Description: At the age of twenty-two, Abraham Lincoln arrived in New Salem, Illinois, as a strange, friendless, uneducated, penniless boy (in his own words). He did not remain friendless for long. Meet the community that welcomed him: Bennett and Elizabeth Abell, the couple who guided him through heartache; Mary Owens, Elizabeth Abell's sister who helped educate him in the realm of the heart; Mentor Graham, the schoolmaster who helped teach him; Bowling Green, the jolly justice of the peace who allowed Lincoln to practice law before his court; and Slicky Bill Greene, who clerked with Lincoln at a frontier dry goods store. Making good use of primary sources overlooked by many historians, Dale Thomas helps flesh out the important story of Lincoln's formative years in Menard County.
Brief description: Dale Thomas taught Social Studies for 31 years at Bay High School in Bay Village, Ohio. In addition to serving as a judge for History Day at Case Western Reserve University, he has been an advisor for tours at the Western Reserve Historical Society, and historian for the Cleveland Civil War Roundtable.