On October 5, 1818, Nancy Lincoln died of milk sickness, leaving 11-year-old Sarah in charge of a household that included her father, 9-year-old Abraham, and Dennis Hanks, Nancy's 19-year-old orphaned cousin. His stepmother acknowledged he did not enjoy 'physical labor', but loved to read. In response to Lincoln's election, secessionists implemented plans to leave the Union before he took office in March 1861. Stanton saluted and said, 'Now he belongs to the ages.' Lincoln's flag-enfolded body was then escorted in the rain to the White House by bareheaded Union officers, while the city's church bells rang.