Children's Books

[Gene C]

The Great Good Man
(Told for Young People) by William E Barton

copyright 1927 with 293 pages
William Barton also wrote a two volume Life of Abraham Lincoln copyright 1925.
The Great Good Man seems to be a condensed version of the 1,000 + pages of his two volume work.

Unfortunately this book is not in the Internet Archive, and printed copies are hard to find.
https://www.amazon.com/great-good-man-ac...603&sr=1-1
It is a book for young people, not a childrens book. Covers Lincoln's entire life. He does a good job in blending Lincoln's virtues with his accomplishments.

Several events in Lincoln's life Barton especially covers well....The half-faced camp, Nancy Lincoln's death, the year of the big snow in Illinois and Abe's frozen feet, New Salem, the Duff Armstrong Trial and his presidential pardons for soldiers.

Since this book in not online and Barton's much larger Life of Abraham Lincoln is on the Internet Archives - https://archive.org/details/lifeofabraha...ew=theater
I will share a few passages from the Life of Abraham Lincoln book.

Half-faced camp - "This poor shed was only the temporary home of the family, though it appears to have been kept somewhat steadily in use. The reports of the Lincolns to their Kentucky kinsfolk can not have been very depressing, for there soon followed an exodus of Sparrows and Hankses to the new land of promise. When the Lincolns moved into their permanent home, Thomas and Elizabeth Sparrow came on and occupied the camp until they had a home ready ; and afterward there came Levi Hall and Nancy his wife, and there were other families moving from Kentucky who successively rejoiced in the poor shelter of the halffaced camp."

Nancy Lincoln's death - "The first great sorrow in the life of Abraham Lincoln occurred two years after the removal of the family to Indiana. The ''milk-sick" visited the settlement, and claimed a number of victims. Thomas and Elizabeth Sparrow, who had been Nancy's foster parents, died. Levi and Nancy Hall also died. Thomas Lincoln sawed out lumber for their coffins, and gave them decent burial according to the standards of the time and place. A few days later Nancy Hanks Lincoln died. The date of her death was October 5, 18 18. Again Thomas, aided by Abraham, brought the whip-saw into requisition, and the mother of the future president was laid to rest beside the Sparrows and the Halls."

"Of the last sickness of Lincoln's mother, we have one testimony from an eye-witness, as it was given in Herndon :
She struggled on, day by day, a good Christian woman, and died on the seventh day after she was taken sick. Abe and his sister Sarah waited on their mother, and did the little jobs and errands required by them. There was no physician nearer than thirty-five miles. The mother knew she was going to die, and called the children to her bedside. She was very weak, and the children leaned over while she gave her last messages. Placing her feeble hand on little Abe's head, she told him to be kind and good to his father and sister; to both she said, Be good to one another, expressing a hope that they might live, as they had been taught by her, to love their kindred and worship God." (more to follow)