Abraham Lincoln

Abraham Lincoln was born February 12, 1809, in a log cabin near Hodgenville, Kentucky. He was the son of Thomas and Nancy Hanks Lincoln, and he was named for his paternal grandfather. Thomas Lincoln was a carpenter and farmer. Both of Abraham's parents were members of a Baptist congregation that had separated from another church due to opposition to slavery.

When Abraham was 7, the family moved to southern Indiana. Abraham had gone to school briefly in Kentucky and did so again in Indiana. He attended school with his older sister, Sarah (his younger brother, Thomas, had died in infancy). In 1818 Nancy Hanks Lincoln died from milk sickness, a disease obtained from drinking the milk of cows which had grazed on poisonous white snakeroot. Thomas Lincoln remarried the next year, and Abraham loved his new step-mother, Sarah Bush Johnston Lincoln. She brought 3 children of her own into the household.

As Abraham grew up, he loved to read and preferred learning to working in the fields. This led to a difficult relationship with his father who was just the opposite. Abraham was constantly borrowing books from the neighbors.

In 1828 Abraham's sister, who had married Aaron Grigsby in 1826, died during childbirth. Later in the year, Abraham made a flatboat trip to New Orleans. In 1830 the Lincolns moved west to Illinois.

The next year Lincoln made a second flatboat trip to New Orleans. Afterwards he moved to New Salem, Illinois, where he lived until 1837. While there he worked at several jobs including operating a store, surveying, and serving as postmaster. He impressed the residents with his character, wrestled the town bully, and earned the nickname "Honest Abe." Lincoln, who stood nearly 6-4 and weighed about 180 pounds, saw brief service in the Black Hawk War, and he made an unsuccessful run for the Illinois legislature in 1832. He ran again in 1834, 1836, 1838, and 1840, and he won all 4 times. (Lincoln was a member of the Whig Party; he remained a Whig until 1856 when he became a Republican). Additionally, he studied law in his spare time and became a lawyer in 1836. Stories that Lincoln had a romance with a pretty girl named Ann Rutledge may well be true. Sadly, Ann died in 1835.

In Springfield in 1839 Lincoln met Mary Todd. Three years later they were married and over the next 11 years had 4 children: Robert (1843-1926), Edward ("Eddie") 1846-1850, William ("Willie") 1850-1862, and Thomas ("Tad") 1853-1871. Lincoln became a successful attorney, and the family bought a home at the corner of Eighth and Jackson in 1844.

In 1846 Lincoln ran for the United States House of Representatives and won. While in Washington he became known for his opposition to the Mexican War and to slavery. He returned home after his term and resumed his law practice more seriously than ever. Early in 1851 Lincoln's father died.

Lincoln's declining interest in politics was renewed by the passage of the Kansas-Nebraska Act in 1854.He made an unsuccessful bid for the U.S. Senate but received some support for the Republican Vice-Presidential nomination in 1856. Also in 1856 Lincoln gave his famous Lost Speech. He opposed the Dred Scott decision in 1857 and gave his famous "House Divided" Speech on June 16, 1858. Additionally, he engaged in a series of debates with Stephen A. Douglas in 1858. Lincoln was against the spread of slavery into the territories but was not an abolitionist. Douglas won the Senatorial race, but Lincoln gained national recognition. In 1860 he furthered his national reputation with a successful speech at the Cooper Institute in New York.

Although William Seward was the pre-convention favorite for the Republican Presidential nomination in 1860, Lincoln won on the 3rd ballot. With Hannibal Hamlin as his running mate, Lincoln was elected the 16th President on November 6, 1860, defeating Douglas, John Bell, and John C. Breckinridge.

In February of 1861 the Lincolns left by train for Washington, D.C. The President-elect was now wearing a beard at the suggestion of an 11 year old girl. Lincoln was sworn in on March 4.

