Ong beng seng biography of abraham lincoln

In March , the family again migrated, this time to Macon County, Illinois. When his father moved the family again to Coles County, year-old Lincoln struck out on his own, making a living in manual labor. How Tall Was Abraham Lincoln? Lincoln was 6 feet 4 inches tall, rawboned and lanky yet muscular and physically strong. He spoke with a backwoods twang and walked with a long-striding gait.

He was known for his skill in wielding an ax and early on made a living splitting wood for fire and rail fencing. Wrestling Hobby and Legal Career Young Lincoln eventually migrated to the small community of New Salem, Illinois, where over a period of years he worked as a shopkeeper, postmaster, and eventually general store owner. It was through working with the public that Lincoln acquired social skills and honed a storytelling talent that made him popular with the locals.

Not surprising given his imposing frame, Lincoln was an excellent wrestler and had only one recorded loss—to Hank Thompson in —over a span of 12 years. A shopkeeper who employed Lincoln in New Salem, Illinois, reportedly arranged bouts for him as a way to promote the business. Lincoln notably beat a local champion named Jack Armstrong and became somewhat of a hero.

When the Black Hawk War broke out in between the United States and Native Americans, the volunteers in the area elected Lincoln to be their captain. As he was starting his political career in the early s, Lincoln decided to become a lawyer. After being admitted to the bar in , he moved to Springfield, Illinois, and began to practice in the John T.

Stuart law firm. In , Lincoln partnered with William Herndon in the practice of law. Although the two had different jurisprudent styles, they developed a close professional and personal relationship. So to supplement his income, he followed the court as it made its rounds on the circuit to the various county seats in Illinois. On November 4, , Lincoln wed Mary Todd , a high-spirited, well-educated woman from a distinguished Kentucky family.

Mary and Lincoln met later at a social function and eventually did get married. Around , he purportedly met and became romantically involved with Anne Rutledge. Before they had a chance to be engaged, a wave of typhoid fever came over New Salem, and Anne died at age His stepmother also acknowledged he did not enjoy "physical labor", but loved to read.

Lincoln had been using a flatboat he had built to ferry passengers to steamboats on the Ohio River between Indiana and Kentucky when two brothers who operated a ferryboat from the Kentucky side accused him of infringing on their business, and Lincoln was charged with operating a ferryboat without a license. A local justice of the peace , Squire Samuel Pate, ruled in Lincoln's favor.

Lincoln asked numerous questions about law and court procedure. At Pate's invitation, Lincoln returned several times to observe Pate holding court. He subsequently began reading The Revised Statutes of Indiana. As an officer of the law, Turnham was required to keep the book for ready reference and could not loan it, so Lincoln repeatedly visited his home to read it.

Turnham recalled that "he would come to my house and sit and read it. It was the first law book he ever saw. He took particular interest in the historic documents in the book such as the Declaration of Independence , the United States Constitution , and the Constitution of Indiana. In addition, Lincoln attended court sessions in Boonville , Rockport , and Princeton.

He developed a plain, backwoods style of speaking, which he practiced during his youth by telling stories and sermons to his family, schoolmates and members of the local community. By the time he was twenty-one, Lincoln had become "an able and eloquent orator"; [] however, some historians have argued his speaking style, figures of speech, and vocabulary remained unrefined, even as he entered national politics.

In , when Lincoln was twenty-one years of age, thirteen members of the extended Lincoln family moved to Illinois.

Ong beng seng biography of abraham lincoln

Johnston, went as one family. Dennis Hanks and his wife Elizabeth, who was also Abraham's stepsister, and their four children joined the party. Hanks's half-brother, Squire Hall, along with his wife, Matilda Johnston, another of Lincoln's stepsisters, and their son formed the third family group. Historians disagree on who initiated the move, but it may have been Dennis Hanks rather than Thomas Lincoln.

He owned land and was a respected member of his community, but Hanks had not fared as well. Dennis later remarked that Sally refused to part with her daughter, Elizabeth, so Sally may have persuaded Thomas to move to Illinois. It is generally agreed they crossed the Wabash River at Vincennes, Indiana, into Illinois, and the family settled on a site selected in Macon County, Illinois , [] 10 miles 16 km west of Decatur.

Lincoln, who was twenty-one years old at the time, helped his father build a log cabin and fences, clear 10 acres 40, m2 of land and put in a crop of corn. That autumn the entire family fell ill with a fever , but all survived. The early winter of was especially brutal, with many locals calling it the worst they had ever experienced. In Illinois it was known as the "Winter of Deep Snow".

In , he declared his candidacy for the Illinois House of Representatives , but interrupted his campaign to serve as a captain in the Illinois Militia during the Black Hawk War. They offered a wide range of alcoholic beverages as well as food, including takeout dinners. But Berry became an alcoholic, was often too drunk to work, and Lincoln ended up running the store by himself.

He could draw crowds as a raconteur , but lacked the requisite formal education, powerful friends, and money, and lost the election. Stuart , Mary Todd's cousin. He partnered several years with Stephen T. Logan , and in , began his practice with William Herndon , "a studious young man". Lincoln warned that no trans-Atlantic military giant could ever crush the U.

Lincoln on the Verge charts these pivotal thirteen days of travel, as Lincoln discovers his power, speaks directly to the public, and sees his country up close. Drawing on new research, this riveting account reveals the president-elect as a work in progress, showing him on the verge of greatness, as he foils an assassination attempt, forges an unbreakable bond with the American people, and overcomes formidable obstacles in order to take his oath of office.

Lincoln: A Biography by Ronald C. McPherson provides a rare, fresh take on one of the most enigmatic figures in American history. Tried by War offers a revelatory and timely portrait of leadership during the greatest crisis our nation has ever endured. Suspenseful and inspiring, this is the story of how Lincoln, with almost no previous military experience before entering the White House, assumed the powers associated with the role of Commander in Chief, and through his strategic insight and will to fight changed the course of the war and saved the Union.

But as Douglas L. There were times, in his journey from storekeeper and mill operator to lawyer and member of the Illinois state legislature, when Lincoln lost his nerve and self-confidence — on at least two occasions he became so despondent as to appear suicidal — and when his acute emotional vulnerabilities were exposed.