The history of the Lincolns & the Grigsbys and the Lincoln Bed

Our narrative begins in 1815, when Ruben Davis Grigsby, Sr. and Nancy Barker Grigsby moved their family across the Ohio River from Kentucky to the part of Southern Indiana that would later become Spencer County. There they built a farm with a log cabin and a stillhouse where Ruben Sr. distilled whiskey. On the Indiana frontier, paper money (issued by states and private companies) was unreliable and hard money (gold & silver) was in short supply, so the barter system dominated transactions at that time.  While animals, food, furs, guns, and tools were often traded items, whiskey was also an important commodity. It made use of surplus grain, was easily transported, could be simply divided into various amounts, and had an almost unlimited shelf life.  Moreover, Ruben’s product earned a reputation for top quality, so it sold for a premium price to customers as far away as Evansville, Indiana, and even farther via the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers. 

In 1816, Ruben met Thomas Lincoln who had just arrived from Hardin County, Kentucky looking for available land to claim in order to establish a new beginning for his family in Indiana.  Upon learning that Thomas was a carpenter and cooper, Ruben offered him work making barrels and kegs. He granted Thomas permission to build a lean-to-shelter against the stillhouse where he and his family could live while establishing a homesite. Thomas soon found land three miles from the Grigsby’s cabin, and returned to Kentucky to bring his wife, Nancy Hanks Lincoln, and their children, Sarah (9 years old) and Abraham (7 years old), to their new frontier home in the wilderness of Indiana. Two years later, Nancy Lincoln died after contracting milk sickness (poisoning caused by drinking milk from a cow that had eaten the white snakeroot plant).  

Abraham and his sister were alike in temperament and Sarah had always been his protector – a “regular little mother hen,” as one of her school mates remembered her.  When walking to school on rainy days, she would lift and carry young Abraham over the puddles so his feet would not get wet and muddy.  At lunch she would keep him away from the older boys and their rough play that could have hurt her little brother.  After their mother died, Sarah fully assumed that role until the arrival of their new step-mother the following year.  In 1819, Thomas had traveled to Kentucky where he married Sarah Bush Johnston, a widow with three children of her own.

Survival for most frontier pioneers involved a combination of endeavors including hunting, fishing, land clearing, fencing, farming, and various other seasonal or part-time occupations.  For Thomas Lincoln, woodworking was a skill at which he excelled, and he was especially known for his cabinetry (with a number of pieces surviving to this day).  Both Thomas and Abraham also worked part-time in Ruben Grigsby’s Cooper Shop in Gentryville throughout their years in Indiana. With his father otherwise occupied, many of the homestead tasks would have fallen to young Abraham, in addition to being hired out by his father to work for neighbors.  Abraham once remarked that although his father taught him how to do hard work, he never taught him how to like it.

Growing up in Indiana, the two Lincoln and twelve Grigsby children were not only close neighbors but were also close friends. Abraham Lincoln was closest with Nathaniel Grigsby, who was two years younger, and was like an older brother to James Grigsby, who was four years younger. When James was bullied by some of the other boys because of his stutter, Abraham protected and defended him, warning the bullies to leave James alone. In a clearing in the woods, he worked with James to help him overcome his speaking difficulties.  An avid reader and natural leader, Abraham frequently shared his knowledge with his friends, teaching complex ideas through stories, analogies, and parables. Discussions in their “forest college” ranged from Aesop’s Fables and Robinson Crusoe to Abraham’s own compositions against animal cruelty and regarding politics of the day. 

Abraham and Nathaniel, who were each other’s best friend growing up in Indiana, would go fishing on Little Pigeon Creek. One day, Abraham found an Indian arrowhead among the rocks on the creek’s bank.  Each of the boys admired the arrowhead and thought it to be a great find. As the day wore on, Nathaniel had great success with the pole he had cut from a willow tree – catching three nice large fish, while Abraham only caught what Nathaniel teased him was just a “little minnow.”  On their way home, Abraham said that since Nathaniel admired the arrowhead so well, he would be willing to trade it for his pick of one of “Natty’s” fish. The deal was made and as they continued home, they razzed each other as to which had gotten the better bargain. Abraham finally remarked, “All I can say is that this here fish, all fried up in a skillet, will be a heap more agreeable to my innards than that there rock would be.” 

