MOVIE NEWS: The Baptism of Abraham Lincoln

Jan. 2, 2013 - PRLog -- The Baptism of Abraham Lincoln: A Chronology of People and Events by Daniel Keeran, MA, MSW

An alternate text of this report can be found at https://www.box.com/s/87kkucm180jwt9e6ensk

1809 – Abraham Lincoln born February 12 near Hodgenville, Kentucky.

1830 - Thomas and Sarah Lincoln (parents) move to Coles County where they become members of the Church of Christ (Abraham Lincoln was not present).

1832 – Josephus Hewett (friend of Baker) organizes Church of Christ in Springfield, Illinois.

1836 - Lincoln purchases from the Federal government a forty-seven-acre tract of land twelve miles northwest of New Salem on the Sangamon River.

Internet Source: http://lincoln.lib.niu.edu/chronology/abraham_lincoln_chronology.html

1846 - Lincoln publishes paper denying any religious affiliation.

1861 – Edward D. Baker (preacher for Church of Christ) is a close friend of Lincoln and introduces him at his inauguration.

1862 - Lincoln attends a gospel meeting conducted by W.H. Morris at Arlington Heights, Virginia, and inquires about baptism.

1860’s - Lincoln is baptized secretly by John O’Kane (died 1881) in the Sangamon River.

1866 -1878 – During one of four meetings of Churches of Christ in Eureka, Illinois, an elderly O’Kane visits G.M. Weimer and reports the above baptism.

1941 - G.M. Weimer (died 1942, age 86) reports the above account to C.O. Summers (Weimer letter on file at Freed-Hardeman University Restoration Library).

Internet Source: http://www.therestorationmovement.com/okane2.htm

Conclusions

Churches of Christ had a presence (1832) in Illinois in the region where Lincoln’s parents lived (1830) and where he owned property on the Sangamon River (1836). Lincoln’s parents, Thomas and Sarah, became members of the Church of Christ (1830’s). Lincoln himself denied religious affiliation in a paper (1846) written 15 years before his inauguration as President. Lincoln’s close friend E.D. Baker was a preacher for the Church of Christ and introduced Lincoln at his inauguration in 1861. The following year (1862), Lincoln and his cabinet attended a meeting in Arlington Heights, Virginia, led by W.H.Morris, preacher for the Church of Christ. The baptism of Lincoln in the Sangamon River was reported by John O’Kane (well-known preacher for the Church of Christ) who baptized him, during a visit with G.M.Weimer in Eureka, Illinois (1866-78) while attending a meeting of the churches of Christ. The conclusion is that the above details support the probability that Abraham Lincoln was baptized to become a Christian. See also http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Churches_of_christ and http://www.wbschool.org

For more on what Lincoln knew visit https://www.box.com/lovegod