Lincoln Family Tree
Lincoln Family Tree by Sydneyaring
Col. Abraham Lincoln 1848 Letter – “Black Men’s Shoes”
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]
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]
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]
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]
[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.
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]
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]
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]
[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.
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]
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]
“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]
[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.