We know it is no longer possible to add anything new to the written word
about Lincoln. The hundreds of historians who have attempted to write
the life of the Great Emancipator have covered every facet of it.
Therefore, we have chosen to present our story of a by-gone day in a
series of camera impressions, hoping to arouse in our readers an
emotional sense of “present being.”
We have done this for two reasons: first, because Lincoln’s early
frontier has achieved a factual and imaginative rebirth through loving
care and painstaking efforts after having fallen into ruin for many
years. Secondly, we believe as many historians do, that America owes
much of the credit for its national character and institutions to the
atmosphere of the early frontier. It was the appreciation of the role it
played on the character of Lincoln that brought about the restoration of
New Salem, Illinois, and those objects which were so closely associated
with him. These objects are of special interest because it was among
them that he moved slowly forward through a cycle of failures and
successes before reaching the high place which destiny had reserved for
him. No man in American history has started with so little and achieved
so much.
With a certain temerity then, we present our pictorial history of the
environment in which Lincoln spent the most formative years of his life.
It was from this frontier atmosphere and these frontier people that
Lincoln acquired his uncanny understanding of how common folk think and
the wisdom that enabled him to hold in his hands the ties that bound a
people and made a nation.
_A Brief Chronology of Abraham Lincoln_
Feb. 12, 1809 Born on Sinking Spring Farm near Hodgenville, Kentucky.
1811 to 1816 The family, which included Abe’s sister, Sarah, lived
on Knob Creek near Hodgenville, Kentucky.
Nov. 1816 The family moved to Pigeon Creek in Indiana.
Oct. 5, 1818 Abe’s mother died of “milk sickness.”
Dec. 2, 1819 Thomas Lincoln married Sarah Bush Johnston, a widow
with three children, from Elizabethtown, Kentucky.
Jan. 20, 1828 Sister Sarah died.
Mar. 1830 The Lincoln family moved from Indiana to Illinois.
Apr. 19, 1831 Offut’s flatboat piloted by Lincoln got stuck on the
dam at New Salem, Illinois.
Mar. 9, 1832 Announced candidacy for the Illinois Legislature.
May 8, 1832 Mustered into U.S. Army for service in Black Hawk War.
July 16, 1832 Mustered out of military service.
Aug. 6, 1832 Defeated for the Legislature.
May 7, 1833 Appointed postmaster at New Salem, Illinois.
Aug. 4, 1834 Elected to the Legislature.
Mar. 24, 1836 Sworn in as a lawyer of the Circuit Court of Sangamon
County.
Aug. 1, 1836 Reelected to the Legislature for a second term.
Sept. 9, 1836 Licensed to practice law.
Mar. 1, 1837 Admitted to the bar in Illinois.
Mar. 15, 1837 Moved from New Salem to Springfield, Illinois.
Aug. 1, 1838 Reelected to the Legislature for a third term.
Dec. 3, 1839 Admitted to practice law in the Circuit Court of the
United States.
Aug. 1, 1840 Reelected to the Legislature for a fourth term.
Nov. 4, 1842 Married Mary Todd of Lexington, Kentucky.
Aug. 1, 1843 First child, Robert Todd Lincoln, was born.
Jan. 7, 1844 Bought home in Springfield.
Mar. 10, 1846 Second child, Edward Baker Lincoln, was born.
Aug. 3, 1846 Elected to Congress.
Dec. 6, 1847 Took seat in Congress.
Mar. 7, 1849 Admitted to practice law before United States Supreme
Court.
Feb. 1, 1850 Second child, Edward Baker Lincoln, died.
Dec. 21, 1850 Third child, William Wallace Lincoln, was born.
Jan. 17, 1851 Lincoln’s father, Thomas, died.
Apr. 4, 1853 Fourth child, Thomas “Tad” Lincoln, was born.
June 16, 1858 Delivered “house divided” speech at Springfield.
Aug. 21, 1858 First debate, with Stephen A. Douglas at Ottawa,
Illinois.
Aug. 27, 1858 Second debate, at Freeport, Illinois.
Sept. 15, 1858 Third debate, at Jonesboro, Illinois.
Sept. 18, 1858 Fourth debate, at Charleston, Illinois.
