Chronology

Key: Personal Life; Historical Events; Legal Career; Political Career; Court Sessions.

1809
February 12	Abraham Lincoln was born in Hardin County, Kentucky.
March 1	Congress organized Illinois as a territory with Kaskaskia as the capital and Ninian Edwards as the governor.
March 4	James Madison took office as president of the United States.

1811
Spring	The Lincoln family moved to a farm on Knob Creek in Kentucky.

1812
	Thomas Lincoln, Abraham's baby brother, was born and died.
June	Congress passed a declaration of war against England marking the beginning of the War of 1812.

1813
March 4	James Madison began his second term as President of the United States.

1815
Autumn	Abraham Lincoln and his sister Sarah attended school for a few weeks.

1816
December	Abraham Lincoln’s family moved from Kentucky to Indiana.

1817
March 4	James Monroe took office as president of the United States.

1818
October 5	Lincoln’s mother, Nancy Hanks Lincoln, died of milk sickness.
December 3	Illinois came into the Union as the twenty-first state, and Kaskaskia became the first state capital. The population of the state was 34,620.

1819
December 2	Lincoln's father, Thomas Lincoln, married Sarah Bush Johnston.

1820
	The population of Illinois was 55,211.
December 4	The Second Illinois General Assembly convened at the new state capital in Vandalia.

1821
February	The Illinois General Assembly chartered a state bank in Vandalia, with branches in Shawneetown, Edwardsville, and Brownsville.
March 4	James Monroe began his second term as President of the United States.

1825
March 4	John Quincy Adams took office as president of the United States.
October 26	The Erie Canal opened.

1828
January 20	Lincoln’s sister Sarah Lincoln Grigsby died in childbirth.
	Lincoln and Allen Gentry took a flatboat of cargo to New Orleans.

1829
March 4	Andrew Jackson took office as president of the United States.

1830
	The population of Illinois was 157,445.
	The first state prison was built at Alton.
March	Abraham Lincoln’s family moved from Indiana to Illinois.
December 9	John Reynolds took office as governor of Illinois.

1831
	Cyrus Hall McCormick invented the McCormick Reaper.
April-July	Lincoln took a flatboat of cargo to New Orleans for Denton Offutt.
July	Lincoln settled in New Salem, Illinois.
August 1	Lincoln first voted in an election.
September	Lincoln became a clerk in Denton Offutt's New Salem store.
November 12	Lincoln began writing legal documents for friends in New Salem, the first being a bond for deed for James Estep. Lincoln continued this practice until his admission to the bar in 1836.

1832
March 9	Lincoln became a candidate for the Illinois legislature.
April - July	Lincoln served in the Black Hawk War.
August	The Black Hawk War ended when the Sauk and Fox Indians left the Illinois lands that they had ceded in 1804.
August 6	Lincoln lost his first campaign for the Illinois House of Representatives.
December 15	Lincoln served as a witness in Close v. Ritter before Justice of the Peace John N. Moore. It is the first known legal case in which Lincoln was involved in Illinois.

1833
January 15	Lincoln and William F. Berry purchased a store in New Salem for $750.
March 4	Andrew Jackson began his second term as President of the United States.
May 7-May 30, 1836	Lincoln served as postmaster of New Salem.
August 12	The Board of Trustees of Chicago met for the first time, marking the beginning of the legal existence of the town.
September-April, 1834	Lincoln appeared as a defendant in four cases in Sangamon County Circuit Court related to the indebtedness of his and William Berry’s failed general store.

1834
January 6	Lincoln made his first known land survey.
[July]	While Lincoln was campaigning for the legislature for a second time, John T. Stuart encouraged him to study law.
August 4	Lincoln won election to the Illinois House of Representatives.
November 17	William Lee Davidson Ewing took office as governor of Illinois after John Reynolds resigned.
December 1-January 18, 1836	Lincoln served in the Illinois General Assembly.
December 3	Joseph Duncan took office as governor of Illinois.

1835
January 17	The formation of the First Judicial Circuit, which included Calhoun, Greene, Macon, Macoupin, McLean, Morgan, Sangamon, and Tazewell counties, became effective.
December 7	A special session of the Illinois Legislature began in Vandalia.

