Sarah Bush Johnston Lincoln (1788–1869)
Sarah Bush was “an honest poor widow” when, after the death of Abraham's mother Nancy, Thomas Lincoln traveled to Elizabethtown, Kentucky, in search of a second wife.
Sarah brought three sons from her first marriage to live in the log cabin in Indiana. She referred to her stepson as “Abe,” and was impressed with his studies, being illiterate herself. For the remainder of his life, Abraham enjoyed an “excellent” relationship with his stepmother who considered him kind, honest, and witty.
Lincoln cared for her welfare after the death of his father in 1851. He saw her for the last time when he departed Illinois for his presidential inauguration ten years later.
