Between his duties as deputy surveyor and postmaster, Lincoln had
little leisure for the store, and its management had 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, Alexander and William Trent asked if the
store was for sale, an affirmative answer was eagerly given. A price
was agreed upon, and the sale was made. Now, neither Alexander Trent
nor his brother had any money; but as Berry and Lincoln had bought
without money, it seemed only fair that they should be willing to sell
on the same terms. Accordingly the notes of the Trent brothers were
accepted for the purchase price, and the store was turned over to the
new owners. But about the time their notes fell due the Trent brothers
disappeared. The few groceries in the store were seized by creditors,
and the doors were closed, never to be opened again.

Misfortunes now crowded upon Lincoln. His late partner, Berry, soon
reached the end of his wild career; and one morning a farmer from the
Rock Creek neighborhood drove into New Salem with the news that he was
dead.

The appalling debt which had accumulated was thrown upon Lincoln's
shoulders. It was then too common a fashion among men who became
deluged in debt to "clear out," in the expressive language of the
pioneer, as the Trents had done; but this was not Lincoln's way. He
quietly settled down among the men he owed, and promised to pay them.
For fifteen years he carried this burden--a load which he cheerfully
and manfully bore, but one so heavy that he habitually spoke of it
as the "national debt." Talking once of it to a friend, Lincoln said: