Nancy Hanks Lincoln (drawn by Lloyd Ostendorf), Thomas Lincoln, and Sarah Bush Johnston Lincoln |
ABRAHAM LINCOLN'S PARENTS
Nancy Hanks Lincoln (drawn by Lloyd Ostendorf), Thomas Lincoln, and Sarah Bush Johnston Lincoln |
NANCY HANKS LINCOLN, birth mother of Abraham
Lincoln, was born on February 5, 1784, in Hampshire County, (West) Virginia. The
birth occurred in a cabin along Mike's Run at the foot of New Creek Mountain in
what is now Mineral County, West Virginia. Nancy's mother was Lucy Hanks, but
nothing is really known about Nancy's father. According to Abraham Lincoln's law
partner, William Herndon, Abraham once said that his maternal grandfather was "a
well-bred Virginia farmer or planter." During the same conversation, Abraham
said of his mother, "God bless my mother; all that I am or ever hope to be I owe
to her."
Little is known of Nancy's early life. As a child Nancy was taken by her
mother along the Wilderness Road through the Cumberland Gap into Kentucky. In
Kentucky Lucy Hanks married Henry Sparrow. Young Nancy went to live with Henry's
brother, Thomas Sparrow, and Elizabeth Hanks Sparrow, a sister of Lucy. Soon
Nancy began being called Nancy Sparrow. Elizabeth Hanks Sparrow became almost a
mother to Nancy.
As Nancy grew up, she became skilled in the art of needlework, and she became
an excellent seamstress. She was hired to sew anything from wedding gowns to
funeral attire. Nancy became known for her work ethic, neatness, cheerfulness,
and intelligence. She was deeply religious. Her cousin, John Hanks, described
Nancy as having dark hair, hazel eyes, 5-7 in height, a delicate frame, weighing
120 pounds, and "was loved and revered by all who knew her." No photographs of
Nancy exist.
Nancy sometimes lived briefly with families she was sewing for; her services
were in demand in Hardin, Mercer, and Washington counties. During the time Nancy
was working as a seamstress she met Thomas Lincoln, a carpenter from
Elizabethtown. A romance developed, and the two decided to be married.
On June 12, 1806, Nancy Hanks and Thomas Lincoln were married; presiding over
the ceremony was the Reverend Jesse Head. The couple moved to a cabin in
Elizabethtown where Thomas worked as a carpenter making cabinets, door frames,
even coffins. The Lincolns joined the Little Mount Separate Baptist Church. A
daughter, Sarah, was born to the couple on February 10, 1807.
Later the Lincolns moved to a cabin on Nolin Creek about 3 miles from
Hodgenville. There, on the stormy morning of Sunday, February 12, 1809, Nancy
gave birth to a boy. He was born on a bed of poles covered with corn husks.
Peggy Walters, a neighbor who was only 20 years old, assisted with the birth and
said "Nancy had about as hard a time as most women, I reckon, easier than some
and maybe harder than a few. It came along kind of slow, but everything was
regular and all right. The baby was born just about sunup on Sunday morning."
The boy was named Abraham after his paternal grandfather who had been killed by
a Native American in 1786.
In 1811 the Lincolns moved to another cabin on Knob
Creek. Soon, Nancy had another boy, Thomas, who died in infancy. Nancy cried
as Dr. Potter, an Elizabethtown physician, tried in vain to save little Tommy.
In the autumn of 1816 the Lincolns moved to southern Indiana. They settled in the
wilderness on Little Pigeon Creek in Perry (later Spencer) County. Not long
thereafter, Nancy's aunt and uncle, Thomas and Elizabeth Sparrow, moved and
(after living in the Lincolns' cabin for awhile) built their own cabin on a
nearby lot.
Nancy was a good and loving mother to her children. She was very ambitious
for them and hoped they could have the opportunities in life that she and Thomas
had missed. She read to Sarah and Abraham from the Lincoln family Bible.
In 1818 an attack of milk
sickness struck the Little Pigeon Creek community. This is a disease
contracted by drinking milk from cows which have grazed on poisonous white
snakeroot. Both of the Sparrows died, and Thomas Lincoln made the coffins for
them. Nancy took ill also. For a week she struggled, but she knew she was
failing. Dennis Hanks, Nancy's cousin, recalled that she called the children to
her bedside and asked them to be good and kind to their father, to each other,
and to the world. On October 5, 1818, Nancy Hanks Lincoln passed away at the age
of 34. 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 Nancy without a formal
funeral service. Several months later, the Reverend David Elkin preached a
funeral sermon above Nancy's grave.
The grave of Nancy
Hanks Lincoln is located within the Lincoln Boyhood National Memorial in Lincoln
City, Indiana. If you are interested in Hanks' genealogy, please Click Here.
