Abraham Lincoln - Surveying a path to the presidency
Of all presidents, Abraham Lincoln is perhaps the most revered. Most people know that he grew up in a one-room log cabin and taught himself the law by the light of a kerosene lamp.
Surveyors know him as one of their own.
Though he didn’t have much formal education as a child, Lincoln’s first-hand experience with manual labor (rail splitting) made the career of surveying very attractive. The rigorous profession of surveying probably seemed like a vacation compared to splitting rails all day.
Abraham Lincoln, Deputy Surveyor
In 1833, when he was just 23, the Surveyor of Sangamon County, Illinois, gave Lincoln the job of surveying part of the county. So Lincoln procured a compass and chain, some instruction books and got started learning about surveying – night and day for six weeks, until he was ready to survey the north part of the county.*
As Deputy Surveyor, Lincoln surveyed five towns, as well as numerous road and property surveys. The first town he surveyed was the Town of Huron in Illinois. This town was laid out because county commissioners voted to build a canal to alter the channel of the Sangamon River. Unfortunately, the commissioners ran out of money after the town was laid out, so the canal was never built and the town dried up.
Lincoln also surveyed the Towns of Petersburg, Bath, and Albany. Lincoln was paid $2.50 for each quarter section of land he surveyed, and as little as 25 cents for small town lots. (Incidentally, $2.50 in 1833 is still not a lot of money in today’s dollars – just $76.78 in buying power).
Page of Abraham Lincoln's student sum book, ca. 1824-26
The last town Lincoln laid out was New Boston, sited at the confluence of the Iowa and Mississippi Rivers. Instead of getting paid for the work, his surveying equipment, horse and saddle were repossessed and sold. Fortunately, a friend, Jimmy Short, bought all of the equipment and the horse and returned it to him. Later, as president, Lincoln made Short the Indian Agent of the Round Lake Indian Reservation – an appointment that may have been a “thank you” for past kindness.
See the historical marker database commemorating some of Lincoln’s surveys: https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=78609
Lithograph of Lincoln the Surveyor by Lloyd Ostendorf, 1967, courtesy of the Indiana State Museum and Historic Sites.
A well-deserved reputation for care and accuracy
During his time as surveyor, Lincoln became known for the care and accuracy of his surveys and his ability to mediate property disputes. That experience, combined with his travels throughout the country, probably helped him win election to the Illinois General Assembly at the age of 24.
As with his surveying career, he got the job first, then studied the profession in his “spare” time. Once he got his law degree, he focused on real estate and in at least one instance, did a survey for one of his clients whom he represented in real estate and litigation issues.
From 1834-1842, he served in the Illinois state legislature, then took some time off to practice law, then jumped back into politics at the national level, serving in the US House of Representatives from 1846-1849.
He took another break from politics, practiced law, got a patent (the only US president to do so) and became certified to argue cases before the Supreme Court.
Lincoln didn’t stay away from politics long, continuing to seek a seat in the US House and Senate, and finally in 1860, he was nominated as the Republican Party’s candidate for president. The rest of the story is well known.
Surveyor in Chief
The qualities that made Lincoln an accomplished surveyor are the same qualities that served him well as president – ability to understand and employ underlying principles, perseverance, honesty and the ability to mediate disputes.
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