Mordecai Lincoln place of birth Augusta County
Early life
Mordecai was the first child born to Abraham Lincoln (1744–1786) and Bathsheba Herring (c. 1742–1836), having been born in 1771 Augusta County, now Rockingham County, Virginia. Abraham had been given 210 acres of prime Virginian land from his father, John Lincoln, and later sold the land to move in 1782 to western Virginia, now Kentucky. He amassed an estate of 5,544 acres of prime Kentucky land, realizing the bounty as advised by Daniel Boone, a relative of the Lincoln family. The couple had five children: Mordecai, Josiah, Thomas, Ann (Nancy) and Mary.The family settled in Jefferson County, about twenty miles (32 km) east of the site of Louisville. The territory was still contested by Native Americans living across the Ohio River. For protection the settlers lived near frontier forts, called stations, to which they retreated when the alarm was given. Abraham Lincoln settled near Hughes' Station on Floyd's Fork and began clearing land, planting corn, and building a cabin.One day in May 1786, Abraham Lincoln was working in his field with his three sons when he was shot from the nearby forest and fell to the ground. The eldest boy, Mordecai, ran to the cabin for the loaded gun, while the middle son, Josiah, ran to Hughes' Station for help. Thomas, the youngest, stood in shock by his father. From the cabin, Mordecai saw an American Indian come out of the forest and stop by his father's body. The Native American reached for Thomas. Mordecai took aim and shot the Native American in the chest, killing him and saving Thomas from the presumably ill-intentioned Native American. After having seen his father killed, Mordecai maintained a hatred and "avenging spirit" towards Native Americans.Soon after his mother moved the family to Washington County, Kentucky (near Springfield). After Mordecai's father died, Mordecai as the eldest son inherited his father's land and property, according to the system of primogeniture. Left without a patrimony like many younger sons, Josiah and Thomas had to make their own way in the world.A replica of the home where Bathsheba raised the five children was erected in 1934 in the Lincoln Homestead State Park.
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