Author: Sydney Ring

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President Abraham Lincoln and the Lincolns in Virginia

This portrait of President Abraham Lincoln was taken in Washington DC in 1864. Source: The Library of Congress

President Abraham Lincoln never met any of his family members living in Virginia or visited the Lincoln Homestead. His grandfather, also named Abraham, moved his family out of Virginia to the frontier of Kentucky in 1780. Unfortunately, the family moved directly into an ongoing conflict between European settlers and Shawnee groups over land. In 1786, Abraham Lincoln was killed by a Native American man in front of the President’s father, then only eight years old. As a result, Thomas Lincoln, and subsequently President Lincoln, became disconnected from their Virginia family.[1]

Perhaps because of this lack of knowledge, President Lincoln had a lot of interest in his family history and began reaching out to people for information in the 1840s. After being appointed to the House of Representatives, President Lincoln asked Governor James McDowell, then a Representative for Virginia, if he know of any Lincolns living in Virginia that he could write to and inquire about his family history. On March 24th, 1848, after receiving David Lincoln’s address from McDowell, the future President wrote David Lincoln – President Lincoln was David’s first cousin once removed – to inquire about his family history. He gave the details of his father and grandfather and asked if David could “ascertain whether [they] are not of the same family.”[2] David replied on March 30, but the letter has not survived. President Lincoln wrote back and asked David several more questions: “What was your grandfather’s christian name? Was he or not, a Quaker?…. Do you know anything of your family (or rather I may now say our family) farther back than your grandfather?”[3] Unfortunately, no further correspondence survives. Nevertheless, it is clear that President Lincoln was enthusiastic to learn about his family and recover some of the history which had been lost when his grandfather passed away.

This excerpt is from President Abraham Lincoln’s first letter to David Lincoln where he inquires if they are related. Document Source: Brown University Digital Repository – Lincoln Manuscripts

When examining the Lincoln family that lived in Virginia, the contrast between the family and President Abraham Lincoln is striking. There is a popular public conception of President Lincoln as coming from a very humble background; he is perceived as having grown up in poverty and having lived in a log cabin for much of his early life. This stands in stark contrast when looking at the Lincoln family who lived in Virginia. Throughout their lives, the men and women of the Lincoln Homestead each owned hundreds of acres of land, lived in a large Federal-style home, and benefitted from the wealth and labor of enslaved people. Ironically, President Lincoln stripped his family of this wealth on January 1, 1863, when he freed all enslaved people in areas of rebellion during the Civil War. The loss of President Lincoln’s grandfather not only disconnected the family from their Virginia roots, it also greatly reduced their economic circumstances. By looking at the Lincolns in Virginia in comparison with the President, that familial loss becomes stark.

Architecture in Virginia
The Main House

[1] Kenneth J. Winkle, The Young Eagle: The Rise of Abraham Lincoln (Dallas: Taylor Trade Publishing, 2001), 6-7.

[2] Abraham Lincoln to David Lincoln, March 24, 1848 Papers of Abraham Lincoln Digital Library, The Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum, https://papersofabrahamlincoln.org/documents/D200471.

[3] Abraham Lincoln to David Lincoln, April 2, 1848 Papers of Abraham Lincoln Digital Library, The Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum, https://papersofabrahamlincoln.org/documents/D200475. The grandfather that the President is asking about is Virginia John. The president was incorrect about John being a Quaker.

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Mary Homan Lincoln and Mary Elizabeth Maupin

            Mary Homan was born on October 24, 1802, to John and Mary (Robinson) Homan. On October 26, 1826, two days after her twenty-fourth birthday, Mary and Colonel Abraham Lincoln were married. The couple had four daughters from 1827 – 1837, and one who passed away as an infant. Abraham and Mary first lived in a log home on Virginia John’s land until 1840, when Mary’s mother-in-law Dorcas Lincoln passed away. At that time, they moved into the Lincoln Homestead and began building the rear ell addition, completed in either 1841 or 1842. Mary lived on the Homestead for over 30 years. Similarly to Dorcas, Mary would have been responsible for running the household while Abraham managed the farm and sale of the goods produced on the farm; she would have spent a lot of her time cooking, making cloth and clothing, tending to vegetable gardens, taking care of her children, and managing the household and enslaved people. Though this work was focused on the home, it was key to the “prosperity and comfort” of her family.[1]