1836
March 24	On record of the Sangamon County Circuit Court, the clerk entered Lincoln’s name as a person of good moral character, one of the steps necessary to obtain a license to practice law.
June 13	Lincoln began campaigning for re-election to the Illinois General Assembly.
August - November	The First Judicial Circuit Court was in session.
August 1	Lincoln won election for a second term in the Illinois House of Representatives.
September 9	Lincoln was admitted to the Illinois bar by the Illinois Supreme Court.
October 8	In the Sangamon County Circuit Court, Lincoln defended David Wooldridge in Hawthorn v. Wooldridge, his first case as an attorney. The jury found for Hawthorn.
December 5-July 22, 1837	Lincoln served his second term in the Illinois House of Representatives.
December 12	The Illinois Supreme Court began its session at Vandalia.

1837
	John Deere invented the self-scouring steel plow.
February 24-25	The Illinois General Assembly, House and Senate, voted to move the state capital from Vandalia to Springfield. Lincoln had been involved in the effort to relocate the state capital.
February 27	The Illinois General Assembly approved the Internal Improvements Act.
	Livingston County became part of the First Judicial Circuit.
March 1	The clerk entered Lincoln’s name on the roll of attorneys in the Illinois Supreme Court Clerk’s office.
March 3	Cass County became part of the First Judicial Circuit.
March 3	Lincoln and Dan Stone presented an anti-slavery protest in the Illinois House of Representatives.
March 4	Martin Van Buren took office as president of the United States.
	The Illinois General Assembly incorporated the city of Chicago.
March-April	The First Judicial Circuit was in session.
April 15	Lincoln moved to Springfield and became John T. Stuart’s junior law partner. They set up their law office in one of a row of newly built, two-story brick buildings known as “Hoffman’s Row” at what is now 109 N. Fifth Street.
May	During the Panic of 1837, the State Bank of Illinois suspended specie payments.
June	The Illinois Supreme Court began its session at Vandalia.
July	The Sangamon County Circuit Court was in session.
September-October	The First Judicial Circuit was in session.
November 8	A mob killed abolitionist newspaper editor Elijah P. Lovejoy in Alton, Illinois.
December	The Illinois Supreme Court began its session at Vandalia.

1838
January 27	Lincoln delivered an address to the Young Men's Lyceum of Springfield, Illinois.
March-May	The First Judicial Circuit was in session.
July	The First Judicial Circuit was in session.
August 6	Lincoln won election to a third term in the Illinois House of Representatives.
September-November	The First Judicial Circuit was in session.
October 12	Lincoln successfully defended Henry Truett, accused of murder, in People v. Truett, a politically charged case in Sangamon County Circuit Court.
November 6	John T. Stuart won election to the United States Congress as a Whig.
November 18	The first locomotive in Illinois began operating on the Northern Cross Railroad at Meredosia.
December	The Illinois Supreme Court began its session at Vandalia.
December 3-February 3, 1840	Lincoln served his third term in the Illinois House of Representatives.
December 3	Lincoln was defeated for speaker of the Illinois House of Representatives.
December 7	Thomas Carlin took office as governor of Illinois.

1839
	Springfield became the state capital.
February 23	The Eighth Judicial Circuit, which included Christian, Livingston, Logan, Macon, McLean, Menard, Sangamon, and Tazewell counties, became effective.
March	Sangamon County Circuit Court was in session.
March 3	Dewitt County became part of the Eighth Judicial Circuit.
May-July	The Eighth Judicial Circuit was in session.
June 24	Lincoln won election to the Springfield town board.
July	The Illinois Supreme Court began its session at Springfield.
September-December	The Eighth Judicial Circuit was in session.
October 8	Lincoln was named a Whig presidential elector.
November 2	After John T. Stuart left for Washington to assume his congressional responsibilities, Lincoln noted in their law office fee book: “Commencement of Lincoln’s Administration.”
December	The Illinois Supreme Court began its session at Springfield.
December 2-March 3, 1841	Stuart served in the United States Congress. He remained in Washington for the rest of his law partnership with Lincoln.
December 3	The United States District Court admitted Lincoln to practice law.
December 9	The Illinois legislature met in Springfield for the first time.

1840
	The population of Illinois was 476,183.
	The National Road reached Vandalia, Illinois.
March	The Sangamon County Circuit Court was in session.
May-July	The Eighth Judicial Circuit was in session.
June	The United States district and circuit courts began their sessions at Springfield.
	The Illinois Supreme Court began its session at Springfield.
June 18	Lincoln argued his first case in the Illinois Supreme Court.
August 3	Lincoln won election to a fourth term in the Illinois House of Representatives.
September-December	The Eighth Judicial Circuit was in session.
November 23-March 1, 1841	Lincoln served his fourth term in the Illinois House of Representatives.
December	The United States district and circuit courts began their sessions at Springfield.
	The Illinois Supreme Court began its session at Springfield.

