Johnston, Abraham L. B.

Born: 1838-03-27 Illinois

Died: 1861-XX-XX

Flourished: Coles County, Illinois

Abraham L. B. Johnston was the second child and son of John D. and Mary Johnston, brother of Thomas L. D. Johnston, and nephew of Abraham Lincoln. In 1850, he was living with his family in Muddy Precinct, Coles County, Illinois. In 1851, John D. Johnston suggested to Lincoln that Abraham move to Springfield to live with the Lincolns, ostensibly to attend school. Lincoln agreed to bring Abraham to Springfield if Mary Lincoln agreed. She did not agree, but Lincoln offered to give the young Abraham money for books and schooling he would receive in Charleston. Like his brother Thomas, Abraham was a wayward young man. In 1859, a Coles County grand jury indicted him for gambling. There is no indication that Lincoln defended his nephew in this case.

Charles H. Coleman, Abraham Lincoln and Coles County, Illinois (New Brunswick, NJ: Scarecrow Press, 1955), 70-71, 243; Jesse W. Weik, The Real Lincoln: A Portrait (Boston and New York: Houghton Mifflin, 1922), 50-51; U.S. Census Office, Seventh Census of the United States (1850), Muddy, Coles County, IL, 82; Lincoln Family Record; Abraham Lincoln to John D. Johnston.