16th United States President. As newly-elected president, Abraham Lincoln made his way by train to Washington to assume the Presidency. The Union was fast disintegrating, with secession by South Carolina followed by seven other Southern States. A Confederate government was already operating in the South. After taking the oath of office with outgoing President James Buchanan beside him, he assumed the responsibility for preserving the Union. The South demanded the Union withdraw from the forts in the South. Lincoln was firm. He denied the right of states to secede and declared that the Federal Government would hold, occupy, and possess its forts and properties. Fort Sumter was attacked, and the five-year Civil War had begun.
During the first year and a half of conflict, neither the North nor the South had the advantage. The third year of war was the turning point, as the North scored a victory at Gettysburg while conquering Vicksburg. The South became weaker and weaker. When Lincoln took the oath of office for his second term, the end of the war was in sight, and, within a month, the surrender of the South took place at Appomattox Court House, Virginia.
Abraham Lincoln was born to American pioneers. His father Thomas Lincoln had come from Virginia to live in Kentucky where he met a girl named Nancy Hanks. After their marriage, the young couple set up housekeeping in a log cabin at Nolin Creek on Sinking Spring Farm near Hodgenville, Kentucky, where the future President was born. At the age of nine, his mother died.
His father quickly brought home a new wife, Sara, who was instrumental in her stepson's learning to read and his continued pursuit of self-education. He developed a great and lasting affection for his stepmother. The Lincoln family would move four times before settling in another log cabin in Coles County, Illinois.
Abe, always in conflict with his father over his passion for learning, and, with the many Lincoln children crowded in the family cabin, moved to nearby New Salem, Illinois, taking a job in a frontier dry goods store. The village schoolmaster tutored him in mathematics and grammar.
His political career began with election to the State Legislature which met in nearby Springfield twice a year. John Stuart, a lawyer impressed by Lincoln, invited him to read law in his Springfield office; eventually the two became partners.
The opening of the Legislature was marked by a Grand Ball resulting in his meeting Mary Todd, Stuart's cousin. That meeting culminated in marriage three years later. Abe was able to purchase a house in Springfield which remained the Lincoln's family home until the death of Mary.
He was active in politics, received a nomination for Congress, and was elected. After one term, he returned to Springfield and resumed his law practice. He became a member of the new Republican Party and was nominated for Senator from Illinois, running against Democratic opponent Stephen A. Douglas, which occasioned the famous Lincoln-Douglas debates. Lincoln was not elected, but became well-known, and, above all, the undisputed leader of the Republican Party in Illinois. A few years later, he would again face Douglas for the Presidency and emerge victorious.
Lincoln was instrumental in many achievements besides preserving the Union during his tenure in office: He was instrumental in building the transcontinental telegraph system. He authorized the construction of the Transcontinental Railroad, built by private funding, giving them huge parcels of land along the right of way. He promoted a bill in Congress that set aside areas in states where free colleges could be built (Land Grant Colleges). He pushed a bill through Congress called the Homestead Act. Any family that settled on a farm could own the land after five years of improvement. He issued the Emancipation Proclamation, which declared that, wherever Union troops moved into seceding states, the slaves would automatically become free.
Then came the tragedy. While sitting in his box at Ford's Theater, he was shot by an actor resulting in his death the next day. His death triggered a funeral extravaganza, one the country had never seen before. After a service and procession down Pennsylvania Avenue, Lincoln's embalmed body, along with that of his son Willie (disinterred from a Washington., D.C. cemetery) was placed aboard a Funeral Train for the trip home to Springfield. Sixteen days later, with arrival in Springfield, the odyssey came to an end. At Oak Ridge Cemetery, the remains of Willie and the President were placed in a temporary vault. His son Eddie was disinterred later from nearby Hutchinson's Cemetery and also placed in the temporary chamber.
Tragedy befell the Lincoln family at every turn: Eddie had died at age four, Willie at age eleven, and Thomas at age eighteen. Mary Todd Lincoln followed in 1882. Robert lived until 1926 and was present in 1922 to witness the dedication of the Lincoln Memorial.
Of President Lincoln, there are countless memorials, namesake places, portraits on money, and artifacts. However, the family tree is dead. The last heir, his great-grandson, Robert Todd Lincoln Beckwith, died on Christmas Eve in 1985. Any direct descendant could have inherited Beckwith's fortune, estimated at $3 million. It has since gone to charity.
