Samuel Lincoln (born 1622 – died May 26, 1690) was an Englishman and progenitor of many notable
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...
political figures, including his 4th great-grandson,
President
President most commonly refers to:
*President (corporate title)
* President (education), a leader of a college or university
* President (government title)
President may also refer to:
Automobiles
* Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...
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 throu ...
,
Maine
Maine () is a state in the New England and Northeastern regions of the United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec to the northeast and nor ...
governor
Enoch Lincoln
Enoch Lincoln (December 28, 1788 – October 8, 1829) was an American politician, serving as U.S. Representative from, successively, Massachusetts and from Maine. He was the son of Levi Lincoln Sr. and his wife, and the younger brother of Levi L ...
, and
Levi Lincoln Sr.
Levi Lincoln Sr. (May 15, 1749 – April 14, 1820) was an American revolutionary, lawyer, and statesman from Massachusetts. A Democratic-Republican, he most notably served as Thomas Jefferson's first attorney general, and played a significant ro ...
and
Levi Lincoln Jr.
Levi Lincoln Jr. (October 25, 1782 – May 29, 1868) was an American lawyer and politician from Worcester, Massachusetts. He was the 13th Governor of Massachusetts (1825–1834) and represented the state in the U.S. Congress (1834–1841). Li ...
, both of whom served as Massachusetts
Representatives,
Governor
A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...
and
Lieutenant Governor
A lieutenant governor, lieutenant-governor, or vice governor is a high officer of state, whose precise role and rank vary by jurisdiction. Often a lieutenant governor is the deputy, or lieutenant, to or ranked under a governor — a "second-in-comm ...
. Because of Samuel Lincoln's descendants, his fortuitous arrival in the
Massachusetts Bay Colony
The Massachusetts Bay Colony (1630–1691), more formally the Colony of Massachusetts Bay, was an English settlement on the east coast of North America around the Massachusetts Bay, the northernmost of the several colonies later reorganized as th ...
, and the fact that his ancestry is known for several generations, he is considered the father of the most prominent branch of Lincolns in the United States.
Journey to America
Having grown up in meager circumstances due to a family squabble in which his wealthy grandfather disinherited his earlier children, Samuel Lincoln became an apprentice weaver under Francis Lawes of
Norwich
Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. Norwich is by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. As the seat of the Episcopal see, See of ...
,
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...
. Samuel Lincoln's father Edward had abandoned his home at
Swanton Morley
Swanton Morley is a village and civil parish situated in the English county of Norfolk. It is situated in the heart of Norfolk 18 miles from the centre of Norwich and three miles from Dereham, at the geographical centre of Norfolk. It covers an ...
near Hingham after he was cut out of his father Richard's will, and relocated to some small acreage at Hingham. In 1637, Lincoln left England for the New World with Lawes' family, embarking on a ship named ''John & Dorothy''. Although most accounts indicate that he was 15 years old at the time, it has been suggested that he misrepresented his age in order to be permitted to make the voyage.
Samuel’s older brother Thomas is known in early records as "Thomas Lincoln the Weaver" to distinguish him from several other unrelated Thomas Lincolns. In 1635, Thomas settled in Hingham, Massachusetts where the town granted him a house lot. Although twice married, Thomas had no children. Samuel sailed for the colony of Massachusetts. After Thomas’ death, he left a great deal of his property, including several house lots, to Samuel and his nephews.
Life and family in Massachusetts
Samuel Lincoln helped build the
Old Ship Church
The Old Ship Church (also known as the Old Ship Meetinghouse) is a Puritan church built in 1681 in Hingham, Massachusetts. It is the only surviving 17th-century Puritan meetinghouse in America. Its congregation, gathered in 1635 and officia ...
in Hingham. He married Martha Lyford of
Ireland
Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel, the Irish Sea, and St George's Channel. Ireland is the s ...
around 1649, possibly the daughter of the Rev. John Lyford, and the couple had eleven children, three of whom died in their infancy, but another three of whom lived into their eighties. Lincoln's eldest son, born August 25, 1650, was also named Samuel. The emigrant Samuel Lincoln's fourth son was Mordecai Lincoln, who became a blacksmith, and who was the ancestor of Abraham Lincoln. Genealogists have noted the common and repeated use of certain
Biblical names
Names play a variety of roles in the Bible. They sometimes relate to the nominee's role in a biblical narrative, as in the case of Nabal, a foolish man whose name means "fool". Names in the Bible can represent human hopes, divine revelations, o ...
in the Lincoln family, particularly
Abraham
Abraham, ; ar, , , name=, group= (originally Abram) is the common Hebrew patriarch of the Abrahamic religions, including Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. In Judaism, he is the founding father of the special relationship between the Je ...
