Genealogy and History Fan

Abraham Lincoln was born on February 12, 1809 in Hardin County, Kentucky, to Thomas and Nancy Hanks Lincoln. Thomas was a carpenter and a farmer. Due to a land title problem the Lincoln family (Thomas, Nancy, older sister Sarah and Abraham) moved to Perry County, Indiana in 1816. A land ordinance act in that area made land titles more secure. A state anti-slavery act also made Indiana a more agreeable place for them to live since they opposed slavery.

Very little is known about Nancy Hanks Lincoln who died when Abraham was 8 years old (1818). Thomas remarried the next year to Sarah Bush Johnston, a widow with 3 children. Lincoln said of his step-mother, “she proved to be a good and kind mother.”

Lincoln was raised to be a farmer and had very little formal education as a child. Nevertheless he learned to read, write and do some arithmetic. His love for reading proved a continual source of conflict between Abraham and his father.

In 1830, the Lincolns moved to Illinois.  Abraham tried his hand at various occupations and served in the military during the Black Hawk War.

Lincoln became interested in a political career and was a candidate for the Illinois Legislature in 1832. He lost that first election but went on to serve 4 terms in that legislature. During this time he studied law and became an attorney in 1836. He also served one term in the U.S. House of Representatives.

In 1854 he lost his bid for a seat in the U.S. Senate. In 1856 he nearly became the U.S. vice-presidential nominee. He continued to gain national prominence and was elected President of the United States on November 6, 1860. He was elected to a second term in 1864.

Of the handful of men who have held that office, a few have stood out for their great achievements and leadership in a time that changed the country forever. One of these truly great presidents was Abraham Lincoln. Probably more than any other president, Lincoln had to handle one of the bloodiest and costliest wars in the nation’s history. Of course the reason that made it so horrible was that all of the casualties on both sides were casualties of Americans. This was a dispute that could have permanently torn the country in half and that could have resulted in dozens of small weak independent states instead of the powerful nation we know as America today.

It was Lincoln’s leadership, his commitment to values and his strong moral fiber that made it possible for America to find its way through that war and then to begin the healing process that would eventually lead the nation back to unity once again. His bold and unchanging opposition to slavery is without any doubt his greatest contribution to the history of America and indeed to world history as well. He was willing to put everything on the line to stop this barbaric social sin. Lincoln made a stand to bring slavery to an end.

On Good Friday, April 14, 1865, the Lincolns went to Ford Theater to see the play “Our American Cousin”. John Wilkes Booth, a racist and Southern sympathizer, shot Lincoln in the back of the head. He died the next morning. He was the first U.S. president to be assassinated. For months the nation greatly mourned their fallen leader.

The freedom that was won for so many black Americans in the Civil War permanently enshrined the memory of Abraham Lincoln as one of our greatest presidents in the hearts and minds of all Americans. Small wonder the monument honoring him on Washington’s national mall is one of the most revered spots in the nation and one that thousands flock to each year.

Inscribed on a wall of his monument is a quote from his second inaugural speech. Although written 143 years ago, his words are still relevant for our nation today.

“With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in; to bind up the nation’s wounds…”