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Sarah Bush Lincoln (December 13, 1788 – April 12, 1869) was the second wife of
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 ...
and stepmother of
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 ...
. She was born in Kentucky to Christopher and Hannah Bush. She married her first husband, Daniel Johnston, in 1806, and they had three children. Daniel Johnston died in 1816, and in 1819, she married widower Thomas Lincoln, joining his family with her three children.


Early life

Sarah Bush was born December 13, 1788, 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 ...
, the third daughter to Hannah Davis (1745–1835) and Christopher Bush (1735–1813). Christopher Bush, a settler of Dutch ancestry, was a financially well-off slave patrol captain. Described as "a stirring, industrious man," he owned more than two thousand acres of Kentucky land. The Bushes moved with their nine children to
Elizabethtown, Kentucky Elizabethtown is a home rule-class city and the county seat of Hardin County, Kentucky, United States. The population was 28,531 at the 2010 census, and was estimated at 30,289 by the U.S. Census Bureau in 2019, making it the 11th-largest city ...
, when Sarah was two years old. As a child, Sarah prided herself on her appearance and keeping up with the latest fashion. She had blue-gray eyes and was light complexioned. Sarah has been described as proud, energetic, hard working, neat, and possessing good sense. Her brother Isaac (1779–1827) sold Thomas Lincoln the Sinking Stream Farm.


Marriage and family


Daniel Johnston

Sarah Bush married Daniel Johnston (1782–1816) on March 13, 1806. The Johnstons were parents to three children: John, Elizabeth and Matilda. The Johnstons struggled financially throughout their marriage, having little or no taxable property and debts that Daniel's brothers sometimes settled. In 1814, Daniel obtained the position of county jailer, which included living quarters for the family within the jailhouse. Sarah became the cook and cleaner for the jail. In addition, the couple performed cleaning services for the courthouse. In 1816, Daniel died of cholera during an epidemic. Thereafter, Sarah seems to have recovered financially somewhat; she purchased a cabin that had previously been owned by Samuel Haycraft, furnished it with luxurious furnishings, and sent one of her daughters to a private school.


Thomas Lincoln


Indiana

Thomas Lincoln (1778–1851) met Sarah in Elizabethtown, Kentucky. After Nancy died in 1818, Thomas returned to Elizabethtown as he had heard that Sarah Bush Johnston was then a widow. His proposal was apparently: "I have no wife and you no husband. I came a-purpose to marry you. I knowed you from a gal and you knowed me from a boy. I've no time to lose: and if you're willin' let it be done straight off." The two decided to marry, and Lincoln paid her outstanding debts. Sarah and Thomas married on December 2, 1819 in a
log house A log house, or log building, is a structure built with horizontal logs interlocked at the corners by notching. Logs may be round, squared or hewn to other shapes, either handcrafted or milled. The term " log cabin" generally refers to a sm ...
on Main Street in Elizabethtown. He brought her and her three children, who ranged from 8 to 13 years of age, to his farm in Indiana, where she became stepmother to his two children. Sarah transformed the home with the addition of furniture and furnishings that would have seemed luxurious to the Lincolns, cleaned up the house and children, and insisted upon the placement of a wooden floor in the cabin, loft for the boys (John Johnston, Abraham Lincoln and Dennis Hanks), creation of a
greased paper window A greased paper window is a very inexpensive window made of paper coated in grease. The grease fills gaps between the paper fibers, reducing the amount of light lost to scattering. Greased paper windows provide a diffuse light source, while block ...
and completion of the roof. Dennis Hanks described Sarah: She treated Sarah and Abraham the same as her own children, earning the lasting affection of Abraham, who was 10 when she arrived; he always addressed her as "Mama." She encouraged his appetite for reading and learning, giving him access to books she had brought from Kentucky, including the
Bible The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts ...
, ''
Aesop's Fables Aesop's Fables, or the Aesopica, is a collection of fables credited to Aesop, a slave and storyteller believed to have lived in ancient Greece between 620 and 564 BCE. Of diverse origins, the stories associated with his name have descended to ...
'', ''
The Pilgrim's Progress ''The Pilgrim's Progress from This World, to That Which Is to Come'' is a 1678 Christianity, Christian allegory written by John Bunyan. It is regarded as one of the most significant works of theological fiction in English literature and a prog ...
'' and ''Lessons in Elocution''. Sarah's daughter Elizabeth married Dennis Hanks in 1821, and the couple lived in their own home about a half a mile from Sarah and Thomas' home. In 1823 Sarah, Thomas and his daughter, joined the nearby Little Pigeon Creek Baptist Church. Although Abraham did not join the church, he attended church and listened to sermons; he sometimes got in trouble for parodying the minister's sermons. In 1826, Abraham's sister Sarah married Aaron Grigsby and lived near the Lincoln home; she died within a year and a half during childbirth. Her grave is located at the Lincoln State Park. Matilda married shortly after Sarah was married and moved away with her husband Squire Hall.


