ABRAHAM LINCOLN. BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. Abraham Lincoln, the sixteenth President of the United States, was born in Hardin County, Kentucky, February 12th, 1809. His education in early life was quite limited. In 1816, his parents removed with him to Spencer County, Indiana, and subsequently he romoved to Illinois. In 1830, he was a clerk in a store; in 1832, was a Captain of Volunteers in the Black Hawk war, and in 1834, was elected to the Legislature of the State of Illinois, where he served four years. In 1836, he was licensed to practice law in the courts of that State, and he commenced his profession at Springfield, in 1837. became a promiHe canvassed the 1846, was elected Mr. Lincoln soon rose to distinction, and nent leader of the Whig party in Illinois. entire State for Henry Clay in 1844, and in to Congress, where he served his constituents with fidelity. On the 16th of May, 1860, the Representatives of the Republican party assembled in Convention, in an immense building called "The Wigwam," erected for that purpose in Chicago, and on the 19th, they nominated Mr. Lincoln as their candidate for the Presidency, and Hannibal Hamlin of Maine, for the Vice-Presidency. There were three other candidates for the Presidency in the field, viz; John Bell, nominated by the Constitutional Union Party; Stephen A. Douglass, by the regular Democratic Convention, and John C. Breckenridge, by the Seceders from that Convention, calling themselves the National Democratic Convention. Mr. Lincoln was elected, having received 180 of the Electoral votes, or 57 more than all his opponents. He was inaugurated on the 4th of March, 1861, amid intense excitement. Violence was apprehended, but General Scott 170 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. having made ample provision to preserve the peace, all passed off quietly. The rebellion having broken out into open hostilities, commencing with the seizure of Government property, and the attack on Fort Sumter, the President, on the 15th of April, 1861, issued his first call for seventy-five thousand On the 1st of January, 1863, he issued his Emancipation Proclamation, declaring all slaves in the rebellious States free. men. In November, 1864, Mr. Lincoln, having again received the MEDAL FROM THE FRENCH DEMOCRATS. nomination was re-elected to the Presidency, with Andrew Johnson as Vice-President; they were inaugurated on the 4th of March, 1865, and the following month General Lee surrendered his army, thus virtually terminating the rebellion. On the 2nd of April, the President, by proclamation, declared the war to be at an end. There was great rejoicing throughout the Republic, in the great success of our arms, and the bright prospect of peace, soon, however, to be changed to grief and mourning. On the 14th of April, our lamented President was shot through the head by one John Wilkes Booth, while seated with his wife in a private box, in Ford's theatre in Washington, causing his death the following morning, he then being fifty-six years of age. It was the result of a conspiracy to assassinate, not only the President, but also members of his Cabinet and others. His remains were interred in the Oak Ridge Cemetery, at Springfield, Illinois. *The above Engraving, represents a magnificent Gold Medal, which was presented by forty thousand French Democrats, to the President's widow, to express their sympathy for Our Republic, in the loss of so illustrious a Chief Magistrate. It is in outline, about one third less in size than the original-For a full description of it, see "Civil War in America," by Lossing. |