Abraham Lincoln was born on February 12, 1809, in Hodgenville, LaRue County, Kentucky. He was the son of Thomas Lincoln and Nancy Elizabeth Hanks Lincoln. He was married to Mary Todd Lincoln. Born in a one-room log cabin in rural Kentucky, he grew up in poverty on the frontier, with little formal education. Despite this, he taught himself to read, developed a passion for learning, and eventually became a lawyer after moving to Illinois.

Lincoln’s political ascent began with his election to the Illinois State Legislature, where he quickly gained a reputation for intelligence and honesty. Under the mentorship of attorney John Stuart in Springfield, he studied law, established a successful legal practice. His growing prominence earned him a seat in Congress for one term, after which he returned to law. His role in the newly formed Republican Party and his performance in the Lincoln–Douglas debates brought him national attention. Although he lost the Senate race, he became the Republican presidential nominee in 1860 and defeated Stephen A. Douglas in the national election.

When Lincoln assumed the presidency in 1861, the nation was already tearing apart over slavery and states’ rights. His election triggered Southern secession, and Confederate forces began mobilizing. Determined to preserve the Union, Lincoln rejected demands to abandon federal forts and insisted the government would defend its property. The Confederate attack on Fort Sumter ignited the Civil War. After early uncertainty, pivotal Union victories at Gettysburg and Vicksburg in 1863 shifted the momentum. By Lincoln’s second inauguration, the Confederacy was weakening rapidly, and its surrender at Appomattox followed only weeks later.

As president, Lincoln preserved the Union, issued the Emancipation Proclamation, advanced the Homestead Act, encouraged the development of land-grant colleges, supported the transcontinental telegraph, and authorized the beginnings of the Transcontinental Railroad by granting land to private companies. His leadership broadened the war’s purpose from simply restoring the Union to securing human freedom.

Lincoln was assassinated at Ford’s Theatre in April 1865 by actor John Wilkes Booth, the first U.S. president to be murdered. His death triggered a massive national mourning that included a long funeral procession and a 1,600-mile funeral train to Springfield, Illinois. Lincoln’s family suffered many losses: three of his four sons died young, and his wife Mary died in 1882. The Lincoln family line ended in 1985 with the death of his great-grandson, Robert Todd Lincoln Beckwith. Lincoln remains one of the most commemorated figures in American history.

Source of information: www.findagrave.com, Wikipedia