SOCIETY ACQUIRES OPTION ON LINCOLN HOMESTEAD

On Thursday, April 16, 2009, Society President Phil Stone and Lincoln Homestead Farms, Inc. President Randy Shank signed an agreement giving the Lincoln Society of Virginia an option to acquire the Lincoln Homestead, the Lincoln Family Cemetery and about ten (10) acres surrounding those historic landmarks. Located on Rt. 42, six miles north of Harrisonburg, in Rockingham County, the Lincoln Homestead was originally the residence of Jacob Lincoln, brother of President Lincoln’s grandfather. “Captain Jacob” was a Revolutionary War militia captain, and ancestor of dozens of Lincolns who lived in the Shenandoah Valley. The substantial brick home, built about 1800, was occupied by Jacob Lincoln’s descendants during the Civil War. Not only were those Virginia Lincolns partisan Confederates; they were slave owners. In the Lincoln Family Cemetery, the last of the Lincoln slaves are buried with five generations of Lincolns, including Captain Jacob Lincoln and President Lincoln’s great-grandparents.

The Option Agreement provides the Society with a period of two years to raise funds to purchase the property for $452,000.00. In announcing the signing of the Option Agreement, Stone noted that the Society will turn to its members, others in the community, relatives of the Virginia Lincolns, government agencies and foundations for assistance in raising the necessary funds for the purchase and restoration of the property. The Society intends to maintain the Lincoln Homestead as a museum dedicated to the legacy of Abraham Lincoln and his Virginia family. For the past 34 years, Stone has conducted a ceremony in the family cemetery to honor President Lincoln and his Virginia family.

The Lincoln story in Virginia began in 1768 with the arrival from Pennsylvania of President Abraham Lincoln’s great-grandparents, “Virginia John” Lincoln, his wife Rebecca and their nine children. They settled on a 600-acre track on Linville Creek in Rockingham County. Abraham (referred to as “Captain Abraham” because of his service in the Revolutionary War), at 24 was the oldest of the children. He was the grandfather of the President. Following his marriage to Rockingham County native Bathsheba Herring, and the birth of their five children, including the President’s father Thomas, Captain Abraham and his family moved to Kentucky.

Another of Virginia John’s children, Jacob, a youth of 17 (born in 1751) when his family arrived in Virginia, also served as a soldier in the American Revolution. In 1778, “Captain Jacob” bought 200 acres adjoining his parents’ property and, after first building a log house on the property, built the brick Lincoln Homestead about 1800. There he and his wife Dorcas Robinson from nearby Broadway raised their 11 children.

After Captain Jacob Lincoln’s death in 1822, his widow Dorcas remained in the house until her death in 1840. At that point, “Colonel Abraham,” one of Jacob’s children, who had been living next door on the farm formerly owned by his grandfather, Virginia John, moved to the Lincoln Homestead and soon added the annex to the rear of the house. Colonel Abraham died in 1852 but his widow Mary Homan Lincoln resided there until her death in 1874. She was the last of the Lincolns to live in the Homestead. Jacob Lincoln and his son Colonel Abraham owned slaves while living at the Homestead. The last two Lincoln slaves, Ned and Queen, slaves during the Civil War, are buried in the Lincoln Family Cemetery.

Over the years, famous visitors have come to see the Lincoln Homestead and Cemetery: President Lincoln’s son, Robert Todd Lincoln; biographers, Carl Sandberg, Ida Tarbell and Louis Warren.

Another of the eleven children of Captain Jacob and Dorcas Lincoln (both buried in the family cemetery) was David. David lived until 1852 and operated the Lincoln Inn at Lacey Spring, a few miles east of the Lincoln Homestead. It was David who exchanged letters with Congressman – later to be President – Abraham Lincoln in 1848 about their common ancestors and relatives. President Lincoln was aware of his Virginia heritage and was interested to learn more. David Lincoln’s descendants remained in the Lacey Spring community for many years and several are buried there in the community cemetery.

Gifts or inquiries may be directed to:

The Lincoln Society of Virginia

402 E. College Street

Bridgewater, VA 22812

540-828-5620

edelling@bridgewater.edu