Lincoln Didn’t Move To Illinois Until He Was 21

Although Illinois is renowned as the "Land of Lincoln," the 16th president spent his formative years in Indiana. In 1809, Lincoln was born in a log cabin in Kentucky. In 1816, his father, Thomas, relocated the family to a 160-acre parcel of land in southern Indiana. Lincoln moved to Illinois in 1830. Lincoln, then 21 years old, moved to Illinois with his large family in March 1830. This is one of the interesting facts about Abraham Lincoln. In the spring of 1831, Lincoln went out on his own after assisting his father in establishing a farm in Macon County, Illinois.

Lincoln made his home in the community of New Salem, where he later practiced law in Illinois after serving in the militia during the Black Hawk War and working as a boatman, store clerk, surveyor, and soldier. In addition to being reelected in 1836, 1838, 1840, and 1844, he was first elected to the Illinois Legislature in 1834. Lincoln wed Mary Todd in November 1842; the two were parents to four kids. Lincoln continued his interest in politics, in addition to his legal career, by representing Illinois in the US House of Representatives in 1846. On November 6, 1860, he won the presidential election in the United States.