transactions. By virtue of half a dozen signatures, Berry and Lincoln
became proprietors of the only mercantile establishment in the
village, and the apparent wealth of the community was increased by a
liberal distribution of their notes among the Herndons, Radford,
Greene, and a Mr. Rutledge, whose business they had also bought.

Fortunately for Lincoln and for the world, the enterprise was not
successful. It was entered into without sufficient reflection, and
from the very nature of things was destined to fail. To Berry the
business was merely the refuge of idleness. He spent his time in
gossip and drank up his share of the profits, and it is probable that
Lincoln was far more interested in politics and general reading than
in the petty traffic of his shop. In the spring of the next year,
finding that their merchandise was gaining them little or nothing,
they concluded to keep a tavern in addition to their other business,
and the records of the County Court of Sangamon County show that Berry
took out a license for that purpose on the 6th of March, 1833.
[Transcriber's Note: Lengthy footnote (1) relocated to chapter end.]
But it was even then too late for any expedients to save the moribund
partnership. The tavern was never opened, for about this time Lincoln
and Berry were challenged to sell out to a pair of vagrant brothers
named Trent, who, as they had no idea of paying, were willing to give
their notes to any amount. They soon ran away, and Berry expired,
extinguished in rum. Lincoln was thus left loaded with debts, and with
no assets except worthless notes of Berry and the Trents. It is
greatly to his credit that he never thought of doing by others as
others had done by him. The morality of the frontier was deplorably
loose in such matters, and most of these people would have concluded
that the failure of the business expunged its liabilities. But Lincoln
made no effort even to compromise the claims against him. He promised