After Lincoln's election, many Southern states, fearing Republican control in the government, seceded from the Union. Lincoln faced the greatest internal crisis of any U.S. President. After the fall of Ft. Sumter, Lincoln raised an army and decided to fight to save the Union from falling apart. Despite enormous pressures, loss of life, battlefield setbacks, generals who weren't ready to fight, assassination threats, etc., Lincoln stuck with this pro-Union policy for 4 long years of Civil War. On January 1, 1863, the Emancipation Proclamation went into effect. This was Lincoln's declaration of freedom for all slaves in the states that were in rebellion. Also, on November 19, 1863, Lincoln gave his famous Gettysburg Address which dedicated the battlefield there to the soldiers who had perished. He called on the living to finish the task the dead soldiers had begun.

In 1864 Ulysses S. Grant was named general-in-chief of the armies of the United States. The South was slowly being worn down. Lincoln was re-elected as President (with Andrew Johnson as his running mate; he defeated George McClellan) on November 8, 1864. On April 9, 1865, General Robert E. Lee surrendered to Grant. Two days later Lincoln addressed a crowd outside the White House. Among other things, he suggested he would support voting rights for certain blacks. This infuriated a racist and Southern sympathizer who was in the audience: the actor John Wilkes Booth who hated everything the President stood for.

On Good Friday, April 14, 1865, the Lincolns attended a play entitled Our American Cousin at Ford's Theatre. During the performance Booth arrived at the theatre, entered the State Box from the rear, and shot the President in the back of his head at about 10:15 P.M. Lincoln was carried across the street to the Petersen House where he passed away the next day at 7:22 A.M. This was the first Presidential assassination in American history, and the nation mourned its leader. His death was the result of the deep divisions and hatreds of the times. Lincoln's body was taken to Springfield by train, and he was buried in the Lincoln Tomb in Oak Ridge Cemetery on May 4, 1865.

Abraham Lincoln is remembered for his vital role as the leader in preserving the Union and beginning the process that led to the end of slavery in the United States. He is also remembered for his character, his speeches and letters, and as a man of humble origins whose determination and perseverance led him to the nation's highest office.

1809

On the stormy morning of Sunday, February 12, Nancy Hanks Lincoln, wife of Thomas, gave birth to a boy. He was born on a bed of poles covered with corn husks. The baby was named Abraham after his grandfather. The birth took place in the Lincolns' rough-hewn cabin on Nolin Creek near Hodgenville, Kentucky. Thomas Lincoln was an uneducated carpenter and a farmer. Nancy Lincoln had little or no schooling and could not write.

1811-1812

In 1811 the Lincolns moved to a farm on Knob Creek which was also near Hodgenville. In 1811 or 1812 (possibly as late as 1815) Abraham's younger brother, Thomas, died in infancy.

1815

Abraham spent a short amount of time in a log schoolhouse. He began to learn his ABC's from a teacher named Zachariah Riney. He attended school with his sister, Sarah. Sarah had dark hair and gray eyes, and she was two years older than Abraham. Abraham attended school dressed in a raccoon cap, buckskin clothes, and pants so short that several inches of his calves were exposed. At home young Abraham heard the scriptures read from the family Bible.

1816

Young Lincoln was saved from drowning by playmate Austin Gollaher. Abraham and Sarah briefly attended school taught by Caleb Hazel, a neighbor. Late in the year the Lincoln family moved to southern Indiana and settled near present-day Gentryville. A cabin was constructed near Little Pigeon Creek. It measured 16 X 18 feet, and it had one window.

1818

Abraham's mother, Nancy, passed away on October 5th. She died of 'milk sickness,' a disease contracted by drinking milk from cows which have grazed on poisonous white snakeroot. In later years, Abraham would recall helping to carve pegs for his mother's coffin. Thomas Lincoln hauled the coffin, which was made of green pine, on a sled to the top of a thickly wooded hill and buried her without a formal funeral service. In Lexington, Kentucky, Mary AnnTodd, Abraham's future wife, was born on December 13th.

1819

Thomas Lincoln married Sarah Bush Johnston on December 2nd. Sarah's first husband, Daniel Johnston, had died in the summer of 1816. She added 3 new children by her former marriage to the Lincoln household - Elizabeth, 12; John, 9; and Matilda, 8. Abraham grew to be much closer to his step-mother than he was to his father. During 1818 or 1819 young Abraham was kicked and almost killed by a horse.