This is the only image of the Lincoln Homestead with its original portico and small-pane windows. Source: JMU Special Collections

Also, similarly to Dorcas, Mary outlived Abraham by about 23 years. During that time, she would have been the sole person managing the Homestead. Not only did she have to manage everything for herself, but she also had to do it throughout the Civil War. While other Southern women suddenly had to manage their farms and enslaved people by themselves for the first time, Mary already had ten years of practice. Women were an important part of the Confederacy’s war effort; they made clothes and other supplies for soldiers, nursed soldiers when they became sick or wounded, and often had to give up their goods to support the Confederacy. They also served an important ideological role in the war: women were “essential to the formulation and articulation of Confederate nationalism” and supported the “ideal that….Confederate women should inspire their husbands and sons with the courage to do battle, and then cheerfully send them off.” The Shenandoah Valley witnessed significant military action throughout the conflict, and Mary would have had to work hard to keep the farm running while also maintaining control of her enslaved people. [2]

In the 1860 census, Mary Elizabeth Maupin – Abraham and Mary’s oldest daughter – was living in the Homestead with her mother, as her husband had passed away five years previously. Mary and Mary Elizabeth both directly supported the Confederacy. Not only did each woman own at least ten enslaved people, but they provided support for the Confederate Army numerous times. From 1862 – 1864, Mary Lincoln received payment from the army for the sale of straw, corn, hay, and for allowing them to hire a “1-4 horse Wagon Team & Teamster for 3 days.” Similarly, Mary Elizabeth sold them corn, flour, hay, and allowed the Confederacy to pasture their horses on her land several times from 1862 – 1864. [3]

This is a receipt for a payment Mary Lincoln received in 1862 from the Confederacy. Source: National Archives and Record Administration through Fold3

In 1864, the Lincoln Homestead itself became directly involved in the Civil War. General Sheridan of the Union Army began what is known today as “The Burning” from September 26th to October 8th. In an effort to both destroy the crops, livestock, and supplies and dissolve support for the Confederacy, Ulysses S. Grant ordered Sheridan to leave the Valley “a barren waste.” Before it was all over, Sheridan and his men had burned 2,000 barns, 70 mills, and killed thousands of livestock. There were limits, however, to what was allowed to be burned: houses, and the property of widows, single women, and orphans was ordered to be left alone. [4]

This is a drawing titled “Rosser attacking the rear–Oct. 8th 1864 nr. Harrisonburg. Shenandoah Valley” by Alfred R. Waud. It depicts the last day of the Burning. Source: Library of Congress

Despite these orders, when Sheridan’s men reached Linville Creek, Mary and Mary Elizabeth Maupin – both widows – had extensive property burned. Mary had a “total loss” of around $2,200 in damages due to the Burning. This included “350 bushels of wheat, 17 tons of hay and straw [etc.], 12 head of cattle & cows, one barn and corn crib, one carriage house.” Mary Elizabeth lost “670 bush. wheat, 100 bushels corn, 25 tons hay [and straw etc.], one barn” resulting in a “total loss” of $2,000. Unfortunately, it is not possible to know for sure why Sheridan’s men disobeyed their orders and burned the property of these two widows. It could be that they knew that there was a familial connection between the Lincoln Homestead and President Lincoln. Perhaps the soldiers recognized that the Homestead was being supported by numerous enslaved people freed by the Emancipation Proclamation. [5]

Col. Abraham Lincoln
Enslavement at the Lincoln Homestead

[1] Cynthia A. Kierner, “‘Skillfull in Anie Country Worke’: Red, White, and Black in Colonial Virginia,” in Changing History: Virginia Women Through Four Centuries (Richmond: The Library of Virginia, 2013), 30.

