UNITED STATES DEPARLE1TT O ARICULTTJRE

Bureau-of Agricultural Economics7 aSfliflgtOfl, D. C.

December 15, 1933.

LINCOL1 1 S ATT I "TjDE T 07.71 ARD FARM PROBLEMS*

By EverettEthaas, Associate Aricu1tue1 EconomistDivision of Sttistical and Historical 'Rescrch

Linboln's- birthplace, now a national shrine, is about three.mi1s south -of Hodgenville in the heart of K€:ntucky. The rude' log hut -It it stood at thetime of his birth was without a floor except for the ground ana its roof was -made of rough slabs held in place y ppies and stones. A small, square oDening,possibly covered rit}. greaser] pape1,served. as a 'iindow. - Inside, at -one endwas a wide fireDlace of stoie with a chiiane oI stics and clay. The bed inan opposite corner was maae of a c..otched. stick:, \atn poles leading from itto the Walls of the c bin nd ro3h slabs 'This cabin stood on the ede ofa tract of poor land vfifi.ch , liad few trees aid. which is coveued with tall,coarse grass, The land. its'elf could hardly be called a farm; it was so-u-nio Lincoln t s frter had. ourchasei the 300 ac sre i 1SO for$200. The chief distinushing feature of this farm is a siing which uplieswater even t'ody to those who journey to this famous historic spot. Itflows from a horizontal "cave-like' channel of rocks in the low hillsideimmediately in front of the cabin and then duo abrutly into a 2erendic1laropening of rock where it disapoars. Hence, the name Sinking Spring Farm,Here the first four years of Lincoln's life were passed (1).

'iflCOlfl t s early boyhood was spent on a somewhat more fertile farmof thirty acres near Krdb Creek about ten" miles northeast of his birthplace.Because of hills and gullies only' l- acres could be 'tilled. Here he andhis sister attendel their first brief period of school. The boy, we aretold, went.cld in 'a one piece long linsey shirt' without other garments (2).

In the fall of lSlG the Lincoln fìily moved again, tue tine acrossthe Ohio River and into the heavily woodwilderness of southern Indiana.Here they established, themselves on a knoll surrounded by. marshy land,infested with malaria and without a uiply of drinking water within a mile.' -Although his father acquired an option on'160 acres, to be paid for in instal-'.ments at $2 00 per acre, payments on ori.y one-half this amoiaitre ever com-pleted. His father continued to vdr his hunting and farming by working at .carpentering. In 124, seven years after their arrival in Indiana, 10 acres .of corn; 5 acres of wheat, and 2 acres of oats was the extent of the tilled .on the Lincoln farm. ' The result was that 'the boy was hired out to do' tloughing,

* This statement concerningLincolnis a revi'si-on of an article with the same.title in Agr, Lbr, Notes 6:29-33 (Feb* ua- y, 1931). 'It was originally preparedand presented by the author as a radio talk,. delivered through. WRC and 39,- otherradio-stations associated \vith the Natioa1 Broadco;stinCommany, Feb. 12,­,1931.On Feb. l, 1932, it was delivered by 'R. -Ii. Lamb during the Western Farm and HomeHour through Station 1(0-0 and eight other Ct'at-i'on's assobiated nith the:I'C-KGOnetwork, Pacific division, National' Broadcasting- Company. The nwuibers in-.*-- .parentheses refer to the bibliograDh.ical footn.dtea at the end o'f the 'text.'

- 11

splitting' rails, grubbing, making fences, ..et'1also-.vp,ed as a ferrymanor the Ohio' PLiver; for this work his father reiv.e$OO a month. , Duringthe hogoackin; season, howeve r, - anad.iitional 31 cents a day (3).

