastered the "Rule of Three," which begins on page 100 — about half way between — when he was about sixteen years of age. Anyway, he must have studied the "Rule of Three" some time before he studied "Discount," on March 1, 1826, when he was barely seventeen. 6. The captions on this sheet are "Simple Interest" and "Simple Interest Examples." This subject covers pages 201 to 211 of the Pike work. (Daboll, 120-133) 7. The two pages of this sheet, now in the possession of the Chicago Historical Society, are revealing. On one, is the caption, "Interest on Money"; on the other, reproduced herein, "Discount, March 1, 1826." On page 220 of the Pike work, under "Discount," we find: RULE As the amount of 100 £ for the given rate and time, is to 100 £ : so is the given sum or debt to the present worth. In young Lincoln's copybook: Rule As the amount of 100 £ or dollars at the rate and time given is to 100 £ or dollars so is the whole debt to the present worth. Whatever textbook in Arithmetic Abraham may have been using we know that on March 1, 1826, when he was seventeen years old, he had completed over two-thirds of it. 8. The caption on one side of this sheet is "Examples in Compound Interest." If Lincoln was using Pike as his guide, when he finished this subject, he was only twenty-nine pages from the end of the book's 292 pages of problems and definitions ; and he, no doubt, finished the book soon afterwards. This is certainly documentary evidence that he secured a col- 17 legiate education in Arithmetic while a boy in Indiana, probably before he was eighteen. • • • Some of the most illuminating information we have regarding Lin- coln's early life has come from professional friends who, perhaps during long drives over the prairies, induced him to while away tedious hours by telling of his childhood and youth. Herndon tells of such an incident, which occurred while they were driving in a buggy to attend court in Menard County. 18 Once when Lincoln and Leonard Swett were taking a fifty-mile drive on the circuit, Swett asked Lincoln to begin with his earliest recollections and tell the story of his life. Swett's later recollections of the narrative cover twelve pages of Rice's "Reminiscences," and he says in his conclusion: Mr. Lincoln told this story as the story of a happy childhood. There was nothing sad or pinched, and nothing of want, in any part of it. His own description of his youth was that of a joyous, happy boyhood. It was told with mirth and glee, and illustrated by pointed anecdote, often interrupted by his jocund laugh which echoed over the prairies. His biographers have given to his early life the spirit of suffering and want, and as one reads them, he feels like tossing him pennies for his relief. Mr. Lincoln gave no such description, nor is such a description true. His life was just such a life as has always existed and now exists in the frontier. 10 Isaac N. Arnold, of Chicago, was one of Lincoln's most intimate and valued friends, both in Illinois and at Washington. In his "Life" of Lin- coln, he says: I have in my possession, a few pages of his manuscript "Book of Examples in Arithmetic." One of these is dated March 1, 1826, and headed "Discount," and then follows in his careful handwriting, first; "A definition of Discount," second; "Rules for its computation," third; "Proofs and Various Examples," worked out in figures etc. ; then "Interest on money" is treated in the same way, all in his own handwriting. I doubt whether it would be easy to find among scholars of our common or high schools, or any school of boys of the age of seventeen, a better written specimen of this sort of work, or a better knowledge of figures than is indicated by this book of Lincoln's, written at the age of seventeen. * * * He studied at this time the theory of surveying. * * * I have also in my possession, the book from which he learned the art of surveying. * * * It is entitled, "The Theory and Practice of Surveying," by Robert Gibson. * * * Lincoln's name, in his own handwriting, appears in several places and on blank leaves of the book.- 18 * GEOMETRY. SECTION IV. ELEMENTS OF " PLANE GEOMETRY DEFINITIONS. See Plate I. L Geometry is that science wherein we consider the properties of magnitude. % A point is that which has no parts, being of itself indivisible ; as A. 3. A line has length but no breadth ; as AB. fi- gures 1 and 2. 4. The extremities of a line are points, as the extremities of the line AB are the points A and B. figures 1 and 2. 5. A right line is the shortest that can be drawn between any two points, as the line JB. \\%, !'