Newlyweds Abraham and Mary Todd Lincoln rented a small room at the Globe Tavern in Springfield, Illinois in 1842.

On Friday night, November 4, 1842, Abraham Lincoln and his bride Mary Todd, left the festivities following their wedding at the Ninian W. Edwards home and took up residence in Springfield's Globe Tavern at 315 East Adams Street. The Lincoln's rented a second-floor room which was only 8x14 feet, paying $4 a week ($110 today) for room and board (in all probability he meant $4 each for himself and his wife). 

The Globe Tavern was run by Sarah Beck. It was a typical two-story Springfield wood boardinghouse. The Lincoln's occupied a room on the second floor which was only 8x14 feet. Their first child, Robert Todd Lincoln, was delivered at the Globe Tavern on August 1, 1843, and on May 2, 1844, when they moved to a small house on Fourth Street in Springfield, Illinois.

The Globe Tavern, photo by S.M. Fassett 1865. Note the length of the building showing the Bennett-Spottswood and the Allen additions from 1839.

The Globe Tavern in 1886 shows only the Globe Tavern after the Bennett-Spottswood and the Allen additions were demolished.

The building was significantly larger (see photograph above) when the Lincolns lived there. The Globe was demolished in the 1890s.

Springfield Chapter of the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution placed a marker at the site of the Globe Tavern, the first home of Abraham and Mary Lincoln (from November 4, 1842, to May 2, 1844,) and the birthplace of their first child Robert. The marker, located in the 300 Block of East Adams, Springfield, Illinois, was rededicated by the Historic Sites Commission on April 15, 1987.

Compiled by Neil Gale, Ph.D.