New Salem was reconstructed by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930s, a hundred years after Lincoln lived there.

Lincoln's Experience at New Salem

Magdelena Neuman
Unity Point School, Carbondale

Abraham Lincoln's six years (1831-1837) in the frontier village at New Salem had a lasting impression on him. His experience there influenced greatly his later thoughts and deeds. New Salem was where Lincoln first began to develop his leadership talents.

Shortly after his arrival in New Salem in late July 1831, Lincoln was hired as a store clerk. The store, owned by Denton Offutt, opened about September 1. Lincoln was a great favorite with both his employer and customers. Anecdotes of his scrupulous honestly and his bravery in protecting women from annoyance by bullies are numerous. As time passed, however, fewer people came to Offutt's store, and when it closed in the spring of 1832, Lincoln was left unemployed.

Nonetheless Lincoln was determined to improve his education. Lincoln found people around him who were willing to help him learn. Mentor Graham taught him grammar and mathematics, subjects essential to Lincoln's further development. Eventually he could recite nearly all of Burns's poems and was familiar with Shakespeare's writing. He mastered works by Blackstone and Kent as well as elementary law books. In addition he gained considerable knowledge of physics and mechanics. The knowledge he had gained in New Salem paid dividends later in his life. Mathematics, for instance, certainly had a great impact on his analytical way of thinking.

In spring and summer 1832 the Black Hawk War caused a great deal of excitement in the northern Illinois prairies. Lincoln volunteered to help the federal troops drive the Indians out of the state. He was named captain, and his company was said to be the hardest set of men anyone had ever seen. By the time their thirty-day term of service had expired, Lincoln had seen no fighting. He reenlisted for another thirty days, this time in Jacob M. Early's

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Lincoln tried many careers as a young man. He learned how to use the surveyor's tools shown here to plat roads near New Salem.

company. Still he saw no fighting, but at Kellogg's Grove he helped bury five men who had been killed and scalped the day before. The experience of the Black Hawk War was valuable to Lincoln in many ways. He learned some facts about soldiers, the necessity for discipline and morale, and the value and difficulties of leadership.

As soon as Lincoln arrived back at New Salem, he began to campaign for political office. He ran for the state legislature. Although Lincoln was not elected in 1832, he began to realize his political possibilities, and he gained a zest for politics that endured to the end of his life. On May 7, 1833, Lincoln was appointed postmaster at New Salem. At this time he formed the habit of newspaper reading, which he continued through life, and through which, in part, he learned to interpret public opinion.

At the end of 1833 Lincoln was hired as a deputy to John Calhoun, the county surveyor. Lincoln hesitated to accept this job at first, but when assured that it would involve no political commitment, he took it. Although he knew nothing about the work, he borrowed books from Calhoun and enlisted Mentor Graham's help. Using Robert Gibson's Theory and Practice of Surveying and Flint's Treatise on Geometry, Trigonometry, and Rectangular Surveying as references, he studied day and night. Roads that Lincoln surveyed are still in use, and the boundaries of many Menard and Mason County farms were originally platted by him.

In spring 1834 Lincoln ran for the state legislature again, receiving support from both Whigs and Democrats. Lincoln was not sure if he should accept their support at first, but after consultation with John T. Stuart, the Whig leader in Springfield, Lincoln agreed to do so. On August 4 Lincoln was elected.

As a new member of the General Assembly, Lincoln played a minor role in its work. He drafted and introduced a few bills. Some fellow members who played an important role in Lincoln's life were Orlando B. Ficklin, Jesse K. Debois, William Fithian, and John T. Stuart. With these men and many others, Lincoln gained important contacts. His first term in the legislature was a liberal education, much more valuable than anything that he learned from books. His views on religious liberty are contained in his speech, "The Perpetuation of Our Political Institutions."

On August 1, 1836, Lincoln was reelected to the legislature. During a session on February 28, 1837, Springfield was chosen as the capital. Lincoln's efforts helped make this happen. It was also at that session where Lincoln first expressed his views on slavery. He had earlier witnessed the brutality of slavery, during an 1831 trip to New Orleans. At the slave market he saw families sold and separated forever. This experience had a significant effect on his philosophy about slavery. His views closely resembled the democratic liberalism of Thomas Jefferson.

On September 9, 1836, Lincoln obtained a license to practice law. The following year the Supreme Court admitted him to the bar. When the legislature adjourned on March 6, he returned to New Salem. The town no longer held promise for him because there was no chance for a legal or a political career. Springfield, however, offered opportunities for both. Thus, on April 15, 1837, Lincoln moved to Springfield.

In the six years Lincoln spent at New Salem, he had gone far. It was not always easy, but he made great progress. He learned how to be a leader. Others looked up to him as a skillful politician. He made many friends through his honesty and kindness. Many of the experiences at New Salem influenced his later political views and finally helped his rise to the presidency.—[From Isaac Arnold, The Life of Abraham Lincoln; Philip B. Kunhardt, Jr., Philip B. Kunhardt, and Peter W. Kunhardt, Lincoln; Harvey Ross, Lincoln's First Years in Illinois; Carl Sandburg, Abraham Lincoln; Benjamin Thomas, Lincoln's New Salem. ]

26 ILLINOIS HISTORY / FEBRUARY 1998