Jump to: Background Suggestions for Teachers Additional Resources Though now considered an icon of the state of Illinois, Abraham Lincoln was born in Kentucky. His father Thomas was not successful as a farmer and often moved around to find odd jobs. By 1830, the Lincoln family settled near Decatur, Illinois. The young Lincoln, determined to learn, sewed together sheets of paper to make himself a math notebook, which he used to work out math problems and measurements. Background A poem Lincoln wr