TEXT A I was born in Feb.
12,1809, in Hardin County, Kentucky. My parents were both born in Virginia, of
undistinguished families--second families, perhaps I should say. My mother, who
died in my tenth year, was of a family of the name of Hanks, some of whom now
reside in Adams, and others in Macon countries, Illinois. My paternal
grandfather, Abraham Lincoln, emigrated from Rockingham County, Virginia, to
Kentucky, about 1781 or 1782,where, a year or two later, he was killed by
Indians, not in battle, but by stealth, when he was laboring to open a farm in
the forest, tits ancestors, who were Quakers, went to Virginia from Berks
County, Pennsylvania. An effort to identify them with the New - England family
of the same name ended in nothing more definite, than a similarity of christian
names in both families, such as Enoch, Levi, Mordecei , Solomon, Abraham, and
the like. My father, at the death of his father, was but six
years of age; and he grew up, literally without education. He removed from
Kentucky to what is now Spencer County, Indiana, in my eighth year. We reached
our new home about the time the State came in the Union. It was a wild region,
with many bears and other wild animals still in the woods. There I grew up.
There were some schools, so-called; but no qualification was ever required of a
teacher, beyond "reading, writing, and cipherin " to the Rule of Three. If a
struggler sup posed to understand Latin, happened to sojourn in the
neighborhood, he was looked upon-as a wizzard. There was absolutely nothing to
excite ambition for education. Of course when I came of age I did not know much.
Still somehow, I could read, write, and cipher to the Rule of Three; but that
was all. I have not been to school since. The little advance I now have upon
this store of education, I have picked up from time to time under the pressure
of necessity. I was raised to farm work, which I continued till
I was twenty-two. At twenty-one I came to Illinois, and passed the first year in
Illinois--Macon County. Then I got to New-Salem, (at that time in Sangamon, now
in Menard County), where I remained a year as a sort of clerk in a store. Then
came the Black-Hawk war; and I was elected a Captain of volunteers--a success
which gave me more pleasure than any I have had since. I went the campaign, was
elated, ran for the Legislature the same year (1832) and was beaten--the only
time I have been beaten by the people. The next, and three succeeding biennial
elections, I was elected to the Legislature. I was not a candidate afterwards.
During this legislative period I had studied law, and re moved to Springfield to
practice it. In 1846, I was once elected to the lower House of Congress. Was not
a candidate for reelection From 1849 to 1854, both inclusive, practiced law
more assiduously than ever be fore. Always a whig in politics, and generally on
the whig electoral tickets, making active canvasses. I was losing interest in
politics, when the repeal of the Missouri Compromise aroused me again. What I
bays done since then is pretty well-known. If any personal
description of us is thought desirable, it may be said, I am, in height, six
feet, four inches, nearly; lean in flesh, weighing on an average, one hundred
and eighty pounds; dark complexion, with coarse black hair, and grey hair, grey
eyes—no other masks or brands recollected. The author is ______.
A.a friend of Abraham Lincoln’s B.a writer who gives an account of Abraham Lincoln’s biography C.Abraham Lincoln himself D.Abraham Lincoln’s autobiography