
by Helen Nicolay
I. A PRESIDENT'S CHILDHOOD
II. CAPTAIN LINCOLN.
III. LAWYER LINCOLN
IV. CONGRESSMAN LINCOLN
V. THE CHAMPION OF FREEDOM
VI. THE NEW PRESIDENT
VII. LINCOLN AND THE WAR
VIII. UNSUCCESSFUL GENERALS
IX. FREEDOM FOR THE SLAVES
Born in a modest log cabin on the Kentucky frontier, Abraham Lincoln entered a world shaped by generations of pioneers who pushed westward through wilderness and hardship. His family's story is marked by loss—a grandfather felled by an Indian rifle and a father who grew up as a wandering laborer after his own father's death—yet each calamity seemed to forge a resolve that would later define the nation. These early chapters set the stage for a boy who, despite poverty and a lack of formal schooling, learned to read, work the land, and observe the rhythms of frontier life.
As a child he roamed the woods of Knob Creek, hunting berries, swimming in quiet pools, and listening to the sounds of birds and small animals that became his first teachers. The scarcity of money meant that his family relied on credit‑bought farms and the goodwill of neighbors, imparting lessons in perseverance and self‑reliance. Those formative years, though sparsely recorded, hint at the quiet curiosity and moral strength that would later guide him through the nation's greatest trials.
Language
en
Duration
~5 hours (320K characters)
Publisher of text edition
Project Gutenberg
Credits
Produced by Dianne Bean, and David Widger
Release date
1999-07-01
Rights
Public domain in the USA.

1866–1954
Best known for bringing Abraham Lincoln’s story to younger readers, she wrote with unusual closeness to her subject and a strong feel for historical detail. She was also an accomplished painter whose life moved between Washington, D.C., and the artistic world of New England.
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