winked out – David J. Kent

Lincoln When he returned from the Black Hawk War, Lincoln was without any means of employment or income. He briefly considered learning blacksmithing, but he also wanted to further his education, which he acknowledged was sorely lacking. Around this time New Salem resident James Herndon sold his interest in the general store he owned with his brother Rowan to William F. Berry, who had served with Lincoln in the militia. Dissatisfied with Berry, a few weeks later Rowan sold his own share to Lincoln. Berry was the son of a Presbyterian minister from an influential family, so may have paid for his share, but Lincoln’s share was obtained on credit. In 1832, Berry and 22-year-old Lincoln were suddenly partners, store owners, and in debt.

The store came fully stocked with the usual items, just as Offutt’s outfit had been. Mostly they served farmers coming in from the surrounding territory. When another store co-owned by James A. Rutledge failed, Berry and Lincoln quickly scooped up the extra goods. The new products included a barrel of whiskey, which teetotaler Lincoln avoided but Berry proved all too fond of, perhaps explained the store’s lack of profits.

Business was slow, and Lincoln was generally left to operate the store while Berry worked his second job as town constable or was away attending college, which he did at least briefly. The slow pace was perfect for Lincoln, who much preferred entertaining to selling, often sitting by the fire telling humorous stories and jokes to anyone who might wander inside. Everything from the weather to politics was ripe for intense discussion, and Lincoln kept all his visitors enthralled. He freely extended credit to his growing list of friends, which seemed to include everyone who walked into the store.

In early 1833 Berry and Lincoln bought out the inventory of a larger store across the road, as well as the store itself. Here the two men, likely at Berry’s urging, applied for a license to sell whiskey by the glass. Despite the common occurrence of “groceries” (equivalent to what we today call pubs) and widespread alcohol imbibing, Lincoln had to walk a fine line of denial in his debates two decades later with Stephen A. Douglas, who sought to tarnish Lincoln’s reputation.

New Salem had begun to stagnate as a community, in large part because the nearby Sangamon River was not as navigable as hoped. The combination of too much competition, the overstocking of supplies, and inexperienced management by both owners put the business in a bad financial position. In 1834, the store “winked out.” Not long afterward, Berry grew severely ill, most likely from a life of hard drinking, and died. Lincoln was forced to assume the considerable remaining debts of the failed business, which totaled more than $1,000 ($27,000 in today’s valuation). He jokingly referred to this as his “national debt,” and it took him many years to repay.

[Adapted from Lincoln: The Man Who Saved America]

David J. Kent is the author of Lincoln: The Man Who Saved America. His newest Lincoln book is scheduled for release in February 2022. His previous books include Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity and Edison: The Inventor of the Modern World and two specialty e-books: Nikola Tesla: Renewable Energy Ahead of Its Time and Abraham Lincoln and Nikola Tesla: Connected by Fate.

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This delightful book published in 1947 is considered a classic in Abraham Lincoln literature, and is fairly rarely found on the book market. The subtitle “The Store that ‘Winked Out,’” is in reference to Lincoln’s famous quote about how at one time he was a partner in a general store and that it sort of fell out of existence (winked out). Lincoln’s time as a storekeeper is generally given short mention in the big full life biographies of him, and usually to state that Lincoln’s partner died a drunkard and Lincoln, in his famous honesty, took on and eventually paid all debts.

Spears and Barton have dug into the scant information available and come up with a somewhat different and certainly better-rounded picture. They fill out the portrait of William F. Berry to an extent no one has ever done, in part because Zarel C. Spears is a descendant of the Berry clan. This historical relationship possibly influences the writing to a degree, but Spears and Berry document their story well and so it seems that their tale has considerable merit.

In short, Lincoln found himself a 22 year old stranded in the tiny hamlet of New Salem, Illinois in 1832. Largely by chance he entered into a partnership with William Berry, another young man whom Lincoln had known from their just completed tours in the Black Hawk wars. The partnership survived several twists and turns, and a move to a larger building across the muddy street, before “winking out” in 1834. The store never made much money, as there was stiff competition in a town whose peak population was only around 100 people.

The authors do a good job of piecing together the limited records of the day, finding court records of notes signed and suits against those notes (notes are essentially IOUs and were commonly used in the cash-poor wilderness prior to the advent of a formal banking system). In reconstructing the debt burden, the authors find that most of the debt was attributable to Lincoln himself. This isn’t surprising given that he had no money at the time and thus needed to move forward on credit. Berry actually came from a fairly influential family in the area and co-signed Lincoln’s notes and at one point actually put his house up as collateral on one debt (for $250) that had come due in order to protect his own half interest in the store. Income to the store was meager in the best of times and both partners worked other jobs to keep their heads above water – Lincoln as postmaster and a surveyor, Berry as constable. Berry also started college, but after one year he was back home and had died from some illness (many suspect drunkenness but the authors, while not disputing it, suggest otherwise). In his last few weeks home before Berry’s death the store was sold at auction to pay off the debts. Not long after Lincoln began his first of four terms in the Illinois state legislature.

The book is a fascinating and in-depth look at this little known period in Lincoln (and Berry)’s lives. The authors do justice to both of these men, as well as give us an insight into the hardships of frontier life in the antebellum period of American history.

More about Abraham Lincoln.

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