Abraham Lincoln

Abraham Lincoln was born on May 13, 1744, in what is now Berks County, Pennsylvania. He was the first child of John Lincoln and Rebekah Morris. His paternal ancestry traces back to Samuel Lincoln (1622–1690), who was born in Hingham, Norfolk, England, and emigrated to the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1637 as a weaver's apprentice.

John Lincoln, Abraham's father, was born in Monmouth County, New Jersey, and grew up in the Schuylkill River valley in Pennsylvania. He learned weaving as his trade and engaged in subsistence farming. In 1743, John Lincoln married Rebekah Morris, who was a widow with a young son, Jonathan Morris, from her previous marriage. The couple had nine children altogether, with Abraham being the eldest.

Lincoln learned the tanner's trade, apprenticing under James Boone, a prominent tanner in Berks County, whose family was related to Daniel Boone. In 1768, John Lincoln purchased land in the Shenandoah Valley in the colony of Virginia. He settled his family on a 600-acre tract on Linville Creek in Augusta County, now part of Rockingham County. In 1773, John and Rebekah divided their land, allowing Abraham and his brother Isaac to establish their own holdings. Abraham built his homestead across Linville Creek from his parents' residence.

Abraham Lincoln married Bathsheba Herring, daughter of Alexander Herring and Abigail Harrison, circa 1770s. They had five children: Mordecai (born circa 1771), Josiah (circa 1773), Mary (circa 1775), Thomas (1778), and Nancy (1780). The family lived in Augusta County, Virginia, where Abraham served as a militia captain during the American Revolutionary War. His military service included commanding a company that served under General Lachlan McIntosh, participating in the construction of Fort McIntosh in Pennsylvania and Fort Laurens in Ohio.

In 1780, Lincoln sold his land in Virginia and relocated to Kentucky, then a district of Virginia. The family settled in Jefferson County, approximately twenty miles east of present-day Louisville, near Hughes' Station on Floyd's Fork. They lived near frontier forts for protection against Native American tribes. Abraham owned at least 5,544 acres of land in Kentucky, engaging in farming activities.

Abraham Lincoln died in May 1786, at an estimated age of 42. According to accounts, he was working in his field with his three sons when he was shot from the nearby forest and fell. His son Mordecai, aged around 14, ran to retrieve help and shot and killed an attacking Native American. His younger sons, Thomas and Josiah, witnessed the event; Thomas later reported the incident to his son, Abraham Lincoln, the future U.S. president.

Following his death, Lincoln was buried near his homestead, which is now the site of Long Run Baptist Church and Cemetery near Eastwood, Kentucky. His widow, Bathsheba, moved the family to Washington County, Kentucky, seeking safety from Native American threats. Under the law, Mordecai inherited two-thirds of Abraham's estate when reaching age twenty-one, with Bathsheba receiving one-third; the remaining children received no inheritance.

The story of Abraham Lincoln's death and Mordecai's response became part of family history and was recounted by Abraham Lincoln, the future president, during his lifetime.