Samuel Lincoln (date of birth unknown; baptised in
HinghamHingham is a market town and civil parish in the Forehoe district in the heart of rural Norfolk, in England. It covers an area of and had a population of 2,078 in 944 households as of the 2001 census. Grand architecture surrounds the market place and village green...
,
NorfolkNorfolk is a low-lying county in the East of England. It has borders with Lincolnshire to the west, Cambridgeshire to the west and southwest and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the North Sea coast, including The Wash. The county town is Norwich...
,
EnglandEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the North Sea to the east, with the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, August 24, 1622, as the son of Edward Lincoln; died in
HinghamHingham is a town in Plymouth County on the South Shore of the U.S. state of Massachusetts. The United States Census Bureau 2008 estimated population was 22,561...
,
MassachusettsThe Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. Most of its population of...
, May 26, 1690), was progenitor of many notable
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
political figures, including his great-great-great-great-grandson,
PresidentThe President of the United States is the head of state and head of government of the United States and is the highest political official in the United States by influence and recognition...
Abraham LincolnAbraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States, serving from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. He successfully led his country through its greatest internal crisis, the American Civil War, preserving the Union and ending slavery...
,
MaineThe State of Maine is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States, bordering the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast, New Hampshire to the southwest, and the Canadian provinces of Quebec to the northwest and New Brunswick to the northeast. Maine is the northernmost portion of...
governor
Enoch LincolnEnoch Lincoln was a U.S. Representative from Massachusetts and from Maine, son of Levi Lincoln and brother of Levi Lincoln . Born in Worcester, Massachusetts, Lincoln graduated from Harvard University in 1807.He studied law, was admitted to the bar and commenced the practice of his profession in...
, and
Levi Lincoln, Sr.Levi Lincoln, Sr. was an American revolutionary and statesman who served as a Minuteman at the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War, a state legislator in Massachusetts, a participant in Massachusetts' state constitutional convention, Governor of Massachusetts, Lieutenant Governor of...
and
Levi Lincoln, Jr.Levi Lincoln, Jr. was an American lawyer and politician from Worcester, Massachusetts. He was Governor of Massachusetts and represented the state in the U.S. Congress...
, both of whom served as Massachusetts Representatives and
GovernorsThe Governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts is the executive magistrate of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, United States. The current governor is Democrat Deval Patrick.-Constitutional role:...
. Because of Samuel Lincoln's descendants, his fortuitous arrival in the
Massachusetts Bay ColonyThe Massachusetts Bay Colony was an English settlement on the east coast of North America in the 17th century, in New England, centered around the present-day cities of Salem and Boston...
, and the fact that his ancestry is known for several generations, he is considered father of the most prominent branch of Lincolns in America.
Having grown up in meager circumstances due to a family squabble in which his wealthy grandfather disinherited his earlier children, Samuel Lincoln became an apprentice weaver under Francis Lawes of
NorwichNorwich is a city in Norfolk, East Anglia which is in Eastern England. It is the regional administrative centre and county city of Norfolk...
,
EnglandEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the North Sea to the east, with the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
.
Samuel Lincoln (date of birth unknown; baptised in
HinghamHingham is a market town and civil parish in the Forehoe district in the heart of rural Norfolk, in England. It covers an area of and had a population of 2,078 in 944 households as of the 2001 census. Grand architecture surrounds the market place and village green...
,
NorfolkNorfolk is a low-lying county in the East of England. It has borders with Lincolnshire to the west, Cambridgeshire to the west and southwest and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the North Sea coast, including The Wash. The county town is Norwich...
,
EnglandEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the North Sea to the east, with the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, August 24, 1622, as the son of Edward Lincoln; died in
HinghamHingham is a town in Plymouth County on the South Shore of the U.S. state of Massachusetts. The United States Census Bureau 2008 estimated population was 22,561...
,
MassachusettsThe Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. Most of its population of...
, May 26, 1690), was progenitor of many notable
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
political figures, including his great-great-great-great-grandson,
PresidentThe President of the United States is the head of state and head of government of the United States and is the highest political official in the United States by influence and recognition...