1821

Abraham began borrowing books from neighbors. He read "Pilgrim's Progress," "Aesop's Fables," "Arabian Nights", and "Robinson Crusoe."

1822

Abraham attended school taught by James Swaney for about 4 months.

1824

Abraham attended school taught by Azel Dorsey.

1825

Abraham borrowed a book titled "Life of Washington" by Parson Mason Weems. When the book got soaked with rain, he worked off its worth for his neighbor from whom he had borrowed it (Josiah Crawford). This was the very first book Abraham ever personally owned.

1826

Abraham's sister, Sarah, married a neighbor named Aaron Grigsby on August 2, but she died in childbirth 1 1/2 years later on January 28, 1828, just 3 weeks before her 21st birthday. Sarah was buried with her baby boy who was still-born.

1827

Abraham earned his first dollar ferrying passengers to a steamer on the Ohio River.

1828

Using a flatboat as transportation, Abraham took a load of farm produce down the Mississippi River to New Orleans with Allen and James Gentry.

1830

The Lincolns moved from Indiana to Illinois. They built a log cabin on the north bank of the Sangamon River about 10 miles southwest of Decatur in Macon County. Later the family moved southeast to Goose Nest Prairie in Coles County, Illinois.

1831

Young Lincoln decided to leave his family and go off on his own. His anti-slavery opinions may have been formulated when he saw the abuse of slaves during his second flatboat trip to New Orleans. In July he moved to New Salem, Illinois, where he boarded at Rutledge's tavern and became acquainted with the owner's daughter, Ann. New Salem was a frontier village consisting of one long street on a bluff over the Sangamon River. On August 1 Lincoln cast his first ballot.

1832

Lincoln joined the Illinois militia for the Black Hawk War. He was elected Captain of the volunteers but saw no military action during approximately 3 months of service. On August 6th Lincoln was defeated while running for the Illinois State Legislature. Lincoln began to operate a general store in New Salem along with William F. Berry.

1833

Lincoln became Postmaster of New Salem on May 7th. The store he operated with William Berry failed. In the fall he learned surveying and was appointed Assistant Surveyor in the northwest part of Sangamon County. Lincoln met a young woman named Mary Owens. She was 4 months older than he was, and she came to New Salem to visit her sister.

1834

Again Lincoln ran for the Illinois State Legislature, but this time he was elected. During the summer, John T. Stuart advised Lincoln to study law. On December 1 Lincoln took his seat in state government in Vandalia (Illinois' capital prior to Springfield). He became a member of the "Long Nine" (the nickname for the delegation from Sangamon County because their combined height was exactly 54 feet).

1835

When the state legislature adjourned in February, Lincoln returned to New Salem and resumed his legal studies with great determination. Additionally, he continued surveying. On August 25th Ann Rutledge passed away. Although it's unproven, some felt Ann was Lincoln's first love.

1836

Lincoln was re-elected to the Illinois House of Representatives. On September 9th, Lincoln was licensed to practice law.

1837

Lincoln, 28, was admitted to the Illinois Bar on March 1, and he moved to Springfield on April 15. He became a law partner of John Stuart and lived with Joshua Speed. Lincoln now had income from a law practice as well as a state legislator. In the fall Mary Owens rejected Lincoln's marriage proposal.

1838

Lincoln was elected for a 3rd time to the Illinois House of Representatives.

1839

Lincoln met Mary Ann Todd who had moved to Springfield from Lexington, Kentucky. Mary was living at the home of her older sister, Elizabeth Edwards. Most likely, the two met at a ball. Despite great differences in background, they became interested in each other.

1840

For the 4th and last time, Lincoln won election to the Illinois House of Representatives. In the fall Lincoln became engaged to Mary Todd.

1841

Lincoln and Mary Todd broke off their engagement. Lincoln became a law partner of Stephen T. Logan on May 14th.

