The General Store DAO, Working as a clerk in New Salem’s general store provided Abraham Lincoln with an ideal foundation upon which to build his political career. The general store “filled a unique place” on the frontier. Beyond the sale of groceries, hardware, cloth, and bonnets, the village store provided “a kind of intellectual and social center,” a place where villagers gathered to read the newspaper, discuss the local sporting contests, and, mainly, argue about politics in an era when politics was a consuming, almost universal concern. For the farmers, who might ride fifty miles to grind grain into flour at the village gristmill, the store offered a common meeting place to unwind, exchange opinions, share stories. From Leadership in Turbulent Times about Lincoln’s early life.