Happy birthday to Abraham Lincoln! LLCC is proud to be his namesake. In honor of his birthday, below is a timeline of Lincoln’s life with special attention to his time in Illinois.

1809 – Abraham Lincoln was born near Hodgenville, Kentucky.

1830 – The Lincoln family moved to Macon County and settled on the north side of the Sangamon River, around 10 miles west of Decatur.

1831 – Lincoln piloted a flatboat headed for New Orleans. The boat became stuck on a dam in New Salem. After his trip, Lincoln came back to New Salem to live. He held several jobs including one as a store owner.

1832 – Lincoln volunteered to fight in the Black Hawk War and was elected captain of his company. In August, Lincoln lost his first bid for the state legislature. When his store failed, he found work as a postmaster and surveyor.

1834 – Lincoln ran again for the state legislature and won. He started studying law with the help of state representative John Todd Stuart and often visited him at his law office in Springfield. At this time, the state capitol was in Vandalia.

1836 – He was reelected and served the Central Illinois district that had seven state representatives and two senator who were dubbed the “Long Nine” due to their average height being six feet.

1837 – Lincoln moved to Springfield and was influential in having the capital move to Springfield in 1839.

1840 – Lincoln was reelected to a fourth consecutive term and served as leader of the Whig party.

1842 – Lincoln married Mary Todd in Springfield, and their first son Robert Todd Lincoln was born 1843.

1844 – Lincoln purchased the only home he ever owned on Seventh Street and paid $1500.

1846 – Lincoln ran and won a seat in Congress.

1848 – Lincoln, after serving one term in Congress, left politics and became one of the leading attorneys in Illinois and appeared in front of the State Supreme Court, the federal courts and in various courthouses of the large Central Illinois Eight Judicial District.

1858 – The newly formed Republican Party nominated Lincoln for U.S. Senate, and his opponent was Stephen Douglas. They met in debates several times, and Lincoln lost to Douglas.

1860 – Lincoln is elected President over Douglas.

1861 – Lincoln leaves for Washington in February. He is shot in Ford’s theater on April 14, 1865, and buried at Oak Ridge Cemetery in Springfield.

Jay Kitterman, consultant, LLCC Culinary Institute, compiled the above timeline, collecting the information from several documents in the Illinois Secretary of State Archives.