.arly in the spring of i8-30 1 the Lincoln family ushe westward oncemore, this time to the bluffs al on,, Sañgamon R ty,'River in Macon Coi Illinois (Li). Soon a;E'terward, having reacedi'is majority, Lincoln lefthis family and be life for himself. The facts smrnarized- thus far giveus a picture of the lif of the fa 'ooyLincoln of a century ago. The

han settledfarming he knew in his youth Wa s pioneer exploitation.-rather tcultivation (5), and hardly cmparable with faiuiin as we mow it today.We can see the influence of this early agricultural environment in hisstories and in the choice of illustrtibns used in his s.- (6).tonetime or anoaer Lincoln was .,the owner of considera'D-e xilinc1udiig farm land; his iflVestflefltS, however, were cQflserVatiV awfl.. ...

Arcomparatively proita'p1e

_t twnt 1 -three, Lincolnclanounccj;is canc1i cicy fo the.: IllinoisleElatuIe. In along address •t the peole of Sangaioi County, hepointea oDtneed for interlol imDro cts,- goodnevigablestreams, and cals He endorsed railroab,fl a fle msans of trons-portatiç3n, an demanded more care.fulrege.]-ation of bdaks. He referred to..education as the ' t most importan t ' subj.ct of all (5). The dexterity. withwhich he handled tb issues in this adaress is eirlv evidence of his nativeability as a political stratcgist0 &ltiouh aefatsa .n tus first attcmot( 1832), he won two years later and ssrved. four conse.cutive.ter1Tl5., Later hehad one term in the National House of Rpnrsetatiyes(l7l9)o As has .been said, "Lincoln's early public areer can bebst.fld? r 'st o Od as that of. .an ardent c1iamion, proiiot, ootr of hi section, stcte an loCility" (9)His years as a lawTer riait"i cort circuit act d. to his Doliticalsagacity and also o his knowle&e of th roblems of the oioner farmer.The r sil was.hit aurin' the.. 1550's he "cm slow ly but.urely.o reiesentthe frontier, the farmer,t1e small town democr.acy. ,.. as few other menever represnteci a popl&t (io) and emerged as a Logical and. for rr4dable.candidate' for the Dresia ncy

'oS'...Lthcolns address before the 1isconsin State Agricultural Sciety,at i.t.s.aunual fair inMilwaukee on S;ptamber 30,the only. exteediscu9s:ion of agriculture which h ever made (ii). Even today, .itis ,..intermeting rcaaing and worthy of bsing siimmarized . H mpiiasizeS the .value 9f the. socirt l and rcretional faturs of. agricultural frirs, but.. .lo points ..o-at tnatciif use of 6ricilturl Poirs is to aid in

improvingth great calling of Agriculture...cLfldiJ to.make muul.etchaigeOf agricultural discovery informtion and. know1ege f ..."He thex prpC e (ito make general suggestions on what he considred practi9al farm p'olemsIn this connection, his chief concern is th& startling reduction in grr4r .yie4..w141ica he has observed in his travels. To check this,,hpleads.Qr .butmore intensive cultivation, not only from th Vi;w of economics,bec(of the aesir ble ifleace uon ti, r'r himselfHe ss ' t thc efect. I..'of thorough cultivation uon thefarmer t s own mind, and, inreapti-o. .. ..throughhis mind, back uponhis business, is -erhps..quite equal to any . .therof its-effects. Every man is roua o what h doe wll and. nomx .:

is proudof . what he does not well,'1 Sensitive .to the great hnes ivhic . 1were thn taking place in..agricultural machinery he aisci.ses at consia'a]elength the aiicationof,.stm power to farm work.aaso emhasizs."book 1earnig." On this subjt, , h says: "A caacity,. and t .ste,,or

-2.--

._I-#•• ., : :

reading, gives access to whtover has. 7,,1 ready 'ben &iscovered. by others..It is the iccy, or one of thto tne 1rdy so1vDrob1emItgives a rc1ih and focilitj for successu11tn irisolvcd onesIn introducing this topic he ss th ftmous hrsJ, ioi carvea over theentrance of the. adrninistratioi :building of hUñid Stotes Dertment

