Page "Abraham Lincoln" Paragraph 7

In 1830, fearing a milk sickness outbreak along the Ohio River, the Lincoln family moved west, where they settled on public land in Macon County, Illinois, another free, non-slave state.

In 1831, Thomas relocated the family to a new homestead in Coles County, Illinois.

It was then that, as an ambitious 22-year-old, Lincoln decided to seek a better life and struck out on his own.

Canoeing down the Sangamon River, Lincoln ended up in the village of New Salem in Sangamon County.

In the spring of 1831, hired by New Salem businessman Denton Offutt and accompanied by friends, he took goods by flatboat from New Salem to New Orleans via the Sangamon, Illinois, and Mississippi rivers.

After arriving in New Orleans — and witnessing slavery firsthand — he walked back home.