Essay --

Abraham Lincoln was born February 12, 1809 in his home in Kentucky. He was given the same name as his grandfather and he did not have a middle name. Abraham's parents were Thomas and Nancy Lincoln. He had two other siblings. They were Sarah Grigsby and Thomas Jr, but Thomas Jr. died when he was just a baby. When Abraham was 8 his mother Nancy died of milk sickness at the age 34. His father then remarried to Sarah Bush Lincoln. She had already had 3 children. John, Matilda, and Elizabeth. Abraham really liked Sarah. Abraham's father Thomas was very against slavery. Abraham was very smart man but he was only schooled for about a total of 18 months all together. He was homeschooled by his stepmother Sarah. She taught him how to read and write. He would read when he was at home so that he could get out of doing labor with his father, even though he was very good at using an axe. He even helped his dad make log cabins. Abraham had many different jobs. He was a rail-splitter, a river boatman, and a village postmaster, but none of these jobs satisfied him. At one time he even opened a general store in Salem, but it failed. He even later became a successful lawyer. In 1832 Lincoln ran for a seat in the Illinois House of Representatives, but he lost. He won the election for State Office in 1934 and was in the Illinois State Legislature from 1834-1842. Abraham served for United States House of Representatives from 1847-1849. When his term was over he moved back to Springfield to practice law. He became a lawyer and a very good one at that. He was given the nickname "Honest Abe" because everyone respected him so much. He joined the Republican side since he was against slavery. Abraham wrote the Emancipation Proclamation. The first draft w... ...n. After it Robert, Thomas, and Mary moved to Chicago and he finished his law studies at the University of Chicago. On September 24, 1868, Robert Lincoln married Mary Eunice Harlan. They had two daughters and one son. Mary "Mamie" Lincoln was born October 15, 1869. Abraham Lincoln II was born August 14, 1873. His nickname was Jack. Jessie Harlan Lincoln was born November 6, 1875. Robert was very worried about his mother. He committed her to a psychiatric hospital in Batavia, Illinois in 1875. Mary didn't like this and wrote letters to numerous people trying to show that she shouldn't have to be hospitalized, but Robert stood by what he thought and even the director of Bellevue told the jury at Mary's trial that she would benefit from treatment. With Mary trying to escape from her sons decision her and Robert never fully reconciled and stayed distant from each other.