[2] Jennifer R. Loux, “‘A Constant State of Hopes and Fears’: Women in the Secession Crisis, Civil War, and Reconstruction,” in Changing History: Virginia Women Through Four Centuries (Richmond: The Library of Virginia, 2013), 141, 147, and 149-155.

[3] United States Census Bureau, “United States Census, 1860, Virginia, United States,” Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1860; United States Census Bureau, “United States Census Slave Schedule, 1860, Virginia,” Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1860; “Mary Lincoln,” US, Confederate Citizens File, 1861 – 1865, Virginia, The National Archives, 1-19, https://www.fold3.com/file/42156931; “Mary E. Maupin,” US, Confederate Citizens File, 1861 – 1865, Virginia, The National Archives, 1-31, https://www.fold3.com/file/43807988. Dr. Richard S. Maupin passed away in 1855. It seems likely that Mary Elizabeth and her children lived with Mary Lincoln throughout the Civil War. Mary Elizabeth Maupin remarried John D. Pennybacker in August 1865. Mary Lincoln owned 10 enslaved people and Mary Elizabeth owned 12. Mary Elizabeth appears to have owned enslaved people with her children, as she is listed as “Elizabeth Maupin + 2 others.”

[4] “The Burning,” National Park Service, last modified January 30, 2023, https://www.nps.gov/articles/000/the-burning-shenandoah-valley-in-flames.htm.

[5] “We continue the publication of the list of damages sustained by citizens of Linvill’s Creek,” Rockingham Register, February 10, 1865, 2, https://www.newspapers.com/ima ge/909930950/; John L. Heatwole, The Burning: Sheridan in the Shenandoah Valley (Charlottesville: Rockbridge Publishing, 1998), 164.

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Dorcas Robinson Lincoln (1764-1840)

Dorcas Lincoln was born on March 15, 1764, in Rockingham County to David and Dorcas Robinson. She married Captain Jacob Lincoln at the age of 17 on August 29, 1780. Together they had eleven children from 1781-1803. Dorcas would have been heavily involved in the running of her household, which in turn would have influenced how the family farm functioned. While women in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries were relegated to controlling the domestic sphere, as their husbands participated in business and public activities, they played a key role that “enhanced the prosperity and comfort” of the household. Women grew vegetable gardens, tended to poultry, and made cloth in addition to their housekeeping, child rearing, sewing, and embroidery. Virginian women helped produce goods such as different types of cloth, vegetables, eggs, and cheese that would have otherwise needed to be purchased; women’s domestic efforts “diminished their family’s expenditures…and thereby benefitted the family economy.” Women who owned enslaved people, however, benefited greatly from the aid of forced labor. Dorcas Lincoln was one of these women and she benefited from enslaved labor for the majority of her life. [1]

This image depicts the section of Jacob Lincoln’s will which gave the Lincoln Homestead to his widow, Dorcas. Document Source: The Library of Congress.

Following her husband’s death in February 1822, Dorcas lived for eighteen years as a widow and head of the Homestead. Jacob willed her the land “on which [they lived] with all the Appurtenances thereunto belonging Together with all the Household and Kitchen furniture.” Furthermore, he wished her to have “one Mare call’d the Dice mare and three cows of her choice,” as well as “[his] Yellow girl Jane & her two children…. [and] Allso one Negroe Man Named Jerry, son of Kate.” This meant that Dorcas managed the household, the livestock, the farm, and the enslaved people for eighteen years as the sole mistress of the Homestead. Since Dorcas was 58 when Jacob passed away, it is highly likely that her enslaved people helped support her until her death at the age of 86. Colonel Abraham, her son, could also have aided her since he was living on the adjoining property. [2]