Illinois

Thomas sold his Indiana land early in 1830 and with Sarah moved first to
Macon County, Illinois Macon County is a county located in the U.S. state of Illinois. According to the 2010 United States Census, it had a population of 110,768. Its county seat is Decatur. Macon County comprises the Decatur, IL Metropolitan Statistical Area. Hist ...
, and eventually to
Coles County Coles County is a county in Illinois. As of the 2020 census, the population was 46,863. Its county seat is Charleston, which is also the home of Eastern Illinois University. Coles County is part of the Charleston- Mattoon, IL Micropolitan St ...
in 1831. The homestead site on Goosenest Prairie, about south of
Charleston, Illinois Charleston is a city in, and the county seat of, Coles County, Illinois, United States. The population was 17,286, as of the 2020 census. The city is home to Eastern Illinois University and has close ties with its neighbor, Mattoon. Both are ...
, is preserved as the
Lincoln Log Cabin State Historic Site The Lincoln Log Cabin State Historic Site is an 86-acre (0.3 km²) history park located eight miles (13 km) south of Charleston, Illinois, U.S., near the town of Lerna. The centerpiece is a replica of the log cabin built and occupied by ...
. Abraham sometimes visited Sarah and Thomas when he was in Coles County on the law circuit; Sarah recalled that she "saw him every year or two." After Thomas died in 1851, Lincoln maintained land for Sarah and supported her until his death. Their final visit was before Lincoln left Illinois for the
White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in ...
. Illinois historian Charles H. Coleman recounted two narratives of how she received the news of her stepson's murder: Sarah died in 1869. Sarah is buried next to Thomas in nearby Shiloh Cemetery, just south of Lerna, Illinois.


Abraham and Sarah's relationship

The Sarah Bush Johnston Lincoln biography by the National Park Service summarizes the relationship between Abraham Lincoln and his stepmother: Lincoln's legendary sense of humor was probably influenced by his stepmother. He recalled that she was a firm but kind-hearted woman who loved to laugh. When he was 18 years old, Lincoln, at 6' 4", was so tall that his head nearly touched the ceiling of the family's farmhouse kitchen. His stepmother repeatedly joked that Lincoln was so tall that he needed to keep his hair washed or he'd leave prints on her ceiling. Lincoln decided to have some fun with this idea. One day, when his stepmother was not home, Lincoln got together a group of younger boys and had them dip their bare feet in the mud outside the farmhouse kitchen. Then Lincoln took each of the boys inside, held them upside-down, and had them walk their feet across the ceiling, leaving muddy footprints. When Sarah Lincoln saw the muddy footprints on her ceiling, Lincoln recalled, she chuckled as she threatened to spank him.


Honors

* Sarah Bush Johnston Lincoln Memorial in Elizabethtown, Kentucky * The
homestead Homestead may refer to: *Homestead (buildings), a farmhouse and its adjacent outbuildings; by extension, it can mean any small cluster of houses * Homestead (unit), a unit of measurement equal to 160 acres *Homestead principle, a legal concept t ...
where she and Thomas lived in Illinois is preserved as the
Lincoln Log Cabin State Historic Site The Lincoln Log Cabin State Historic Site is an 86-acre (0.3 km²) history park located eight miles (13 km) south of Charleston, Illinois, U.S., near the town of Lerna. The centerpiece is a replica of the log cabin built and occupied by ...
. * The Sarah Bush Lincoln Health Center in Coles County, Illinois was named after her.


Notes


References


Further reading

* Charles H. Coleman (1952)
Sarah Bush Lincoln, The Mother Who Survived Him
'. East Illinois State College. * Lincoln Financial Foundation Collection (1959)
Thomas Lincoln Family - Johnston-Lincoln Marriage
'. Lincoln Financial Foundation Collection. * Lincoln Financial Foundation Collection (1895)
Thomas Lincoln Family
'. Lincoln Financial Foundation Collection. * Louis Austin Warren (1922)
Sarah Bush Lincoln: The Beloved Foster Mother of Abraham Lincoln: A Memorial
'. Elizabethtown Woman's Club. * Louis Austin Warren (1940)
Three Lincoln Mothers
'. Lincoln National Life Insurance Company. Lincoln Financial Foundation Collection.


External links



Lincoln Home National Historic Site Lincoln Home National Historic Site preserves the Springfield, Illinois home and related historic district where Abraham Lincoln lived from 1844 to 1861, before becoming the 16th president of the United States. The presidential memorial inclu ...
webpage, National Park Service {{DEFAULTSORT:Lincoln, Sarah Bush 1788 births 1869 deaths 18th-century American people 18th-century American women 19th-century American people 19th-century American women Lincoln family People from Coles County, Illinois People from Elizabethtown, Kentucky Burials in Illinois Kentucky women homemakers