•February 28, 2018•

By Kate Schott
The State Journal-Register

Abraham Lincoln may not have been born in Illinois but he clearly is among the state’s favorite sons.

Lincoln came into the world on Feb. 12, 1809, in Hodgenville, Kentucky, but eventually spent several decades living in Illinois, and departed for the presidency as a resident of Springfield. He was a shopkeeper, postmaster, lawyer, and state and federal legislator before being elected president in 1860.

He served as the nation’s 16th president from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. The bullet fired by John Wilkes Booth prematurely took one of the nation’s greatest presidents from its citizens, but could not diminish his accomplishments -- notably the abolishment of slavery -- that have defined his legacy.

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