16th United States President. As newly-elected president, Abraham Lincoln made his way by train to Washington to assume the Presidency. The Union was fast disintegrating, with secession by South Carolina followed by seven other Southern States. A Confederate government was already operating in the South. After taking the oath of office with outgoing President James Buchanan beside him, he assumed the responsibility for preserving the Union. The South demanded the Union withdraw from the forts in the South. Lincoln was firm. He denied the right of states to secede and declared that the Federal Government would hold, occupy, and possess its forts and properties. Fort Sumter was attacked, and the five-year Civil War had begun.
During the first year and a half of conflict, neither the North nor the South had the advantage. The third year of war was the turning point, as the North scored a victory at Gettysburg while conquering Vicksburg. The South became weaker and weaker. When Lincoln took the oath of office for his second term, the end of the war was in sight, and, within a month, the surrender of the South took place at Appomattox Court House, Virginia.
Abraham Lincoln was born to American pioneers. His father Thomas Lincoln had come from Virginia to live in Kentucky where he met a girl named Nancy Hanks. After their marriage, the young couple set up housekeeping in a log cabin at Nolin Creek on Sinking Spring Farm near Hodgenville, Kentucky, where the future President was born. At the age of nine, his mother died.
His father quickly brought home a new wife, Sara, who was instrumental in her stepson's learning to read and his continued pursuit of self-education. He developed a great and lasting affection for his stepmother. The Lincoln family would move four times before settling in another log cabin in Coles County, Illinois.
Abe, always in conflict with his father over his passion for learning, and, with the many Lincoln children crowded in the family cabin, moved to nearby New Salem, Illinois, taking a job in a frontier dry goods store. The village schoolmaster tutored him in mathematics and grammar.
His political career began with election to the State Legislature which met in nearby Springfield twice a year. John Stuart, a lawyer impressed by Lincoln, invited him to read law in his Springfield office; eventually the two became partners.
The opening of the Legislature was marked by a Grand Ball resulting in his meeting Mary Todd, Stuart's cousin. That meeting culminated in marriage three years later. Abe was able to purchase a house in Springfield which remained the Lincoln's family home until the death of Mary.
He was active in politics, received a nomination for Congress, and was elected. After one term, he returned to Springfield and resumed his law practice. He became a member of the new Republican Party and was nominated for Senator from Illinois, running against Democratic opponent Stephen A. Douglas, which occasioned the famous Lincoln-Douglas debates. Lincoln was not elected, but became well-known, and, above all, the undisputed leader of the Republican Party in Illinois. A few years later, he would again face Douglas for the Presidency and emerge victorious.
Lincoln was instrumental in many achievements besides preserving the Union during his tenure in office: He was instrumental in building the transcontinental telegraph system. He authorized the construction of the Transcontinental Railroad, built by private funding, giving them huge parcels of land along the right of way. He promoted a bill in Congress that set aside areas in states where free colleges could be built (Land Grant Colleges). He pushed a bill through Congress called the Homestead Act. Any family that settled on a farm could own the land after five years of improvement. He issued the Emancipation Proclamation, which declared that, wherever Union troops moved into seceding states, the slaves would automatically become free.
Then came the tragedy. While sitting in his box at Ford's Theater, he was shot by an actor resulting in his death the next day. His death triggered a funeral extravaganza, one the country had never seen before. After a service and procession down Pennsylvania Avenue, Lincoln's embalmed body, along with that of his son Willie (disinterred from a Washington., D.C. cemetery) was placed aboard a Funeral Train for the trip home to Springfield. Sixteen days later, with arrival in Springfield, the odyssey came to an end. At Oak Ridge Cemetery, the remains of Willie and the President were placed in a temporary vault. His son Eddie was disinterred later from nearby Hutchinson's Cemetery and also placed in the temporary chamber.
Tragedy befell the Lincoln family at every turn: Eddie had died at age four, Willie at age eleven, and Thomas at age eighteen. Mary Todd Lincoln followed in 1882. Robert lived until 1926 and was present in 1922 to witness the dedication of the Lincoln Memorial.
Of President Lincoln, there are countless memorials, namesake places, portraits on money, and artifacts. However, the family tree is dead. The last heir, his great-grandson, Robert Todd Lincoln Beckwith, died on Christmas Eve in 1985. Any direct descendant could have inherited Beckwith's fortune, estimated at $3 million. It has since gone to charity.
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