Since yesterday was Lincoln’s Birthday I was thinking about some of my ancestors who lived near the Lincoln family when Abraham was born. I decided to make the first entry in a new series of posts titled They Lived Near:.

Each post in the series will feature someone or something that my ancestors lived near.  These posts will not come all together, but will be spread over time. They will most likely come when my mind wanders to one of the subjects.

Abraham Lincoln was born on February 12, 1809 near Elizabethtown in Hardin County, Kentucky.

Here is the 1810 Federal Census for Hardin County, Kentucky. You see here Thomas Lincoln listed and in the first column for Males under 10 there is a 1 for Abraham.

Also in Hardin County there is an entry for Thomas Bolin who is my 4th Great Grandfather. My 3rd Great Grandfather, also named Thomas, was born in Hardin County in about 1808, so he is also in the first column of the census along with an older brother.

Both the Bolin and Lincoln families are listed in the area of the county outside of Elizabethtown which was the county seat. The county outline is the current outline and it was much larger in 1810. However, Elizabethtown was the only town in the county at the time.

In the mid 1810’s both the Lincoln and Bolin families moved to Perry County, Indiana. The area where the Lincoln’s moved was about 20 miles NW of the Bolin family and eventually became part of Spencer County.

Knowing when and how county borders change is always important in genealogy.

While in Perry County, Indiana my 3rd Great Grandfather Thomas Bolin married Polly Manly before migrating on to Iowa. The map above is of the migration of the Manly family. For more see: A Manly Migration

Thomas Bolin’s daughter was my 2nd Great Grandmother Mahana who married Solomon Row. I wonder if they talked about her father being born near Abraham Lincoln in Kentucky and living near him in Indiana.

Knowing what was happening around your ancestors where they lived helps bring their story alive.

Steven