"Mrs. Lincoln's Favorite Things" Evening Tour

[Donna McCreary]

To my knowledge, there has never been a Lincoln apple cultivated, and a google search resulted in no matches.

Apples were available to the Lincoln family in Kentucky and Indiana. We can assume that pioneer families ate apples in several forms. In southern Indiana there are many varieties of apples and the apple season is from late June to late fall. Pioneer familes would have eaten apples using the same recipes that we use today -- serving fried apples; baked apples; pies; cobblers; crumbles; apple sauce; and apple butter. Apples are easy to dry, and could be eated dried throughout the winter -- or add a little water, throw them in a pot over the fire -- and have fresh cooked apples anytime of the year.

There is a story about the women from New Salem baking pies and sending them to Washington for Lincoln's enjoyment. The women cut letters into the upper pie crust to indicate the type of pie -- "A" for Apple; "B" for Blackberry (or blueberry); "C" for Cherry -- so we know that in addition to a good piece of cake, Lincoln enjoyed a good piece of pie. He may have even proclaimed one "the best pie he ever ate!" If he did, I'll bet it was an apple pie.