Graham’s hospitality might have been inspired by a singular act of kindness on Lincoln’s part. The previous autumn the schoolmaster’s family had been very sick, especially his 7-year-old daughter, Ellen, of whom Lincoln was quite fond. Unable to tolerate milk, she needed bread, which Graham could not afford. As Graham later described it, “I was … too proud to tell the actual condition we were in. As I walked back to the street [from the mill], my sack on my arm and my head down, thinking over my sad lot, and the disappointment there would be at home, my little girl’s wan face uprose before me, and tears gathered in my eyes, falling thick and fast. Just then I had something touch my hand, and looking down, there lay a ten dollar bill. Turning quickly, I saw Lincoln slipping into his office door, glancing furtively toward me.”
Source: Abraham Lincoln ∶ A Life ▫𓂃
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