Abraham Lincoln

By: Emily 

Abraham Lincoln was born in Hardin County, KY, on

February 12,1809. His parents were Tom and Nancy

Lincoln.

When he was 8 or 9, his mother was taken by the Milk Sick.

After she died, his sister, Sarah, took over the house work.

When Abe was 33, he proposed to Mary Todd who accepted.

But, later Lincoln called off the engagement saying “ I

don't feel I love you the way I should.” Of course Mary

was upset, like any women would be. What was the effect

on Lincoln you may ask? He went into a deep depression .

When he recovered, he started to secretly see Mary

again at a friend's house. After awhile, he again asked her

to marry him.

They kept the wedding plans secret until the day of the

wedding on which Mary broke the news to her sister. It

must have been utter chaos trying to put a wedding together

at the last minute. Some people even said the cake was warm

when they cut the it.

Their first house was a boarding room above the Globe

Tavern. It was small, but they managed until their first son Robert was born. With a new family member they needed

a bigger house so they moved to a frame house .

Edward, born in 1846, drowned in 1850. They had William

that same year that Edward died. Finally they had

Thomas in 1853.

Lincoln was a lawyer at that time and was quite honest,

too. That's probably why his business became so big. The

income was about $1,200 to $1,500 dollars a year.

1846 to 1849 brought Lincoln a seat in the U.S. House

of Representatives. Then on November 6, 1860, he was

elected president of the United States of America.

The next year William died of typhoid fever which caused

Mary Lincoln to go mad with grief. This and the deaths of

relatives, caused her to have erratic headaches and

unpredictable behavior.Some days were good; some were bad.

Through all this, Lincoln's son ,Thomas, was a comfort to him.

Sometimes he would come in to the Oval Office and fall

asleep. Then Lincoln would pick him up and carry him to bed.

On April 14, 1871, the president went to see the third act

of 'Our American Cousin'. During the show, actor John

Wilkes Booth, finding the door of the president's box

unguarded, quietly opened the door and......BANG!! He had

shot the president through the head!

Booth jumped to the stage and broke his leg, but still got to

his horse which was waiting for him in an alley. H was later

caught. Abraham Lincoln died at about seven o'clock the

next morning. The death of her husband made Mary Lincoln's health even worse, and she was soon admitted to an insane asylum.

Andrew Johnson was our next president; but, that's another

story. Maybe this sparked your interest to learn more about

one of most remembered presidents, Abraham Lincoln.

By: Emily 

Finished: March 4, 2009

Age:  11  Grade:  4th