Melba High School - Butte Yearbook (Melba, ID)

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MKMKMM M M M M M M M K M M M M M -l m Pl C -I -l s VI M M M M M M M M M M M IK M KMMHMM day, after a rain storm, he found to his dismay, a spoiled book. He took the soaked and ruined book back to the farmer, and told him how it had happened, and asked how he could pay for it. The farmer gruffly replied, Wall, 'taint much account to me nowg you pull fodder for three . +5 ciif days and that book is yours. Happy in M M L 1 ei,-6 ' f the thought of owning such a book, 335: -7 R+ -2 Abraham pulled the fodder, and this :ggi M fx, was how he bought his first book. M M E QLQQ He studied long and hard on all the M 5' A books he could find on Grammar, M - ,751 2 'j' 51 ,rg 'J' . ' f Arithmetic, Surveying, and Law, he M 5, ,X p ciphered on a wooden shovel or shingle M 'iss-gi-ff:i55 '?g,g'g. , gi, l E?-reg!-ji g using a piece of charcoal for a pencil. 39: M j.fjl:Q '-a?l',15f fgii,.'- f? ' At the age of fifteen he was over M p,Y 3q,3g - . , ' six feet tall, gawky, rough looking, M ciilfvfah, and very strong. It is said of him that M Lincolrvs Birthplace he could mow the most, plough the MMMMKMHMKMHM KKK! MMMMMHMMKMMMKMMMM M 2 M gg M MI MI HI HI MI MI QM SM MC MI MI MC MI MI 5 MI MI MI IM MMMMMMKMKKMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMKKMMKKKMXKM deepest, split wood the best, toss the farthest, run the swiftest, jump the highest, and wrestle the best of any boy or man in his neighborhood. And though he was strong, he was always kind, gentle, obliging, and helpful. These qualities made everyone like him. In 1830 the Lincolns moved to , Decatur, Illinois. Abe was twenty-one, and after his father built a house and cleared some land, he left home to shift for himself. 'He made two trips down the Ohio and Mississippi rivers to New Orleans, in flat-bottomed boats. While down here he saw how the negro men and women were sold as cattle. He remarked to some companions, If I ever get a chance to hit that thing I'll hit it hard, and we see how, in after years, he kept his promise. Soon after his return to Illinois the Black Hawk war broke out, and he was made captain of his company. The soldiers all liked him, and although at times they gave him much trouble he never got real angry with them but once. As the story goes, a poor, ragged, hungry old Indian one morning came into camp. The boys were ready to kill him, but Lincoln shamed them by standing in front of the Indian and saying that he would knock down the first one that offered to hurt him. Lincoln stayed with the army until the Indians were driven back, and the Indian leader, Black Hawk, was made prisoner. Shortly after his return Lincoln took up store-keeping, but was unsuccessful, as his partner was a drinking man. Poor management, plunged them into indebtedness, leaving Abe to pay the debts, which took many years of his life. It was while he was postmaster that he became acquainted with Ann Rutledge. Ann at this time was corresponding with a young man who had gone back East, intending to return and marry her. As the months flew past and she did not hear from him, Lincoln began to notice her worried look, and a feeling of sadness crept into his heart, and through his sympathy they became lovers. Ann's health, through worry over her first lover, had become undermined, and she fell sick and soon died, leaving Lincoln in a very melancholy state of mind. While he worked at su1'veying, he began to study law. With a partner he opened up a law practice in Springfield, but as a lawyer he never became learned in the law, for he was too much interested in other literature. In trying cases he paid little attention to points of the law but preferred to carry the case straight to the jury on questions of right or wrong. Lincoln was very popular in society because of his witty stories. In 1842 he married Mary Todd, a witty and well-educated young woman from Kentucky. She seemed to take a great interest in Lincoln's affairs and encouraged him to get into congress. In congress he attracted much attention. Everyone lis- tened when he spoke for his language was simple and to the point, and he kept the people in a roar of laughter through his humorous stories. He was in favor of the abolition of slave trade in Washington, D. C., and voted many times on the Wilmot Proviso, which opposed the extension of slavery into the territory to be acquired from Mexico. During this time Lincoln and Douglas were rivals for the candidacy of United States Senator. Their joint debates, over questions of slavery, became known throughout the nation.