"Poor little Abe, "Scraping along "You wouldn't know
THOMAS LINCOLN, Abraham Lincoln's father, was born January 6, 1778, to
Bathsheba and Abraham Lincoln. Thomas, who was born in Rockingham County,
Virginia, was the 4th of 5 children born to the couple. His older siblings were
Mordecai, Josiah, and Mary. Thomas had a younger sister named Nancy. During the
early 1780's the family moved to Jefferson County in Kentucky. Thomas' father,
Abraham, was killed in an attack by Native Americans in May, 1786. In 1795
Thomas was listed by name in the Washington County tax lists as a white male
between the ages of 16 and 21. In c. 1797 Thomas spent a year working as a hired
hand for his Uncle Isaac on the Watauga River in Tennessee.
Thomas moved to Hardin County, Kentucky, in 1802, and he purchased a 238 acre
farm the next year. In 1806 he married Nancy Hanks. The couple had three
children: Sarah, Abraham, and Thomas (who died in infancy).
Thomas was a farmer and a carpenter and
was a responsible citizen living on the frontier. He was at times a jury member,
a petitioner for a road, and a guard for county prisoners. In terms of education
he lacked ambition, and he never fully understood Abraham's desire to read and
learn. He was a good storyteller and was popular with his neighbors. Thomas and
Nancy were members of the Little Mount Separate Baptist Church which had broken
from the regular church over the issue of slavery.
Thomas stood approximately 5-9 or 5-10 and weighed about 190 pounds. His face
was well-rounded. He had dark hazel eyes and course black hair. Thomas was
compactly built and very strong physically. He was temperate in his drinking
habits and generally had an inoffensive personality.
Late in 1816 Thomas moved his family to southern Indiana. A homesite was chosen 16
miles north of the Ohio River about a mile from Little Pigeon Creek. By
February, 1817, Thomas had built a new log cabin 18 feet square with a packed
dirt floor and a stone fireplace used for both cooking and heating. Although
Abraham was only 8, he was handed an ax and put to work helping to clear fields,
chop wood, and split rails for fences. Sadly, in 1818 Nancy Hanks Lincoln passed
away from milk sickness at the age of 34.
The next year Thomas went back to Elizabethtown, Kentucky, and proposed to
Sarah Bush Johnston, a widow whom he had known for many years. On December 2,
1819, the two were married. Soon the couple traveled back to the cabin in
Indiana along with Sarah's three children by a previous marriage: Elizabeth
(13), Matilda (10), and John D. (9). In 1823 Thomas joined the Little Pigeon
Baptist Church.
By 1827 Thomas was the owner of 100 acres of land, and in 1829 began building
a better cabin. He received news from John Hanks that Illinois had fertile soil
and was free of the milk sickness that had killed his first wife. Thomas never
finished his new cabin; he decided to move again - this time to Illinois. Thomas sold his Indiana property and moved to Macon County, Illinois, in
1830. In 1831 he moved to Coles County which was also in Illinois. It was here
that he lived for the rest of his life.
He lived on three farms in Coles County, and he purchased his last one - the Goosenest Prairie
farm - in 1840 (reproduction pictured to the right).
The Goosenest Prairie home was a double-room style cabin which was
essentially two log cabins built close to each other with the space between
boarded over. By 1845 18 people were living in the structure. These included
Thomas and Sarah, Sarah's son, John, and his wife, Mary, and their 6 children;
Sarah's daughter, Matilda, her husband, Squire Hall, and their 6 children.
As a farmer Thomas raised corn, oats, and wheat. His livestock included
chickens, horses, hogs, milk cows, sheep, and geese. By 1841 Thomas owned 120
acres of land but eventually sold a third of his land to Abraham (now a
successful lawyer in Springfield) to get out of financial difficulty. In 1848 he
received $20 from Abraham to save the rest of the land from forced sale.
Thomas Lincoln passed away on January 17, 1851, at the age of 73. Abraham,
who was not close to his father, did not attend the funeral. Thomas is buried
with his second wife, Sarah Bush Johnston Lincoln, in Gordon Cemetery at Shiloh
Church, near Farmington, Illinois, in Coles County.
Came back as a ghost,
Seeking news
Of what
she loved most,
She'd ask first
"Where's my son?
What's happened to
Abe?
What's he done?"
Left all alone
Except for Tom,
Who's a rolling
stone;
He was only nine
The year I died.
I remember still
How hard
he cried."
In a little shack,
With hardly a shirt
To cover his
back,
And a prairie wind
To blow him down,
Or pinching times
If he
went to town."
About my son?
Did he grow tall?
Did he have
fun?
Did he learn to read?
Did he get to town?
Do you know his
name?
Did he get on?"
The news we will tell
Of your Abe
Whom you
loved so well.
You asked first,
"Where's my son?"
He lives in the
heart
Of everyone.
SARAH BUSH JOHNSTON LINCOLN, Abraham
Lincoln's stepmother, was born in Hardin County, Kentucky, on December 13, 1788.
