There are three holidays for February included in our little book. The first is Abraham Lincoln’s birthday (February 12th). The second is Valentine’s Day (February 14th), and the third is George Washington’s birthday (February 22nd).
There is also an additional story about the legend of how the United States flag was invented. It is kind of piggy-backed onto the story of George Washington, so I’ll just include that here, as well. Let’s do them in order.
Abraham Lincoln
I
true Abraham February story Lincoln built great taught
This is a true story about a great man.
His birthday comes on February twelfth.
When he was a little boy he was very poor.
He lived in a log house. His father built the house, and little Abraham helped him.
The house was in the woods, far away from every one.
There was no schoolhouse. So little Abraham could not go to school.
How do you think he learned to read?
His mother taught him to read.
There were only a few books for Abraham to read. So he would read each one over and over again.
Abraham’s mother would tell him stories too.
What story do you think he liked best?
It was the story about George Washington.
II
happiest shovel hurt wooden hungry animals
But by and by a schoolhouse was built. How happy Abraham was, for now he could go to school. He was the happiest boy in the world.
His teacher lent him books, and helped Abraham all he could.
After school Abraham had work to do. When the work was done, he read his books. He would lie down before the fire and study hard.
His father was too poor to buy paper, so he wrote on a wooden shovel. Would you like to write on a wooden shovel?
Sometimes the family were so hungry that Abraham would have to take his gun and go hunting for birds and squirrels in the woods.
He did not like to hurt the little animals, but it was the only way to get food.
III
always trouble elected between brave president war serve
Abraham grew to be a good man.
He was always honest and brave.
He was always trying to help others.
He liked to make others happy.
There came a time of great trouble in our country.
The people said, “We need a wise man for our leader.
We want Lincoln for our president.”
So Lincoln was elected president.
He went to Washington and lived in the White House.
He was president at the time of the great war between the North and the South.
During all that time he was just the wise leader that our country needed.
By his life he showed how every man should love and serve his country.
*****
I decided to fact check this a bit, as a lot of US history is romanticized and, especially for presidents, embellished a bit.
It is apparently untrue that he never was able to go to school. There was no permanent school, but it seems that there were pop-up schools now and then that he could attend. He was not so far away from civilization that he did not have neighbors, so schools would sometimes appear temporarily, and he would learn there from time to time. It is also important to know that it was not just his mother who taught him to read. She helped, but was not his sold teacher.
His mother probably told him stories: I mean, who parent doesn’t? But it’s not a provable fact that she did, nor is it documented anywhere that the story of George Washington was his favorite.
Lincoln also did not have a special teacher that lent him books. The claim here insinuates that he had a teacher as a mentor, but there is not evidence of one.
The most interesting part of this story, to me, was the part where he wrote on a wooden shovel. Unfortunately, this is legend, and is not supported by fact. He probably used wood and other objects, but he didn’t have a favorite shovel as this story seems to insinuate.
He hunted for game, but there was no specific food they ate, and it definitely wasn’t the only food source.
Ok, let’s get on to Valentines Day! 🙂
Valentine’s Day
Valentine heart tiny secret pasted until
To-morrow is Saint Valentine’s Day.
I have such a big, big secret. Would you like to know my secret? Well it is this:
I made a valentine all by myself. I made it for my mother. She does not know anything about it, because it is a secret.
I cut my valentine out of pretty white paper. It is just like a big heart.
I pasted some pretty pictures on it.
Then I pasted tiny red hearts on it. Oh, it is a beautiful valentine.
Inside I wrote something. I wrote, “I love you mother.” Do you think she will know that I sent it?
I shall drop my valentine into the letter-box. Then the postman will get it.
He will come to our door and ring the bell. When mother goes to the door she will get my valentine.
It is a long time until to-morrow.
Will to-morrow every come?
I want mother to get that valentine. It is so hard for a little girl to wait.
George Washington
I
twenty-second speak horseback truth obey
Who was our first president?
I am sure you all know his name, — George Washington.
His birthday comes in February. It comes on February twenty-second.
Once he was a little boy.
He liked to play just as you do.
He liked to play soldier. Sometimes he would be the captain.
He liked to ride horseback.
Do you like to run races? Well, George Washington did, too.
He went to school, and there he learned to read and write and spell.
His mother taught him to speak the truth. She taught him to obey his father and mother.
Washington grew tall and strong.
He said, “I must be a help to my mother. I should like to be a sailor.
He wanted to sail away over the sea.
His mother said, “No, I cannot let you go. I need my son at home with me.”
So Washington went back to school and studied hard.
One day a friend said, “George Washington is a fine young man. I want him to take care of my lands.”
