Jesse Head Homesite
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Historical Marker #1038 in Washington County identifies the location of the home of Jesse Head, who performed the marriage of Abraham Lincoln's parents.
The Reverend Jesse Head was born in 1768 in Frederick County, Maryland, migrating to Kentucky in the mid-1790s. He lived in and around Springfield, Kentucky, during the late 1790s and early 1800s, where he was elected president of the city's municipal Board of Trustees. In addition to these duties, he fulfilled his ecclesiastical duties and his work as a carpenter.
However, the Reverend Head is remembered for presiding over a marriage ceremony that took place on the Beech Fork in Washington County on June 12, 1806, in the house of Richard Berry. This was the marriage of Thomas Lincoln and Nancy Hanks, the parents of President Abraham Lincoln.
A poem was prepared and read by Henry Cleveland Wood at the monument dedication at the grave of the Reverend Jesse Head on November 2, 1922, which in part stated:
That from this lowly union there would spring
A modern Moses to a captive race;
A just man, fashioned in heroic mould-
Of Hero's stuff-a fearless President-
Emancipator-yet a Martyr, too-
Abraham Lincoln-Man of Destiny.
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Jesse Head
Postcard showing a drawing of Jesse Head. Image Courtesy of the Kentucky Historical Society
Abraham Lincoln
In addition to being the birthplace of Lincoln, Kentucky was home to Lincoln's wife, best friend, law partners, and business associates. Although he left the bluegrass state as a young boy, these relationships with Kentuckians played a major role in forging his personal and political life. Lincoln's connections to Kentucky and his appreciation for the importance of the commonwealth to the Union cause further strengthened Lincoln's bonds to the history of this state. Image Courtesy of the Kentucky Historical Society
Washington County Courthouse
The Washington County Courthouse in Springfield, Kentucky, contains the marriage records of Thomas and Nancy Hanks Lincoln. Courtesy of the Kentucky Historical Society.