1841
February 10	The Democratic-controlled Illinois General Assembly increased the number of Illinois Supreme Court justices by five to give the Democrats a six-to-three majority on the court.
February 23	The reformation of the Eighth Judicial Circuit, which included Champaign, Christian, Dewitt, Livingston, Logan, Macon, Mason, McLean, Menard, Piatt, Sangamon, Shelby, and Tazewell counties, became effective.
February 27	Woodford County became part of the Eighth Judicial Circuit.
March 4	William Henry Harrison took office as president of the United States.
March-June	The Eighth Judicial Circuit was in session.
April 4	President William Henry Harrison died in office, and John Tyler succeeded him.
April 14	Lincoln became the junior law partner of Stephen T. Logan. They began their partnership in a building opposite “Hoffman’s Row” at what is now 108-110 N. Fifth Street.
June	The United States district and circuit courts began their sessions at Springfield.
July	The Illinois Supreme Court began its session at Springfield.
July 23	In Bailey v. Cromwell & McNaghton, Lincoln represented Bailey and argued before the Illinois Supreme Court that his client’s promissory note to purchase a slave from Cromwell was invalid because Cromwell failed to prove that the woman was a slave. The court ruled for Bailey.
August-September	Lincoln visited his friend Joshua F. Speed in Kentucky for three weeks.
September-December	The Eighth Judicial Circuit was in session.
December	The United States district and circuit courts began their sessions at Springfield.
	The Illinois Supreme Court began its session at Springfield.

1842
February 1	The Federal Bankruptcy Act became effective.
February 15	The first train, part of the Northern Cross Railroad from Meredosia, reached Springfield.
March-June	The Eighth Judicial Circuit was in session.
March 1	The United States District Court admitted Lincoln to practice law.
June	The United States district and circuit courts began their sessions at Springfield.
July	The Illinois Supreme Court began its session at Springfield.
	The Sangamon County Circuit Court was in session.
August 1	Logan won election to the Illinois House of Representatives.
September-December	The Eighth Judicial Circuit was in session.
September 22	Friends kept Lincoln and James Shields from fighting a duel.
November 4	Reverend Charles Dresser married Lincoln and Mary Todd in a small ceremony at the home of Ninian W. Edwards in Springfield.
December	The United States district and circuit courts began their sessions at Springfield.
	The Illinois Supreme Court began its session at Springfield.
December 5-March 6, 1843	Logan served in the Illinois House of Representatives.

1843
January	Lincoln successfully defended Illinois Supreme Court Justice Thomas C. Browne in his impeachment trial in the Illinois General Assembly.
February 16	Moultrie County became part of the Eighth Judicial Circuit.
March-June	The Eighth Judicial Circuit was in session.
March 3	Congress repealed the Federal Bankruptcy Act.
June	The United States district and circuit courts began their sessions at Springfield.
July	The Sangamon County Circuit Court was in session.
August	Sometime in the late summer, Logan and Lincoln moved their law office to the third floor of the Tinsley Building at what is now the corner of Sixth and Adams streets.
August 1	Robert Todd Lincoln, the Lincolns’ first child, was born in Springfield at the Globe Tavern, where Abraham and Mary resided.
September-November	The Eighth Judicial Circuit was in session.
December	The United States district and circuit courts began their sessions at Springfield.
	The Illinois Supreme Court began its session at Springfield.

1844
January 16	In Springfield, Abraham and Mary Lincoln purchased their first and only home for $1,200.
March-June	The Eighth Judicial Circuit was in session.
May 1	The Lincolns moved into their new home.
June	The United States district and circuit courts began their sessions at Springfield.
June 27	The violence against the Mormons in Nauvoo, Illinois, culminated when a mob murdered Joseph and Hyrum Smith at Carthage.
July	The Sangamon County Circuit Court was in session.
July 3	Lincoln filed the bill of complaint in Gilman et al. v. Hamilton et al., a case involving trusts and Illinois College.
August 5	Logan won election to a second term in the Illinois House of Representatives.
September-November	The Eighth Judicial Circuit was in session.
September 4	Lincoln acted as pension attorney for Jacob Gundy, the first of several pension clients whom Lincoln represented during his legal practice.
October-November	Lincoln campaigned for Whig presidential candidate Henry Clay.
December	Logan and Lincoln dissolved their partnership, and Lincoln formed a law partnership with William H. Herndon as the junior partner. The new partnership remained in the Tinsley Building.
	The United States district and circuit courts began their sessions at Springfield.
	The Illinois Supreme Court began its session at Springfield.
December 9	William H. Herndon was admitted to the bar.

