It is said that he accidentally overcharged a customer a few extra cents because the scale was not working properly. When he realized the mistake, it was too late, and the customer had already left. He knew the right thing was to return the cents to the customer, so he decided to close the store and go find the customer. At that time, he couldn't just jump into a car and drive over there like are able to do today. Instead, it is said that Abraham Lincoln walked several miles to the customer's house and returned those cents.