Hereditary premature closure of a coronal suture in the Abraham Lincoln family

• Lincoln had a mild unicoronal craniosynostosis.
• Trait was in 7 of progeny.
• A son also had a cleft palate.

The most easily recognized facial features of unilateral premature closure of a coronal suture in the skull are an upward arching of the superior orbital rim and a smaller face on the involved side. Photographs indicate that at least 9 individuals over 5 generations of the Abraham Lincoln family showed this anomaly.