Grave of Nancy Hanks Lincoln - Abraham Lincoln on Waymarking.com

In October of 1818, just two years after the Lincoln family had settled in Indiana, young Abraham lost his mother. Nancy Hanks Lincoln was just 34 when she died of "milk sickness", an affliction brought on by drinking milk from cows that had eaten the toxic white snakeroot plant.

Abraham helped his father Thomas build a coffin and bury his mother on a hill south of the family cabin. After the Lincolns left for Illinois in 1830, the gravesite was nearly forgotten, just one of many pioneer cemeteries that dotted the countryside.

Shortly after the Civil War, thanks to interest in the fallen president, efforts were made to properly mark the grave of Nancy Hanks. A small stone was erected in 1874, but it had disappeared by 1879. That fact prompted Peter Studebaker of the Studebaker Carriage Company to buy the "best tombstone available" and place it at the site. In 1909 the state of Indiana began to care for the site by establishing Nancy Hanks Lincoln Park. That park would eventually form the core of the current Lincoln Boyhood National Memorial.

Although the stone stands in the pioneer cemetery in which Nancy Hanks Lincoln was interred, it cannot be claimed with confidence that it marks the actual site of her grave since no records were kept. Like so many things with Abraham Lincoln's childhood, the grave marked by his mother's stone should be regarded as symbolic.

Curiously, the inscription on the stone says Nancy Lincoln was 35 years old when she died. This is incorrect: she was born on February 5, 1784 and died on October 5, 1818, and thus was four months shy of her 35th birthday when she died.

Today the Nancy Hanks Lincoln grave lies within the boundaries of the Lincoln Boyhood National Memorial. A nominal admission fee is charged to visit the park.

Location Type: Grave Property Type: Public Date of Event: Officially recognized in 1879, but known prior to that. Location Notes: Located in Lincoln Boyhood National Memorial, on SR 162 east of Gentryville, Indiana. A fee of $3 per person or $5 per family is required. The park is open from 8 AM to 5 PM. URL for Additional Information: [Web Link]

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