Sarah Bush Lincoln: Abraham’s Beloved Stepmother

Sarah Bush Lincoln (December 13, 1788 - April 12, 1869) was the second wife of Thomas Lincoln and stepmother of President of the United States Abraham Lincoln.Wikimedia Commons

Sarah Bush Lincoln was born in Hardin County in Kentucky on December 13^th, 1788, to Hannah Davis and Christopher Bush. As a slave patrol captain, Christopher Bush was a wealthy man and owned more than two thousand acres of land across Kentucky.[1] The couple had eleven children, eight sons and three daughters; Sarah was one of the youngest. When she was just two years old the family relocated to Elizabethtown, where Sarah would meet her first husband, Daniel Johnston.

Sarah and Daniel Johnston married in March 1806, and had three children together: John, Elizabeth, and Matilda. Owing to the large debts that Johnston had accumulated over the years, following his death in 1816, Sarah found herself struggling to support the three children.[2] In 1819, however, Sarah’s debts were paid by Thomas Lincoln so that the two could marry. Thomas Lincoln had moved to Kentucky following the death of his wife and mother of his children Nancy’s death after she contracted milk sickness in 1818.[3] Lincoln had known Sarah from his previous time in Hardin County and had learned of her husband’s death. Hoping to find a new wife and mother to his children, Lincoln visited Sarah and proposed that they marry. When Sarah explained that she could only marry once the debts left by Johnston had been cleared, Lincoln paid them for her, and they married in December 1819.[4]

Thomas Lincoln had three children with his first wife Nancy: Sarah, Abraham (Abe), and Thomas, though Thomas tragically died during infancy.[5] Whilst Thomas (senior) was a tough, authoritarian figure to his children, Nancy had been a much warmer and nurturing presence.[6] Despite her husband’s illiteracy, Nancy encouraged her children in their education and began teaching them to read. When she died, the children were left to fend for themselves during the long hours that Thomas left to work and, at eleven years old, young Sarah was unable to take care of Abe and the home in the same way that her mother had.[7] When their new stepmother arrived, she immediately started caring for the Lincoln children as she did her own.

Just like Nancy had done, Sarah Bush encouraged the children to pursue an education and helped them learn to read and write. She quickly realized that Thomas’ son Abe was particularly intelligent and had a strong desire to learn. Sarah not only allowed but encouraged Abraham to read the books that she had brought with her, which was particularly important to Abe as books were not very accessible in the town.[8] She also frequently defended Abe during arguments with his father and advocated fiercely for him long into adulthood.

Sarah and Abe’s relationship quickly developed into a close, mother-son relationship which lasted throughout his life up until his death in 1865. When he talked of his “mother,” it was Sarah that he was referring to.[9] Once his father died, Abraham Lincoln kept forty acres of land for Sarah and did his utmost to ensure that she was being taken care of, even once he left for his inauguration as the 16^th President of the United States in 1861. When Lincoln himself became a father, it is said his relationship with his own children was similar to that of him and his stepmother’s.

Sarah Bush Lincoln was a dedicated and loving mother to Abraham Lincoln and his older sister Sarah. Her influence shaped him into one of the States’ greatest Presidents, and his affection for her remained throughout the entirety of his life. Ted Widmer, director of the John Carter Brown Library at Brown University, wrote on Sarah Bush Lincoln:

Measured by the usual yardsticks of wealth and distinction, her own life may not have made much of a dent in the historical record. But at just the right moment, she encountered a small motherless boy, and helped him to become Abraham Lincoln.[10]

[1] Reynolds, David S. (2021). Abe: Abraham Lincoln in His Times. Penguin Publishing Group. p. 45.

[2] National Park Service. Sarah Bush Johnston Lincoln [Online] Available https://www.nps.gov/people/sarah-bush-johnston-lincoln.htm. 2020.

[3] Kentucky Historical Society. Thomas Lincoln (1778-1851) [Online] Available https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/LegislativeMoments/moments08RS/02_web_leg_moments.htm. 2008.

[4] NPS, 2020.

[5] KHS, 2008.

[6] Gibbs, Jason. The Step-mother Who Shaped a President [Online] Available https://www.fentoncenterofhope.org/the-step-mom-who-shaped-a-president. 2022.

[7] Ibid.

[8] NPS, 2020.

[9] Gibbs, 2022.

[10] Widmer, Ted. Lincoln’s Other Mother [Online] Available https://archive.nytimes.com/opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/01/29/lincolns-other-mother/. 2011.