Thomas Lincoln, Jr.

The Lincoln family is of English descent and has a significant historical presence in the United States. The family's origins trace back to Edward Lincoln, born around 1575 in Hingham, Norfolk, England. Edward was the son of Richard Lincoln (buried in 1620 at St. Andrew's Church) and Elizabeth Remching. Richard Lincoln inherited lands from his father, Robert, who died around 1543, but through his fourth wife, Richard was persuaded to leave his inheritance to her and their three youngest children, rather than his own children. Following the death of his wife, Richard remarried three times, and there is historical debate concerning the contents of Richard's will.

Edward Lincoln, Richard's son, was born in England and emigrated to the New World. His children, including Samuel Lincoln, migrated to America. Samuel Lincoln, born in 1622, arrived in the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1637 via the ship John & Dorothy from Great Yarmouth. He is regarded as the patriarch of the Lincoln family in the United States.

Benjamin Lincoln, born in 1733, was a general in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War; however, it is not established that he was directly related to President Abraham Lincoln. Benjamin Lincoln's ancestors included early settlers in Hingham, beginning with Thomas Lincoln, a cooper, who was among the initial Lincoln settlers in Hingham when it was part of the Massachusetts Bay Colony.

The most prominent descendant, Abraham Lincoln, was born in 1809 in a log cabin near Hodgenville, Kentucky. His parents were Thomas Lincoln and Nancy Hanks. Abraham Lincoln served as a lawyer and politician and was elected the sixteenth president of the United States, serving from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. He married Mary Todd, and they had four children: Robert, Edward, William "Willie," and Thomas "Tad." Only Robert Lincoln survived past early adulthood.

Robert Todd Lincoln, born in 1843, married Mary Eunice Harlan, with whom he had three children: Mary "Mamie" Lincoln, Abraham Lincoln II ("Jack"), and Jessie Harlan Lincoln. Mamie married Charles Bradford Isham and died childless. Jessie Harlan Lincoln married Warren Wallace Beckwith and had two children: Mary Lincoln Beckwith and Robert Todd Lincoln Beckwith. Mary Beckwith died in 1975 without children, while Robert Beckwith, born in 1904, died in 1985, becoming the last largely undisputed descendant of Abraham Lincoln.

The Lincoln lineage extended over ten generations, with the last known descendant being Robert Todd Lincoln Beckwith. The Lincoln family also has notable distant relations, including U.S. Senator Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas, married to Steve Lincoln—a distant relative. Actor George Clooney is identified as a "half-first cousin five times removed" from Lincoln, with his maternal ancestors related through Lincoln's family line. Actor Tom Hanks is also noted as a third cousin four times removed of Abraham Lincoln.

Throughout their history in America, the Lincoln family included a variety of figures in public service and political life, rooted in their English origins and early settlement in Massachusetts.