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David Lockmiller · 07-19-2021, 11:45 AM

(07-18-2021 04:58 PM)Gene C Wrote: The Boy Lincoln by William Stoddard

The story ends with Lincoln as an older teenager carrying a traveler across the Ohio River who leaves him with these words of encouragement,
[i]"Abe", said the former, handing him a silver dollar, "take that for yourself: I have paid Mr. Taylor. Now, I'll tell you one thing for you to remember: You are fit for something better than rowing a scow. God has put a great deal of brains into your head, You must learn to use them. It is remarkable that you have read so many books, away out here in the wilderness. Go on! Read, read, read! Make the most of your self. Be a man! This country of ours is dreadfully short of men. Good bye."

Roger previously posted the following similar story:

In 1866 Josiah Gilbert Holland's The Life of Abraham Lincoln was published. Holland wrote:

"He (Lincoln) had learned the use of tools, and possessed considerable mechanical talent, as will appear in some other acts of his life. Of the voyage and its results we have no knowledge, but an incident occurred before starting which he related in later life to his Secretary of State, Mr. Seward, that made a very marked and pleasant impression upon his memory. As he stood at the landing, a steamer approached, coming down the river. At the same time two passengers came to the river's bank who wished to be taken out to the packet with their luggage. Looking among the boats at the landing, they singled out Abraham's, and asked him to scull them to the steamer. This he did, and after seeing them and their trunks on board, he had the pleasure of receiving upon the bottom of his boat, before he shoved off, a silver half dollar from each of his passengers. "I could scarcely believe my eyes," said Mr. Lincoln, in telling the story. "You may think it was a very little thing," continued he, "but it was a most important incident in my life. I could scarcely believe that I, a poor boy, had earned a dollar in less than a day. The world seemed wider and fairer before me. I was a more hopeful and confident being from that time."