Springfield, Kentucky: Sad Lincoln: Out of Wedlock?

A beardless bronze Abe looks downcast after failing in 1858 to find proof that his parents were married.

Address:: 100 E. Main St., Springfield, KY
Directions:: Downtown, on the southeast corner of US-150 BUS/Main St. and KY-528/Lincoln Park Rd.

Visitor Tips and News About Sad Lincoln: Out of Wedlock?

Reports and tips from RoadsideAmerica.com visitors and Roadside America mobile tipsters. Some tips may not be verified. Submit your own tip.

Lincoln statue.

Sad Lincoln Gazing At Parents' Bond

Lincoln died not knowing if his parents were legally married. In 1858 the question of his parents' marriage became a political issue. Lincoln sent an agent to search the records in Hardin County, Kentucky - the place he remembered as a child - for evidence to prove his legitimacy. No documents were found. The sculpture depicts Lincoln looking toward the 1816 courthouse in Washington County - where the records were found in 1878. Lincoln died not knowing that his parents were married in Washington County on June 12, 1806. Just below his feet, but out of his line of sight, is a bronze plaque imprinted with the bond of marriage between his parents. Two interlocking brick rings represent both the rings exchanged at the wedding and the uniting of the North and South after the Civil War.

[Stephen Francia, 06/05/2020]

Roadside Presidents App for iPhone. Find this attraction and more: museums, birthplaces, graves of the Chief Execs, first ladies, pets, assassins and wannabes. Prez bios and oddball trivia. Available on the App Store.