LINCOLN'S WORK AS A SURVEYOR. 183 THE STATE-HOUSE AT VANDALIA, ILLINOIS.-NOW USED AS A COURT-HOUSE. Vandalia was the State capital of Illinois for twenty years, and three different State-houses were built and occupied there. The first, a two-story frame structure, was burned down December 9, 1823. The second was a brick building, and was erected at a cost of twelve thousand, three hundred and eighty-one dollars and fifty cents, of which the citizens of Vandalia contributed three thousand dollars. The agitation for the removal of the capital to Springfield began in 1833, and in the summer of 1836 the people of Vandalia, becoming alarmed at the prospect of their little city's losing its prestige as the seat of the State government, tore down the old capitol (much complaint being made about its condition), and put up a new one at a cost of sixteen thousand dollars. The tide was too great to be checked; but after the "Long Nine" had secured the passage of the bill taking the capital to Springfield, the money which the Vandalia people had expended was refunded. The State-house shown in this picture was the third and last one. In it Lincoln served as a legislator. Ceasing to be a capitol July 4, 1839, it was converted into a court-house for Fayette County, and is still so used. "And for a chain to lengthen six inches after a year's use. a good grapevine," to use the words of a veteran surveyor, "would give quite as satisfactory results as one of those oldfashioned chains." Lincoln's surveys had the extraordinary merit of being correct. Much of the government work had been rather indifferently done, or the government corners had been imperfectly preserved, and there were frequent disputes between adjacent landowners about boundary lines. Frequently Lincoln was called upon in such cases to find the corner in controversy. His verdict was DANIEL GREEN BURNER, BERRY AND LINCOLN'S CLERK. From a recent photograph. Mr. Burner lived at New Salem from 1829 to 1834. Lincoln for many months lodged with his father, Isaac Burner. He now lives on a farm near Galesburg, Illinois. Mr. Burner is over eighty years of age. "John Cameron always kept a barrel of whiskey in the house." He was a powerful man physically, and a typical frontiersman. He was born in Kentucky in 1791, and, with his wife, moved to Illinois in 1815. He settled in Sangamon County in 1818, and in 1829 took up his abode in a cabin on a hill overlooking the Sangamon River, and, with James Rutledge, founded the town of New Salem. According to tradition, Lincoln for a time lived with the Camerons. In the early thirties they moved to Fulton County, Illinois; then, in 1841 or 1842, to Iowa; and finally, in 1849, to California. In California they lived to a ripe old age-Mrs. Cameron dying in 1875, and her husband following her three years later. They had twelve children, eleven of whom were girls. Mr. Cameron is said to have officiated at the funeral of Ann Rutledge in 1835. JAMES SHORT, WHO SAVED LINCOLN'S HORSE AND SURVEYING INSTRUMENTS FROM A CREDITOR. From a photograph taken at Jacksonville, Illinois, about thirty years ago. James Short lived on Sand Ridge, a few miles north of New Salem. When Lincoln's horse and surveying instruments were levied upon by a creditor and sold, Mr. Short bought them in, and made Lincoln a present of them. Lincoln, when President, made his old friend an Indian agent in California. Mr. Short died in Iowa many years ago. His acquaintance with Lincoln began in rather an interesting way. His sister, who lived in New Salem, had made Lincoln a pair of jeans trousers. The material supplied by Lincoln was scant, and the trousers came out conspicuously short in the legs. One day when James Short was visiting with his sister, he pointed to a man walking down the street, and asked, "Who is that man in the short breeches?" "That is Lincoln." And Mr. Short went out and introduced himself. A GROUP OF LINCOLN'S OLD NEIGHBORS. SQUIRE COLEMAN SMOOT, ONE OF LINCOLN'S FIRST POLITICAL SUPPORTERS. Coleman Smoot was born in Virginia, February 13, 1794; removed to Kentucky when a child; married Rebecca Wright, March 17, 1817; came to Illinois in 1831, and lived on a farm across the Sangamon River from New Salem until his death, March 21, 1876. Lincoln met him for the first time in Offutt's store in 1831. "Smoot," said Lincoln, "I am disappointed in you; I expected to see a man as ugly as old Probst," referring to a man reputed