7of Agricutiiie: "No other hman,occuDation oens so wide a fie1d.fr theprefitable and. agreeable combination of labor ivith cultivated thou* t,'. asagriculture. tt S

'Duringthe first two years of Lincoln's presidency' three bills ofvast significance toagriculture were assed (12), All were Dart of thepolitical platform uoonwhich he had been elected. Linbcln signed theorganic law establishingthe United States Deartmnt of Agriculture witha commissioner at its head on Ma 15, 162 (13). Pive days later hesigned the Homestead. Act, the law by whicI'. aprroximately 232,OOO,OOacres have been transferred from the public domain to rite hands to formL one and one-third million farms (141 ). On July . 2 bf the same yearhe signed the Agricultural-College Land Grant Act. It apDDroriated theland from the Dublic domain for the endowment of our agricultural colleges,so important to our agriculture and the educational system bf today 15).Although these laws were the culmination of movements extending overconsiderable time, it remained for Lincoln to ign and. make theth operative.

ReferencesS .L

(1) This description of Lincoln's birthplace follows cloëly that given.in Albert J. Beveridge, Abraham, Lincoln, .SQ94S5, l:3-4 (NewYork, 1 9 2 ). Hereafter this work is cited as Beveridge 1 See alsow.Barton, The,Life of Abraham Lincoln (Indianapolis, d925).

(2) The Iob Creek farm,aud Lincoln's boyhood there are described inBeveridge , 1:26-31,' , . . .:

(3) For an account of the moving to Indiana and the years there, seeBeveridge, 1: 3 2 ff. For material su'rlemeitiug this paragraphnote particularly o. 32, 47, 50, 65, ' 94- 95e.'(#) For an accont of the migration of the Lincoln family from Salem, Mass.,

. to Springfield, Ill., 1637 to 137, see Louis A. Warren, "LincolnLands and Lineage; A Tyical American Migration," flj. Std Hist._QSc. Trans.1927:114J4153.

(5) The best discussion of Lincoln's interest in farm problems is byProfessQr Earle D. Ross in his article, "Lincoln andAgriculture"M.L .t., 3:51-66 (April , 1929). Hereafter this'aticl.e is citedas Ross. S .

.5 See also 0. C. Stine, "Lincoln and A . riculture," a radio talk

delivered throulh station WRC and 32 other radio stations associatedwith the National Broadcasting Corrmany, Pcb. .12, 1930. Dr. Stthe'saddress also appeared with the same title in Hoard' Dairan, 76:79,121 (Feb. 10, 1 931 ) . ; S

See also William L. Bailey, "Abraham Lincoln, Countryman," Rural14 X 2 ) : 3,. 13 (February, 1926.); and Edward N. 7entworth, A

grarhical Catalo g of the PortraitGallery of the Saddle andSirloin j5:U11l, 19 1- 1 94 (Chicago, 1920).

A list of references affording a .background for the subject ofSLincoln's attitude toward farm problems is pro r ided in "A Bibliograhy

of the H i s t o ry o f Ag r i cul tur e in.the United States," by Everett E.Edwards, issued by the U. S. Dep t. of Agrioulture as Miss. Pub, .2+(November, 1 93 0 ) . Hereafter this bibliograhy i cited as Edwards. S

—3—

(6) This oint is emDhsized b Ro, 53refers to Bccton, 222O,311 A4 K. McClure, Yarnspries of Abriam 4nco1ll,23, 34, 5 9 i 900 99 132, 153, 21 7( Chicago [n.d. ); Ida M.Tarbell, An tFootteps .of the Lincoins, 131 (Ne i ,;r York,. 1924).

