ABRAHAM LINCOLN -- CHAPTER 5

THE LINCOLNS GO TO ILLINOIS      on March 1,1830, the Lincolns began the journey towards Illinois. Their possessions were loaded on three wagons. one was drawn by a four-horse team and each of the others by two yoke of oxen. The new home was located on the north bank of the Sangamon River, a few miles west of Decatur. Abraham was hired out to split fence rail for neighbors.      In the autumn of that year fever and ague visited Decatur, and every member of the family was taken ill. The first winter in Illinois was very trying to them. The deepest snow covered the ground for weeks. In the spring the family moved to Coles County.      But this time Abraham did not go with them, for during the winter he and his cousin John Hanks had agreed to take a cargo to New Orleans for a trader named Denton Offutt.      They went down the Sangamon in a canoe to Jamestown, five miles east of Springfield. Offutt was surprised when he saw Abraham. He did not expect to see a lad so young and so tall. Abraham was now to make his own way.