We listened to several historical books with ties to Kentucky while traveling. These books brought the historical sites we were visiting to life and gave depth to our trip. We read books about Daniel Boone, Abraham Lincoln, and Churchhill Downs. We like to download library books using the Libby app. The Lincoln Conspiracy by Brad Meltzger was a gripping account of a secret plot to assassinate Lincoln before his first inauguration. The book’s coverage of Lincoln’s early life set up our visit to Abraham Lincoln’s Birthplace NHP.
Lincoln was born and lived the first seven years of his life in two farms in rural Kentucky. Both sites are part of Abraham Lincoln’s Birthplace NHP.
The house where Lincoln was born is memorialized at the Sinking Spring site near present day Hodgenville, KY. An impressive 1911 Neo-classical stone building, known as the first Lincoln Memorial, sits at the top of 56 stairs representing Lincoln’s 56 years of life. Fifty six years hit home for me. But as Lincoln said, “in the end, it’s not the years in your life that count. It’s the life in your years.”
The building at the top of the stairs preserves a log cabin originally attributed to Lincoln’s family, but later determined not to be a Lincoln cabin after all. Interestingly, the log cabin was reduced in size from 18 X 16 feet to 17 X 12 feet in order to better fit into the space. Come on!
The museum had an impressive exhibit of Lincoln’s hardscrabble early days. Lincoln himself remarked that the family was among the poorest in Kentucky. His brother Thomas Lincoln Jr.’s simple gravestone was located on the property. Lincoln’s beloved mother, Nancy, died when he was nine. Lincoln’s relationship with his stern, demanding father was strained. Death and disappointment was a theme in Lincoln’s life. Yet he made the best of the cards he was dealt. Another quote by Lincoln advises us to look for the good in every situation, “We can complain because rose bushes have thorns, or rejoice because thorn bushes have roses.”
We also visited the park’s second site – Lincoln’s boyhood home at Knob Creek Farm. This NPS site will be dedicated in April 2022 (we just missed it). Lincoln’s family to move to the Knob Creek Farm when he was two as a result of a land boundary/title dispute at his birthplace home. The family rented thirty acres at Knob Creek for about five years. The cabin on site was actually the cabin of one of Lincoln’s boyhood friends.
Boundary/title disputes were common in those days due to a lack of surveys and disorderly land title procedures in the backwoods of Kentucky. During this period, Kentucky was still part of Virginia, and was know as the District of Kentucky. The Lincoln family was actually forced to abandon three farms that they purchased in Kentucky due to these disputes, and as a result they moved to Indiana where clear title was guaranteed. Interestingly, Lincoln became a surveyor in his early 20’s and was know for his accuracy and honesty.
We enjoyed walking over the land that Lincoln trod, and imagining what it must have been like to live there. We especially enjoyed seeing the creek where a childhood friend saved Lincoln from drowning when he was a seven years old. The tame little Knob Creek we saw had swollen to seven feet deep when Lincoln fell off the log when crossing over to hunt partridge. Austin Gollaher fished the sputtering Lincoln out with a stick.
Presidential sites are one of my favorite sites to visit. I always come away with a clearer knowledge of history after the visit. Lincoln lived an early life filled with struggles, hard work, and disappointments, yet he persevered to become a wise and inspirational leader. If you are near Mammoth Cave, I highly recommend a detour to Abraham Lincoln’s Birthplace NHP.