| Feb. 12, 1809 | Born on Sinking Spring Farm near Hodgenville, Kentucky. |
| 1811 to 1816 | The family, which included Abe’s sister, Sarah, lived on Knob Creek near Hodgenville, Kentucky. |
| Nov. 1816 | The family moved to Pigeon Creek in Indiana. |
| Oct. 5, 1818 | Abe’s mother died of “milk sickness.” |
| Dec. 2, 1819 | Thomas Lincoln married Sarah Bush Johnston, a widow with three children, from Elizabethtown, Kentucky. |
| Jan. 20, 1828 | Sister Sarah died. |
| Mar. 1830 | The Lincoln family moved from Indiana to Illinois. |
| Apr. 19, 1831 | Offut’s flatboat piloted by Lincoln got stuck on the dam at New Salem, Illinois. |
| Mar. 9, 1832 | Announced candidacy for the Illinois Legislature. |
| May 8, 1832 | Mustered into U.S. Army for service in Black Hawk War. |
| July 16, 1832 | Mustered out of military service. |
| Aug. 6, 1832 | Defeated for the Legislature. |
| May 7, 1833 | Appointed postmaster at New Salem, Illinois. |
| Aug. 4, 1834 | Elected to the Legislature. |
| Mar. 24, 1836 | Sworn in as a lawyer of the Circuit Court of Sangamon County. |
| Aug. 1, 1836 | Reelected to the Legislature for a second term. |
| Sept. 9, 1836 | Licensed to practice law. |
| Mar. 1, 1837 | Admitted to the bar in Illinois. |
| Mar. 15, 1837 | Moved from New Salem to Springfield, Illinois. |
| Aug. 1, 1838 | Reelected to the Legislature for a third term. |
| Dec. 3, 1839 | Admitted to practice law in the Circuit Court of the United States. |
| Aug. 1, 1840 | Reelected to the Legislature for a fourth term. |
| Nov. 4, 1842 | Married Mary Todd of Lexington, Kentucky. |
| Aug. 1, 1843 | First child, Robert Todd Lincoln, was born. |
| Jan. 7, 1844 | Bought home in Springfield. |
| Mar. 10, 1846 | Second child, Edward Baker Lincoln, was born. |
| Aug. 3, 1846 | Elected to Congress. |
| Dec. 6, 1847 | Took seat in Congress. |
| Mar. 7, 1849 | Admitted to practice law before United States Supreme Court. |
| Feb. 1, 1850 | Second child, Edward Baker Lincoln, died. |
| Dec. 21, 1850 | Third child, William Wallace Lincoln, was born. |
| Jan. 17, 1851 | Lincoln’s father, Thomas, died. |
| Apr. 4, 1853 | Fourth child, Thomas “Tad” Lincoln, was born. |
| June 16, 1858 | Delivered “house divided” speech at Springfield. |
| Aug. 21, 1858 | First debate, with Stephen A. Douglas at Ottawa, Illinois. |
| Aug. 27, 1858 | Second debate, at Freeport, Illinois. |
| Sept. 15, 1858 | Third debate, at Jonesboro, Illinois. |
| Sept. 18, 1858 | Fourth debate, at Charleston, Illinois. |
| Oct. 7, 1858 | Fifth debate, at Galesburg, Illinois. |
| Oct. 13, 1858 | Sixth debate, at Quincy, Illinois. |
| Oct. 15, 1858 | Seventh and last debate, at Alton, Illinois. |
| Nov. 2, 1858 | Defeated by Douglas for the United States Senate. |
| Nov. 5, 1858 | First mentioned in press for President. |
| May 18, 1860 | Nominated for the Presidency. |
| Nov. 6, 1860 | Elected President. |
| Jan. 31, 1861 | Visited for the last time with his stepmother. |
| Mar. 4, 1861 | Inaugurated as President. |
| Nov. 8, 1864 | Reelected as President. |
| Mar. 4, 1865 | Reinaugurated as President. |
| Apr. 14, 1865 | Shot by Booth. |
| Apr. 15, 1865 | Died in Washington. |
| May 4, 1865 | Buried in Oak Ridge Cemetery, Springfield, Illinois. |
It was from the faithful Sinking Spring, near Hodgenville, Kentucky, that the farm of Lincoln’s nativity got its name.
The branches of the Boundary Oak, a landmark for early frontiersmen, still shelter the hallowed birthplace of the man who went to school for perhaps a year, split rails in frontier clearings, traveled the Eighth Circuit as a lawyer, became President of the United States, freed the slaves, spoke the First and Second Inaugurals and the Gettysburg Address.
On February 12, 1809, a blizzard raged at Sinking Spring Farm, near Hodgenville, Kentucky. The wind howled down the chimney and through the cracks of the humble log cabin in which Abraham Lincoln was born to Thomas and Nancy Lincoln. The proud parents named the boy Abraham after his grandfather.
When Abe was two years old, his father moved the family to Knob Creek Farm where they lived until Abe was seven. The cabin lay nestled in a valley surrounded by rolling hills and deep gorges. Here Abe played with his friend, Austin Gollaher, gathered firewood from the forest, wild berries from the vales, and for a short time attended Mrs. Hodgen’s “blab” school. Thomas Lincoln decided to move his family across the Ohio River to live on Pigeon Creek in Indiana where the soil was richer and there were no slaves.
