Home of Lincoln Family
The state memorial is believed to contain the site of the homestead, from March 1830 until March 1831, of pioneer Thomas Lincoln and about 12 members of his extended family, including grown son Abraham Lincoln.
The Lincolns moved to this location, west of Decatur, Illinois, from Indiana in March 1830. Using local logs, they constructed a 18-by-18-foot (5.5 m × 5.5 m) log cabin on the site. It was here that Abraham split rails for his father's 10-acre (4.0 ha) field, and also "hired out" to split rails for neighboring pioneer farmers, inspiring his later political nickname, the Rail Splitter. Split-rail fences were used by pioneer farmers to confine their stock, or to prevent free-range livestock from getting into and damaging a crop field.
The settlement was not successful. The Lincoln family's corn crop produced a disappointing yield, partly because it was planted directly in the sod of the tallgrass prairie, and many of the members of the family then developed severe cases of malaria associated with living in the Illinois wetlands. Following this came the winter of 1830–1831, known to pioneers as the Winter of the Deep Snow. It was a particularly harsh winter for the area, with lengthy periods of sub-zero temperatures and snowfall totalling 6 feet (180 cm). The Lincoln clan faced serious hunger. According to one report, "Abraham rode to nearby homes seeking food for his family."
The hard winter and miserable conditions broke up the Lincoln family. In March 1831, Thomas Lincoln and his wife Sarah Bush Lincoln, Abraham's stepmother, moved southeast to Coles County; they eventually built a new farmstead at what is now the Lincoln Log Cabin State Historic Site near Charleston, Illinois. Young Abraham hired out as a flatboatman, on the Sangamon, locating a new home for himself in New Salem, Illinois. See also: Abraham Lincoln's early life and career.
Read more about this topic: Lincoln Trail Homestead State Memorial
Famous quotes containing the words home, lincoln and/or family:
“I don’t stay out late, don’t care to go,
I’m home about eight, just me and my radio.”
—Andy Razaf (1895–1993)
“I have no purpose to introduce political and social equality between the white and black races. There is a physical difference between the two, which, in my judgement, will probably for ever forbid their living together upon the footing of perfect equality; and inasmuch as it becomes a necessity that there must be a difference, I ... am in favour of the race to which I belong having the superior position.”
—Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865)
“What we often take to be family values—the work ethic, honesty, clean living, marital fidelity, and individual responsibility—are in fact social, religious, or cultural values. To be sure, these values are transmitted by parents to their children and are familial in that sense. They do not, however, originate within the family. It is the value of close relationships with other family members, and the importance of these bonds relative to other needs.”
—David Elkind (20th century)