Oct. 7, 1858 Fifth debate, at Galesburg, Illinois.
Oct. 13, 1858 Sixth debate, at Quincy, Illinois.
Oct. 15, 1858 Seventh and last debate, at Alton, Illinois.
Nov. 2, 1858 Defeated by Douglas for the United States Senate.
Nov. 5, 1858 First mentioned in press for President.
May 18, 1860 Nominated for the Presidency.
Nov. 6, 1860 Elected President.
Jan. 31, 1861 Visited for the last time with his stepmother.
Mar. 4, 1861 Inaugurated as President.
Nov. 8, 1864 Reelected as President.
Mar. 4, 1865 Reinaugurated as President.
Apr. 14, 1865 Shot by Booth.
Apr. 15, 1865 Died in Washington.
May 4, 1865 Buried in Oak Ridge Cemetery, Springfield, Illinois.
[Illustration: It was from the faithful Sinking Spring, near
Hodgenville, Kentucky, that the farm of Lincoln’s nativity got its
name.]
[Illustration: The branches of the Boundary Oak, a landmark for early
frontiersmen, still shelter the hallowed birthplace of the man who
went to school for perhaps a year, split rails in frontier clearings,
traveled the Eighth Circuit as a lawyer, became President of the
United States, freed the slaves, spoke the First and Second Inaugurals
and the Gettysburg Address.]
[Illustration: On February 12, 1809, a blizzard raged at Sinking
Spring Farm, near Hodgenville, Kentucky. The wind howled down the
chimney and through the cracks of the humble log cabin in which
Abraham Lincoln was born to Thomas and Nancy Lincoln. The proud
parents named the boy Abraham after his grandfather.]
[Illustration: When Abe was two years old, his father moved the family
to Knob Creek Farm where they lived until Abe was seven. The cabin lay
nestled in a valley surrounded by rolling hills and deep gorges. Here
Abe played with his friend, Austin Gollaher, gathered firewood from
the forest, wild berries from the vales, and for a short time attended
Mrs. Hodgen’s “blab” school. Thomas Lincoln decided to move his family
across the Ohio River to live on Pigeon Creek in Indiana where the
soil was richer and there were no slaves.]
[Illustration: The Lincoln’s erected a new log cabin on Pigeon Creek
in Indiana. For the next fourteen years they struggled with the almost
impossible odds of a bitter and treacherous wilderness. It was here
that Abe’s mother died, and he helped his father lay her to rest in
the forest.]
[Illustration: In the little Log Schoolhouse near Pigeon Creek, in
Indiana, Abe managed to get a few scattered weeks of sporadic
schooling in readin’ writin’ and cipherin’ to the rule of three.]
[Illustration: Abe did his homework by the light of the smouldering
fireplace. He would scrape his charcoal cipherin’ from wooden boards
so as to use them over and over again.]
[Illustration: The Lincoln family often attended services in the
little Baptist Church that Abe helped his father to build, near Pigeon
Creek, in Indiana.]
[Illustration: This was the home of Josiah Crawford, a neighboring
farmer, where Abe alternated working and learning. Mr. Crawford had
several books which he lent Abe. When plowing, Abe read at the end of
each furrow while he stopped to allow his horse to “breathe.”]
[Illustration: In Gentryville, not far from Pigeon Creek, Mr. Gentry,
a farmer and storekeeper lived in this two-story log mansion. At
times, when his father didn’t need his help, Abe worked in Mr.
Gentry’s store and on the farm. He helped Allen, Mr. Gentry’s son,
build a flatboat, load it with store produce and float it down the
Ohio and Mississippi rivers to New Orleans.]
[Illustration: It was early spring of 1830 when the Lincoln’s made the
long dismal journey from Indiana to the promising prairies of
Illinois. Their stout wagons were piled high with rough-hewn
furniture, feather beds, personal belongings, iron pots and pans.
There were plows for breaking the “prairie’s sleeping sod” and tools
for building a new log cabin.]
[Illustration: This rustic abode was the last home of Thomas and Sarah
Lincoln. Abe, who was now past twenty-one, had left his parents to
seek his fortune on the bustling Illinois frontier.]
[Illustration: Timber lined the river’s banks and crowned the rolling
hills.]
[Illustration: Historical marker.]