            Dorcas’ will was written on February 22, 1837, about three years before her death. She made several disbursements of property and money to her children and grandchildren. The will shows that Dorcas had amassed a good amount of wealth – in land, belongings, and enslaved people – during her life. In particular, Dorcas made sure to provide for her grandchildren whose parents had passed away; John Chrisman, the son of her daughter Elizabeth, received $50 while Caroline and Josephine Evans, daughters of Hannah Lincoln Evans, each received $100, a cow, and “one good bed.” Dorcas also requested that Colonel Abraham, her son, take $100 out of her estate to pay for a gravestone for her son John who had passed away in 1815 and for “keeping up the enclosure around the grave yard on his land.” Included in the property to be sold was her enslaved property, with the exception of “one old Negro Woman named Kate,” who was to be given to her daughter, Dorcas Strayer. It is possible that this is the same Kate who was gifted to Dorcas by her father. [3] 

Dorcas Lincoln’s mark on a copy of her will. Document Source: Library of Congress

Little over a month before her death, Dorcas made an alteration to her will; she changed her mind about how she wanted her enslaved people to be divided up. While Kate was still going to Dorcas Strayer, she expressed that “On mature reflection” the rest of her enslaved people should go to her family members, rather than be sold at auction. Her granddaughter Caroline Evans Hammon was to receive a nine-year-old girl named Mary on the condition that “[Caroline’s] husband pay a debt [Dorcas owed to] Adam Allen for leather.” Dorcas gave Josephine Evans “one Negroe Girl named Margaret” and allowed Colonel Abraham to have his choice of two enslaved people from those who were left. Dorcas wished for the rest of her enslaved people to go to three of her children: David, Jacob Jr., and Rebekah Dyer. While it is impossible to know what exactly made Dorcas change her mind, it seems likely that she decided that it would be more beneficial for her family members to inherit her enslaved property and the continued economic benefits that would come from their forced labor. [4]

Jacob Lincoln
Col. Abraham Lincoln

[1] Waldo Lincoln, History of the Lincoln Family: An Account of the Descendants of Samuel Lincoln of Hingham, Massachusetts, 1637 – 1920 (Worcester, Massachusetts: Commonwealth Press, 1923), 205, https://archive.org/details/historyoflincoln 00illinc/page/205/mode/1up; Cynthia A. Kierner, “‘Skillfull in Anie Country Worke’: Red, White, and Black in Colonial Virginia,” in Changing History: Virginia Women Through Four Centuries (Richmond: The Library of Virginia, 2013), 30-32. The first record of the Lincolns owning enslaved people is in 1785 from David Robinson’s will. However, Dorcas’ parents were both slaveowners, so it seems likely that she grew up around enslaved people as well. Nevertheless, as a Lincoln, Dorcas owned enslaved people for 55 years.

[2] Jacob Lincoln, “Copy of Last Will of Jacob Lincoln,” February 7, 1822, Lincoln Family Papers 1746 – 1939, Library of Congress Manuscript Division, MMC-0975, Accession no. 6065A. Colonel Abraham inherited the land which originally belonged to Virginia John, his grandfather, in his father’s will. Abraham and his family lived on the property until Dorcas passed away, when they moved into the Lincoln Homestead.

[3] Dorcas Lincoln, “Copy of Last Will of Dorcas Lincoln,” February 22, 1837, Lincoln Family Papers 1746 – 1939, Library of Congress Manuscript Division, MMC-0975, Accession no. 6065A. There are numerous mentions of the name Kate throughout Lincoln Family records. There are also different spellings, including Caty, Cate, and Kate. It is hard to know if these records are referring to the same women or more than one woman. It seems likely that the family owned more than one woman or girl with the name Kate. Dorcas Lincoln willed the “old..Woman named Kate” to Dorcas Strayer, but her son Abraham later willed another woman named Kate to his widow Mary Lincoln.

[4]  Dorcas Lincoln, “Copy of Declaration Made Before Sam Coffman and Jacob Moyers,” December 21, 1839, Lincoln Family Papers 1746 – 1939, Library of Congress Manuscript Division, MMC-0975, Accession no. 6065A.

