The Abraham Lincoln Statue is a historic statue in the Hodgenville Commercial Historic District's public square in

Hodgenville, Kentucky Hodgenville is a home rule-class city in LaRue County, Kentucky, United States. It is the seat of its county. Hodgenville sits along the North Fork of the Nolin River. The population was 3,206 at the 2010 census. It is included in the Elizabet ...

Adolph Alexander Weinman Adolph Alexander Weinman (December 11, 1870 – August 8, 1952) was a Germany-born American sculptor and architectural sculptor. Early life and education Adolph Alexander Weinman was born December 11, 1870 at Durmersheim, near Karlsruhe, Ge ...

sculpted the statue, as he also did the Lincoln statue at the capitol rotunda at

Frankfort, Kentucky Frankfort is the capital city of the Commonwealth of Kentucky, United States, and the seat of Franklin County. It is a home rule-class city; the population was 28,602 at the 2020 census. Located along the Kentucky River, Frankfort is the pr ...

.Thomason p.8-1 The

Abraham Lincoln Birthplace National Historical Park 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 ...

is nearby.

History

The statue was erected as the result of the Lincoln Monument Commission under the direction of Otis M. Mather, chairman. The

Kentucky General Assembly The Kentucky General Assembly, also called the Kentucky Legislature, is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Kentucky. It comprises the Kentucky Senate and the Kentucky House of Representatives. The General Assembly meets annually in ...

commissioned the Commission in 1904. It was built to commemorate the centennial 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 throu ...

's birth, which occurred a few miles south of Hodgenville on February 12, 1809. It was the Commission that decided to place the statue in Hodgenville's public square. Funding for the

bronze Bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, commonly with about 12–12.5% tin and often with the addition of other metals (including aluminium, manganese, nickel, or zinc) and sometimes non-metals, such as phosphorus, or metalloids suc ...

statue was done by $10,000 from the

United States Congress The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is Bicameralism, bicameral, composed of a lower body, the United States House of Representatives, House of Representatives, and an upper body, ...

, $5,000 from the Kentucky General Assembly, and the rest from the residents of

LaRue County, Kentucky LaRue County is a 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, which is best known as the birthplace of United States President Abraha ...

. The official dedication was on May 31, 1909. Lincoln's son

Robert Todd Lincoln Robert Todd Lincoln (August 1, 1843 – July 26, 1926) was an American lawyer, businessman, and politician. He was the eldest son of President Abraham Lincoln and Mary Todd Lincoln. Robert Lincoln became a business lawyer and company presi ...

was at the ceremony, and Lincoln's sister-in-law Mrs. Ben Hardin Helm did the unveiling.

Henry Watterson Henry Watterson (February 16, 1840 – December 22, 1921), the son of a U.S. Congressman from Tennessee, became a prominent journalist in Louisville, Kentucky, as well as a Confederate soldier, author and partial term U.S. Congressman. A Demo ...

was the principal speaker. The statue was officially accepted for the commonwealth of Kentucky by Kentucky governor

Augustus E. Willson Augustus Everett Willson (October 13, 1846 – August 24, 1931) was an American politician and the 36th Governor of Kentucky. Orphaned at the age of twelve, Willson went to live with relatives in New England. This move exposed him to such a ...

. Over 10,000 people witnessed the ceremony. The tall bronze statue features Lincoln sitting in an Empire style chair on a marble foundation. Stars are inlaid on a Greek fret band on the marble foundation. "Lincoln" is spelled out in bronze letters on the statue's eastern facade. A replica of the statue is at the

University of Wisconsin–Madison A university () is an educational institution, institution of higher education, higher (or Tertiary education, tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. Universities ty ...

. Robert Todd Lincoln on June 2, 1909, wrote a letter thanking Otis Mather for constructing the statue in his father's honor. It was placed on the National Register of Historic Places on January 10, 1991.

Gallery

File:Abraham Lincoln statue waiting to be unveiled.jpg, Statue unveiling,
31 May 1909 File:Abraham Lincoln Statue in Hodgenville, Kentucky, longhsot.jpg, Area around the statue File:Abraham Lincoln by Adolph Weinman (1909) IAS 77006746.jpg, Replica at

References

Footnotes

Sources

* {{Abraham Lincoln Monuments and memorials to Abraham Lincoln in the United States

Statues in Kentucky Monuments and memorials on the National Register of Historic Places in Kentucky National Register of Historic Places in LaRue County, Kentucky 1909 sculptures Bronze sculptures in Kentucky Outdoor sculptures in Kentucky Sculptures of men in Kentucky 1909 establishments in Kentucky Works by Adolph Weinman Hodgenville, Kentucky