Furnishing The House That Abe Built

March 7, 2014

Allison Ashby and Steve Jedd not only searched for information about the cabin structure when they delved into the National Park Service’s archives; they were also searching for information about the interior. Most of the items in the home, with the exception of the spinning wheel, pottery, weaving, and food, were made by Ashby and Jedd.

The corner cabinet in the back, left corner of the cabin is modeled after a piece by Abe’s father, Thomas Lincoln, who was a cabinetmaker. The pegs in the back wall are a homemade ladder that the boys, Abe and his step-brother John, used to climb to the loft where they slept. The artists decided to include the pegs after reading accounts that Lincoln wrote about watching the snow through the roof shingles.