Sarah Lincoln and Aaron Grigsby would often see one another on laundry days at the washing place below the spring on the Grigsby's farm.  Over the years it became a regular meeting spot for the two.  Once, a neighbor’s four-year-old son saw the couple together and ran to his mother, saying, "I saw Aaron sparking Sally (Sarah).  I saw him kiss her." On August 2, 1826, Sarah and Aaron were married in the Little Pigeon Creek Baptist Church and moved into their new cabin. Abraham would spend more nights than not sleeping on their cabin floor.

For wedding gifts, Thomas and Abraham each made a piece of furniture for the couple’s new home.  As a master-craftsman, Thomas fashioned a fine walnut corner cupboard. Abraham, albeit with a less refined skill set, produced a handcrafted walnut wooden bed.  For his beloved sister, he wanted the gift to be completely from his own hands, even if the product was inferior to that which his father was capable of creating. He chopped down the walnut tree, whipsawed it into lumber, planned the design, carved the bedpost knobs, drilled the holes, and whittled the pegs needed to fasten it all together. 

Sarah became pregnant with their first child the following year. In January 1828, just shy of her 21stbirthday, she went into a long and difficult labor. Aaron went to his parents for help, and a doctor and midwife were called. Unfortunately, nothing could be done to save Sarah or her baby. When Abraham was told the news, he buried his face in his hands and sobbed inconsolably. Sarah was laid to rest with her stillborn son, George Nathaniel Grigsby, folded in her arms. 

In 1830, when the Lincoln family moved to Illinois, they sold their farm to another of the Grigsby brothers, Charles. On the first day of their journey west, Nathaniel and Charles rode with the Lincolns and camped overnight before saying their good-byes and returning home the next day.

Later that year, Aaron remarried. His wife, Margaret Miller, was a very superstitious person. She feared that the bed where Sarah had experienced such an unfortunate childbirth experience might bring her the same misfortune. She did not want it in their cabin, so Aaron gave the bed to his younger brother, Nathaniel. The following year brought the birth of their daughter but the untimely death of Aaron Grigsby as well.  He was laid to rest in a grave next to his first wife Sarah Lincoln Grigsby and their infant son, George Nathaniel Grigsby, in the Little Pigeon Cemetery next to what is today the Lincoln Boyhood National Memorial.

Following the death of his first wife in 1853, Nathaniel, along with his father and several of his brothers and sons, moved to Carroll County, Missouri in 1855. After crossing the Illinois River, but shortly before reaching the Mississippi River, Nathaniel’s favorite riding horse pulled up lame.  As they reached the Pike County Seat of Pittsfield and asked where they might find help, they were directed to a local attorney, Strother Grigsby, who not only shared the same last name but also a reputation of being willing to help those in need. Strother and his wife, Amanda Parkis, invited the group to stay with them for a few days of rest. 

Strother’s nine-year-old son, James Henry Grigsby, offered to loan Nathaniel his horse while he doctored and cared for Nathaniel’s. Once it had healed, Nathaniel could return and exchange horses – an offer that Nathaniel gratefully accepted. When ready to continue their journey to Missouri, Nathaniel pulled Sarah’s bed down from one of the wagons and gave it to young James Henry as a gesture of his appreciation. He related the narrative history of the bed – how Abraham Lincoln, as a teenage boy, had handcrafted the bed as a gift for his beloved sister, Sarah, who married Nathaniel’s older brother, Aaron Grigsby. Nathaniel explained the sad saga of Sarah’s death and Aaron’s remarriage that prompted the bed being given to him.

