ABRAHAM LINCOLN was born in Kentucky, on the 12th of February, 1809. His parents removed in 1816 to Indiana, where he first used "his axe to clear the forest." He removed in 1880 to Decatur, Illinois, and in 1834 was elected to the Legislature and re-elected in 1886 and 1838. He was admitted to the bar in 1886, and in 1837 removed to Springfield. In 1844, he canvassed the State for Henry Clay, and in 1846 was elected to Congress, as representative. In 1849, he was a candidate for United States Senator; in 1856, he received one hundred and ten votes of the Republican Convention for Vice-President, and in 1858 was nominated for United States Senator, but was defeated by Stephen A. Douglas by eight majority. In May, 1860, he was nominated for the Presidency, to which, on the 6th of February, 1861, he was elected by one hundred and eighty out of three hundred and three electoral votes. His inauguration took place March 4th, 1861. The capture, on the 14th of April in that year, of Fort Sumter, began the war. President Lincoln, not dreaming of the magnitude of the struggle thus inaugurated, called for only seventy-five thousand men for three months, and summoned Congress in extra session for July 4th. On the 22d of September, 1862, he issued his preliminary proclamation, declaratory of his intention of proclaiming free all slaves in the rebel States, on the 1st of January, 1868. In January, 1864, he appointed Major-general Grant lieutenant-general, and the latter now directed the movements of all the armies of the United States.

The victories of Sherman, Thomas, Sheridan, Farragut, and other great commanders, had led to the fall of Petersburg and Richmond in the spring of 1865, and they were followed by Lee's surrender. The day after the occupation of Richmond, Mr. Lincoln entered it, and after spending a day there, returned to City Point, thence to Washington, where on the 14th of April he was assassinated at Ford's theatre. He died at a little liter seven o'clock, A. M., on the 15th, lamented by the nation as an upright and honest man, a pure patriot, the friend of the people, and one beloved by his countrymen.

"The inflexible integrity of Mr. Lincoln has imprinted itself upon the heart and the history of the American people, in that familiar, but honorable epithet, 'Honest Abe.' His was not simply a commercial honesty, in dollars and cents, but honesty in opinion, honesty in speech, honesty of purpose, honesty in action. When about to assume the grave responsibilities of the Presidency, ho said to his fellow-citizens, 'I promise you that I bring to the work a sincere heart Whether I will bring a head equal to the heart will be for future ages to determine.' "

Source: A Complete History of the Great Rebellion of the Civil War in the U.S. 1861-1865 with Biographical sketches of the Principal actors in the Great Drama. By Dr. James Moore, Published 1875 Contributed by Linda Rodriguez

HUNTLEY, Mrs. Mary Sutton, church worker, born in La Rue county, Kentucky, 30th November, 1852.  When she was yet an infant, her parents removed in 1853 to Iowa, and from there to Pawnee county, Neb., in 1857, where she grew to womanhood and where she still makes her home. She inherited from her father rare conversational powers and a winning address, and from her mother a courageous character and fidelity. She was for some time engaged as a teacher in the public schools. She was married in 1874. Since her eighteenth year she has been an enthusiastic worker in religious affairs. She has served as chairman and county organizer of Sunday-school associations and has conducted institutes, conventions and normal drills, and delivered many public addresses. Without regard to creed, she has striven to promote the general growth of a true and broad Christianity. Her work has been very rich in results. She has been a frequent contributor of poems, essays and various articles to different papers and periodicals and was for four years editor of a little paper in the interest of juvenile temperance. She is interested in and allied with all advanced reforms and educational movements. Mrs. Huntley has been the mother of three sons, two of whom are living.
(Source: American Women, by Frances Elizabeth Willard, Mary Ashton Rice Livermore, Vol 1, 1897. Transcribed by Marla Snow)