Born on the Sinking Spring Farm to uneducated parents, in a one room log cabin February 12, 1809, Abraham Lincoln became one of top ranked presidents of the United States. By 1830, the Lincoln family moved into Illinois, where Lincoln would spend the next 31 years.
     Lincoln's presidency was consumed by the Civil War. He was criticized by the Copperheads for lack of a slavery compromise, and tugged by the abolitionists to move faster against the slavery issue. Lincoln would never witness his idea of a speedy post war American reconstruction, being the first American president to be assinated.
     Illinois is proud to declare itself as the Land of Lincoln, and refer to the 16th president as their native son. No visit to Springfield is complete without visiting the Lincoln home, a national historic site, the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum and the Oak Ridge Cemetery, holding the Lincoln Tomb.