02/06/2026
ABRAHAM LINCOLN BIRTHDAY! On Sunday, February 12, 1809, in a warm log cabin at Sinking Spring Farm in Kentucky, Thomas Lincoln and his first wife Nancy Hanks Lincoln had a new born son, Abraham Lincoln. His older sister, Sarah was very close to her younger brother. Unfortunately their mother passed away on October 5, 1818. His sister later died during childbirth in January 1838. On December 2, 1819, Thomas Lincoln married his second wife Sarah Bush Johnston, a widow. Sarah had three children from her marriage to Daniel Johnston: John, Elizabeth, and Matilda. Thomas delivered a very sound proposal to his wife to be: His proposal was apparently: "I have no wife and you no husband. I came a-purpose to marry you. I knowed you from a gal and you knowed me from a boy. I've no time to lose: and if you're willin' let it be done straight off." The two decided to marry, and Lincoln paid her outstanding debts. (Interesting note: One of Sarah’s nine siblings, Isaac Bush, several years before sold Sinking Spring Farm to Thomas Lincoln.)
Abraham Lincoln had a very interesting path that led him to become a politician. He had a partnership in a general store, which failed. He served in the militia during the Black Hawk War and was Postmaster. He learned and practiced surveying for a time and even considered becoming a blacksmith. He ran for a seat in the state legislature in 1832 and lost. Two years later he ran again and was successful. He was re-elected in 1836. At the time of the 1834 campaign he was encouraged to study law by John T. Stuart. In March 1837, he was enrolled as an attorney and the following month moved to Springfield to begin his law practice.
Special Thanks: To the Department of the Interior and the National Park Service for the use of the oldest known photograph of Abraham Lincoln.