1845
February 21	The reformation of the Eighth Judicial Circuit, which included Champaign, Christian, Dewitt, Edgar, Livingston, Logan, Macon, McLean, Menard, Moultrie, Piatt, Sangamon, Tazewell, Vermilion, and Woodford counties, became effective.
March-June	The Eighth Judicial Circuit was in session.
March 4	James K. Polk took office as president of the United States.
June	The United States district and circuit courts began their sessions at Springfield.
July-August	The Sangamon County Circuit Court was in session.
September-November	The Eighth Judicial Circuit was in session.
December	The United States district and circuit courts began their sessions at Springfield.
	The Illinois Supreme Court began its session at Springfield.

1846
March-June	The Eighth Judicial Circuit was in session.
March 10	Edward Baker "Eddie" Lincoln, the Lincolns’ second child, was born.
May	The Mexican War began when General Zachary Taylor’s forces defeated the Mexicans in two battles north of the Rio Grande.
June	The United States district and circuit courts began their sessions at Springfield.
July	The Sangamon County Circuit Court was in session.
August 3	Lincoln won election to the United States Congress.
September-December	The Eighth Judicial Circuit was in session.
December	The United States district and circuit courts began their sessions at Springfield.
	The Illinois Supreme Court began its session at Springfield.
December 9	Augustus C. French took office as governor of Illinois.

1847
	Cyrus Hall McCormick began the manufacture of wheat reapers in Chicago.
February 11	The reformation of the Eighth Judicial Circuit, which included Champaign, Christian, Dewitt, Edgar, Logan, Macon, McLean, Moultrie, Piatt, Sangamon, Shelby, Tazewell, Vermilion, and Woodford counties, became effective.
March-June	The Eighth Judicial Circuit was in session.
June	The United States district and circuit courts began their sessions at Springfield.
July	The Sangamon County Circuit Court was in session.
September-November	The Eighth Judicial Circuit was in session.
October 16	In the Coles County Circuit Court, Lincoln represented a slave owner in the case In Re Bryant et al. Lincoln argued that his client had the right to take his slaves to Illinois. The court ruled that the slaves were free.
November	In anticipation of Lincoln’s congressional term in Washington, Herndon moved to a smaller law office in the Tinsley Building.
	The Lincoln family visited Mary's relatives in Lexington, Kentucky.
December	The United States district and circuit courts began their sessions at Springfield.
	The Illinois Supreme Court began its session at Springfield.
December 6-August 14, 1848	Lincoln served in the first session of the 30th United States Congress, which kept him away from Springfield, leaving the law practice in the hands of Herndon, his junior partner.
December 22	Lincoln introduced his “Spot Resolutions” in the United States House of Representatives.

1848
January	An American carpenter discovered gold in the California foothills of the Sierra Nevada range, sparking the California Gold Rush.
February 2	The Mexican War ended with the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo.
March-June	The Eighth Judicial Circuit was in session.
March 6	Illinois ratified the state’s second constitution, which became effective April 1.
April 21	The Illinois and Michigan Canal between Chicago and Ottawa, Illinois, opened, connecting the headwaters of the Illinois River with Lake Michigan. Construction had begun in 1836.
June	The United States district and circuit courts began their sessions at Springfield.
June 7-9	Lincoln attended the Whig convention in Philadelphia which nominated Zachary Taylor for president.
July	The United States district and circuit courts began their sessions at Chicago.
	The Sangamon County Circuit Court was in session.
July 19-20	The first woman's rights convention took place in Seneca Falls, New York.
September-November	The Eighth Judicial Circuit was in session.
September 12-22	Lincoln made a speaking tour in New England.
December	The United States district and circuit courts began their sessions at Springfield.
	The Illinois Supreme Court began its session at Springfield.
December 4-March 3, 1849	Lincoln served in the second session of the 30th United States Congress.

1849
January 8	Augustus C. French began his second term as governor of Illinois.
January 26	The reformation of the Illinois Supreme Court into three grand divisions became effective. The First Grand Division began its session in November at Mt. Vernon, the Second Grand Division in December at Springfield, and the Third Grand Division in June at Ottawa.
March-June	The Eighth Judicial Circuit was in session.
March 4	Zachary Taylor took office as president of the United States.
March 7	United States Supreme Court admitted Lincoln to bar.
	Lincoln delivered his only oral argument before the United States Supreme Court in Lewis for use of Longworth v. Lewis.
May 22	Lincoln's was granted a patent on a device for refloating vessels that had run aground.
June	The United States district and circuit courts began their sessions at Springfield.
July	The United States district and circuit courts began their sessions at Chicago.
	The Sangamon County Circuit court was in session.
September-November	The Eighth Judicial Circuit was in session.
September 27	Lincoln declined appointment as governor of Oregon Territory.
December	The United States district and circuit courts began their sessions at Springfield.
	The Illinois Supreme Court began its session at Springfield.

