Since his death, Abraham Lincoln has been celebrated as savior of the Union, proponent for emancipation, president of the United States, and skilled statesman. Although Lincoln's adult life has been well documented and analyzed, most biographers have regarded his early years as inconsequential to his career and accomplishments.
In 1920 a group of historians known as the Lincoln Inquiry were determined to give Lincoln's formative years their due. Abe's Youth takes a look into their writings, which focus on Lincoln's life between 7 and 21 years of age. By filling in the gaps on Lincoln's childhood, these authors shed light on how his experiences growing up influenced the man he became. As the first fully annotated edition of the Lincoln Inquiry papers, Abe's Youth offers indispensable reading for anyone hoping to learn about Lincoln's early life.
By:
William Bartelt,
Joshua Claybourn
Imprint: Indiana University Press
Country of Publication: United States
Dimensions:
Height: 229mm,
Width: 152mm,
ISBN: 9780253043894
ISBN 10: 0253043891
Pages: 272
Publication Date: 01 October 2019
Audience:
General/trade
,
ELT Advanced
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active
Foreword Preface Introduction Works from Indiana's Lincoln Inquiry Part 1: Lincoln's Hoosier Influences 1. Lincoln's Boyhood Days in Indiana / Roscoe Kiper 2. Lincoln's Environment in Indiana / Roscoe Kiper 3. Lincoln in Indiana / William Fortune Part 2: Lincoln's Neighbors and Influences 4. Lincoln's Indiana Neighbors / Bess V. Ehrmann 5. Life of James Gentry Jr. / J. Helen Rhoades 6. The Grigsbys / Calder (Bess) Ehrmann 7. More Lincoln Memories / Nancy Grigsby Inco 8. Biographical Sketch of Josiah and Elizabeth (Anderson) Crawford / Will Adams 9. Daniel Grass / Laura Mercy Wright 10. The Athe Meeks Sr. Tragedy / Aaron Meeks 11. The Mystery of Lincoln's Melancholy / Louis A. Warren 12. Lincoln and the Wool-Carder's Beautiful Niece / Jesse N. Weik 13. Word Pictures of Pioneer Families and Lincoln Contemporaries / Bess V. Ehrmann 14. Interviews with Spencer County Pioneers about 1895 / T. H. Masterson 15. Early Days in Spencer County / Daniel Hayford Part 3: Lincoln's Neighborhood and Environment 16. The Lincolns and Their Home in Spencer County, Indiana / C. C. Scheeder 17. An Interview with James Atlas Jones on the Lincoln Cabin in Spencer County / George H. Honig 18. The Lincolns' Eastward Environment / Thomas James de la Hunt 19. Some Early Troy History / Sallie Bergenroth 20. Early Agriculture in Spencer County, Indiana / David H. Morgan 21. Materia Medica of Pioneer Indiana / H. C. Knapp Part 4: Lincoln and the Law 22. Environment and Opportunities of Lincoln in Indiana / Elbert Hayford 23. John A. Brackenridge / Eldora Minor Raleigh 24. John Pitcher / Alice L. Harper Hanby 25. Judge John Pitcher / John E. Cox Part 5: The Lincoln Inquiry 26. The Environments of Abraham Lincoln in Indiana: The Best Witnesses / Anna C. O'Flynn 27. The Lincolns in Spencer County / Ida D. Armstrong 28. The Artist's Ideal of Lincoln / George H. Honig 29. What Indiana Did for Lincoln / Bess V. Ehrmann 30. Correspondence Between Lincoln Historians and This Society / John H. Iglehart Lincoln and Southwestern Indiana Chronology Index
William E. Bill Bartelt is a Lincoln historian and author of There I Grew Up: Remembering Abraham Lincoln's Indiana Youth and other books. For many years Bartelt worked as a ranger and historian at the Lincoln Boyhood National Memorial. He is a board member of the Abraham Lincoln Association and the Indiana Historical Society, and received the Indiana Historical Society's Hoosier Historian award in 2003. Joshua A. Claybourn is an attorney and author or editor of several books, including Our American Story: The Search for a Shared National Narrative. A widely published commentator on legal, political, and historical topics, Claybourn has also appeared as a guest on CNN, MSNBC, and NHK. He is a board member of the Abraham Lincoln Association.
Reviews for Abe's Youth: Shaping the Future President
Abe's Youth offers a fascinating, in-depth examination of the future president and the time and environment in which he grew up. -- Johnson County Historical Society Abe's Youth is positively fascinating, and not just for those who are interested in Abraham Lincoln. This book in many ways provides a history of the first 100 years of Spencer County, IN. -- Kathy Tretter * The Spencer County Leader * Abe's Youth provides a convenient way to access some of the important work of the Indiana Lincoln Inquiry. * Indiana Magazine of History *
