<P> The decision about roof type often was based on the material for roofing like bark . Milled lumber was usually the most popular choice for rafter roofs in areas where it was available . These roofs typify many log cabins built in the 20th century, having full - cut 2 × 4 rafters covered with pine and cedar shingles . The purlin roofs found in rural settings and locations, where milled lumber was not available, often were covered with long hand - split shingles . </P> <P> The log cabin has been a symbol of humble origins in US politics since the early 19th century . Seven United States Presidents were born in log cabins, including Abraham Lincoln, Andrew Jackson, and James Buchanan . Although William Henry Harrison was not one of them, he and the Whigs during the 1840 presidential election were the first to use a log cabin as a symbol to show North Americans that he was a man of the people . Other candidates followed Harrison's example, making the idea of a log cabin--and, more generally, a non-wealthy background--a recurring theme in campaign biographies . </P> <P> More than a century after Harrison, Adlai Stevenson acknowledged: "I wasn't born in a log cabin . I didn't work my way through school nor did I rise from rags to riches, and there's no use trying to pretend I did ." Stevenson lost the 1952 presidential election in a landslide to Dwight D. Eisenhower . </P> <P> A popular children's toy in the US is Lincoln Logs, consisting of various notched dowel rods that can be fitted together to build scale miniature - sized structures . </P>

How to tell the age of a log cabin