. but if it be not the shortest* it is then called a curve line, as AB. fig> Q. 6. A superficies or surface is considered only as having length and breadth, without thickness, as A BOD. fig. 3, 7. The extremities of a superficies are lines. 8. The inclination of two lines meeting one another (provided they do not make one continued N A page from Gibson's Theory and Practice of Surveying, studied by young Lincoln. We can scarcely doubt that Arnold's information regarding Lincoln's having studied Surveying in Indiana came to him from Lincoln himself, because it had not been mentioned in earlier Lincoln biographies. That statement, too, fits in perfectly with the Grigsby family tradition that Reuben Grigsby, the son of a close neighbor, studied Surveying, prob- ably at Lexington, Kentucky; and, after his return home, lent Abraham his books.'- 1 It also agrees with the Blair family tradition that, while he was a boy in Indiana, Abraham was tutored in the study of Surveying by James Blair.-'* All of the above, too, affords a reasonable explanation as to how in Illinois, after only a few weeks review of the subjects involved — including some Geometry and Trigonometry — young Lincoln could become a good, practical surveyor. • • • It is unfortunate, of course, that young Lincoln's literary copybook was lost beyond recovery. If it were now available, we probably should also have documentary evidence regarding his advancement in all the re- maining branches of learning then taught in the academies and colleges which his associates, old and young, had attended. In his later years, he showed no special preference for mathematics, his tastes running rather to science, philosophy, and literature. Ann (Kate) Roby told Herndon that in Indiana Lincoln "was well acquainted with the general laws of astron- omy." 2 ' 4 R. B. Rutledge said that at New Salem Lincoln read history, astronomy, philosophy, chemistry, and the newspapers. 24 For these and some other reasons, one student of Lincoln's intel- lectual evolution believes that when young Lincoln left Indiana he had, through his own efforts, already secured the equivalent of the education then usually acquired by students at the academies and colleges of that time and in that section of the country. • • • Dr. Louis A. Warren lived for a time in Southwestern Indiana, gath- ering documentary evidence regarding the Lincolns and their associates. His studies there, and elsewhere, have led him to say, at various times: One fact which can be drawn from this sheet of Lincoln's copybook is that he was much farther advanced in his mathe- matical training than historians have stated. 25 Lincoln, himself, has helped us very little in forming an opinion of just how far he progressed intellectually during the impressionable years. In fact the two autobiographical sketches he prepared were written at a time when he seemed to be over- emphasizing his humble beginning and his lack of opportunity. 2,! 20 The apparent lack of harmony in the statements of Lincoln [in 1859-60 autobiographies} and his actual accomplishments is due to what we might term today an inferiority complex. 27 His opportunities were only excelled by small groups of children who may have been living in the few centers of popu- lation where academies were established. Abraham Lincoln may not have known much when he became of age, but there is plenty of evidence to show that he knew more than most of his contem- poraries not excluding his Hoosier schoolmasters. 28 • • • The reasons for the widespread belief that young Lincoln remained an ignorant lout during all his youthful years, and then, about the time he attained his majority, blossomed out, almost over night, into a super-man, are not hard to find. Lincoln's campaign autobiographies in 1859-60 were replete with such expressions as "second families," "literally without education," "abso- lutely nothing to excite ambition for education," "did not know much," "little advance," "that was all," "regrets his want of education," and "rather thought he could not succeed at that [law] without a better edu- cation." 