Lincoln's New Salem
by Benjamin P. Thomas
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Thomas tells the story of the village where Abraham Lincoln lived from 1831 to 1837. His three-part examination of the village often referred to as Lincoln s Alma Mater features the founding and early history of New Salem, Lincoln s impact on the village and its effect on him, and the story of the Lincoln legend and the reconstruction of the town.Thomas argues convincingly that New Salem was the town where Lincoln acquired faith in himself, faith in people. At 22 the future president drifted show more into town seeking to become a blacksmith. Thomas introduces us to the people who created New Salem and who knew, influenced, and befriended Lincoln.Thomas highlights Lincoln s arrival, his relationships with his neighbors, his important wrestling match with Jack Armstrong, his self-education, his quiet career as an Indian fighter, his experience as a postmaster largely indifferent to postal regulations, his financial woes as a businessman, his loyal friends who often came to his aid, and his election to the legislature.This colorful history closes with a discussion of the Lincoln legend. The truth of the stories is unimportant. What matters is that the growing Lincoln legend prompted the gradual realization that New Salem was not a dismal mire from which President Lincoln had had to extricate himself but was, in fact, an energizing force. This realization led to research and finally to the restoration of New Salem, which began in 1932." show lessTags
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Common Knowledge
- People/Characters
- Abraham Lincoln; Elizabeth Abell (as Mrs. Bennett Abell); John Allen (Dr); Robert Allen; Nelson Alley; Robert Anderson (show all 140); Frances Green Armstrong; Hannah Armstrong; Jack Armstrong (John); Pleasant Armstrong; Rhoda Armstrong; William Armstrong (Duff); Bluford Atterbury; Edward Dickinson Baker (as Edward D. Baker); Hardin Bale; Jacob Bale; William E. Barton; John M. Berry (Reverend); William F. Berry; Robert Blackwell; George Blane; Eli C. Blankenship; Vincent Bogue; Benjamin Bond; Elihu Bone; Eliza Caldwell Browning (as Mrs. Orville Hickman Browning); William Cullen Bryant; Nathaniel Buckmaster; Isaac Burner; John Calhoun, surveyor of Sangamon County; John M. Camron; William Carpenter; Peter Cartwright; Lewis Cass; Charles Chandler (Dr); Isaac P. Chrisman; St. Clair Chrisman; Eliza Church; Charles James Fox Clarke; John Clary; Louisa Clary; Royal Clary; William Clary; Henry Clay; Isaac Cogsdale (as Isaac Cogdale); Edward Coles; Washington Crowder; Stephen A. Douglas; Jesse K. Dubois; Henry Enoch Dummer (as Henry E. Dummer); Jason Duncan (Dr); Jacob M. Early; Cyrus Edwards; Abner Y. Ellis; Jemima Elmore; Ralph Waldo Emerson; H. Emmerson; Avard Fairbanks; Alexander Ferguson; John Ferguson; Orlando Bell Ficklin (as Orlando B. Ficklin); William Fithian; Abel Flint; George Forquer; William Lloyd Garrison; William Gatewood; Robert Gibson; Joseph Gillespie; Russell Godby; Mentor Graham; Bowling Green; Nancy Green (as Mrs. Bowling Green); Felix Green; Lynn McNulty Greene; William G. Greene, Jr.; Edmund Greer; Isaac Guliher; John Hanks; John J. Hardin; George Harrison (messmate of Lincoln in the Black Hawk War); Reuben Harrison; John Hay; William Randolph Hearst; James D. Henry; James Herndon; J. Rowan Herndon; William Henry Herndon; Samuel Hill; Parthena Nance Hill (Mrs. Samuel Hill); Elijah Iles; Washington Iles; Andrew Jackson; Robert Johnson; Mrs. Robert Johnson; John D. Johnson; John Kelso (Jack); Michael Keitner; Ward Hill Lamon; Robert Todd Lincoln; Stephen T. Logan; Gregory Lukins; Peter Lukins; John MacNamar; George Marsh; Mathew S. Marsh (sic); William Henry Seward; Reason Shipley; Patrick Shirreff; James Short; Henry Sinco; Coleman Snoot (as Coleman Smoot); Adam W. Snyder; George Spears; Granny Spears; Joshua Fry Speed; Daniel Stone; John Todd Stuart; Julian Sturtevant; Ida Tarbell (as Ida M. Tarbell); Edmund D. Taylor; John Taylor; Lorenzo Dow Thompson (as Lorenzo D. Thompson); John Tibbs; Alexander Trent; Martin S. Trent; Frederick Jackson Turner; Peter van Bergen; John C. Vance; Martin Waddell; George Warburton; Louis A. Warren; Thomas Watkins; William Watkins; David Whary; Hugh Lawson White (as Hugh L. White); William White; Samuel Whiteside; Conrad Will (Dr); Jacob Williams; Joshua Williams
- Important places
- USA; Illinois, USA; Menard County, Illinois, USA; New Salem, Illinois, USA; Sangamon County, Illinois, USA; Springfield, Illinois, USA
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- Members
- 80
- Popularity
- 397,771
- Rating
- (3.00)
- Languages
- English
- Media
- Paper, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 7
- ASINs
- 6
