He was born in 1778, and could not have been much more than four years old on that fatal day when in one swift moment his father lay dead beside him and vengeance had been exacted by his resolute boy brother.

It was such experiences as these that made of the pioneers the sturdy men they were.
They acquired habits of heroism.

Their sinews became wiry; their nerves turned to steel.

Their senses became sharpened.

They grew alert, steady, prompt and deft in every emergency.
Of Mordecai Lincoln, the boy who had exhibited such coolness and daring on the day of his father's death, many stories are told after he reached manhood.