Hingham, Massachusetts: Massachusetts, Land of Lincolns

In the 17th century our 16th president's great-great-great-great-grandfather, Samuel Lincoln, emigrated from England and settled on the coast of Massachusetts. In 1649 Samuel purchased land in Hingham, where seven generations of his family lived thereafter. Abraham Lincoln's branch of the family split off and moved west; the president was born in Kentucky. The ancestral connection, however, has not been forgotten in Hingham. A historical marker stands on the property and proudly acknowledges Samuel's famous descendant.

A statue of Abe was placed across the street in 1939, with his quote, "With malice toward none, with charity for all," chiseled into the base. The structure that currently occupies the land next to the marker, the Samuel Lincoln House, was built in 1721 by the original Samuel's grandson, who was not a direct ancestor of the president. Don't be fooled by reused first names.