Did You Know: Title Defects Cost Abraham Lincoln His Home – Twice?

That’s right – even the 16^th president of the United States wasn’t immune to the effects of a defective title.

Abraham Lincoln was born in a one-room cabin in Kentucky on Feb. 12, 1809. When little Abe was 3, someone challenged his father Thomas’ right to own the home and the rough land on which it sat. Abe’s family didn’t have the correct paperwork, so they were forced out of their home because someone else had a better claim on the land.

The family moved about 8 miles away – and four years later, it happened again. The Lincolns were sued as trespassers on their new farm, and even though the family won the suit, they lost much of the land on which they lived. Thomas was anxious that he would be challenged again and lose the property. Rather than risk it, the family moved to Indiana, finding better land, a clear title, and the right paperwork to prove they owned the property if challenged.

Problems like those the Lincoln family faced are the reason for today’s title insurance policies. In fact, the first title company was founded in Philadelphia in 1876 to protect families like Abe Lincoln’s – and yours!