Shingling Hatchet Head

Thomas Lincoln brought his wife Nancy Hanks and their young children, including Abraham, to Indiana in 1816 and stayed until 1830. It is here in southern Indiana that Thomas quickly set about building a cabin for his family and hewing a new life for his family out of the woods and fields with his carpentry skills.

Shingling hatchets were crucial tools in that they had the combined utility of a hammer and a blade in one object. This shingling hatchet’s specific age and origins are obscured through corrosion. The hatchet was recovered from Lincoln Boyhood National Memorial grounds during archeological investigations in 1999.