the ground. He took deliberate aim at a white ornament on the breast
of the savage and brought him down. The little boy, thus released, ran
to the cabin, and Mordecai, from the loft, renewed his fire upon the
savages, who began to show themselves from the thicket, until Josiah
returned with assistance from the stockade, and the assailants fled.
This tragedy made an indelible impression on the mind of Mordecai.
Either a spirit of revenge for his murdered father, or a sportsmanlike
pleasure in his successful shot, made him a determined Indian-stalker,
and he rarely stopped to inquire whether the red man who came within
range of his rifle was friendly or hostile. [Footnote: Late in life
Mordecai Lincoln removed to Hancock County, Illinois, where his
descendants still live.]

[Illustration: FAC-SIMILE OF THE MARRIAGE BOND OF THOMAS LINCOLN.]

The head of the family being gone, the widow Lincoln soon removed to a
more thickly settled neighborhood in Washington County. There her
children grew up. Mordecai and Josiah became reputable citizens; the
two daughters married two men named Crume and Brumfield. Thomas, to
whom were reserved the honors of an illustrious paternity, learned the
trade of a carpenter. He was an easy-going man, entirely without
ambition, but not without self-respect. Though the friendliest and
most jovial of gossips, he was not insensible to affronts; and when
his slow anger was roused he was a formidable adversary. Several
border bullies, at different times, crowded him indiscreetly, and were
promptly and thoroughly whipped. He was strong, well-knit, and sinewy;
but little over the medium height, though in other respects he seems
to have resembled his son in appearance.

On the 12th of June, 1806, [Footnote: All previous accounts give the