The Lincolns Move From Kentucky

In 1816, the Lincoln family moved from present-day Larue County, Kentucky, to present-day Spencer County, Indiana. Abraham Lincoln later recalled that the move from Knob Creek took place in the autumn of 1816, when he was in his eighth year, and that it was partly because of slavery but chiefly because of the difficulty in land titles in Kentucky. Problems with land titles were common in Kentucky's early years, and Thomas Lincoln's experience was not unusual. The family's departure was also part of a broader movement in which many Kentucky families continued westward to the newly organized states of Indiana and Illinois.

Elizabethtown, Kentucky · United States