Abraham Lincoln

Abraham sitting (google.com)

Abraham Lincoln was born Sunday, February 12, 1809, in a log cabin near Hodgenville, Kentucky. His parents were Thomas and Nancy Hanks Lincoln. His dad was a carpenter and a farmer. When he was 7 his family moved to southern Indiana. He had gone to school only a short time in Kentucky and Indiana. He went to school with his older sister Sarah, (his younger brother Thomas died in infancy).

In 1818 Nancy Hanks Lincoln died of milk sickness. Abraham’s father remarried the next year to Sarah Bush Johnston Lincoln. Abe loved his new step mother even though she had to take care of her 3 children plus Abe and his sister. When Abe got older he loved to read and also liked learning how to work in the fields. In 1828 his sister, who had married Aaron Grigsby in 1826, died during childbirth.

A few months later Abraham took a flatboat trip to New Orleans. In 1830 his family moved to Illinois. The next year he went on another flatboat trip to New Orleans. Then he moved to New Salem, Illinois. He lived there until 1837. He got several jobs there and he even wrestled the town bully. Hew also got the nickname "Honest Abe". In 1839 he married Mary Todd. Over 11 years they had 4 children. In 1846 he ran for The House of Representatives and got in. He was elected president on November 6th, 1860.

I think Abraham Lincoln is a "hero to others near and far" because he helped win the Civil War, helped abolish slavery, and was a good president and role model. He also had a hard childhood. He is also a "hero within" because he went through his difficult childhood and still became a president.