Thomas Lincoln had known Mrs.Sarah Johnston when both were young and living in Elizabethtown, Kentucky.

They had married in the same year; and now, being alike bereaved, he persuaded her to unite their broken households into one.
By this union, a son and two daughters, John, Sarah, and Matilda, were added to the Lincoln family.

All dwelt together in perfect harmony, the mother showing no difference in the treatment of her own children and the two now committed to her charge.

She exhibited a special fondness for the little Abraham, whose precocious talents and enduring qualities she was quick to apprehend.

Though he never forgot the "angel mother" sleeping on the forest-covered hill-top, the boy rewarded with a profound and lasting affection the devoted care of her who proved a faithful friend and helper during the rest of his childhood and youth.
In her later life the step-mother spoke of him always with the tenderest feeling.