04/14/2026
161 years ago today, April 14, 1865, Abraham Lincoln, the nation's 16th president, was assassinated at Ford's Theatre National Historic Site. Two West Virginia connections stand out with Lincoln's life.
Nancy Hanks, Lincoln's mother, was likely born on February 5, 1784, possibly in what is now Mineral County, WV. While land records make it difficult to pinpoint exactly where her family lived at the time, evidence suggests they may have resided in that area around then. In 1929, a state committee concluded that Nancy Hanks was indeed born on Mikes Run leading to this state memorial being placed in 1933, but by 1966, Governor Hulett Smith had determined there was no definitive evidence confirming her exact birthplace. The monument still stands and has been designated as a Mineral County Historic Landmark. (Photo courtesy of West Virginia & Regional History Center)
Ward Lamon, a Jefferson County native who grew up in Berkeley County, was a friend and informal bodyguard to Lincoln. On April 14, 1865, Lamon was organizing government operations in Richmond after the fall of the Confederate capital. That evening, he was more than 100 miles away and unavailable to protect Lincoln from John Wilkes Booth. Lamon died in Martinsburg and is buried in Gerrardstown.
