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Abraham Lincoln:
More books have been written about him than any figure in human history, with the possible exception of Jesus Christ. Nearly a century and a half after his death, he is admired on every continent, and his words spoken with reverence in nearly every language. Yet though universally recognized, Abraham Lincoln is far from universally understood.
Even in life he seemed elusive, as contradictory in his personality as in his politics. To contemporaries, Lincoln appeared a man of many moods, at once a calculating fatalist and a melancholy comic; a teller of vulgar stories and the author of imperishable prose; a long suffering husband and a negligent spouse; a cunning politician and towering statesman.
Worse, over time the very human Lincoln has been obscured by the marble icon. Statues may be impressive, but they are also lifeless. Beginning in Journey One, we invite you to experience Abraham Lincoln living. Enter the Indiana log cabin and meet a young man who is determined to make his way in a nation that is rapidly unmaking itself,
Lincoln Cabin:
It was a great folly to attempt to make anything out of his early life, the adult Lincoln told a campaign biographer in 1859. His story could be condensed into a single sentence -- "the short and simple annals of the poor." Abraham Lincoln began life on February 12, 1809 in a one room, dirt floored cabin near the Kentucky settlement of Hodgenville.
Seven years old when his family moved from Kentucky to Indiana, the adult Lincoln recalled life in the Hoosier wilderness:
"When first my father settled here,
T'was when the frontier line;
The panthers scream filled night with fear
And the bears preyed on the swine."
Frontier life was precarious, disease a constant companion, death a hovering presence. At the age of nine, Lincoln lost his mother. Many believe that this early loss helped spark Lincoln's lifelong bout with melancholy.
The cabin you see here is in the style of log cabins from the time of Lincoln's youth. This is a re-creation of the cabin on display near Little Pigeon Creek, Indiana. |