The
Lincoln Trail Homestead State Memorial is a 162 acre (0.65 km²) state park
Illinois Department of Natural Resources. . located on the
Sangamon River in
Macon County near
Harristown, Illinois, United States.
Home of Lincoln family
The state memorial is believed to contain the site of the
homestead, from March 1830 until March 1831, of pioneer
Thomas Lincoln and about 12 members of his
extended family, including grown son
Abraham Lincoln.
The Lincolns moved to this location, west of
Decatur, Illinois, from Indiana in March 1830. Using local logs, they constructed a 18 x
log cabin on the site. It was here that Abraham split rails for his father's 10-acre (4-hectare) field, and also "hired out" to split rails for neighboring pioneer farmers, inspiring his later political nickname, the
Rail Splitter.
Split-rail fences were used by pioneer farmers to confine their stock, or to prevent free-range livestock from getting into and damaging a crop field.
The homestead was not successful. The Lincoln family's
corn crop produced a disappointing yield, partly because it was planted directly in the
sod of the
tallgrass prairie, and many of the members of the family then developed severe cases of
malaria associated with living in the Illinois wetlands. Following this came the winter of 1830-1831, known to pioneers as the
Winter of the......
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