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The Land

When English colonists first arrived at Jamestown in 1607, indigenous people had been living in Virginia for thousands of years. In the Shenandoah Valley, groups such as the Monacan, Manahoac, and Iroquois lived off the fertile land and water supply from the Shenandoah River. In 1716, Governor Alexander Spotswood and a company of men made the first European exploration of the Shenandoah Valley. Europeans did not settle in the Valley, though, until the late 1720s and 1730s. Though Virginia was an English colony, the Valley was initially settled by Germans, Swiss, and Scots-Irish immigrants, which left a lasting impact on the development of the colony. Altogether, the Shenandoah Valley was home to a variety of different people, cultures, and religions which resulted in a vibrant community. Rockingham County, initially part of Augusta County, separated into its own county in 1778. Rockingham County’s earliest settlers were German, English, Scots-Irish, and Swiss immigrants. They came to Virginia seeking affordable land on which they could farm. These immigrant groups left their mark on several aspects of life in the Valley. In particular, they fostered a diverse range of religions, including Mennonites, Lutherans, Presbyterians, Methodists, United Brethren, and more. [1]

This is a map of Virginia from 1861 depicting what are today the states of Virginia and West Virginia. Source: Courtesy of the Library of Congress.

The Lincoln family has lived in the United States since Samuel Lincoln arrived with his two brothers in Hingham, Massachusetts in 1637. From that time and until the birth of Col. Abraham Lincoln in 1799, men of the Lincoln family followed a generational pattern: each new generation of sons in the family moved away from their birthplace, living in 3 or more different states throughout their lives. Furthermore, each “lifetime migration distance” grew substantially as generations progressed. In addition to an internal family pattern, the Lincoln family was part of a wider national trend of migration as well. As the colonies grew more established, the colonists began to move westward in a search for more land; this westward movement, however, was not direct and people instead followed along natural landmarks such as the Allegheny Mountains southward before moving westward towards Kentucky. Additionally, as time passed, American migrants had a “growing propensity…to move longer distances,” reacting to factors such as “population pressure in the East, the increasing ease of travel, and the westward progression of the frontier.” While his cousins Thomas and President Abraham Lincoln continued the family pattern, Col. Abraham Lincoln broke this generational trend when he inherited his father’s homestead and never moved away. [2]

This is the marker placed on the Lincoln Homestead property by the Virginia Department of Historic Resources, 1997.

“Virginia John” Lincoln moved his wife and children from Berks County, Pennsylvania to a 600-acre plot of land purchased for £250 in what is now Linville in 1768. This began over a hundred years of Lincoln family history in Virginia. At the time of his death, John’s personal possessions were valued at a little over £91. Several of the items listed in the probate inventory, including a wagon, windmill, and 6-plate stove, were listed as being owned in partnership; it is most likely that these items were shared between John and his son Jacob, who lived on adjoining land and had a house very close by. Perhaps most importantly, the probate inventory does not list John Lincoln as owning any enslaved people. Therefore, he was the last member of this branch of the Lincoln family who did not own slaves. From his death in 1788, the Lincoln men and women owned numerous enslaved people, until their own cousin declared them free with the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863. [3]

Lincoln Family Tree
Jacob Lincoln

[1] Carole Nash, “Native American Communities of the Shenandoah Valley: Constructing a Complex History,” July 2020, https://bpb-us-e1.wpmucdn.com/sites.lib.jmu.edu/d ist/9/133/files/2019/04/Native-American-Communities-of-the-Shenandoah-Valley.pdf; John Wayland, A History of Rockingham County, Virginia (Dayton: Ruebush-Elkins Company, 1912), 34-35, 65, and 108.

[2] Kenneth J. Winkle, The Young Eagle: The Rise of Abraham Lincoln (Dallas: Taylor Trade Publishing, 2001), 1-3.

[3] John Wayland, The Lincolns in Virginia (Staunton: The McClure Company, Inc., 1946), 28 and 37-39.

