Abraham Lincoln was an incredible man and president. He got rid of slavery in the United States and was with us during the Civil War. If it weren't for Lincoln, slavery could very possibly still be around. The 16th president of the United States of America accomplished many things in his life.

On the morning of Sunday, February 12, 1809, in a cabin on Nolin Creek, Kentucky, Nancy Hanks Lincoln, wife of Thomas Lincoln, gave birth to a boy on a bed of poles covered with corn husks. The newborn baby was named Abraham after his grandfather. Abraham's father was an uneducated carpenter and also a farmer. His mother had no schooling and could not write.

In the year of 1811, the Lincoln family moved to a farm on Knob Creek near Hodgenville Kentucky. Soon after they moved, Abraham's younger brother, Thomas, passed away in infancy.

Abraham spent short amounts of time in a log schoolhouse in 1815. Here he started to learn his ABC's. Abraham attended school with his older sister, Sarah. Sarah had gray eyes, dark hair, and was two years older than Abraham. Abraham went to school dressed in buckskin clothes, a raccoon cap, and very short pants. Abraham and Sarah's teacher was named Zachariah Riney. When at home, Abraham listened to the Scriptures read from the family bible.

In 1816, Abraham was saved from drowning by one of his playmates named Austin Gollaher. Abraham and Sarah briefly went to a school taught by a neighbor named Caleb Hazel. Later that year, the Lincolns moved to Indiana and constructed a cabin near Little Pigeon Creek. The cabin measured Sixteen by Eighteen feet and had only one window.

1818 was a tragic year. Abraham's mother, Nancy, died on October 5th. Nancy died of a disease called "Milk Sickness" which was contracted by drinking milk from cows that have grazed on poisonous white snakeroot. Abraham would help by carving pegs for his mother's coffin. Thomas Lincoln took the coffin made of green pine to the top of a thickly wooded hill and buried her. No formal funeral service was given. Two months later Mary Todd, Abraham's future wife, was born in Lexington, Kentucky on December 13th.

Thomas Lincoln married Sarah Bush Johnston on December 2nd, 1819. Daniel Johnston, Sarah's first husband, died during the summer of 1816. Three new children were added to the Lincoln household -- Elizabeth was twelve, John was nine, and Matilda was eight. Abraham became much closer to his step-mother than he was to his father. Later this year, Abraham was kicked by a horse and almost killed.

Abraham soon began to start borrowing books from neighbors. He borrowed books such as: "Pilgrim's Progress," "Aesop's Fables," "Arabian Nights", and "Robinson Crusoe." He also began to attend school again taught by James Swaney. Abraham only attended school for about four months. Two years later, Abraham started to attend school taught by Azel Dorsey.

In the year 1825, Abraham borrowed a book called "Life of Washington" by Parson Mason Weems. The book got wet by rain so Abraham worked off it's worth for his neighbor, Josiah Crawford, which he had borrowed it from. This book was the very first book Abraham every owned.

Sarah, Abraham's sister, married their neighbor named Aaron Grigsby on August 2, 1826. Sarah passed away during childbirth one and a half years later on January 28, 1828, which was only three weeks before her twenty-first birthday. Sarah was buried with her baby boy who was still-born. In 1830 the Lincolns moved to Illinois. Abraham drove one of the ox-wagons there. The family built a log cabin on the north bank of the Sangamon River about ten miles southwest of Decatur in Macon County. Later that year, the family moved southeast to Goose Nest Prairie in Coles County, Illinois.

In 1831, Abraham Lincoln left his family and went off on his own. One theory of where he formulated his anti-slavery opinions was seeing slaves abused during a flatboat trip to New Orleans. Abraham moved to New Salem Illinois, in July and boarded at Rutledge's tavern and met with the owner's daughter, Ann. The town on New Salem was a frontier village made up of one long street on a bluff over the Sangamon River. On August first, 1831, Lincoln cast his first ballot.

Lincoln joined the Illinois militia for the Black Hawk War, in 1832. He was soon elected Captain of the volunteers but didn't see any military action during his three months of service. On August 6th of the same year, Lincoln was defeated while running for the Illinois State Legislature. Lincoln soon opened up a general store in New Salem along with William F. Berry.

