•July 12, 2017•

By Ellen Ferrera
for the News Progress

While waiting in an office the other day I picked up an old friend – The Prairie Farmer- which was a staple reading material in our home when I was growing up. The magazine celebrates its 175th birthday this year making it the nation’s oldest continuously published magazine since it began in 1841.

Turns out, Abraham Lincoln was a subscriber, and it may have helped shape his ideals as president.

Lincoln was raised on a hard scrabble farm in Kentucky where only 13 of the 30 acres were suitable for farming so he knew how hard it was to eke out a living on a farm. He rode through the farms of central Illinois and lived among the farmers so he was acquainted with the farmers’ lives and issues.     Login or Subscribe to read the rest of this story.