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-T-.,-.,,,..g..1,w,.!,v-,.,.'....1 I Y. . .. M l.fVYhat a thrill the name of Lincoln brings to every boy or girl as they read his 1 e. , M We read with pleasure the deeds of heroes, as Washington, Franklin, Roosevelt, M and yet to me the life of Lincoln stands out preeminently over them all. Through- M ry Q,,W W out his life there radiates an outstanding charac- ff 4 X teristic, the willingness to serve others. K If 7 .iff 'l , M I W MM Let us take a backward glimpse of Abraham , -' ffffff Lincoln's ancestors, which were English Quakers. M ff- V 4 His grandfather, from whom he received his M r li l - name, was a Virginian, and owned much proper- ,E F ty. Vvnh three sons h had oved t Ii nt k , M Z 1 is N settling near his frifnd, Darniel Bdjonefe Vllfchilye M Q ' working at clearing some land, with the help of ff i his boys, he was killed by an Indian. One of these M ft N sons, Thomas by name, was Abraham's father. ff' , ' , He worked at the trade of a carpenter, and 5 ll fy!! . seemed to be a shiftless fellow. , x , '- , . . , V 1 ,f In 1806 he married the daughter of his em- M ! ployer, Nancy Hanks, and with her husband they f R ,f j,j, seujed on a stony hiHside tract at a place caHed M 7 f' '5 Nolens Creek. Here, in a rudely built log cabin, M , 13: ,Qf Abraham Lincoln was born onnthe 12th.aay.of M .mm -'K ,, February, 1809. Can you imagine a cabin with ' only a hole cut through the logs for a window, if a:..:2i. .5':.2t2. 315121 huzfdsrsz o o e c . floor was of dirt, and the fireplace a very rude affair where all the family cooking .. was done. The furniture of the room consisted of a pole bedstead, chairs made of M blocks of wood, and a little table with pole legs. Here Abraham lived until he was seven years old. M Then his father borrowed a team and moved his family to Indiana. The first M winter the family lived in a shed, enclosed on three sides, and opened to the south. M with a large camp fire burning on the front side to ward off the cold. In the spring a patch was cleared and corn was planted. Later a new log cabin was built. M which had an attic where the boy Lincoln slept in a corner on a pile of dry leaves. M During these years, Nancy Hanks had taught Abraham and his sister how to M read and write. Through her they had become familiar with many Bible stories. It was at the age of eight that Lincohfs rnother died udth the dreadful epidennc M that had broken out in that neighborhood. Abe helped his father to make a rude M casket out of rough boards, and there, under a sycamore tree, they buried her. M Many mouths later Lincoln had a traveling minister come and preach her funeral sermon. M Concerning his early training, Lincoln laid all credit to his mother, for he once M said, All I am or hope to be I owe to my angel mother. A little over a year after the death of Mrs. Lincoln, Thomas Lincoln married a M widow by the name of Sarah Bush Johnston from Kentucky. She brought with her M several horses, a bureau, chairs, table, and a feather bed, something that young Lincoln and his sister had never seen. She seemed to love the two ragged children M at once, and along with her own three, clothed and kept them clean and warm. M Sarah Lincoln was ambitious and encouraged her husband to fix up the cabin, and to clear the land and to till the soil. Abe worked faithfully 'in the fields, and was M very kind to his stepmother around the house. After he had grown to manhood M she once said, Abe never gave me a cross word or look, and never refused to do M anything I asked him. Abe was the best boy I ever saw, or expect to see. The little schooling that he got was less than a year, yet he had read the Bible M through several times, and often walked miles to borrow a book from someone M who had one to lend. Once he borrowed a book from an old farmer on the life of Washington. He read it and reread it, and when he was not reading it, he placed M it safely between two logs that formed a part of the wall of his log cabin. One E441 M M M M M M M M M M M M M M I s U C -l -l s V! M M M K M M M M M M M ii KHMMNKMKMMMKKKKKMMMMMNMKKM H MI IM IK M gg MI IM Ki, MI MI MI MI MI IM MI MI IM IM MI IM 2 MI IM IM IK IM MI 2

