Identifier: frompioneerhom00thay (find matches)
Title: From pioneer home to the White House : life of Abraham Lincoln: boyhood, youth, manhood, assassination, death
Year: 1888 (1880s)
Authors: Thayer, William Makepeace, 1820-1898 Bancroft, George, 1800-1891
Subjects: Lincoln, Abraham, 1809-1865 Presidents
Publisher: Boston : J.H. Earle
Contributing Library: Lincoln Financial Foundation Collection
Digitizing Sponsor: The Institute of Museum and Library Services through an Indiana State Library LSTA Grant

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here he began to swing one indead earnest. From the time he was eight years olduntil he had past his majority, he was accustomed to the almost daily use of the ax. His physical strengthdeveloped with wonderful rapidity, so that he becameone of the most efficient wood-choppers in that region.After he became President, and the War of theRebellion was on his hands, he visited the hospi-tals at City Point, where three thousand sick andwounded soldiers were sheltered. He insisted uponshaking hands with every one of them ; and, after per-forming the feat, and friends were expressing theirfears that his arm would be lamed by so much hand-shaking, he remarked, — The hardships of my earlylife gave me strong muscles. And, stepping out ofthe open door, he took up a very large, heavy axwhich lay there by a log of wood, and chopped vigor-ously for a few moments, sending the chips flying inall directions ; and, then pausing, he extended his rightarm to its full length, holding the ax out horizon-
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The Pioneer Boy. A NEW HOME MADE. 57 tally, without its even quivering as he held it. Strongmen who looked on — men accustomed to manual labor— could not hold the same ax in that position for amoment. When the President left, a hospital stewardgathered up the chips, and laid them aside carefully, because they were the chips that Father Abrahamchopped. It was necessary for the Lincoln family to erect ahabitation as soon as possible, and a half-faced campcould be more easily and quickly built than a cabin,because it could be constructed of poles instead oflogs. For this reason, Mr. Lincoln decided to erectthe camp for a temporary abode, and the next yearbuild a substantial log-cabin. He could cut the logsand prepare slabs during the winter, so that the laborof erecting a cabin would not be great after the plant-ing of the next spring was done. A half-faced camp was a cabin enclosed on threesides and open on the fourth, a very poor habitationfor the cold winters of Indiana. But pione

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