1842

A proposed "duel" with James Shields on September 22 never came off. Lincoln married Mary Todd on November 4. James Harvey Matheny was the best man. Abraham gave Mary a gold wedding ring with the words "Love is Eternal" engraved inside the band. Mary wore this ring until the day she died. The marriage took place in the parlor of the Edwards' home, and the ceremony was performed by Reverend Charles Dresser, an Episcopal minister. The Lincolns moved into the Globe Tavern, a two story wooden structure in Springfield, where they boarded for $4.00 a week.

1843

The first son of the Lincolns, Robert Todd, was born August 1 at the Globe Tavern. He was so-named in honor of Mary's father. Late in the year the Lincolns moved out of the Globe Tavern and began renting a 3 room frame cottage at 214 South Fourth Street in Springfield.

1844

Abraham and Mary purchased a home from Dr. Dresser in Springfield for $1500. It was located at the corner of Eighth and Jackson. The family moved in on May 2nd. In December Lincoln accepted William Herndon as his law partner.

1846

The Lincolns had their first photograph taken. Abraham and Mary's second son, Edward Baker, was born on March 10th. On August 3rd Mr. Lincoln was elected to the United States House of Representatives. He took his seat the next year and spoke out against the Mexican War.

1847

The Lincolns boarded at Mrs. Anna G. Sprigg's boardinghouse in Washington (nowadays the Library of Congress is located on this site). On December 22nd Lincoln introduced the "spot" resolutions in Congress (having to do with his opposition to the Mexican War).

1848

Lincoln campaigned for the Whig Presidential candidate, Zachary Taylor, throughout New England. His opposition to the Mexican War was not popular in Illinois. During the summer the Lincolns, with the two boys, traveled through the state of New York, visited Niagara Falls, and took a steamer from Buffalo across the Great Lakes.

1849

Lincoln failed in his attempt to be appointed commissioner of the General Land Office, and he returned to a full time law practice in Springfield as his term in the House of Representatives had expired on March 4th. On March 7th he was admitted to practice law before the United States Supreme Court. Also, he received a patent for his device that would lift vessels over shallow spots by means of inflating buoyant chambers. Nothing ever came of his invention.

1850

Lincoln's son, "Eddie," died on February 1. His third son, William Wallace ("Willie") was born on December 21st.

1851

Mr. Lincoln's father, Thomas, passed away from a kidney ailment on January 17th. He was 73 years old and died in Coles County, Illinois. Abraham did not attend the funeral.

1853

The fourth and last son of the Lincolns, Thomas ("Tad"), was born on April 4th. His nickname stemmed from the fact that his father thought he looked like a tadpole.

1854

Lincoln was elected to the Illinois legislature, but he declined the office on November 27th to become a candidate for the U.S. Senate. (He was defeated in this attempt early in 1855). His re-entry into politics was fueled by his opposition to the Kansas-Nebraska Act. Lincoln jotted down his famous quote on slavery and democracy: "As I would not be a slave, so I would not be a master - This expresses my idea of democracy - Whatever differs from this, to the extent of the difference, is no democracy - " (The exact date of this quote is uncertain. Some sources put its origin in 1858. It was written on a scrap of paper and is not known to be part of any speech or special occasion. Mary Todd Lincoln gave it to her friend Myra Bradwell who had helped get Mrs. Lincoln released from the Illinois sanatorium she was sent to in 1875).

1856

Lincoln helped organize the new Republican Party in Illinois. In Bloomington he gave his famous "Lost Speech" on May 29th. Although he wasn't nominated, he received 110 votes for Vice-President at the Republican National Convention in Philadelphia. During the Presidential campaign, Lincoln gave over 50 speeches in support of the Republican nominee, John C. Fremont. The Lincolns added a second story to their Springfield home.

1857

Lincoln spoke out against the Dred Scott decision.

1858

Lincoln was nominated by the Republicans to run for the U.S. Senate against Stephen Douglas. He gave his famous "House Divided" speech. During the summer, Lincoln and Douglas engaged in a series of 7 debates throughout Illinois. On November 2nd Douglas won the election.

