Lincoln was frequently employed in laying out public roads, being
selected for that purpose by the County Commissioners' Court. So
far as can be learned from the official records, the first road he
surveyed was "from Musick's Ferry on Salt Creek, via New Salem, to the
county line in the direction of Jacksonville." For this he was allowed
fifteen dollars for five days' service, and two dollars and fifty
cents for a plat of the new road. The next road he surveyed, according
to the records, was that leading from Athens to Sangamon town. This
was reported to the County Commissioners' Court November 4, 1834.
But road surveying was only a small portion of his work. He was more
frequently employed by private individuals.


SURVEYING WITH A GRAPEVINE.

According to tradition, when he first took up the business he was too
poor to buy a chain, and, instead, used a long, straight grape-vine.
Probably this is a myth, though surveyors who had experience in the
early days say it may be true. The chains commonly used at that time
were made of iron. Constant use wore away and weakened the links, and
it was no unusual thing for a chain to lengthen six inches after a
year's use. "And a good grape-vine," to use the words of a veteran
surveyor, "would give quite as satisfactory results as one of those
old-fashioned 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 land-owners about boundary lines.
Frequently Lincoln was called upon in such cases to find the corner