Offutt first employed Abraham Lincoln in the spring of 1831 to take his goods by flatboat from Springfield to New Orleans. Due to a delay in crossing the milldam, Offutt and Lincoln first visit-ed New Salem. Offutt decided to open a store here and he employed Lincoln to run it. On July 8, 1831, Offutt was licensed to retail at New Salem. It was here that Lincoln received his first exposure to the business of merchandising. Within a year, Offutt's enterprises had failed. He left New Salem for Kentucky to help his brother raise horses.