Abe Lincoln-Born in Ky-Raised in Ind-Lived in IL.

[Rob Wick]

Taking a short break, waiting for lunch.

To be honest, I think one really cannot separate the three, although, of course, there are varying degrees of influence. Kentucky probably had the least effect, simply because Lincoln was too young to remember much of it. It wasn't until the family moved to Knob Creek that he really started to remember anything.

Ida Tarbell did, I believe, a great service to Lincoln studies by insisting that the Indiana years brought much to Lincoln that he would carry over to the rest of his life. Those Indiana years saw him go from boy to man.

Of course, being from Illinois, I'd like to think these were the most important, and in some ways they were. He came to political maturity here and also started to develop much of what made Lincoln Lincoln. He found love here and also a career in which he excelled, but he hungered for far more, much of which came from the nature of his early years in Indiana where he had to work ceaselessly and without much rest.

So, I think each state performed a valuable "service" if you will in making Lincoln who he was, just as our own lives are shaped by each experience we have.

Lunch is ready, and then it's back to work.

Best
Rob