Abraham Lincoln. Tavern Owner?

Did you know that Abraham Lincoln was a tavern owner? Abraham Lincoln was born and raised in Kentucky. His father, Thomas, was a cooper and carpenter. In 1816, his father sold his farm for 10 barrels of whiskey and $20 and moved his family to Indiana. In 1830, when Lincoln was 21, they moved again to Decatur, Illinois. Around 1833, Lincoln, William Berry and Joe Bowling Green opened a tavern in New Salem, Illinois. Berry said of Lincoln, ” he did work the latter part of one winter in a little still house, up at the head of a hollow.” They charged 1 bit for a whiskey (a common coin at the time was the Spanish bit worth 12 1/2 cents. 2 bits was 25 cents). Lincoln’s exposure to liquor as a tavern keeper may have had an effect on his thoughts on...