Abraham Lincoln was born in a log cabin in Hodgenville (Hardin County), Kentucky on February 12, 1809. His mother was Nancy Hanks Lincoln, and his father was Thomas Lincoln. His sister, Sarah, was two years old when he was born.
     The farm Thomas owned there was called Sinking Spring Farm. The cabin no longer stands, however, inside a huge memorial building is a replica of the one-room log cabin like the one Abraham Lincoln was born in. The farm was named after a real spring that comes up from a cave on the property.
     Abraham's family only lived at the Sinking Spring cabin for two years and then in 1811 they moved to Knob Creek, which was nearby.  They lived there until Abraham was seven years old. This was the first memory Abraham has as a young boy. He once said,  "My earliest recollection is of the Knob Creek place."
     He remembered helping to plant pumpkin seeds, picking wild berries, going fishing, and more. He remembered that he and his sister Sarah attended school for a short time called an ABC school, also known as a Blab School. In these schools, all of the students recited their lessons aloud together. Here he learned his letters and how to write his name. This is when he first fell in love with words. He and his sister also enjoyed when his mother would quote from the Bible.
     This cabin at Knob Creek was near the Cumberland Road. There were many times when Abraham and his sister would meet people along this trail. This was thought to be the first time Abraham saw African Americans chained up and being taken to be sold into slavery. This memory would stay with him throughout his life. His family did not like slavery.
     A couple of events happened at Knob Creek. A sad event was the death of his infant brother, Thomas Jr., in 1812.  A scary event was when Abraham nearly drowned! He was hunting with his friend Austin Gollaher when he slipped and fell into a stream. Abraham could not swim then, but Austin was able to save Abraham by using a stick to help him come back to shore.
     In 1816, the Lincoln's father decided to move his family to Indiana. It is thought that the main reason he moved them was because of a land dispute over the title of their Knob Creek property. It is also thought that slavery bothered him and he wanted to move to a state that was not a slave state.
Abraham always kept his Kentucky roots throughout his life. His best friend was a
Kentuckian, his wife was a Kentuckian, and his law partners were Kentuckians.
     The Abraham Lincoln birthplace is now a National Historic Site and a part of the National Park Service. 

*Many thanks to Raymond Bial for the use of his photographs of
Sinking Springs and Knob Creek above. 
All other photographs belong to CES Media Club. 

**Click on the map below to see all of the places Abraham Lincoln
lived from birth to when he became an adult.**
    

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