americans from across the stratum of developcame together to the lincoln birthplace farm into a national park. it was the lincoln farm associationnd its members who pursued that goal which was 17,lly achieved on july 1916. it was there ideal to honor the great emancipator with a memorial at the site of his birth. self-taught, this kentucky boyd grew to the man -- kentucky boy grew to the man who served in the illinois house of representatives, became a successful lawyer, served one term in the house of representatives, and was elected president of the united states in 1860. please give a warm welcome to the 16th president of the united states, mr. abraham lincoln. [applause] >> oh what an honor. what an honor to be with you today. i will tell you a bit about my life. here,old i was born right february 12, 1809. i don't remember my birth, and you probably don't from your birth -- don't remember your birth. here.lot of work move over to illinois, did a lot of work there. move on to a place called illinois. todd.he met a lady, mary she advised me to this cotillion . i went to this cotillion, and i walked in, and there was this mary

lincoln and a kentucky farm in rural america. lincoln was halfway between the great lakes and the gulf of mexico. this associationhere had substance in it. if the union was to be saved, it needed to be by one of such origin. it did not need a witty yankee person from connecticut. it needed no farm at yankee. it needed no torrid cotton planter from the south who regarded the yankee has been obnoxious species. it needed a man of the border , where civil war met the -- grapple ofer brother and brother. it needed one who knew the good of the slavery mixed with the evil. the evil not only as it obtained to the negroes but also to the poor whites. it needed one who understood how human, both parties of the quarrel were. how much alike they were at bottom. if the union was to be saved, it needed one of that nature. it needed one who understood the reflections and the dissensions and the tearing apart of the soul. when the war came, georgia sent forth an army of gray. connecticut sent an army of blue. but kentucky sent an army of both sides. man sprang from southern rural whites, born on a kentucky farm. transported, tra