Abraham LincolnAbraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States, serving from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. He successfully led his country through its greatest internal crisis, the American Civil War, preserving the Union and ending slavery...
,
MaineThe State of Maine is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States, bordering the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast, New Hampshire to the southwest, and the Canadian provinces of Quebec to the northwest and New Brunswick to the northeast. Maine is the northernmost portion of...
governor
Enoch LincolnEnoch Lincoln was a U.S. Representative from Massachusetts and from Maine, son of Levi Lincoln and brother of Levi Lincoln . Born in Worcester, Massachusetts, Lincoln graduated from Harvard University in 1807.He studied law, was admitted to the bar and commenced the practice of his profession in...
, and
Levi Lincoln, Sr.Levi Lincoln, Sr. was an American revolutionary and statesman who served as a Minuteman at the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War, a state legislator in Massachusetts, a participant in Massachusetts' state constitutional convention, Governor of Massachusetts, Lieutenant Governor of...
and
Levi Lincoln, Jr.Levi Lincoln, Jr. was an American lawyer and politician from Worcester, Massachusetts. He was Governor of Massachusetts and represented the state in the U.S. Congress...
, both of whom served as Massachusetts Representatives and
GovernorsThe Governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts is the executive magistrate of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, United States. The current governor is Democrat Deval Patrick.-Constitutional role:...
. Because of Samuel Lincoln's descendants, his fortuitous arrival in the
Massachusetts Bay ColonyThe Massachusetts Bay Colony was an English settlement on the east coast of North America in the 17th century, in New England, centered around the present-day cities of Salem and Boston...
, and the fact that his ancestry is known for several generations, he is considered father of the most prominent branch of Lincolns in America.
Journey to America
Having grown up in meager circumstances due to a family squabble in which his wealthy grandfather disinherited his earlier children, Samuel Lincoln became an apprentice weaver under Francis Lawes of
NorwichNorwich is a city in Norfolk, East Anglia which is in Eastern England. It is the regional administrative centre and county city of Norfolk...
,
EnglandEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the North Sea to the east, with the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. Samuel Lincoln's father Edward had abandoned his home at
Swanton MorleySwanton Morley is a picturesque village situated in the heart of Norfolk. It is a village steeped in history documented back to the Domesday Book...
near Hingham after he was cut out of his father Richard's will, and relocated to some small acreage at Hingham. In 1637, Lincoln left England for the New World with Lawes' family, embarking on a ship named
John & Dorothy. Although most accounts indicate that he was 15 years old at the time, it has been suggested that he misrepresented his age in order to be permitted to make the voyage.
Samuel sailed for the colony of Massachusetts, where his older brother Thomas – known in early records as "Thomas Lincoln the Weaver" to distinguish him from several other unrelated Thomas Lincolns – had already settled. Samuel's brother Thomas, who settled in 1635 in Hingham, Massachusetts, where he was granted a house lot by the town, later left at his decease a great deal of his property, including several house lots, to Samuel and to his nephews. (Although twice married, Samuel's brother Thomas had no children.)
Life and family in Massachusetts
Samuel Lincoln helped to build the
Old Ship ChurchThe Old Ship Church was built in 1681 in Hingham, Massachusetts in the United States. It is the oldest church in continuous ecclesiastical use in the United States. It is the only remaining 17th century Puritan meetinghouse in America...
in Hingham. He married Martha Lyford of
IrelandIreland is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island in the world. It lies to the north-west of continental Europe and is surrounded by hundreds of islands and islets. To the east of Ireland, separated by the Irish Sea, is the island of Great Britain...
around 1649, possibly the daughter of the Rev. John Lyford, and the couple had eleven children, three of whom died in their infancy, but another three of whom lived into their eighties. Lincoln's eldest son, born August 25, 1650, was also named Samuel. The emigrant Samuel Lincoln's fourth son was Mordecai Lincoln, who became a blacksmith, and who was the ancestor of Abraham Lincoln. Genealogists have noted the common and repeated use of certain
Biblical names in the Lincoln family, particularly
AbrahamAbraham is the founding patriarch of the Israelites, Ishmaelites, Midianites and Edomite peoples, as described in the book of Genesis. He is widely regarded as the patriarch of Jews, Christians, and Muslims....