Now these lands were in the woods. They were far away from any town or city. There were miles and miles of land where no white man had been before.
There were many Indians in the woods.
Do you think that Washington was afraid? Oh, no, he was strong and brave.
He went and marked out the land. He learned to know the Indians too.
Whatever he did, he did well.
II
chose Cambridge cheered general shouted elm
One day our soldiers needed a leader. Whom do you think they chose?
I know that you will all say the right name. They chose George Washington. They made him their general.
Most of the soldiers were in Cambridge. So Washington went to Cambridge.
All the soldiers were glad to see him. They shouted for joy. Hurrah! Hurrah! Hurrah! They cheered him again and again.
Washington stood under an elm tree. We now call it the “Washington elm.” Some day you will go to Cambridge and see the place where Washington stood so many years ago.
How the soldiers loved their new general! We love him too. We call him the “Father of our Country.”
III
Mt. Vernon Potomac New York received Virginia quiet capital peace
For eight long years Washington was the leader of our soldiers.
At last the war was over and the soldiers went back to their homes.
Washington went to his home at Mt. Vernon, Virginia.
Mt. Vernon is a beautiful place on the banks of the Potomac river. He wanted to stay at home now and live the quiet life of a farmer.
But our country still needed a leader.
There was no one so loved and trusted by all the people as George Washington.
So he was chosen to be our first president.
He left his beautiful home in Virginia and started for New York. New York was the capital of our country then.
It took Washington a long time to reach New York. The people all wanted to show how much they loved their first president.
Wherever he went he was received with shouts of joy and gladness.
We like to think of George Washington as —
First in war,
First in peace,
First in the hearts of his countrymen.
*****
So, there’s a whole lot to unpack here, but I’m going to leave most of it packed! I will say that a lot of this is romanticized, and it gives a little bit of the wrong idea, as it is over-simplified for children, just as most of these little stories are. Washington didn’t have much formal schooling, and it makes it looks like he actually went to school to study.
The most fascinating thing I learned from this was that in Washington’s time, Britain and the colonies used a different calendar, which was 11 days behind the calendar that the rest of Europe used. Britain used the Old Style calendar, commonly known as the Julian calendar. It was not until 1752 that they would switch to the Gregorian calendar. George Washington would have told people that he was born on February 11th, 1731. This is because the Julian calendar’s year actually started on March 25th, not January 1st. Adjusted for inflation, now that we use the Gregorian calendar, today we list George Washington’s birthday as February 22, 1732.
Now on to Betsey and the American flag.
Betsey Ross and Our Flag
thirteen corner stripes state pattern
Would you like to hear another story about George Washington?
Here is one about him and our flag.
Our country did not have any flag. Washington said, “We must have a flag.”
He went with some other men to see a lady whose name was Betsey Ross.
Washington said, “We want you to help us, Mrs. Ross. We want you to make a flag for our country.”
Mrs. Ross said, “I will try to help you. How shall I make the flag?”
Washington said, “We want thirteen stripes, — six white stripes and seven red ones. In the corner we want a blue field. In the blue field put a star for each state. Here is a pattern for the stars.”
Washington’s star had six points. Mrs. Ross looked at the pattern. She shook her head.
She said, “The stars in the sky have five points. I will make a pattern with five points.”
Washington liked her pattern better. So the stars on our flag have five points.
The flag that Mrs. Ross made was our first flag.
Now there are many stars on our flag. Do you know how many stars there are?
If you do, you know how many states there are. There is a star for every state.
What is the name of your state?
Do you know what the flag tells us?
Red tells us to be brave. White tells us to be pure. Blue tells us to be true.
*****
The above story is totally myth. There is no record of the meeting with Betsey Ross and Washington about the flag at all. In fact, the myth that Betsey Ross created the first flag was first told in 1870, nearly 100 years later by her grandson. No one knows who was the designer or creator of the flag. It is just a story told to children, sometimes presented as fact, even in schools. There is also no record of what the colors meant, this is all interpretation. What we do know is that the thirteen stripes were meant to represent the 13 colonies. It is likely that stars were chosen to represent a “new constellation”, as the Flag Resolution in 1777 says.
Ok, see you next time for something they called “Humane Day”. That will be our March entry.
Heads up — March was supposed to be our last month for the Stories of Our Holidays series! Yup, I started way back in April of 2025 with Arbor Day! It’s been a fun series to do, and I hope you enjoyed it, too.
You may have noticed that I said it was supposed to be our last month. Well, when I got the book, I started with Arbor Day (as previously mentioned!) and apparently there was one more entry before it about Paul Revere! That was also supposed to be in my first post…. So you get a bonus post this April!
Interesting! Thanks for vetting the articles. 🙂