The Story Of Young Abraham Lincoln Book by Wayne Whipple, Lincoln was born in a Kentucky log cabin in 1809, and in 1816 his father, Thomas, moved the family across the Ohio River to a 160-acre plot in southern Indiana. Lincoln did not migrate to Illinois until 1830. 9. Poisoned milk killed Lincoln's mother. Abraham Lincoln lived in Indiana for 14 years, from the age of 7 to the age of 21. During that time he had grown physically and mentally. With his hands and his back, he had helped carve a farm and home out of the wilderness.