She was one of three daughters of Christopher and Hanna Bush. The Bush family
consisted of nine children. The male children were William, Samuel, Isaac,
Elijah, Christopher and John. The female children were Hannah, Rachel, and
Sarah. By the time Sarah was two, the family had moved to the Elizabethtown area
and Sarah grew up there. Sarah met young Thomas Lincoln in Elizabethtown, but
she married a man named Daniel Johnston on March 13, 1806. The ceremony was
performed by Rev. Benjamin Ogden, a Methodist preacher. Little is known about
Daniel Johnston other than the fact that he was always in debt. On November 14,
1814, Johnston was appointed as jailer of Hardin County. Living quarters for the
jailer and his family were provided in one corner of the stone jail. Sarah
cooked for the inmates and kept the jail clean. Most likely this was an unhappy
environment for Sarah and the 3 young children the Johnstons had (Elizabeth,
Matilda, and John D.).
In the summer of 1816 Daniel Johnston died. Sarah then moved into a cabin owned by
Samuel Haycraft. Later she purchased the cabin and was living there with her 3
children when, late in 1819, Thomas Lincoln appeared at her door announcing that
he had been a widower for more than a year. Thomas learned that Sarah owed a few
debts, and after Thomas paid these, the two were married. The wedding took place
on December 2, 1819. This was the second marriage for both Thomas (age 41) and
Sarah (age 31).
All of Sarah's belongings were piled into a wagon, and the group headed for
Thomas' home in Indiana. Thomas rode on horseback, and Sarah and her 3 children
rode in the crowded wagon. When they finally arrived, Abraham and Sarah Lincoln
met their new mother and found they would have 3 new playmates.
It seems young Abraham took to his new mother right away. Among her
belongings were several books including Webster's Speller and Robinson
Crusoe. Sarah provided a refreshing new home life for both Lincoln children.
Although Sarah was illiterate herself, she seems to have greatly encouraged
Abraham's studious habits. She told William Herndon that "Abe was the best boy I
ever saw" and that he "never gave me a cross word or look." Additionally she
tried to persuade Thomas Lincoln to look more kindly on Abraham's reading
habits. Her influence on Abraham was excellent, and the two grew to love each
other.
In appearance Sarah stood straight and tall and had black, curly hair. She
was a hard worker who was charitable and kind-hearted. Her strong moral
character was noted by those who knew her. The Lincoln family remained in
Indiana until 1830 when they moved on to Illinois, finally settling in present
day Coles County, Illinois.
When Abraham went off on his own in 1831 he continued to visit his stepmother
periodically. When Thomas Lincoln died in 1851, Abraham retained a 40 acre plot
of land in his own name "for Mother while she lives." All of Sarah's children
were married and each had at least 7 children. By the 1850's Sarah was a
grandmother to over 20 children. She remained an energetic person, but she
occasionally suffered from rheumatism.
After Abraham was elected President in 1860, he made one last visit to his
stepmother before he left for Washington. During this visit Abraham and Sarah
rode out to Shiloh Cemetery to visit the grave of Thomas Lincoln. It seems that
Sarah had a premonition that this would be the last time she would see her
beloved stepson.
Sarah continued to live at the Goosenest Prairie home for her remaining
years. She passed away at the age of 80 on April 12, 1869. (Source: "Sarah Bush
Johnston Lincoln's Date of Death" by Wayne C. Temple in the Fall, 2000, edition
of the Lincoln Herald). She is buried with her second husband, Thomas
Lincoln, in Gordon Cemetery at Shiloh Church, near Farmington, Illinois, in
Coles County.
Some sources of information on Abraham Lincoln's
parents include The Abraham Lincoln Encyclopedia by Mark E. Neely, Jr.,
In Lincoln's Footsteps by Don Davenport, The Lineage of Lincoln by
William E. Barton, The Paternity of Abraham Lincoln by William E. Barton,
The Women Lincoln Loved by William E. Barton, Herndon's Life of
Lincoln by William H. Herndon and Jesse W. Weik, Lincoln's Boyhood
Indiana Years 1816-1830 by Louis A. Warren, and Lincoln's Boyhood by
Francis Marion Van Natter. For younger readers there are Nancy Hanks of
Wilderness Road: A Story of Abraham Lincoln's Mother by Meridel Le Sueur and
Abe Lincoln's Other Mother: The Story of Sarah Bush Lincoln by Bernadine
Bailey. Additionally there is Lincoln's Mothers: A Story of Nancy and Sally
Lincoln by Dorothy Clarke Wilson.
The painting of Nancy Hanks Lincoln (drawn by Lloyd Ostendorf) came from the
Summer, 1998, edition of the Lincoln
Herald. The photograph of Thomas Lincoln is from the Lincoln Memorial
University in Harrogate, Tennessee. The photograph of Sarah Bush Johnston
Lincoln is from the Illinois State Historical Library.
You are person number 
to visit
this page.