29 The use by Mr. Lincoln in I860 of the poverty-stricken childhood and no-opportunities motive was not then an innovation. Near the close of the campaign in 1854, he made a speech in Chicago. A friendly news- paper, the Chicago Journal, prefaced its account of the address with a biographical sketch of the speaker. It told how Lincoln had been born of parents so poor that they could give him only faith in rectitude and virtue; how he had endured the trials of poverty, and had managed to exist only by the sweat of his brow; how, finally, his last article of property, his chain and compass, had been sold by the sheriff ; and how, in spite of such obstacles, he had become the best lawyer and most powerful speaker in the West. Beveridge says that wherever Lincoln was known, or wherever he appeared thereafter, such tales were industriously told — and did not grow less in the telling — much to Lincoln's political advantage. :?0 It is not sur- prising, perhaps, that in a wider field, in 1859 and I860, so astute a poli- tician as Mr. Lincoln should ring all the changes on a theme that had already brought him the sympathy, admiration, friendship, and support of so many voters in Illinois. Jesse W. Weik, believed that if Lincoln, in 1859-60, had told of his genesis and life "with his accustomed spirit and candor," the "nebula which, for so many years, enveloped him would not have gathered. " 3I :i William H. Herndon was Lincoln's law partner. Although emotional, and somewhat unstable in his habits, he was useful to Lincoln as a plodding and generally-reliable assistant. After Lincoln's death, Herndon resolved to write a biography of his erstwhile friend and associate. On some phases of Lincoln's later career — things with which Herndon was personally familiar — his work is excellent. How he approached Lincoln's genesis and early life, however, is indicated by one paragraph in the introduction: In determining Lincoln's title to greatness we must not only keep in mind the times in which he lived, but we must, to a certain extent, measure him with other men. Many of our great men and our statesmen, it is true, have been self-made, rising gradually through struggles to the topmost round of the ladder ; but Lincoln rose from a lower depth than any of them — from a stagnant, putrid pool, like the gas which, set on fire by its own energy and self combustible nature, rises in jets, blazing, clear, and bright. I should be remiss in my duty if I did not throw the light on this part of the picture, so that the world may realize what marvelous contrast one phase of his life presents to another/ 52 We might wonder, in passing, how the shades of Lincoln's forebears — who, in life, had been among the political, military, judicial, and literary elite of New England, Pennsylvania, and Virginia — , or the proud State of Kentucky, enjoyed being called "a stagnant, putrid pool." Imbued with his "marvelous contrast" idea, Herndon, in 1865, after a visit to Kentucky, spent five days in Indiana. There he listened to such gossip about the Lincolns as some of their former neighbors could recall through the mists of thirty-five years — and returned home. 3 '' Later, Jesse W. Weik collaborated with Herndon ; and he went to the same localities in Kentucky and Indiana that Herndon had visited. In a later work, "The Real Lincoln," Weik, in a rare burst of candor, said: "The truth is the field was so barren of material neither of us could gather much that was significant or trustworthy.""' 4 After Herndon's return home, he began a lively correspondence with former associates of the Lincolns in an apparent effort to secure all possible information about their life while in Indiana. His chief correspondent, however, was one Dennis Hanks, who had been a ward of Thomas Lincoln, had married one of Thomas' step-daughters, and had remained in the home. Dennis proved to be a rich mine of misinformation, but he was shrewd enough to tell Herndon much that he knew Herndon was looking for, all the while expatiating with much orthographic originality upon the super- iority of himself and family to all the Lincolns, past and present. In a letter to the present writer, Dr. William E. Barton once said: "The beginning of wisdom in Lincoln study is to forget everything the Hankses ever said." 22 TRIGONOMETRY Right Angled Plane Trigonometry, Pl. > I. In every right-angled plane triangle ABC, if the hypothenuse AC be made the radius, and with it a circle, or an arc of one, be described from each end ; it is plain (from def. 20.) that BC is the sine of the angle A> and AB is the sine of the angle C; that is, the legs are the sines of their op- posite angles. Fig, 2. If one leg AB be made the radius, and with it, on the point A? an arc be described ; then BC is the tangent, and AC is the secant of the angle A, by def. $g and 25. Fig. 8. If BC be made the radius, and an arc be des- cribed with it on the point C; then is AB the tan- gent, and .