Sarah Bush Lincoln
| Sarah Bush Johnston Lincoln | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Born |
Sarah Bush December 13, 1788 Elizabethtown, Kentucky |
| Died | April 12, 1869 (aged 80) Coles County, Illinois |
| Resting place | Shiloh Cemetery, Lerna, Illinois |
| Known for | stepmother of Abraham Lincoln |
| Spouse(s) | Daniel Johnston Thomas Lincoln |
| Children | John Johnston Elizabeth Johnston Hanks Matilda Johnston Hall |
| Parent(s) | Christopher Bush Hannah Davis |
Sarah Bush Lincoln (December 13, 1788 – April 12, 1869) was the second wife of Thomas Lincoln and stepmother of President of the United States Abraham Lincoln. She was born in Kentucky, to Christopher and Hannah Bush. She married her first husband, Daniel Johnston, in 1806, and they had three children. Daniel Johnston died in 1816, and in 1819, she married Thomas Lincoln, joining his family with her three children.
Sarah Bush was born December 13, 1788 in Hardin County, Kentucky, the third daughter to Hannah Davis (1745–1835) and Christopher Bush (1735–1813). Christopher Bush was a slave patrol captain who was somewhat well-off financially and was described as "…a stirring, industrious man, and had a large family sons and daughters." The Bushes moved with their nine children to Elizabethtown, Kentucky when Sarah was two years old. As a child Sarah prided herself on her appearance and keeping up with the latest fashion. She had blue-gray eyes and was light complexioned. Sarah has been described as proud, energetic, hard-working, neat and possessing good sense.
Her brother, Isaac (1779–1827), sold Thomas Lincoln the Sinking Stream Farm.
Sarah Bush married Daniel Johnston (1782–1816) on March 13, 1806. The Johnstons were parents to three children: John, Elizabeth and Matilda.
The Johnstons struggled financially throughout their marriage, having little or no taxable property, and debts that Daniel's brothers would sometimes settle. In 1814 Daniel obtained the position of county jailer, which included living quarters for the family within the jailhouse. Sarah became the cook and cleaner for the jail. In addition, the couple performed cleaning services for the courthouse. In 1816 Daniel died of cholera during an epidemic. Thereafter, Sarah seems to have recovered financially somewhat; She purchased a cabin that had previously been owned by Samuel Haycraft, furnished it with luxurious furnishings and sent one of her daughters to a private school.
Thomas Lincoln (1778–1851) met Sarah in Elizabethtown, Kentucky. After Nancy died in 1818, Thomas returned to Elizabethtown, as he had heard that Sarah Bush Johnston was then a widow. His proposal was apparently: "I have no wife and you no husband. I came a-purpose to marry you. I knowed you from a gal and you knowed me from a boy. I've no time to lose: and if you're willin' let it be done straight off." The two decided to marry and Lincoln paid her outstanding debts. Sarah and Thomas married on December 2, 1819 in an old log house on Main Street in Elizabethtown. He brought her and her three children, who ranged from 8 to 13 years of age, to his farm in Indiana, where she became stepmother to his two children. Sarah transformed the home with the addition of furniture and furnishings that would have seemed luxurious to the Lincolns, cleaned up the home and children, and insisted upon the placement of a wooden floor in the cabin, loft for the boys (John Johnston, Abraham Lincoln and Dennis Hanks), creation of a greased paper window and completion of the roof.
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