(7) E R.` Harlan,' - - ' T Linco1i' Towa Laa$," Anri1s of Iowa ( 3d sere)1:62i-523 (Ari, 19 2 7) . t1 Lincol t s Land 1-1 nd Investments,"

Lincoln Assoc. Bul [16j,. S p. (Sept. 1, 1929).()See Beveridge, 1:11-i26, for an analysis of this "address to the

. .. people of Sangmon County,", and an account of his first camnain.For Lincoln's interest in railroads, see John W. ' Starr, Lincoln

t 1 k7l Rn ilroaasiorhical t:4 (Ne Yor:, 1927)(9) Ross, 55 . Cf. Thomas Ewing, "Lincoln and the Gener1 Land Office,.

18911t ;fl. State lUst. Soc. JolLr. 25: 1 39- 1 53 (October, 1932).(10) quoted from the Foreword bf W. E . Dodd, iico1n or Lee (Nevi York an

.Loidon, 1929)...

.See also V. L. Parrinton, Main Currents in Am-,-.- rican Thought,2:152-160 (Nei-,T York 1927-1930).

(11) This adress was first printed in the Wis. State Ar. Soc. Trans.00(9-59) 5-0 2 7-797It is '_reprinted with the title, "Lincoln's. 159 Address at LJiilVTaDkOe," vith an introductory note by Joseph

Schafer, in the Wis.Hist., lO:243-25.(March, 1927). Withthe exception of the last five pages the address i3 also availableas a pamphlet,cic1ressAiaharn Lincoln b eloore the, Wisconsingricultim1 ocir, t Mi7auk.ee, Wis. , STetember 3Q, 159 (Peoria,Ill., E. J. Jacob, 19 29 . 17 p., illus.) A paraphrased Spanishtranslation of ortions of the address, appeers with the title,"Abraham Lincoln y la Agricultur,",La Hacienda, 21:41 (February,

- 1926). See also Daniel Kilham"Lincoln's Only Speech onFarming," Country Gent,, 9 0 ( 6 ) : 5,30 (Feb. 7, 19 25); Cyril G.Hopkins, Lincoln's_ . culure, 1859(Urbana, ill,, 190910 p.); Julius E. Olson, "Lincoln in Wisconsin," Wis.Hist.,

44-54 (Sep tember, 19 20 )..(12) Ross, 57-66.(13) See C. H. Crreathouse, "Historic1 Sketch of the United States

Department of Agriculture;" U. S • . Dept. Ar. Div. Pubs, ::;iL . .3.See also H. Be Learned,esidnt's Cabiit, oh. 11 (Nev Haven,uu1 912) , w L V1' 1as, The U tç Sta tes Brtmt of Aricltre,

9-32 (Baltimore, 1920); Far Wiest, Mricultural OrniiQn inthe United S-4tates 21J4 (Lexington, Ky., 1923)0See also Ross,

. 5-59.For additional references, see Edwards, 201209.(14) See Be H. Hibbard,pryi-blic LandPolic i es, ch. 17-1

New York, 192), and especially p. 39-398 for a table of theyear totals ofäll final homestead entries from the passage of theHomestead Act in 162 to June 30, 19 23-See also J. T. Du Bois and

. Gertrude S. Mathews, Ualusha A. Grovr, the Father of the Homestead.ko:. (Boston and NaTYork, 1917), and Ross, 62-63. For additionalreferences, see Edwards, 53-57.

(15) See especially n. 310 of A. C. True, "A History of A^ricu1turalEthiôation in the United Strtes, 175-1925,U. S. DeDt. Ar. Misc.P-u o(1,vas-_,Viin.:- r to1,.-i, Govt.. Print, Off. , 1929).See also W. P. ParkerThe

,Life and Public Services of Justin Smith Morro'i, 259- 28)4 (Boston

and New York, 19224); E. J. James,Ori.in of the Land grant Act ofl862 ..(Urbaia-Cheuiyoaign, Ill., 19 10 ); and Mrs. Mary (Turner) Carriel,

Jonathan, Baldwin Turner. (Jacksonville, Ill., 1911).For additionü references, see Edwards, 209_2114.

-