1850
	The population of Illinois was 851,470.
February 1	Edward Baker “Eddie”Lincoln died.
March-June	The Eighth Judicial Circuit was in session.
June	The United States district and circuit courts began their sessions at Springfield.
July	The United States district and circuit courts began their sessions at Chicago.
July 9	President Zachary Taylor died in office, and Millard Fillmore succeeded him.
August-November	The Eighth Judicial Circuit was in session.
September 16	Congress passed the last of the six separate measures of the Compromise of 1850.
September 18	President Millard Fillmore signed the Fugitive Slave Act, part of the Compromise of 1850.
September 20	President Millard Fillmore signed congressional legislation giving the Illinois Central Railroad the first federal land grant for rail construction.
December	The United States district and circuit courts began their sessions at Springfield.
	The Illinois Supreme Court began its session at Springfield.
December 21	William Wallace “Willie” Lincoln, the Lincoln’s third son, was born.

1851
January 17	Abraham Lincoln’s father Thomas Lincoln died in Coles County, Illinois.
March-June	The Eighth Judicial Circuit was in session.
April	The United States district and circuit courts began their sessions at Chicago.
June	The Illinois Supreme Court began its session at Ottawa.
July	The United States district and circuit courts began their sessions at Springfield.
August-November	The Eighth Judicial Circuit was in session.
October	The United States district and circuit courts began their sessions at Chicago.
December	The United States district and circuit courts began their sessions at Springfield.
	The Illinois Supreme Court began its session at Springfield.

1852
	Harriet Beecher Stowe published Uncle Tom’s Cabin.
	Lincoln and Herndon moved their law office to a corner building at what is now the corner of Washington and Fifth streets.
March-June	The Eighth Judicial Circuit was in session.
April	The United States district and circuit courts began their sessions at Chicago.
July	The United States district and circuit courts began their sessions at Springfield.
July 6	Lincoln delivered a eulogy on Henry Clay in Springfield.
August-November	The Eighth Judicial Circuit was in session.
October	The United States district and circuit courts began their sessions at Chicago.
December	The United States district and circuit courts began their sessions at Springfield.
	The Illinois Supreme Court began its session at Springfield.

1853
January 10	Joel A. Matteson took office as governor of Illinois.
February 3	The reformation of the Eighth Judicial Circuit, which included Champaign, Dewitt, Logan, McLean, Sangamon, Tazewell, Vermilion, and Woodford counties, became effective.
March 4	Franklin Pierce took office as president of the United States.
March-June	The Eighth Judicial Circuit was in session.
April	The United States district and circuit courts began their sessions at Chicago.
April 4	Thomas “Tad” Lincoln, the Lincoln’s fourth son, was born.
July	The United States district and circuit courts began their sessions at Springfield.
August-December	The Eighth Judicial Circuit was in session.
October	The United States district and circuit courts began their sessions at Chicago.
December	The United States district and circuit courts began their sessions at Springfield
	The Illinois Supreme Court began its session at Springfield.

1854
March-May	The Eighth Judicial Circuit was in session.
April	The United States district and circuit courts began their sessions at Chicago.
April 4-April 9, 1855	Herndon served as mayor of Springfield.
May	President Franklin Pierce signed the Kansas-Nebraska Act.
June 12	The Sangamon County Circuit Court began its session.
July	The United States district and circuit courts began their sessions at Springfield.
September-November	The Eighth Judicial Circuit was in session.
September 12-October 16	Lincoln delivered speeches in several Illinois towns critiquing Stephen Douglas and the Kansas Nebraska Act
October	The United States district and circuit courts began their sessions at Chicago.
November 7	Lincoln won election to the Illinois legislature.
November 27	Lincoln resigned from the Illinois legislature to become a candidate for the United States Senate.
December	The United States district and circuit courts began their sessions at Springfield.
	The Illinois Supreme Court began its session at Springfield.

1855
February 8	In the Illinois General Assembly Lincoln lost the election to the United States Senate to Lyman Trumbull.