William Lincoln, the son of Abraham Lincoln and his wife Mary, was born in Illinois, in the city of Springfield. The parents chose the boy's name in honor of Mary's brother-in-law. The boy died at the age of 11.
Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln, William's father, served as President of the United States of America from 1861-1865. Years of life: 1809-1865 He was the 16th president of America, but the first to come from the Republican Party. He is considered a national hero.
Abraham's father was a poor farmer. From a young age, the boy was accustomed to hard physical labor. The family was unable to pay for the child's schooling. Abraham completed only 1st grade. But this year was enough for him to learn to read and love books.
Already being an adult boy, Abraham decided to educate himself. He successfully passed the exams and was admitted to the practice of law.
Abraham Lincoln's political career
The political career of Abraham Lincoln began with membership in the Legislative Assembly of his native state of Illinois. Next - the post of congressman in the House of Representatives of the US Congress and the unsuccessful nomination of his candidacy for the post of senator.
Lincoln's initiative to create the Republican Party, which would fight slavery in the country, was supported by many. In 1860, at the age of 51, the Republican Party nominated him for the presidency of America. And the people gave the majority of votes for him.
The southern states, having learned about the results of the vote, decided to create a Confederation, splitting the country into 2 parts. A civil war began in America, which lasted 4 years (1861-1865). No matter how hard Abraham Lincoln tried to rally the people, appealing to patriotism, he did not succeed. Then the president had to send troops to suppress the rebellion. The military operation was successful, and the Southern states returned to America. But during this period, another misfortune occurred in the president's family - his third son, 11-year-old William Lincoln, died.
Results of the presidency
For the entire time during which Abraham Lincoln served as president, slavery was abolished in the country, a transcontinental railroad was built, the Homestead Act was adopted, which solved all problems in the agricultural sector. He promoted the plan of Reconstruction of the state in every possible way, even attracting political opponents to the common work of developing America.
Death of the 16th President
Abraham Lincoln is the first US president to be assassinated. While visiting the theater, a man was killed by a bullet. The people of America still honor the memory of their beloved president.
President's family
Abraham met MaryTodd while he was a lawyer in Illinois. The girl occupied a high position in society, but this did not stop her from falling in love with her future husband. Young people got married after 2 years - in 1842. In this marriage, they had four children.
The fate of one of the children of the 16th President of the United States ended in a particularly tragic way. The two younger sons of the President fell ill with a disease similar to pneumonia. One child survived, the other did not.
Biography of William Lincoln
The boy was the third child in the family. Life of William Lincoln: 1850-1862 In the family, the boy was most often called Willy for short. He and his younger brother Todd were the most mischievous kids in the family and constantly turned their father's law office in Springfield upside down.
After the inauguration of Abraham Lincoln, the whole family had to move to the White House. There, the boys quickly became friends with the children of Julia Taft and dabbled all the time. But one prank stood out in particular. William Lincoln, Tod, and the Taft brothers somehow herded a goat into the White House reception room. At that time there were many visitors. People were shocked and frightened by the appearance of an unexpected guest.
There is information that during his studies, William Lincoln showed the ability to exact sciences and mathematics. In addition, the child loved creativity. The boy successfully engaged in drawing and composed poetry.
Death of the president's son
In 1862, during the Civil War, William Lincoln and his brother Todd fell ill with someunknown disease. The symptoms were similar to pneumonia. Such an abdominal disease as typhus was unknown to doctors at that time. Unfortunately, only one of the sons of Abraham Lincoln, the youngest (Todd), recovered from the disease.
William Lincoln was in a dangerous unstable state throughout his illness. Doctors tried to do everything they could, but did not save the child. Early in the morning of February 20, 1862, the boy died.
This tragedy affected everyone in the President's family. Abraham himself was constantly crying for a month and was on the verge of a nervous breakdown. For three months the president could not return to work. His wife Mary locked herself in a room for a long time.
Funeral
William Lincoln's funeral took place on February 24th. In 1865, after the death of the president, at the request of the mother, the boy's body was exhumed. The remains were moved to Abraham Lincoln's hearse and taken to Springfield.
At home, the boy's body was reburied at Oak Ridge Cemetery next to his father. And in 1871, William's remains were transferred to the family crypt.
