Interiors: The Lincoln children’s bedroom, Springfield, Illinois, circa 1861.
The Lincoln family was never happier than the years when their children lived in this bedroom.
This is an upstairs bedroom in the house of the Lincoln family, located at 8th and Jackson Streets in Springfield, Illinois. The house is now a national historic site and the bedroom has been restored to at least an approximation of its appearance in 1861, when the family left Springfield for Washington after Abraham Lincoln was elected President of the United States. Abraham and Mary Lincoln purchased this house in 1844 when Abraham was one of the most well-regarded and prosperous lawyers in Springfield. They lived here while Lincoln served briefly in the U.S. Congress, ran unsuccessfully for the Senate in 1858 and eventually his successful run for President in 1860.
This is a very well-appointed bedroom for children by mid-19th century standards. Though I haven’t researched the furnishings, I’m somewhat skeptical that the carpet is authentic to the room—wall-to-wall carpet was a rarity in the 1860s and usually an extravagance of the super-rich. The Lincolns, though quite well-to-do by Illinois standards, weren’t rich. Still, the furniture is well-made and sturdy and there are amenities like the pitcher, bowl and chamber pot you see on and under the table. The toys and games are interesting. There appear to be marbles, blocks, a toy horse and some sort of board game set up by the window. In real life this room was probably very rarely this tidy. The Lincoln boys were notoriously rambunctious, misbehaving and making frequent mischief. Lincoln rarely bothered to discipline them. I can’t imagine their bedroom was very neat.