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Seeking to Stay: Nathan’s 1833 Petition to the General Assembly

Nick Baker, Daniel D’Amico, and Nick Spadaccini

In 1833, a newly emancipated African American man named Nathan persuaded Jacob Lincoln, Jr. and dozens of other white Rockingham County men to “unite with him” in a petition asking the General Assembly to allow Nathan “to spend the remnant of his days, in the said county in which he was born.”   

African Americans, even once freed, were not equal in southern society. In Virginia, an 1806 law required all freed slaves to leave the Commonwealth within a year of emancipation (Guild, 72-73). Those who wished to stay had to petition for residency. Only white men were permitted to sign, vouching for the petitioner’s good character and testifying that they did not pose a threat to the community as a whole.

Nathan’s mark on the 1833 petition. Courtesy of the Library of Virginia.

The most common reason for seeking to stay was family. Many freed slaves had family members who were still enslaved and did not want to abandon them. This was especially the case because very few former slaves had the means to purchase the freedom of their family members.

According to the petition, Nathan, who by his emancipation in 1833 was “considerably advanced in years,” had a “wife and four children” who were enslaved by Rockingham County farmer George Sites. With “no way of purchasing” his wife and children “in any short time,” even if Sites proved willing to sell them, Nathan asked his white neighbors to help him persuade the General Assembly to let him stay.

Jacob Lincoln, Jr. was one of the signers. Like many powerful families of the antebellum period, the Lincolns owned slaves and were involved in the slave matters of their neighbors. Nathan had been owned by the Dunlap family. Jacob Lincoln, Jr. almost certainly knew him personally. He may also have known his wife and children, who lived not far away on Linville Creek. An enslaver himself, Lincoln thought highly enough of Nathan to testify that he was not a threat to the community as a free person.

Jacob Lincoln, Jr.’s signature on the 1833 petition. Courtesy of the Library of Virginia.

While enslavers sometimes sought to manipulate and exploit freed slaves, Jacob Lincoln, Jr. and the other petitioners appear to have had Nathan’s best interest at heart. This is clear because Nathan was old and had little to offer those speaking on his behalf, aside from being “a faithfull servant” in the past.

What happened to Nathan? Not much is known about his whereabouts after the 1833 petition. In 1834, residents of Rockingham County filed another petition on Nathan’s behalf. This petition had many of the same signatures, with the exception of Jacob Lincoln, Jr. The result of this petition is unknown.

If Nathan received permission and opted to remain in Rockingham County, he would have faced discrimination in labor and everyday life. He might have found work as a field hand, street sweeper, or outhouse cleaner, doing hard labor for low pay. He would have been a second-class member of society, subject to harassment and discrimination (West, 465). Nathan knew this grim outlook when he organized his petition to the General Assembly, but the bonds of family nevertheless persuaded him to seek to stay.

Works Cited

Citizens: Petitions, Rockingham County, 4 December 1833, Legislative Petitions Digital Collection, Library of Virginia, Richmond, Va.

Citizens: Petitions, Rockingham County, 2 December 1834, Legislative Petitions Digital Collection, Library of Virginia, Richmond, Va.

Guild, June Purcell. Black Laws of Virginia. New York, NY: Negro Univ. Press, 1969.

West, Emily. “‘Between Slavery and Freedom’: The Expulsion and Enslavement of Free Women of Colour in the US South before the Civil War.” Women’s History Review 22 (2013).

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Alcohol Abuse on the Lincoln Homestead

Brandon Carter and Kelly Ryan

In an 1840 letter from Jacob Lincoln, Jr.’s brother-in-law, John Lineberger, to a friend, John wrote that Jacob’s family was “running about dodging him constantly” as a result of his heavy drinking (Lineberger). According to the letter, Jacob was spending his wheat crop on whiskey and brandy, two of the most popular alcoholic beverages of the early nineteenth century along with other cheap distilled liquors (Carlson, 677). Jacob’s alcohol abuse led to economic troubles, as shown by his irresponsible spending and the fact that he was not able to have the same financial success as his brother (Wayland, 214). It was not uncommon for southern patriarchs struggling with alcohol abuse to sell their family’s possessions in order to fund their addiction, just one way in which alcoholism negatively affected their households (Sager, 81).

