The Lands Of President Abraham Lincoln’s Ancestors Within Rockingham County, Virginia
Category: Abraham Lincoln
October 4th, 1864 – Lieutenant Colonel Thomas F. Wildes Refuses To Burn Down Dayton, Virginia The Same Day The Cousin Of Abraham Lincoln Saves Her Home From Destruction
“The Burning” was the period in 1864, where the Union was committed to burning the farms, mills and other buildings associated with the “Breadbasket of the Confederacy” in order to weaken General Robert Edward Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia. On October 4th, 1864, the ninth day of the burning, Union troops attempted to burn down Abigail Lincoln’s home. Abigail told the troops that she was the cousin of the President, and the troops refrained from their order to destroy her home.
That day many women and children, living within Dayton, pleaded with Union Lieutenant Colonel Thomas F. Wildes to not burn down their down. Lieutenant Colonel Wildes defied General Philip Henry Sheridan’s burn order, with the risk of a court m-martial. General Sheridan, after hearing his subordinate’s concerns, rescinded the burn order.
Next to a World War I cannon, in downtown Dayton, is a plague dedicated to Lieutenant Colonel Thomas F. Wildes.
The Lincoln Homestead Farm – The Residence Of Abraham Lincoln’s Grandfather Who Was Friends With Daniel Boone
In 1768, John Lincoln, Abraham Lincoln’s great-grandfather, moved from the Pennslyvania Colony to establish the Lincoln Homestead Farm in the area known as Linville, Virginia.
Abraham Lincoln’s grandfather, Abraham “Linkhorn” Lincoln, lived at the farm until his friend Daniel Boone convinced him to move to Kentucky. Abraham Lincoln served as a captain during the American Revolution. In May of 1786, Abraham “Linkhorn” Lincoln was working by his cabin, near Eastwood, Kentucky, and was shot dead by a Native American. Abraham “Linkhorn” Lincoln was buried near the grounds of his cabin, which is located within the present day Long Run Baptist Church and Cemetery.
While Captain Abraham “Linkhorn” Lincoln, and some of his decendants were buried in Kentucky, some relatives of President Abraham Lincoln are buried in a gravesite, surrounded by an iron dense, near the home that the former President’s great-uncle, Captain Jacob Lincoln, built.
The Lincoln Family Cemetery was restored by the Massanutten Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution, the Harrisonburg-Rockingham Historical Society, and the Blue Ridge and the Illinois chapters of the National Society of Daughters of Founders and Patriots of America.
Peter Cartwright – A Former Resident Of Virginia, Who Later Became An Illinois General Assembly Member, That Ran Against Abraham Lincoln For U.S. Congress
Peter Cartwright was born in Amherst County, Virginia, three miles southeast of the town of Shipman. Later in life Peter Cartwright relocated to Illinois and was elected to the Illinois General Assembly. In 1846, Peter Cartwright ran against Abraham Lincoln for a U.S. Congress seat and lost.
The Liberia House – The Residence Where Jefferson Davis Watched The First Battle of Manassas And Where Abraham Lincoln Had Visited
The Libera House is the site where Confederate President Jefferson Davis watched the First Battle of Bull Run. A year later President Abraham Lincoln visited the same home to discuss the war efforts.
Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address At The Soldiers National Cemetery
Hamilton Historical Records 