A year later on May 7th, Lincoln became the Postmaster of New Salem. The general store failed. In the fall of 33, Lincoln learned how to survey and was appointed Assistant Surveyor in the northwest part of Sangamon County. Lincoln soon met a woman named Mary Owens who was four months older than he was. She came to New Salem to visit her sister.

In 1834, Lincoln ran for Illinois State Legislature and this time won the election. During the summer, John T. Stuart advised Lincoln to study law. On December first, Lincoln took his seat in the state government in Vandalia, which was Illinois capitol before Springfield. Lincoln became a member of the Long Nine which was the nickname for the delegation from Sangamon County because their combined height was exactly fifty-four feet.

When the state legislature adjourned in February of 1835, Lincoln went back to New Salem and continued his legal studies. On August 25th, Ann Rutledge died. Although unproven, some believe that Ann was Lincoln's, first love.

In 1836, Lincoln was re-elected to the Illinois House of Representatives. Lincoln received his license to practice law on September 9th.

During the year of 1837, Lincoln, who was now twenty-eight years old, was admitted to the Illinois Bar on March 1 and moved to Springfield on April 15. Soon, Lincoln and John T. Stuart became law partners while Lincoln was living with a man named Joshua Speed. Lincoln was now receiving a lot of money. He had income from law practice as well as a state legislator. In the fall of the same year, Lincoln's Marriage proposal was rejected by Mary Owens. The next year, Lincoln was re-elected for a third Ruppert 5 time to the Illinois House of Representatives.

In 1839, Lincoln met Mary Ann Todd. Mary had moved to Springfield from Lexington, Kentucky as was living at the home of her older sister, Elizabeth Edwards. It is said that the two met at a ball. Even though they both had very different backgrounds, they became interested in each other.

Next year, Lincoln was elected the last time to the Illinois House of Representatives and also became engaged to Mary Todd, which was broken off a year later. After breaking up, Lincoln became a law partner of Stephen T. Logan on May 14, 1841.

In 1842, a duel with James Shields on September 22 never occurred. Shields was receiving offensive letters from an anonymous sender. Lincoln was blamed for them although there were many other suspects. A few months later on November 4th, Lincoln married Mary Todd. James Harvey Matheny was the best man at the wedding. The ring Abraham gave Mary was gold and the words "Love is Eternal" were engraved inside the band. The marriage took place in the parlor of the Edwards' home. The ceremony was performed by Reverend Charles Dresser. The Lincolns soon moved to the Glove Tavern, a two-story wooden building in Springfield. Their weekly rent was $4.00.

A year later on August first at the Glove Tavern, Lincoln's first son, Robert Todd, was born. He was named in honor of Mary's father. Later in the year, the Lincolns moved and began renting a three-room frame cottage at 214 Sough Fourth Street in Springfield.

In 1844, Mary and Abraham bought a home from Dr. Dresser in Springfield for $1500. It was located at the corner of Eighth and Jackson. In May Second, the family moved in. In December, Lincoln accepted William Herndon as his law partner.

Two years later, Lincoln's second son, Edward Baker, was born on March 10th. On August third, Lincoln was elected to the United States House of Representatives. He took his seat the next year and spoke out against the Mexican War.

The Lincolns boarded at Mrs. Anna G. Sprigg's boardinghouse in Washington in 1847. Today, the Library of Congress is located on this site. On December 22nd, Lincoln introduced the "spot resolutions," which had to do with his opposition to the Mexican War. Lincoln soon became known for his opposition to slavery.

Lincoln campaigned for the Presidential Candidate of the Whig's named Zachary Taylor during the year of 1848. His opposition to the Mexican war was not very popular in Illinois. During the summer, the Lincolns vacationed to New York, visited the Niagara Falls, and took a steamer across the Great Lakes. Lincoln failed to be appointed commissioner of the General Land Office. He then returned to full-time law practice in Springfield.

On March 7th, 1849, Lincoln was admitted to practice law before the United States Supreme Court. He also received a patent for his invention that would lifeboats over shallow spots by inflation buoyant chambers. Nothing ever came of this device.

On February first, 1850, Lincoln's son "Eddie," Died. His third son, William Wallice, AKA "Willie," was born on December 21st. On January 17th, 1851, Thomas Lincoln, Abraham's father passed away from a kidney ailment. He was 73 years old. Abraham did not attend the funeral.