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M X K M M M K M M M M M M I F1 U C. I 'll s E M E M X 5 M M M M M M As yet Lincoln had not made much of a name as legislator. He was admired for his honesty and sincerity, but not until the threatened repeal of the Missouri Com- promise, which would open up western territory to slavery did it awaken him. It was then that Lincoln's famous career was begun. It was through debates between him and Douglas that this question was thrashed out. K AMKKMXMKMHM MMMMMMMMMXMMMMM R The first debate took place at the State Fair, at Springfield, in October, 1854. Douglas made a great speech that day and the next day Lincoln replied, and it so surprised the people that they said it was unanswerable. Through this speech he reached his full power, for as an editor put it the Nebraska bill was shivered like a tree of the forest, was torn and rent asunder by the hot bolts of truth. In this race for the senatorship. However, he was defeated. His stand for the liberty of the slave had won him many friends from the negroes in the South as well as friends in the North. He was invited to speak in many cities of the East, and everywhere he won admiration from all that heard him. It is said that an intelligent hearer spoke to him of the remarkable clearness of his state- ments, the unanswerable style of his reasoning, and especially the illustrations which were romantic, and the pathos, fun, and logic, all welded together. His style could not be better described. Through these debates Lincoln had become the choice of the people for their candidate for President at the Republican convention in 1860, at Chicago. Douglas was the Democratic candidate, but was defeated, and so the poor rail-splitter of Illinois had lifted himself to be President of the United States of America. From that time onward the life of Lincoln is a part of the History of the Civil war, and his task was one of the greatest ever laced by any man. We all know the story of how the North and South were divided, and how President Lincoln did everything in his power to save this great Union of ours from destruction. Sev- eral states of the South when they heard of Lincol11's election said they would secede from the Union, and set up a government of their own. As the President did not protect the government stores and arms in Southern ports, the seceding states seized these to help carry on a war, if one should come. The country was now in an uproar, and on the twelfth of April, Fort Sumpter in the Charleston harbor, was fired upon by the South. Lincoln at once called forth seventy-five thou- sand volunteers. This was the beginning of the great Civil war in which so many of our grandfathers took part. It was after the victory of the bloodiest battle of the Civil war, Antietani, that President Lincoln called his cabinet together. I made this vow with God, he said, I promised my God that if the tide of invasion should be mercifully arrested, I would set the negro free. The Emancipation Proclamation, which was issued January 1, 1863, closed with an appeal, which showed the spirit in which the deed was done. And upon this act, sincerely believed to be an act of justice, warranted by the Constitution upon military necessity I invoke the considerate judgment of mankind, and the gracious favor of Almighty God. KMKMXMMMMMMMKMKMKM MMMMNMKMMMKMMMKMMKMMKM MX M K M M M MI M M M M M IK Ki MI .M IM QM SM IK Ki IM IK IM IM .M IK Ki Ki IM fM .M IM IM IM IDI In this same year in November, Lincoln gave to the world his famous Gettysburg speech. It was at the dedication of the National Cemetery of Gettysburg, Penn- sylvania. This short oration is regarded as one of the greatest masterpieces ever printed. It's language is simple, yet eloquent. Throughout the four years of terrible war, Linco1n's one thought was to save the Union. He did not mean to let a war destroy the nation that Washington had founded. All through the war we see the great heart of Lincoln full of sympathy for the wounded soldiers of the South as well as the North. The South steadily grew weaker, until, on April 9, 1865, General Lee of the South surrendered to General Grant of the North, at Appomattox Court House where the terms of peace were made. Both sides were glad that the struggle was overg the North had won and the Union had been saved! Just now when Lincoln thought he could turn his thoughts to new problems, he was shot by a crazed actor at Ford's theatre in Washington, where he and his family had gone for the evening. On the following morning, at daybreak, Lincoln passed away. Our grandparents tell today what a gloom his death cast over the whole country. The newspapers were published with black borders, bells tolled, and no one had a heart to work. A private funeral was held the 19th, in the East room of the White House. Then the funeral procession wended its way down to the Capitol,