At the end of 1847, a newly elected member of the House of
Representatives from Illinois departed the east side of the
United States Capitol in search of living quarters. Crossing the
intersection of First Street and Independence Avenue, he
happened upon a boardinghouse under the proprietorship of Ann
Sprigg. Finding the accommodations satisfactory, he made the
necessary arrangements with Mrs. Sprigg to make this his
Washington home for the next two years. This seemingly
commonplace transaction carried sufficient weight to be recorded
by historians in later generations. Subsequent events point to
the significance of Lincoln’s domicile. In the 1880s, the block
containing Mrs. Sprigg’s boardinghouse was demolished to make
way for a new home for the Library of Congress—which had
outgrown its space in the Capitol building. Among the most
prized of the Library’s possessions are collections that have
been expressly gathered to celebrate the life and legacy of a
man who once resided on its grounds as an unknown cong