In March 1848, newly elected congressman from Illinois, Abraham Lincoln, wrote a letter to David Lincoln in Rockingham County, Virginia, whom he had never met, introducing himself and asking for information about possible family connections. He stated, “as my father was born in Rockingham County, from whence his father, Abraham Lincoln, emigrated to Kentucky about the year 1782, I have concluded to address you to ascertain whether we are not of the same family.” The response from David Lincoln has not been preserved, but Congressman Lincoln’s response expressed appreciation for the helpful information cousin David had provided him. He noted that “there is no longer any doubt that your uncle Abraham, and my grandfather was the same man.” Congressman Lincoln confirmed details of the Lincoln family history and urged David to be in touch with him as to any other information he might be able to provide. Congressman Lincoln was later elected president of the United States and presided over the bloody civil war. David Lincoln, his first cousin once-removed, continued living in in Rockingham County until his death.
The family history about which Congressman Abraham Lincoln inquired has deep roots in Rockingham County, in the heart of the Shenandoah Valley. In the picturesque Lincoln Family Cemetery a few miles from Harrisonburg, contained within a wrought iron fence, are the graves of five generations of Lincolns, all related to President Abraham Lincoln. Among them are the graves of Abe’s great-grandparents. A memorial marker to “Ned and Queen, the last of the Lincoln slaves” is also located in the cemetery.
Just a few hundred yards from the cemetery is the stately brick home of Jacob Lincoln, brother to Abe’s grandfather, built in 1800 and occupied by Lincolns until 1874. Lincolns were living in the house during the Civil War. Other brick homes built in the community by some of the children of Jacob Lincoln have not only survived but are still occupied.
Although President Lincoln never personally visited Rockingham County, the letters he exchanged with David Lincoln (as well as correspondence with non-Virginia cousins) and recorded memories of others confirm Lincoln’s interest in his Virginia connections. On the day before Lincoln was inaugurated president, John T. Harris, representing Harrisonburg in Congress, met with the president-elect along with a member of the Virginia Lincoln family. A former Commonwealth’s Attorney in Rockingham County, who had moved to Springfield, Illinois by the time of the 1860 election, wrote in his memoirs that he and Lincoln discussed his family connections in Virginia and confirmed that they were cousins.
The story of the Lincolns in Rockingham County starts in 1768 when “Virginia John” Lincoln and his wife Rebecca, the great-grandparents of President Abraham Lincoln, moved from Pennsylvania to Rockingham County (then still part of Augusta County) with their nine children to settle on 600 acres of land they had just acquired. Virginia John (because of the repetition of several Lincoln family names, they are given nicknames by historians simply for clarification) and Rebecca lived until 1788 and 1806, respectively, and are buried in the Lincoln family cemetery. Among the nine children was “Capt. Abraham,” who married a Rockingham native, Bathsheba Herring. Grandparents of the president, among their five children, all born in Virginia, was Thomas, the father of the president. After living in Rockingham County for more than a dozen years, Captain Abraham and Bathsheba moved to Kentucky. There, Thomas married Nancy Hanks and there their son Abraham — the future president — was born.
Another of the nine children of Virginia John and Rebecca Lincoln was “Capt. Jacob” Lincoln, great-uncle of the president. The ancestor of many of the Lincolns who remained in Virginia, he and his family are buried in the Lincoln Family Cemetery. A man of substantial means, in 1800 he built the Lincoln Homestead, a beautiful two-story brick house which survives. Several of his children also built homes in the community which are still occupied. It was his son, David, who exchanged correspondence with Congressman Abraham Lincoln. Another of Capt. Jacob’s children was “Col. Abraham” who moved into the Lincoln Homestead after the death of his parents. Although Col. Abraham died before the Civil War, his widow remained in the Lincoln Homestead until her death in 1874, at which time it left Lincoln hands. Both Col. Abraham and his father Capt. Jacob were slaveowners.
During the Civil War, Lincolns fought in the Confederate Army. There was no instance of a Virginia Lincoln remaining loyal to the Union. In fact, one of Pres. Lincoln’s cousins, whose barn was burned by the Union army in 1864, acknowledged familial relationship, but proclaimed that he would like to shoot the president!
More than 100 years after the Civil War, over coffee, Harrisonburg judge John Paul and I, then a practicing attorney in Harrisonburg, referred to this relationship between the Rockingham County Lincolns and the famous president and lamented the fact that no attention was being paid to that significant relationship. I suggested to Judge Paul that the two of us go to the local Lincoln Cemetery on Lincoln’s birthday just a few weeks hence, each with something to read about Lincoln. We mentioned it to a couple of acquaintances, and five or six of us appeared as scheduled on Lincoln’s birthday in 1976 to honor Abraham Lincoln and commemorate the connections with the local Lincolns. That simple activity led to a tradition now about to occur for the 50th time.
In each of those 50 years, I have spoken about the local Lincoln connections and expressed respect for the martyred president. I never gave a thought to the possibility that I would continue for 50 years. I simply did it “one more time” and did that 49 times! During those years, Judge Paul has rarely missed the event; others in the community have participated 20 or more times. Visitors have attended from as far away as Colorado and Oregon, some of them Lincoln relatives. Even before the current ceremony became a tradition, the late Virginia historian John W. Wayland published a book, “The Lincolns of Virginia” documenting the Lincoln family history. Unfortunately, after his death in 1963, no one stepped forward to communicate the Lincoln family story.
Over the years, biographers and historians, aware of the Lincoln family connections with Rockingham County, came to visit the cemetery. In one of my annual events many years ago, when I asked whether anyone present was related to the Lincolns or had lived in the Lincoln Homestead, an elderly man volunteered that he had once lived in the Lincoln Homestead and as a little boy had been asked to show a visitor the cemetery. In appreciation the visitor gave him a coin. Later he learned that the visitor was Carl Sandburg, who was then working on his multi-volume biography of Lincoln. Robert Todd Lincoln, the only child of Abraham Lincoln to survive to adulthood, visited the cemetery.
It turned out to be bad judgment on Lincoln’s part to be born in February! In the heart of winter, the weather of February 12, is indeed “Lincolnesque.” I have even described it as “Stonewall Jackson’s Revenge,” punishing us for honoring Abraham Lincoln in the Valley Jackson dominated so fully in the Civil War. On one occasion the snow was so deep that only my dog attended the ceremony with me. (Fortunately, I lived next door and was able to walk through the snow.) On another occasion, when Judge Paul and I were the only people in attendance, the ground was covered with snow, and a heavy mist surrounded us. It was a complete whiteout; one could not see more than a few feet. Coming toward us was an apparition — it appeared to be a tall man with a stovepipe hat and a flowing cape. Needless to say, Judge Paul and I were startled! I said to him, “Judge, you see that don’t you?” He responded, “yes, I am glad you see it too.” Fearing that we were hallucinating in a cemetery in such weather, we were gratified to learn that this was an actor playing Abraham Lincoln for area schoolchildren. He had learned about our annual event and decided to attend the program. When we have experienced the infrequent mild weather, more than 100 people have attended.
After doing this for 50 years, I naturally have asked myself whether this is the time to end it. We shall see. My respect and admiration for Abraham Lincoln and my appreciation for his strong family connections with my community push me to continue. Biology and age may determine otherwise. As I have quipped on occasion at the Lincoln Day ceremony, “I would like to think that we would gather here in recognition of our community’s connections with any president, but it is a lot more fun and fulfilling to honor Abraham Lincoln!”
Phillip Stone is the retired president of Bridgewater College and Sweet Briar College.