Jesse LaFollette (1781 NJ-1843 Ind) was the grandfather of Robert Marion La Follette, Sr.,

William La Follette William Leroy La Follette (November 30, 1860 – December 20, 1934) was a four-term member of the United States House of Representatives representing Washington. He represented the 3rd District from 1911 to 1915, and the 4th District from 1915 ...

, and

Harvey Marion LaFollette Harvey Marion LaFollette (September 8, 1858 – September 20, 1929) was an American teacher and educator, who as a young man, served two terms as Indiana Superintendent of Public Instruction. He then moved to Tennessee, where he established the tow ...

. His family lived next to the

Knob Creek Farm Abraham Lincoln Birthplace National Historical Park is a designated U.S. historic park preserving two separate farm sites in LaRue County, Kentucky, where Abraham Lincoln was born and lived early in his childhood. He was born at the Sinking Sprin ...

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia to ...

owned by

Thomas Lincoln Thomas Lincoln (January 6, 1778 – January 17, 1851) was an American farmer, carpenter, and father of the 16th president of the United States, Abraham Lincoln. Unlike some of his ancestors, Thomas could not write. He struggled to make a succes ...

during

Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln ( ; February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. Lincoln led the nation thro ...

's boyhood years. LaFollette is shown in one of the limestone panels at the

Lincoln Boyhood National Memorial Lincoln Boyhood National Memorial is a United States presidential memorial and a National Historic Landmark District in Lincoln City, Indiana. It preserves the farm site where Abraham Lincoln lived with his family from 1816 to 1830. During that ...

Lincoln City, Indiana Lincoln City is an unincorporated community in Carter Township, Spencer County in the southwestern part of the U.S. state of Indiana. It lies five minutes south of Interstate 64, northeast of Evansville, and approximately twenty miles north of t ...

Early life

LaFollette was born near

Morristown, New Jersey Morristown () is a town and the county seat of Morris County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. ...

in 1781. His father, Joseph, and grandfather, Jean, were

Huguenot The Huguenots ( , also , ) were a religious group of French Protestants who held to the Reformed, or Calvinist, tradition of Protestantism. The term, which may be derived from the name of a Swiss political leader, the Genevan burgomaster Be ...

s who had escaped the persecution in France, traveling first to

Jersey Jersey ( , ; nrf, Jèrri, label=Jèrriais ), officially the Bailiwick of Jersey (french: Bailliage de Jersey, links=no; Jèrriais: ), is an island country and self-governing Crown Dependencies, Crown Dependency near the coast of north-west F ...

and then to the colonies where they operated a small farm near the

Wallkill River The Wallkill River, a tributary of the Hudson, drains Lake Mohawk in Sparta, New Jersey, flowing from there generally northeasterly U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed Octo ...

in northern New Jersey. Jean was killed during the

French and Indian Wars The French and Indian Wars were a series of conflicts that occurred in North America between 1688 and 1763, some of which indirectly were related to the European dynastic wars. The title ''French and Indian War'' in the singular is used in the U ...

. Joseph married Phoebe Gobel of

Morristown, New Jersey Morristown () is a town and the county seat of Morris County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. ...

, whose father's farm along with other neighboring farms in

Jockey Hollow Jockey Hollow is the name for an area in southern Morris County, New Jersey farmed in the 18th century by the Wick, Guerin and Kemble families. The origin of the name is still uncertain, but was used as such at the time of the American Revolution ...

was used by

George Washington George Washington (February 22, 1732, 1799) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the Continental Congress as commander of th ...

and his troops during the winter of 1780. After serving with Count

Casimir Pulaski Kazimierz Michał Władysław Wiktor Pułaski of the Ślepowron coat of arms (; ''Casimir Pulaski'' ; March 4 or March 6, 1745 Makarewicz, 1998 October 11, 1779) was a Polish nobleman, soldier, and military commander who has been called, tog ...

during the Revolutionary War, Joseph and his family joined the pioneers who trekked westward through the

Cumberland Gap The Cumberland Gap is a pass through the long ridge of the Cumberland Mountains, within the Appalachian Mountains, near the junction of the U.S. states of Kentucky, Virginia, and Tennessee. It is famous in American colonial history for its rol ...

Kentucky

LaFollette grew up in a pioneer community in

Hardin County, Kentucky Hardin County is a county located in the central part of the U.S. state of Kentucky. Its county seat is Elizabethtown. The county was formed in 1792. Hardin County is part of the Elizabethtown-Fort Knox, KY Metropolitan Statistical Area, as we ...

. As a young man, he started a farm in the hilly region of what is today

LaRue County LaRue County is a County (United States), county in the central region of the U.S. state of Kentucky, outside the Bluegrass Region and larger population centers. Its county seat is Hodgenville, Kentucky, Hodgenville, which is best known as the b ...

. His farm was adjacent to the

. Except for his service with the Kentucky Rifles during the

War of 1812 The War of 1812 (18 June 1812 – 17 February 1815) was fought by the United States of America and its indigenous allies against the United Kingdom and its allies in British North America, with limited participation by Spain in Florida. It bega ...

, he was engrossed in pioneer life on the frontier, hunting, clearing fields, farming, and raising a large family. The LaFollette and Lincoln families were part of a small community and shared many adventures of pioneer life. They were involved in land sales with each other and title disputes with speculators; they served on juries together; and they were of like mind on the issue of slavery siding with the abolitionists.

Indiana

When the LaFollettes crossed into

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...

, they left slavery issues behind. The 1816 constitution of Indiana explicitly banned slavery in the state. Jesse was also leaving land title disputes behind. He settled in

Putnam County, Indiana Putnam County is a county located in the U.S. state of Indiana. As of the 2010 United States Census, the population was 37,963. The county seat is Greencastle. The county was named for Israel Putnam, a hero in the French and Indian War and a g ...

. The old soldier, Joseph, traveled with him on this trek, dying in 1834, and was buried at James Cemetery in Putnam County, just east of Greencastle. Several of Jesse's sons struck out for new territory and began farming in

Primrose, Wisconsin The Town of Primrose is located in Dane County, Wisconsin, United States. As of 2018, the population was 731. Geography According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 35.8 square miles (92.8 km), all of it lan ...

in the 1850s.

Memorial

In 1962 President

John F. Kennedy John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), often referred to by his initials JFK and the nickname Jack, was an American politician who served as the 35th president of the United States from 1961 until his assassination i ...

signed into law an act that created

, which was dedicated in 1966. Jesse LaFollette is shown in the Kentucky panel of the memorial, standing next to

's father, Thomas Lincoln.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:LaFollette, Jesse 1781 births 1843 deaths People from Morristown, New Jersey People from Hardin County, Kentucky People from Putnam County, Indiana La Follette family