The Early Life and Career of Abraham Lincoln

The book Abraham Lincoln is part of a series called “In Their Own Words.” The biography was written by George Sullivan. The book discusses in detail, the beginning of Abraham Lincoln’s life, including his life growing up, his start in politics, and his life with Mary Todd.

Lincoln’s parents, Thomas Lincoln and Nancy Hanks, were both born in the state of Virginia and they married in 1806. They built a cabin in Elizabethtown, Kentucky. In 1807, their first child Sarah was born. The family moved to a farm shortly after her birth. They built another cabin that held one room. On February 12, 1809, the Lincoln's’ birthed a little boy, which they named Abraham Lincoln. They lived there two years and decided to move once again. They packed up and moved to Knob Creek, Kentucky. Tom had problems with the legal rights to his property during his years of living there. He decided to move again and head over to Indiana. Abe never liked Little Pigeon Creek. He thought life was harder there than it had been in Kentucky. Abe helped his dad build a house and clear the land out. Not long after moving there, Nancy's relatives, Thomas and Elizabeth Sparrow came to live with them along with 19-year-old Dennis Hanks. Dennis and Abe soon became best friends. When a terrible disease known as milk sickness swept across the south of Indiana, Thomas and Elizabeth Sparrow died as well as Lincoln's mother. In the book it states “It resulted when the cows ate a poisonous plant called white snakeroot.” Abraham helped build his mother's coffin, and buried her by their cabin. Sarah took her mom's place. She kept up with the house and cooked for the family. The father went back to Elizabethtown for a break. Two months later when he returned, he brought a new wife with him. Sarah Johnston had three children whom she'd brought with her. Sarah was a loving woman who raised Abe and Sarah as her own. Thomas Lincoln taught Abe to be a farmer like himself. This made it hard to go to school. He got in no more than a year's worth of schooling. He loved to read, especially about History and biography, but books were scarce on the frontier. Sometimes, him and Dennis would walk to Gentryville. Once there, they would meet up with other farm boys and share stories. This is where he mastered his skills at storytelling. Once Abe was 17, his sister married and moved. Sarah died a year later during childbirth. Abe kept busy on the farm and splitting rails for fences. He cut firewood, killed hogs, and helped on the ferry boat. In Abe's spare time, he built a rowboat. Him and a friend named Allen Gentry took a trip to New Orleans to sell goods. They traveled along the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers. The journey showed Lincoln a new world beyond his farming lifestyle.

Lincoln and two others built an eighty-foot flatboat for Denton Offutt. They filled the boat with cargo and sailed to New Orleans. Once they returned, Offutt offered Lincoln a job, which he gladly accepted. Lincoln was manager at Offutt’s store for 6 years. In his free time, he wrestled and had footraces, he also spent hours discussing politics in the store. “Politics had always interested Lincoln. As a clerk in Offutt’s store, he had spent countless hours in discussing political affairs.” In 1832, Offutt closed to store, leaving Abe jobless. He decided he would run for the Illinois Legislature. His friends promised him all their support, but before there was a chance to campaign, the Chief Black Hawk’s War broke out. When Abraham returned to New Salem, the election was a couple weeks away. He tried to speak with customers and gave speeches wherever he could. Though he tried hard, he didn’t manage to win the election that year. He was looking forward to the 1834 election, until then he needed something to do. He and his friend fell upon a chance to buy a store in New Salem. He took the opportunity but soon the business failed and left them both in debt. Lincoln took up odd jobs and paid his debts over the years. In 1833 he was offered to work with the county surveyor. He borrowed books and studied long and hard, soon he was laying out roads and town sites. In 1834, when election time came, Abe ran as a Whig for Legislature. Lincoln campaigned and saw successful results in the end.

Abraham visited the Edwards, Springfield’s richest family. During one of his visits, he met Mary Todd, the daughter of the merchant and banker. Mary lived with the Edwards since Elizabeth was her older sister. Lincoln instantly felt at ease around her. She was easy to talk to and never ran out of things to say. They two had much in common and were very fond of eachother. The couple soon got engaged. Their wedding was held at the Edwards mansion, November 4, 1842. Though they were ten years apart, their love closer than ever. On the ring he gave her, the words love is eternal were engraved on it. Lincoln was making big cash with his job as a lawyer. He made 1,200 to 1,500 a year, but with earning a lot of money means you don’t get to be at home as often. Lincoln was away 3 or more months at a time, this upset Mary because she didn’t like to be alone. The Lincolns bought a big house in Springfield, where their second son, Edward, would be born. In 1846 Lincoln ran for the election to the U.S. House of Representatives. He won the election and moved their home to Washington. They rented rooms in boarding houses. Mary didn’t like it in Washington, she didn’t like living in a boarding house again. She barely had any friends, and didn’t leave the room very often. After three months past, she packed her stuff and went back to Kentucky with the kids to live with her family. Lincoln was sad, but working as a congressman kept him busy. Lincoln, opposed to slavery, tried to introduce a bill to abolish it in the District of Columbia. He decided to remove it when it started getting negative feedback. After Lincoln’s term was over, he returned to Springfield. In 1849, their son, Eddie, became seriously ill. “For almost two months, the Lincolns nursed the child night and day. But these efforts were in vain. Eddie died.” Zachary Taylor, Lincoln’s campaigning partner, offered Abe a position as governor of the Oregon Territory. Mary didn’t want to move to Oregon, so he turned down the offer, Lincoln decided to really begin his career as a lawyer. It seemed his public career was over, but we know that was only the beginning.

In conclusion, this book has helped me a lot in writing my essay on Abraham Lincioln. Though this was only the beginning of Abraham’s life, it taught me a lot about our 16th president. The book explains the beginning of Abe’s life. The story also includes details about his start in politics. Lastly the book talks about his marriage. This paper was very informative and I couldn’t of learned this much from any teacher.