Abraham Lincoln

Abraham Lincoln

Abraham Lincoln was born February 12, 1809, near Hodgenville, Kentucky, and died

April 15, 1865. He is the 16th President and is known for his hard and honest work giving

him the name “Honest Abe”. Despised by some, but greatly loved by most. Lincoln continues to

have a unique appeal on his country and people of other countries. This charm of his comes from

his remarkable life-story, the rise from humble background, to the savior of the Union and

rescuer of the slaves.

Abraham Lincoln was born in Kentucky to parents, Thomas and Nancy, in a one-room

log cabin. Moved very soon to southwestern Indiana, were he was put to work at an early age

clearing the fields for crops, building “half faced” cabins. As he became older he was making

log cabins, hunting, fishing, and clearing fields. At the age of 9 he saw his mom buried in the

forest, that winter he didn’t have the warmth of a mother around. Before the onset of a second

winter, Thomas Lincoln brought home from Kentucky a new wife named Sarah Bush Johnston.

Abraham and his new mother became very close; he called her his “angel mother”. As Abraham

was growing up his mother would taught and encouraged him to read. Abraham fell in love with

reading; he would walk miles and miles just for one book. In March 1830 the Lincoln family

undertook a second migration, this time to Illinois, with Lincoln himself driving the team of

oxen. Abraham was turning twenty soon and he was roughly six foot and four inches. In his new

town of New Salem Abraham was a storekeeper, postmaster, and surveyor. He was known for

his captivating stories to his customers; he would get everyone’s attention with his stories. This

is how he grew the trust of his town, which led him to be chosen as the captain of his company in

the Black War. Being the captain of his company gave him the thirst for being in power and

control. He soon got the interest in the legislator, and ran for the state legislator but failed

multiple times.

The next year he moved to Springfield, Illinois, the new state capital, which