, Samuel,
IsaacIsaac or Ishak ) was the only child of Abraham and Sarah, and the father of Jacob and Esau, described in the Hebrew Bible. He is regarded as one of the three patriarchs of the Jewish people...
,
JacobJacob , also known as Israel , was the third Biblical patriarch and ancestor of the twelve tribes of Israel, named after ten of his twelve sons, as well as the two sons of his son Joseph.The Bible says...
, and
MordecaiMordecai or Mordechai - the son of Jair, of the tribe of Benjamin, is one of the main personalities in the Book of Esther in the Hebrew Bible.-His life and deeds:...
, a common practice among early Puritan settlers in the
Massachusetts Bay ColonyThe Massachusetts Bay Colony was an English settlement on the east coast of North America in the 17th century, in New England, centered around the present-day cities of Salem and Boston...
. Many later Lincoln descendants, including the original emigrant's son, were named Samuel in succeeding generations.
Interestingly, Samuel's mother also belonged to a family long associated with American government: the Gilmans of
Exeter, New HampshireExeter is a town in Rockingham County, New Hampshire, United States. The town's population was 14,058 at the 2000 census. Exeter was the county seat until 1997, when county offices were moved to neighboring Brentwood...
. Samuel's mother Bridget Gilman was the daughter of Edward Gilman of
Hingham, NorfolkHingham is a market town and civil parish in the Forehoe district in the heart of rural Norfolk, in England. It covers an area of and had a population of 2,078 in 944 households as of the 2001 census. Grand architecture surrounds the market place and village green...
, England, whose son Edward Gilman Jr. emigrated to Hingham, Massachusetts, later to
Ipswich, MassachusettsIpswich is a coastal town in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 12,987 at the 2000 census. Home to Willowdale State Forest and Sandy Point State Reservation, Ipswich includes the southern part of Plum Island and Plum Island State Park...
and finally to Exeter, where he and his family became prominent businessmen, elected officials and, later, ardent Revolutionary War patriots.
Nicholas GilmanNicholas Gilman, Jr. was a soldier in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War, a delegate to the Continental Congress, and a signer of the U.S. Constitution, representing New Hampshire. He was a member of the United States House of Representatives during the first four...
, a signer of the U.S. Constitution, was a member of this family.
Commemoration
In 1937, the 300th anniversary of Samuel Lincoln's arrival in Massachusetts was commemorated with the dedication of a tablet at the Old Ship Church in Hingham, Massachusetts. President Abraham Lincoln is honored by a bust in the church of St. Andrews in Hingham, Norfolk, England, unveiled in a 1919 ceremony by then-American
AmbassadorThe office of United States Ambassador to the United Kingdom was traditionally, and still is very much so today due to the Special Relationship, the most prestigious position in the United States Foreign Service...
John W. DavisJohn William Davis was an American politician, diplomat and lawyer. He served as an United States Representative from West Virginia , then as Solicitor General of the United States and U.S. Ambassador to the UK under President Woodrow Wilson. Over a 60-year legal career, he argued 140 cases...
. Samuel Lincoln's father Edward, who remained in Hingham, England, died on February 11, 1640, and was buried in the graveyard of St. Andrews Church.
Sources
- Waldo Lincoln, History of the Lincoln Family: An Account of the Descendants of Samuel Lincoln of Hingham, Massachusetts, 1637–1920 (1923) ISBN 0788414895.
- Lincoln's Youth: Indiana Years, Seven to Twenty-One, 1816–1830, Indiana University Press (2002) ISBN 0-87195-063-4.
- Genealogy of Samuel Lincoln.
- LINCOLN (Samuel), from George Lincoln, The History of the Town of Hingham, Massachusetts, The Genealogies (1893).
- English church reaches out to Lincoln land; Building where president's ancestors once worshipped in need of major repairs.
- The Ancestry of Abraham Lincoln, James Henry Lea, John Robert Hutchinson, Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, 1909