To earn some pennies, Lincoln accepted an offer from a Kentucky entrepreneur named Denton Offutt to take a flatboat to New Orleans. Offutt was a stocky, talkative, bibulous merchant and speculator constantly on the lookout for quick money. He was also something of a confidence man, peddling a magical expression that would allegedly tame horses when whispered in their ears. Lincoln’s friends thought Offutt “gassy” and “rattle brained.” A sheriff from whose jail Offutt escaped in 1834 said he tried to pass for the gentleman he was not. When Offutt approached Lincoln, he was trying to recoup losses from a failed pork-packing enterprise by buying corn, beef, and pork cheap and selling them in the South. In February 1831, Offutt proposed to John Hanks, a skilled riverman, that he run a flatboat of goods to New Orleans. Hanks took Offutt to meet his cousin Abraham. “I am seeking employment,” Lincoln reportedly said. “I have had some experience in boating and boat building, and if you are in want of hands I think I can give you satisfaction.” Hanks, Lincoln, and John D. Johnston struck a deal to make the trip south as soon as the snow melted.
Source: Abraham Lincoln ∶ A Life ▫𓂃
(echo:: @ ⌗)