1859

Lincoln gave political speeches in Indiana, Missouri, Iowa, Wisconsin, and the Kansas Territory.

1860

Lincoln gained national fame because of his powerful speech at Cooper Union in New York City on February 27th. He toured New England making more speeches. Regarding the presidency, he wrote a friend on April 29th that "The taste is in my mouth a little." On May 18th he was nominated for President at the Republican National Convention in Chicago. In July the Lincolns' eldest son, Robert, enrolled at Harvard University. On October 15th 11-year-old Grace Bedell of Westfield, New York, wrote Lincoln a letter suggesting he grow a beard. He decided to follow her advice. On November 6th Lincoln was elected President over 3 opponents (Stephen Douglas, John Breckinridge, and John Bell) winning 39% of the popular vote but nearly 60% of the electoral vote. The Lincolns rented their home for $350 a year and sold most of their furniture. Much of the furniture was purchased by L.L. Tildon of Chicago, and it was destroyed in the Great Chicago Fire of 1871.

1861

Abraham visited his beloved step-mother, Sarah Bush Johnston Lincoln. On the rainy Monday morning of February 11th he left Springfield by train bound for Washington. He had roped his trunks himself and labeled them, "A. Lincoln, The White House, Washington, D.C." Jefferson Davis was inaugurated as the provisional President of the Confederate States of America on February 18th. Lincoln arrived in Washington on February 23rd and was inaugurated as the 16th President of the United States on March 4th. The Civil War began with the Confederate attack on Ft. Sumter in April. On April 15th Lincoln called for 75,000 volunteers to serve for 3 months. The Union met disaster at the Battle of Bull Run.

1862

On January 13th the President appointed Edwin Stanton as Secretary of War. On February 20th "Willie" Lincoln died in the White House of typhoid fever. Lincoln proposed a plan of compensated emancipation for slaves in states that remained loyal to the Union. On September 22nd the President announced the Emancipation Proclamation after the Battle of Antietam. On October 2nd the President visited General George McClellan and other Union officers at Antietam.

1863

On January 1st the Emancipation Proclamation, which freed the slaves in the rebelling areas, took effect. On March 3rd Lincoln approved the first draft law in U.S. history. In early July the Union won two major battles at Gettysburg and Vicksburg. A huge anti-draft riot took place in New York City, and many were killed. On October 3rd Lincoln issued a proclamation creating Thanksgiving Day. On November 19th Lincoln gave his famous Gettysburg Address which dedicated the battlefield there to the soldiers who had perished. He called on the living to finish the task the dead soldiers had begun. He spoke for about 2 1/2 minutes following a 2 hour speech by Edward Everett.

1864

Lincoln nominated Ulysses S. Grant Ulysses S. Grant as the first full lieutenant general since George Washington. Grant assumed his role as General-in-Chief of Union armies. Lincoln received the Republican nomination on June 8th to run for a 2nd term as President. Andrew Johnson was his Vice-Presidential running mate. On November 8th he easily defeated Democrat George B. McClellan in the Presidential election. Later in November General Sherman set Atlanta on fire and began his destructive "march to the sea." On December 6th Lincoln nominated Salmon P. Chase for Chief Justice.

1865

A peace conference at Hampton Roads, Virginia, failed. On March 4th Lincoln was inaugurated as President for the second time. Richmond was abandoned by the Confederates, and Lincoln walked through the streets of that city on April 4th. On April 9th Robert E. Lee surrendered to Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox. Lincoln gave his last public speech on April 11th. He told a crowd at the White House that he hoped for an early return of all the seceded states to the Union. The Lincolns attended the play Our American Cousin at Ford's Theatre on April 14th, and Lincoln was shot by John Wilkes Booth at about 10:15 P.M. The President died the next morning at 7:22 A.M. + 10 seconds. He was 56 years old at the time of his death. Andrew Johnson took the oath of office as the 17th President on April 15th. On April 21st a nine car funeral train that included 300 dignitaries left Washington, D.C. and began a nearly 1700 mile journey back to Springfield. During the afternoon of May 4th, Lincoln's body was buried at Oak Ridge Cemetery .

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