to be the homeliest in the county. "And I am disappointed," replied Smoot; "I had expected to see a goodlooking man when I saw you." After Lincoln's election to the legislature in 1834, he called on Smoot and said: "I want to buy some clothes and fix up a little, and I want you to loan me two hundred dollars." The loan was cheerfully made, and, of course, was subsequently repaid. SAMUEL HILL, AT WHOSE STORE LINCOLN KEPT THE POST-OFFICE. From an old daguerreotype. Samuel Hill was among the earliest inhabitants of New Salem. He opened a general store there in partnership with John McNeill-the John McNeill who became betrothed to Ann Rutledge, and whose real name was afterwards discovered to be John McNamar. When McNeill left New Salem and went East, Mr. Hill became sole proprietor of the store. He also owned the carding machine at New Salem. Lincoln, after going out of the grocery business, made his headquarters at Samuel Hill's store. There he kept the post-office, entertained the loungers, and on busy days helped Mr. Hill wait on customers. Mr. Hill is said to have once courted Ann Rutledge himself, but he did not receive the encouragement which was bestowed upon his partner, McNeill. In 1835 he married Miss Parthenia W. Nance, who still lives at Petersburg. In 1839 he moved his store to Petersburg, and died there in 1857. MARY ANN RUTLEDGE, MOTHER OF ANN MAYES RUTLEDGE. From an old tintype. Mary Ann Rutledge was the wife of James Rutledge and the mother of Ann. She was born October 21, 1787, and reared in Kentucky. She lived to be ninety-one years of age, dying in Iowa, December 26, 1878. The Rutledges left New Salem in 1833 or 1834, moving to a farm a few miles northward. On this farm Ann Rutledge died, August 25, 1835; and here also, three months later (December 3, 1835), died her father, broken-hearted, no doubt, by the bereavement. In the following year the family moved to Fulton County, Illinois, and some three years later to Birmingham, Iowa. Of James Rutledge there is no portrait in existence. He was born in South Carolina, May 11, 1781. He and his sons, John and David, served in the Black Hawk War. A GROUP OF LINCOLN'S OLD NEIGHBORS. invariably the end of the dispute, so general was the confidence in his honesty and skill. Some of these old corners located by him are still in existence. The people of Petersburg proudly remember that they live in a town which was laid out by Lincoln. This he did in 1836, and it was the work of several weeks. Lincoln's pay as a surveyor was three dollars a day, more than he had ever before earned. Compared with the compensation for like services nowadays, it seems small enough; but at that time it was really princely. The governor of the State received a salary of only one thousand dollars a year, the Secretary of State six hundred dollars, and good board and lodging could be obtained for one dollar a week. But even three dollars a day did not enable him to meet all his financial obligations. The heavy debts of the store hung over him. He was obliged to help his father's family in Coles County. The long distances he had to travel in his new employment had made it necessary to buy a horse, and for it he had gone into debt. "My father," says Thomas Watkins of Petersburg, "sold Lincoln the horse, and my recollection is that Lincoln agreed to pay him fifty dollars for it. Lincoln was a little slow in making the payments, and after he had paid all but ten dollars, my father, who was a high-strung man, became impatient, and sued him for the balance. Lincoln, of course, did not deny the debt, and raised the money and paid it. I do not often tell this," Mr. Watkins adds, "because I have always thought there never was such a man as Lincoln, and I have always been sorry father sued him." From Libby Prison Museum, Chicago, Illinois. By permission of C. F. Gunther. FACSIMILE OF A LETTER AND RECEIPT WRITTEN BY LINCOLN WHILE POSTMASTER AT NEW SALEM. Reproduced by permission from "Menard-Salem-Lincoln Souvenir Album," Petersburg, 1893. CHAPTER XVI. BUSINESS REVERSES.-LINCOLN FOR THE SECOND TIME A BETWEEN his duties as deputy surveyor and postmaster, Lincoln had little leisure for the store, and its management passed into the hands of Berry. The stock of groceries was on the wane. The numerous obligations of the firm were maturing, with no money to meet them. Both members of the firm, in the face of such obstacles, lost courage; and when, early in 1834, |