Abraham Lincoln was born on the 12th day of February, 1809, on the Big
South Fork of Nolin Creek, in what was then known as Hardin, but is
now known as La Rue County, Kentucky, about three miles from
Hodgensville.
The above illustration represents the cabin in which he was born, as
described by his former neighbors.
Out of that old hut came the mighty man of destiny, the matchless man
of the Nineteenth Century. The world has no parallel for that
transition from the cabin to the White House.
Julia Ward [Howe] was born in New York City, May 27, 1819. At an early
age she wrote plays and poems. In 1843 Miss Ward married Dr. Samuel
Gridley Howe. In 1861, while on a visit to the camp near Washington,
with Governor John A. Andrew and other friends, Mrs. Howe wrote to the
air of "John Brown's Body" the "Battle Hymn of the Republic" which has
become so popular. She also published several books of poems. She
espoused the Woman-Suffrage movement in 1869, and devoted much of her
time to the cause. She died in 1910.
This poem was written by Mrs. Howe in her ninetieth year and read by
her in Symphony Hall, Boston, on the centenary of the martyred
President's birthday, February 12, 1909.