The Lincoln Family - Lincoln Home National Historic Site (U.S. National Park Service) (2024)

It is in Abraham Lincoln’s home on 8th & Jackson streets that Abraham Lincoln raised a family, saw three of his children born, and one of them pass away. A house is not a home without a family, and this was certainly true of the Lincoln Home. In this house, Abraham Lincoln lived here with his wife, Mary Todd, and his sons--Robert, Edward (“Eddie”), William (“Willie”), and Thomas (“Tad”). Learn more about the Lincoln Family in the resources below!

The Lincoln Family - Lincoln Home National Historic Site (U.S. National Park Service) (1)

Mary Lincoln

Intelligent, ambitious, and often misunderstood, Mary Lincoln remains one of the most famous first ladies today. Learn more about Mary and her relationship with the 16th president:

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Robert Todd Lincoln

Robert Todd Lincoln was the first-born son of Abraham and Mary Lincoln.
Born in 1843, he was the only child of the Lincolns to reach adulthood and grew to lead a successful career in law, business, and government.
Although never as famous as his father, Robert Lincoln left his own mark on the country.

Edward Baker "Eddie" Lincoln

The Lincolns' second child, Eddie, was born in 1846 but sadly only lived a few years before passing away in the Lincoln Home.
Because he passed away at a young age, little is known about Eddie, but his death still had a profound impact on the future president of the United States.

The Lincoln Family - Lincoln Home National Historic Site (U.S. National Park Service) (3)

William Wallace "Willie" Lincoln

The third son of the Lincoln family, Willie was born in December of 1850. Willie was known as a intelligent and mature child, although he still got in his share of pranks with his younger brother, Tad. Willie died in the White House at age 11, causing much grief for the Lincoln family.

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Thomas "Tad" Lincoln

The youngest of the Lincoln children, Tad Lincoln was born in 1853. Tad was the most wild and mischieveous of the Lincoln children, bringing both fun and mayhem to the Lincoln Home and later the White House. He would pass away at the age of eighteen, several years after his father's death.

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Hired Staff

In addition to Abraham, Mary, and the children, sometimes individuals who were hired to help with chores and tasks around the house also lived in the Lincoln Home. These individuals, often young women, are known as the "hired girls." These girls did everything from cooking, cleaning, and serving to childcare and laundry.

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Family Pets

Abraham Lincoln's love of animals was famous during his lifetime and was known by many firends to adore animals and treat them kindly. It is no surprise then that were quite a few animals in the Lincoln household, from dogs to cats to horses.

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Abraham Lincoln's Parents

Abraham Lincoln was born as the son of Thomas Lincoln and Nancy Hanks. His mother passed away when he was very young, and his father remarried to Sarah Bush Johnson, who although she was not his birth mother, developed a very close relationship with Lincoln. Learn more about Abraham Lincoln's parents:

The Lincoln Family - Lincoln Home National Historic Site (U.S. National Park Service) (2024)

FAQs

What is the house referring to in Lincoln's speech? ›

What is the house referring to in Lincoln's speech? In Lincoln's speech, the house he references is an allusion to the United States. Lincoln uses this to represent the country, as it is divided on the issue of slavery, with slave states in the South and free states in the North.

Why is the Lincoln Home National History Site important? ›

Lincoln Home National Historic Site protects and interprets the home where Abraham Lincoln lived with his family from 1844 to 1861. Lincoln Home National Historic Site preserves 14 houses that date from the Lincoln era, including the Lincoln Home.

How many years did Abraham Lincoln live in Springfield, Illinois? ›

For seventeen years, the house at Eighth and Jackson Streets in Springfield, Illinois was home to Abraham Lincoln and his family.

Did Abraham Lincoln live in Kentucky? ›

Lincoln had lived in Kentucky from his birth in 1809 until his family moved to Indiana in 1816. “My father, at the death of his father, was but six years of age; and he grew up, literally without education.

What does the house that Lincoln mentions refer to? ›

A house divided against itself cannot stand. The "house" that Lincoln mentions is a reference to. the federal government.

What is the main point of Lincoln's speech? ›

In his powerful address, Lincoln embraced the Declaration of Independence, recalling how the nation was “conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.” By resurrecting these promises, Lincoln committed post-Civil War America to “a new birth of freedom.” Following the Civil War, ...

What are some historical facts about Lincoln Park? ›

In the 1860s, the city set aside 60 acres as Lake Park. It was renamed Lincoln Park in 1865 after Lincoln's assassination. Up to that point, the land was being used as a city cemetery. People who died from cholera and Confederate prisoners from Camp Douglas were among the hundreds buried there.

How tall was Abraham Lincoln when he died? ›

Out of 46 American presidents, only 19 were 6' or taller. Abraham Lincoln was the tallest, at 6'4”, but he famously said, “You have to do your own growing no matter how tall your grandfather was.”

Why is Lincoln so important? ›

As President, he built the Republican Party into a strong national organization. Further, he rallied most of the northern Democrats to the Union cause. On January 1, 1863, he issued the Emancipation Proclamation that declared forever free those slaves within the Confederacy.

What was Abraham Lincoln's real name? ›

Abraham Lincoln, sixteenth President of the United States, was born near Hodgenville, Kentucky on February 12, 1809. His family moved to Indiana when he was seven and he grew up on the edge of the frontier. He had very little formal education, but read voraciously when not working on his father's farm.

Did Abraham Lincoln have a wife? ›

Why did Lincoln leave Kentucky? ›

In a rare autobiographical statement, Abraham Lincoln wrote that his father left the Bluegrass state “partly on account of slavery; but chiefly on account of the difficulty of land titles in Ky. ” Thomas Lincoln's aversion to slavery appears to have been grounded in both religious and economic principles.

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