Excerpt from the John Lineberger letter referring to Jacob Lincoln, Jr. as “Jr.” and describing his alcohol consumption and intemperate behavior as “worse than usual.” Courtesy of the Lincoln Society of Virginia.

Jacob’s son, John Lincoln, explained to John Lineberger that he left home as he could not stand his father’s alcoholism any longer. The exact behavior that Jacob was exhibiting was not made clear, but his son described it as “if possible worse than usual” (Lineberger). In some Virginia families, alcoholism caused the patriarch to be abusive and violent, making the family fearful every time he was intoxicated. The trouble these families experienced caused them to look to their communities for help.

In the Lincolns’ case, their community consisted of kin in the greater Linville area. Lineberger asked both the unspecified letter recipient and the recipient’s brother to meet him in Harrisonburg to come up with a plan to “better the family situation.” As Jacob’s brother-in-law, Lineberger felt a duty towards his sister, Nancy, as well as towards Jacob. The patriarchal family structure was an important principle of southern culture, so communities intervened in order to preserve this way of life (Carlson, 677).

Before the Civil War, temperance advocates used images like this one to raise awareness of the
dangers of alcohol abuse. Nathaniel Currier, “The Drunkard’s Progress” (1846). Wikimedia.

The rapid growth of the temperance movement in Virginia in the 1820s and 1830s contributed to a more negative outlook on alcohol consumption which could explain why communities were intervening more (Pearson and Hendricks, 36-40). Family and friends harbored fleeing wives, conducted interventions, and participated in legal action against intemperate husbands (Edwards, 746-53).

Lineberger was not able to rebuild Jacob and Nancy’s family. Nancy would be committed to an asylum in Staunton and Jacob would be found dead in an Ohio field just eight years later, though it is unclear whether these incidents were related to his alcoholism (Wayland, 214).

Works Cited

Carlson, Douglas W. “‘Drinks He to His Own Undoing’: Temperance Ideology in the Deep South.” Journal of the Early Republic 18, no. 4 (1998).

Edwards, Laura F. “Law, Domestic Violence, and the Limits of Patriarchal Authority in the Antebellum South.” The Journal of Southern History 65, no. 4 (Nov. 1999).

John Lineberger to —-, November 12, 1840. Collections of the Lincoln Society of Virginia.

Pearson, C.C. and Hendricks, J. Edwin. Liquor and Anti-Liquor in Virginia. Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 1967.

Sager, Robin C. Marital Cruelty in Antebellum America. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 2016.

Wayland, John W. The Lincolns in Virginia. Staunton, VA: The McClure Printing Company, 1946.

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Squire, Fire, Repression, and Rebellion

Madeleine Hesler, Ryan Ritter, and Ashton White

Squire was an enslaved man at the Lincoln Homestead who in 1841 was charged with burning a barn “of the value of one Thousand Dollars” belonging to Abraham Lincoln (Lincoln Public Claim). He had been acquired by Jacob Lincoln, Jr., son of the original builder of the Homestead, through his mother-in-law Dorcas Robinson in 1811 (Wayland, 253). As with many enslaved people in the antebellum South, there is, unfortunately, little information about Squire in the historical records. However, his story may be pieced together through the few available documents and recorded testimony.

Squire is listed in this undated inventory of “Abram Lincoln negroes.” Courtesy of the Lincoln Society of Virginia.

Squire was tried and convicted by a five-judge court of oyer and terminer, a type of court established specifically to handle slave crime, and was originally sentenced to be hanged on October 29, 1841.However, an act of “clemency” from the court ordered that he be brought to an unidentified penitentiary for transportation before he was likely sold for $280. At the time of his transfer to the penitentiary, Squire was 50 years old. What happened after his transfer is a matter of speculation, though it is most likely that he continued his servitude elsewhere.

Squire is listed (along with his age and the name of his enslaver, Jacob Lincoln, Jr.) in this index of “condemned slaves and free blacks executed or transported” between 1781 and 1864. Courtesy of the Library of Virginia.