During their stay, James had shown the group some Native American artifacts that he had found in the fields of their farm and while exploring the bluffs in Pike County that were cut by the Mississippi River on the western boundary. When Nathaniel returned from Missouri to exchange horses, he brought James another gift, the arrowhead for which he had traded a fish to Abraham some thirty years earlier. Over the years, Nathaniel Grigsby made several trips from Missouri to Springfield, Illinois to see his dear friend, Abraham, stopping each way to visit Strother and his family. He shared many stories with them about his and Abraham’s 15 years of boyhood spent together growing up in Spencer County, Indiana. 

In 1860, Strother Grigsby built a two-story farmhouse, where the Lincoln Bed resided and was passed down over the next century. James Henry gave it to his fifteen-year younger brother, Elmer Ellsworth Grigsby, whose wife, Viola Shriver, inherited it in 1926 and gifted it to their great-grandson, Donald, in 1954. During the early twentieth century, the siderails were replaced and modifications were made to the headboard and footboard to accommodate iron peg-and-slot fasteners. Donald Grigsby married Gwendolyn Steffy in 1960, and following the births of their two daughters, Gena René and Michelle Linn, a custom mattress was manufactured in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. The girls slept in the bed from 1970 until 1976. After moving from Wisconsin to Texas, the bed was placed in storage for the next 45 years.

In 2022, Marcia Johnson, the National Grigsby Family Society Administrator, informed Nancy Kaiser, Executive Director of the Lincoln Pioneer Village in Rockport, Indiana, of the existence and survival of the Lincoln Bed. Nancy asked if it might be possible to have a replica of the bed made for display at the Lincoln Pioneer Village and Museum, located in Rockport, Spencer County, Indiana. Permission was granted. 

On February 9, 2023, after examining a detailed set of photographs of the bed, Lincoln furniture expert Steve Haaff informed Nancy Kaiser that he was “certain” that the bed in Dr. Donald Grigsby’s possession was the craftsmanship of Abraham Lincoln.  Upon that basis, the National Grigsby Preservation Foundation agreed to fund the project and Steve Haaff agreed to craft the replica bed.  Haaff is a master craftsman with over thirty years as a high school woodworking teacher. He has traveled all over the country to examine pieces of Thomas Lincoln furniture and the handmade tools that he used – studying them, measuring them, and noting the “earmarks” that Lincoln’s tools and techniques left on the furniture.  Steve Haaff is considered the “go-to” expert where Lincoln furniture is concerned. 

Plans were made for Donald and Gena René to transport the Lincoln Bed from San Antonio, Texas to Spencer County, Indiana in order for Mr. Haaff to take detailed measurements and photographs needed for the replication. On May 23, 2023, the bed arrived at the home of Steve Haaff, where Mike Robinson (retired Spencer County Indiana School Superintendent) and Steve Sisley (President of the Spencer County Historical Society) were in attendance.  Upon inspecting the bed in person, Mr. Haaff remarked, “it just screams Abraham Lincoln.”  

Mr. Haaff contacted Dr. Susannah Koerber, Chief Curator of the Indiana State Museum, to inform her of the Lincoln Bed, and she asked if it would be possible for it to be brought to Indianapolis for them to examine. There, Dr. Koerber and her staff excitedly examined the bed and listened to its provenance.  Dr. Koerber asked if the bed was available for acquisition, and if not, whether it might be loaned for display in the Indiana State Museum. A promise was made that both requests would be taken under consideration, but the commitment to provide a replica of the Abraham Lincoln crafted Sarah Lincoln Grigsby bed promised to the Lincoln Pioneer Village and Museum in Spencer County, Indiana needed to take priority.

Dr. Grigsby worked with local craftsmen in Texas to complete that replication project, as Mr. Haaff was ultimately unable to participate. On May 10, 2025, a replica of the Lincoln Bed, funded by the National Grigsby Preservation Foundation, was installed in the Aaron and Sarah Lincoln Grigsby replica log cabin at the Lincoln Pioneer Village in Rockport, Indiana in celebration of their 90th anniversary.