The final son of the Lincolns, Thomas, AKA "Tad," was born on April 4th, 1853. His nickname came from Lincoln who thought his son looked like a tadpole. Lincoln was elected to the Illinois legislature during 1854. The offer was declined on November 27th so he could become a candidate for the U.S. Senate (in which he was defeated). His re-entry into politics came about from his opposition to the Kansas-Nebraska Act. Lincoln's famous quote on slavery and democracy: "As I would not be a slave, so I would not be a master - This expresses my idea of democracy - Whatever differs from this to the extent of the difference, is no democracy -".

In 1856, Lincoln helped to organize the new Republi9can Party in Illinois. In Bloomington, his famous "Lost Speech" was given on May 29th. Lincoln was nominated by the Republicans to run for the U.S. Senate against Stephen Douglas. He gave his famous "House Divided" speech.

During the year of 1859, Lincoln traveled to Ohio, Indiana, Iowa, Wisconsin, and the Kansas Territory to give speeches. One famous quote from Lincoln was given on December 20, 1859: "If any personal description of me is thought desirable, it may be said, I am, in height, six feet, four inches, nearly; lean in flesh, weighing, on an average, one hundred and eighty pounds; dark complexion, with coarse black hair, and grey eyes - no other marks or brands recollected."

Lincoln gained national fame in 1860 because of his speech at Cooper Union in New York City on February 27th. Regarding the presidency, he wrote a friend on April 29th that "The taste is in my mouth a little." Lincoln was nominated for President at the Republican National Convention in Chicago on May 18th, 1860. On October 15th, 11- year-old Grace Bedell wrote Lincoln a letter suggesting he grow a beard. He decided to follow her advice. On November 6th, Lincoln was elected president over three opponents: Stephen Douglas, John Breckinridge, and John Bell. Lincoln won 39% of the popular vote but nearly 60% of the electoral vote.

In 1861, Jefferson Davis was inaugurated as the provisional president of the Confederate States of America on February 18th. Lincoln arrived in Washington on February 23 and was soon inaugurated as the 16th President on March 4th. Two months later, the Civil War began with the Confederate attack on Ft. Sumter during April. Lincoln called for 75,000 volunteers to serve for three months on April 15th.

The President appointed Edwin Stanton as Secretary of War on January 13, 1862. On February 20th, Lincolns' son Willie died in the White House of Typhoid Fever. Lincoln proposed a plan of compensated emancipation for slaves in states that stayed loyal to the Union. The President announced the Preliminary Emancipation Proclamation after the Battle of Antietam on September 22nd.

The Emancipation Proclamation took effect on January first. Lincoln approved the first draft law in U.S. history on March 3rd. In July, the union won two huge battles at Gettysburg and Vicksburg. An anti-draft riot took place in New York City. Many people were killed. On October third, Lincoln issued a proclamation creating Thanksgiving Day. The famous Gettysburg Address was given by Lincoln on November 19th which lasted about two and a half minutes which followed a speech by Edward Everett which was two hours long. The first national observance of Thanksgiving was held on November 26th, 1863.

Lincoln Nominated Ulysses S. Grant as the first full lieutenant general since George Washington. Grant accepted his role as General-in-chief of Union armies. On November 8th, Lincoln easily won the election for president.

During 1865 Richmonds was abandoned by the Confederates. Lincoln walked through the streets of Richmond on April 4th. Five days later, Robert E. Lee surrendered to Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox. Lincoln gave his last public speech on April 11th. The told a crowd of people at the White House that he hoped for a quick return of all the seceded states to the Union. the Lincolns attended the play Our American Cousin at Ford's Theatre on April 14th. Lincoln was shot by John Wilkes Booth at about 10:15 PM. The President died the next morning at 7:22 A.M. Lincoln was 56 at the time. Andrew Johnson took the oath of office as the 17th President on April 15th. On April 21st, a nine-car funeral train that included 300 dignitaries left Washington, D.C. and began a nearly 1700 mile trip back to Springfield. On the afternoon of May 4th, President Lincoln's body was buried at Oak Ridge Cemetery.