^Cis the secant of the angle C, as before Because the sine, tangent, or secant of any giv- en arc in one circle, is to the sine, tangent, or se- cant of a like arc (or to one of the like number of degrees) in another circle ; as the radius of the one is to the radius of the other ; therefore the sine, tangent, or secant of any arc is proportional to the sine, tangent, or secant of a like arc, as the radius of the given arc is to 10.000000, the radius front whence the logarithmic sines, tangents, andsecauts, in most tables, are calculated, that is ; If AC be made the radius, the sines of the an- gle A and C, described by the radius AC, will be proportional to the sines of the like arcs, or angles in the circle, that the tables now mentioned i A page from Gibson's Theory and Practice of Surveying, studied by young Lincoln. 23 Herndon was generous to a fault with the material he had collected, both the good and the bad ; and his theory of Lincoln's genesis and early life was adopted by so many later biographers — and sob-sisters — that it persists yet in many places, and that regardless of the splendid scientific research that has been done by Miss Tarbell, Barton, Warren, the South- western Indiana Historical Society, Murr, Vannest, and Mrs. Ehrmann. • • • The old tradition — and it was nothing more — that Lincoln remained practically static during all the years of his youth, and was so ignorant when he reached Illinois that he "couldn't parse jay bird"; and then, prac- tically over night, became a dynamic super-man, does him little honor. Such a concept suggests that he was something of a freak; and Barnum, long ago, made freaks seem commonplace. The real Lincoln, however, who as a child, youth, and man, patiently and persistently, year after year, sought through his own efforts to gain knowledge and power for usefulness, and who rose thereby from obscurity to immortality, is now, and, as we believe, will always remain, probably the world's greatest inspiration to youth, especially to those who seek through their own efforts to attain the limit of their capabilities. 24 REFERENCES 1. Scripps, 10; Ehrmann, 34; Browne, i, 64, 83. 2. The Brooners, Crawfords, Woods, Lamars, Rays, Gentrys, Joneses, Grigsbys, Blairs, and Coxes are among the Lincoln neighbors who have been mentioned as having better than subscription-school edu- cations. 3. It is claimed by Charles T. Baker, Bess V. Ehrmann, and other Indiana historians, that associates of young Lincoln in the Gentry, Ray, Grigsby and other families attended schools of higher learning. 4. Warren, 108-17; Vannest, 58-64; Banta, 9. 5. Banta, 5; Cotton, 27; Cockrum, 400. 6. Smith, 514; Banta, 14; Cotton, 27. 7. Banta, 18; Cotton, 27. 8. Cockrum, 401 ; Banta, 18. 9. Ibid. 10. Banta, 18. 11. Clipping from Greencastle, Indiana "Banner," in files of Lincoln National Life Foundation; for similar letter, see "Lincoln Lore" No. 596; Herndon, i, 40-41. 12. Weik, 22-23; "Lincoln Lore" No. 596. 13. "Lincoln Lore" No. 596. 14. Ibid. 15. Beveridge, i, 62; Weik Manuscripts, Library of Congress. 16. "Lincoln Lore" No. 67. 17. Ibid., No. 596. 18. Herndon, i, 3. 19. Rice, 468. 20. Arnold, 25-26, text and notes. 21. Letter from Charles T. Baker, Grandview, Ind. 22. Ibid. 23. Herndon, i, 39. 24. Beveridge, i, 133; Weik Manuscripts, Library of Congress. 25. "Lincoln Lore" No. 596. 26. "Lincoln Lore" No. 605. 27. Warren, 105. 28. Ibid., 118. 29. Nicolay & Hay, i, 596-97, 638-44. 30. Beveridge, ii, 272, 639-40. 31. Weik, 29. 32. Herndon, ix. 33. Ehrmann, 88. 34. Weik, 14. BIBLIOGRAPHY Arnold: The Life of Abr.jb.nf/ Lincoln. Chicago, 1887. Banta: Early Indiana Schools, Cottman's History Pamphlets. Indianapolis, ND. In Indianapolis News, 180? Bevcridge: Abraham Lincoln, 1809-1858 (2 v.) Boston & New- York, 1928 Browne: Abraham Lincoln and the Men of His Time. (2 v.) Chicago, 190" 7 . Cochrum: Pioneer History of Indiana. Oakland City, Ind, 19 1 )" 7 . Cotton: Education in Indiana. BlufFton. Ind., 1934 Ehrmann: The Missing Chapter in the L:fe of Abraham Lincoln. Chicago, 1938. Herndon: Hemdons Lincoln. ( \ v. ) Springfield, N. D Lincoln Lore: Bulletin published weekly bv The Lincoln National Life- Foundation, Fort Wayne, Ind. Dr. Louis A. Warren, Editor. Nicolay & Hay: Abraham Lincoln: Complett Works. (2 v ) New York, 1920. Rice: Reminiscences of Abraham Lincoln. New York, 1889. Scripps: Life of Abraham Lincoln. (Jacob Reprint) Peoria, 1931 Smith: The History of the State of Indiana Indianapolis, 189 7 . Van nest: Lincoln, the Ho osier. St. Louis, 1928 Warren: Lincoln's Hoosier Schoolmaster* Indiana Magazine of History. Vol XXVII, No. 2, June, 1931. Weik: The Real Lincoln. Boston & New York. 192 2. 1 I