Lincoln Homestead

The Mordecai Lincoln House in Berks County 

The Lincoln homestead is located in Exeter township, near a small town called Lorane in Pennsylvania.  It was erected by Mordecai Lincoln, Jr., and is one of the most historic places in Berks County, PA.  It was here that the ancestors of President Lincoln lived; Mordecai being his great-great-grandfather. 

This house, claimed by some historians to have been erected in 1725 and by others in 1733 (although the latter date is generally accepted), was practically lost for many years so far as any record of its location or history was concerned.  It was known that Mordecai Lincoln settled in Berks County, but all the old records showed it to be in Cley Township.  The confusion arose because the land was in Cley township when the house was built, but it became part of Exeter when that township was erected at a later date.

Mordecai Lincoln, Jr., the builder of the house, was an ironworker who came into Pennsylvania from Monmouth county, NJ., in 1720 and settled in Chester County.  A deed, dated May 10, 1730, shows that he later purchased 1,000 acres of land east of the Schuylkill river, from Thomas Hillard.  This land had formerly been owned by Andrew Robeson, then the largest landholder in what is now Berks county, but what was then Lancaster county.  Soon after buying the land, Mordecai erected the house which still stands.  Its original dimensions were 16 by 30 ½ feet, but the house was soon enlarged to its present day dimensions.  (Ed. Note: See the accompanying drawings.)

The Mordecai Lincoln Homestead is of the early American farmhouse type, and its eighteen inch stone walls were evidently built to stand for centuries to come.  Today, it is in a good state of preservation and the house-wide front porch is the only feature of the house which has been improved and changed from its original architecture.  The original porch was of wood, having wooden railings around its edges and wooden porch posts which supported the porch roof; the present day porch is of concrete and flagstones, and the roof is supported by concrete pillars.

There is every reason to believe that Mordecai Lincoln at once stepped into a good position in the county into which he had come.  He was Justice of the Peace, an inspector of highways, and he was on an ascending scale socially and financially, when, in 1736 at the age of 49 year, he died and was buried in one of the unmarked graves which is in the burial ground at the Exeter Friends' Meeting House.

The member of the Lincoln family who left Berks County was John Lincoln, son of Mordecai Lincoln, Jr.  His son, Abraham, emigrated to Kentucky in 1732, where he was killed by the Indians, and was survived by three sons.  One of these (Thomas) was the father of Abraham Lincoln, who later became President of the United States.  Nancy Hanks, the mother of Abraham Lincoln, was the grand-daughter of John Hanks, who left Berks County in 1750.

The Lincoln homestead is located about two miles south of the main highway (U.S. Route 422) from Reading to Philadelphia, at a point 4 miles east of Reading.  The Berks County Historical Society has placed convenient road signs along the main highway, which direct the tourist to the house so that it is readily found.  The property is owned today by Jacob Hoffman.  It may be seen at any time and may be inspected, if desired.