Virginia had one of the most “repressive systems of criminal law regarding slaves” (Flanigan, 546). Court magistrates were often composed almost entirely of slave owners, and lack of evidence against an accused defendant often did not halt the issuing of a guilty verdict (Campbell 71-85). As opposed to the biennial circuit court sessions where white defendants were tried, courts of oyer and terminer met for only five to ten days after an investigation was filed and, according to historian James Campbell, largely existed “for the sole purpose of trying and sentencing […] specific slave[s].”

Though Squire was likely never executed, his original sentencing to be hanged was not an uncommon punishment for enslaved Virginians. For courts of oyer and terminer, capital punishment was often preferred. It served as a mechanism for white slave owners to assert power and intimidate those they enslaved. To instill further fear, slave owners would oftentimes display the heads of executed slaves as a reminder to others of their fate should they choose to rebel (Blackman and McLaughlin, 45). At the time of his sentencing, Squire’s crime was considered particularly egregious. According to Anne Willis, slaveholders feared arson the most as it was “impossible to guard against, and it endangered their own lives and property” (Willis, 37).

Slave rebellion is often associated with dramatic acts such as Squire’s alleged act of arson, with less attention paid to quieter forms of resistance (Scully). Yet practicing religion, fostering community and family connections, and staying true to oneself allowed enslaved individuals to experience a taste of freedom, agency, and hope even while under the oppression of their enslavers. Quieter forms of rebellion could contribute to the stirrings of (and success of) dramatic slave rebellions.

Squire’s case is an interesting, yet not uncommon one in the historical record. Due to the lack of information and documentation of Squire outside of his court case, we cannot determine what occurred to him after the trial. Squire represents one of many enslaved individuals who went through an unjust court system. His act of rebellion was one among many varieties. Rebellion could look different based on the motives and hopes of each individual living under a system of oppression.

Works Cited

Blackman, Paul H. and McLaughlin, Vance. “Mass Legal Executions in America up to 1865.” Crime, Histoire, & Sociétés 8, no. 2 (2004).

Campbell, James. “‘The Victim of Prejudice and Hasty Consideration’: The Slave Trial System in Richmond, Virginia, 1830-61.” Slavery & Abolition 26, no. 1 (2005).

Flanigan, Daniel J. “Criminal Procedure in Slave Trials in the Antebellum South.” The Journal of Southern History 40, no. 4 (1974).

Lincoln, Jacob: Public Claim, 1841-10-09. Virginia Untold: The African American Narrative Digital Collection, Library of Virginia, Richmond, VA.

Scully, Randolph Ferguson. “‘I Come Here Before You Did and I Shall Not Go Away’: Race, Gender, and Evangelical Community on the Eve of the Nat Turner Rebellion.” Journal of the Early Republic 27, no. 4 (2007).

Wayland, John W. The Lincolns in Virginia. Staunton, VA: The McClure Printing Company, 1946.

Willis, Anne Romberg, “The Master’s Mercy: Slave Prosecutions and Punishments in York County, Virginia, 1700-1780.” Master’s thesis. College of William & Mary, 1995.

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The Lincolns in America StoryMap

This StoryMap was created by JMU Undergraduate students Kelly Ryan, Jack Greentree, Devon Farrington, and Brandon Carter. It will take you on an interactive journey of the migration of the Lincoln Family in the 18th and 19th centuries.

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Tour the Lincoln Family Cemetery

This is a 360 degree walkthrough of the Lincoln Family Cemetery located on the Lincoln Homestead in Linville, Rockingham County, Virginia. It was created by Sydney Ring as part of a JMU Masters’ Thesis using technology available through the History Studio at JMU. This cemetery was restored in 2015 by the Massanutton chapter of the DAR. Unfortunately, since then, the gravestones have become very difficult to read. In some cases, there are better images available of individual gravestones on FindAGrave.com.

The following infographic shares the biographical information written on each stone, as well as it’s approximate shape.