Lincoln, Thomas

Born: 1778-01-06 Rockingham County, Virginia

Died: 1851-01-17 Coles County, Illinois

Thomas Lincoln, Abraham Lincoln's father, grew up in Kentucky. He married Nancy Hanks on June 12, 1806, and they had two children, Sarah and Abraham. Lincoln made his living as a carpenter and a farmer and was a strong Baptist. He and his wife bought a farm near Hodgenville, Kentucky . In 1816, Lincoln moved his family from Kentucky to Perry County, Indiana. After the death of his wife from milk sickness, he returned to Kentucky to marry Sarah Johnston on December 2, 1819, and moved her, along with her three children, to Indiana to help raise his own children. In 1830, Lincoln moved his family to Macon County, Illinois, but they only stayed a short time, ultimately settling in Coles County, Illinois. Thomas's relationship with his son Abraham Lincoln was strained; he did not attend his son's wedding and never met his daughter-in-law or his grandsons.

David Herbert Donald, Lincoln (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1995), 21-26, 36; Kenneth J. Winkle, The Young Eagle: The Rise of Abraham Lincoln (Dallas: Taylor Trade, 2001), 7-132; Abraham Lincoln to Jesse W. Fell; Lincoln Family Record; John D. Johnston to Abraham Lincoln; Abraham Lincoln to John D. Johnston.