ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

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T h e   B a c k wo o d s   B o y
OR
THE BOYHOOD AND MANHOOD OF
ABRAHAM LINCOLN

BY
HORATIO ALGER, JR.
AUTHOR OF
“Canal Boy to President,” “Farm Boy to Senator,” “Dean
Dunham,” etc., etc.



PHILADELPHIA
D A V I D   M c K A Y,   P U B L I S H E R
610 South Washington Square{4}

Copyright, 1883
By Horatio Alger, Jr.
———
The Backwoods Boy

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PREFACE.

I venture to say that among our public men there is not one whose lifecan be studied with more interest and profit by American youth than thatof Abraham Lincoln. It is not alone that, born in an humble cabin, hereached the highest position accessible to an American, but especiallybecause in every position which he was called upon to fill, he did hisduty as he understood it, and freely sacrificed personal ease andcomfort in the service of the humblest. I have prepared the story ofLincoln’s boyhood and manhood as a companion volume to the life ofGarfield, which I published two years since, under the title, “FromCanal Boy to President.” The cordial welcome which this received hasencouraged me to persevere in my plan of furnishing readers, young andold, with readable lives of the greatest{6} and best men in our history. Ican hardly hope at this late day to have contributed many new facts, orfound much new material. I have been able, however, through the kindnessof friends, to include some anecdotes not hitherto published. But forthe most part I have relied upon the well-known and valuable lives ofLincoln by Dr. Holland and Ward H. Lamon. I also acknowledge, withpleasure, my indebtedness to “Six Months in the White House,” by F. B.Carpenter; Henry J. Raymond’s “History of Lincoln’s Administration,” andthe “Life of Lincoln,” by D. W. Bartlett. I commend, with confidence,either or all of these works to those of my readers who may desire amore thorough and exhaustive life of “The Backwoods Boy.”

Horatio Alger, Jr.

New York, July 4, 1883.{7}

CONTENTS.