,
Samuel
Samuel ''Šəmūʾēl'', Tiberian: ''Šămūʾēl''; ar, شموئيل or صموئيل '; el, Σαμουήλ ''Samouḗl''; la, Samūēl is a figure who, in the narratives of the Hebrew Bible, plays a key role in the transition from the bib ...
,
Isaac
Isaac; grc, Ἰσαάκ, Isaák; ar, إسحٰق/إسحاق, Isḥāq; am, ይስሐቅ is one of the three patriarchs of the Israelites and an important figure in the Abrahamic religions, including Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. He was ...
,
Jacob
Jacob (; ; ar, يَعْقُوب, Yaʿqūb; gr, Ἰακώβ, Iakṓb), later given the name Israel, is regarded as a patriarch of the Israelites and is an important figure in Abrahamic religions, such as Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. ...
, and
Mordecai, a common practice among early Puritan settlers in the
Massachusetts Bay Colony
The Massachusetts Bay Colony (1630–1691), more formally the Colony of Massachusetts Bay, was an English settlement on the east coast of North America around the Massachusetts Bay, the northernmost of the several colonies later reorganized as th ...
. Many later Lincoln descendants, including the original emigrant's son, were named Samuel in succeeding generations.
Samuel's mother also belonged to a family long associated with American government: the Gilmans of
Exeter, New Hampshire
Exeter is a town in Rockingham County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 16,049 at the 2020 census, up from 14,306 at the 2010 census. Exeter was the county seat until 1997, when county offices were moved to neighboring Brentwood. ...
. Samuel's mother Bridget Gilman was the daughter of Edward Gilman of
Hingham, Norfolk
Hingham is a market town and civil parish in mid-Norfolk, England. The civil parish covers an area of and had a population of 2,078 in 944 households at the time of the 2001 Census, increasing to 2,367 at the 2011 Census.
Grand architecture s ...
, England, whose son Edward Gilman Jr. emigrated to Hingham, Massachusetts, later to
Ipswich, Massachusetts
Ipswich is a coastal town in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 13,785 at the 2020 census. Home to Willowdale State Forest and Sandy Point State Reservation, Ipswich includes the southern part of Plum Island. A resid ...
and finally to Exeter, where he and his family became prominent businessmen, elected officials and, later, ardent Revolutionary War patriots.
Nicholas Gilman
Nicholas Gilman Jr. (August 3, 1755May 2, 1814) was an American Founding Father, a soldier in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War, a delegate to the Continental Congress, and a signer of the U.S. Constitution, representin ...
, a signer of the
U.S. Constitution, was a member of this family.
Commemoration
In 1937, the 300th anniversary of Samuel Lincoln's arrival in Massachusetts was commemorated with the dedication of a tablet at the Old Ship Church in Hingham, Massachusetts. President Abraham Lincoln is honored by a bust in the church of St Andrew's in Hingham, Norfolk, England, unveiled in a 1919 ceremony by then-American
Ambassador
An ambassador is an official envoy, especially a high-ranking diplomat who represents a state and is usually accredited to another sovereign state or to an international organization as the resident representative of their own government or s ...
John W. Davis. Samuel Lincoln's father Edward, who remained in Hingham, England, died on February 11, 1640, and was buried in the graveyard of St Andrew's Church.
St Andrew, Hingham, norfolkchurches.co.uk
/ref>
See also
*Lincoln family
The Lincoln family is an American family of English origins. It includes the fourth United States Attorney General, Levi Lincoln, Sr., senators Levi Lincoln, Jr. and Enoch Lincoln, and Abraham Lincoln, the sixteenth President of the United Stat ...
Sources
*Waldo Lincoln, ''History of the Lincoln Family: An Account of the Descendants of Samuel Lincoln of Hingham, Massachusetts, 1637–1920'' (1923) .
*''Lincoln's Youth: Indiana Years, Seven to Twenty-One, 1816–1830'', Indiana University Press (2002) .
Genealogy of Samuel Lincoln
from George Lincoln, ''The History of the Town of Hingham, Massachusetts, The Genealogies'' (1893).
*[https://books.google.com/books?id=5jlOsSwW85cC&pg=PA160&lpg=PA160&dq=%22swanton+morley%22+lincoln+norfolk&source=web&ots=4jwJ4mFq2m&sig=rF5pUF8AWiinJ_3Z4JZWELgEfTM&hl=en#PPR9,M1 The Ancestry of Abraham Lincoln, James Henry Lea, John Robert Hutchinson, Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, 1909]
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lincoln, Samuel
1622 births
1690 deaths
People from Hingham, Norfolk
Lincoln family
Kingdom of England emigrants to Massachusetts Bay Colony
People of colonial Massachusetts
People from Hingham, Massachusetts