Lincoln: Prelude to the Presidency

Lincoln in Logan County

The presence of Abraham Lincoln in the early history of Logan County is pervasive; he dominates that history. He performed surveys there, represented the county in his four terms in the Illinois legislature and in his one term in Congress. He was the principal mover in the formation of the county. He was its lawyer in each of the two moves of the county seat that occurred in its first fifteen years. Throughout his legal career he had an active practice in the county, its leading lawyer, representing some of its most prominent citizens. He played a major role in the founding of the city of Lincoln. It is, in fact, the only city named for Abraham Lincoln before fame came to him, so named at its beginning in 1853, 7 years before his election of the presidency. The history of the first 20 years of Logan County cannot be told without repeatedly mentioning Abraham Lincoln’s name.

The first settler in Logan County was James Latham, who moved to Elkhart Hill in April of 1819. This followed the typical path of the settlement of Illinois from south to north. He was from Kentucky. Up until the late 1840’s, most of the settlers in central Illinois came from the south. Elkhart Hill is most prominent natural feature in Logan County, located just east of I55 at the town of Elkhart. It rises more than 170 feet above the surrounding farmland, originally prairie, and can be seen for many miles in all directions. It encompasses over 600 acres of timber. It got its name because the Native Americans believed it to be in the shape of an Elk’s heart. It is a glacial feature known as a kame, formed from deposits of tons of glacial till under the ice.

Latham was appointed Indian Commissioner by President John Quincy Adams in 1825. He died in 1826 and is buried in the tranquil Latham cemetery hidden deep in the woods at the base of Elkhart Hill, above the site of that first cabin. He had two sons who figured prominently in the Lincoln story. Robert was one of the founders of Lincoln. Richard built and operated the Kentucky House next to the historic Edwards Trace on the west side of the hill. Many of the circuit riding lawyers of the 8th Circuit stayed there, including Lincoln, David Davis, the circuit’s presiding judge, and Lincoln’s one time partners, John T. Stewart and Stephen T. Logan. Steven A. Douglas also stayed there on occasion. Richard was elected to the legislature in 1848.

The young Lincoln tried several professions before he settled on the law and politics, including surveying. He was appointed as an Assistant County Surveyor by Springfield’s John Calhoun, a Democrat, who was County Surveyor. Characteristically, Lincoln taught himself the relatively difficult principals of surveying, including trigonometry, and soon became a competent surveyor. In 1834 he surveyed and platted a road which started at Musick’s Ferry on Salt Creek, a mile north of Middletown, after petitioning the county commissioners to locate said road. The plat still exists as do portions of the road, as it passes from southwestern Logan County on through Irish Grove, New Salem, and Clary’s Grove, to the Morgan County line. He did the survey for the town of Albany on the west bank of Salt Creek at Rocky Ford, 6 miles southwest of present day Lincoln. The plat was certified on June 16, 1836. The town was never developed.

Logan County was originally part of Sangamon County. Its residents were among Lincoln’s constituents during his four terms in the Illinois legislature, from 1834 to 1842. He was defeated the first time he ran in 1832, shortly after his arrival in New Salem in a campaign that was interrupted by the Blackhawk war. Undaunted, he ran successfully in 1834. He ran as a Whig, the party that then was the opposition of the Democratic Party. It was also the minority party in Illinois. The Democrats never lost a statewide race until Lincoln carried the state in the 1860 presidential campaign. He was re-elected in 1836 garnering more votes than any other candidate. In 1838 he was elected again. It was during this third of his four terms that he reached the zenith of his influence in the Illinois legislature. He was the recognized leader of the Whig Party, running unsuccessfully as the party’s candidate for Speaker of the House.
A primary focus of Lincoln’s legislative career was the support and encouragement of local improvements such as roads, bridges, canals and railroads. One of the earliest of these was the road which started at Musick’s Ferry. In December of 1834 Lincoln drafted and introduced a bill seeking authorization for Musick to build a toll bridge at this site. In 1835 and 1837 he sponsored legislation to relocate portions of the road. A bridge now exists crossing the creek at that point on the existing county highway.

During Lincoln’s third term, his prominence was reflected by his appointment to fourteen different committees including the Committee on Counties, for which he was the powerful chairman. That situation caused him a considerable dilemma. By then he lived in Springfield, the largest town in the district, and the county seat of Sangamon County. The voters of Springfield wanted to leave the large boundaries of the county in place. Lincoln’s old friends and associates in the dying New Salem had mostly moved to the newly founded Petersburg, for which he had done the survey. They wanted a new county carved off of Sangamon, and expected their old friend Lincoln to get that done. The people of northern Sangamon County felt the same way. A petition for the division of Sangamon County was presented to the legislature which was referred to Lincoln’s Committee on Counties. It was in turn referred by him as Chairman to a special committee of three which included Lincoln and his old friend John Calhoun. Lincoln proceeded cautiously because of the controversial nature of this issue.

There had been considerable pressure on Lincoln from all sides relating to the volatile issue. That is reflected in letters from Edward Baker and Lincoln to William Butler regarding Butler’s charges of apparent wrongdoing in making the division of Sangamon County. The response of the two men says a lot about Lincoln. Stewart, in a terse letter dated January 26, 1939 said, “If you believe the charges you make to be true, I say most flatly you are a fool”. Lincoln on the other hand responded at length, explaining the bill and his position on the divisive issue. With regard to Butler’s letter he said, “You were in an ill-humor when you wrote the letter and no doubt intended that I should be thrown into one also; however I respectfully decline that being done”. He closes by saying, “Your friend, in spite of your ill nature…”

Lincoln drafted the bill and actually drew the specific boundaries of the new counties, including Logan, but had the bill presented as a committee bill to avoid as much of the debris created by the controversy as he could. Lincoln also selected the name, “Logan”. He named the county for his friend, Dr. John Logan, an Irish born Democratic colleague in the legislature from Jackson County in southern Illinois. Logan was the father of John A. Logan, who was to become the famed Civil War General, and United States Senator, one of the giants of 19th century Illinois. Thus Lincoln not only created Logan County, he named it.

The bill provided for the appointment of three named commissioners who were to select the County Seat. There were only three towns in the new county, Mt. Pulaski in the southeast corner, Middletown in the southwest corner, and Postville in the center of the county. Because settlement was advancing from the south to the north, Postville was the smallest, its population then being less than 100 people. However its location was an important factor in this competition. More important was the offer of three promoters, Lucien Adams, Seth Tinsley, and Dr. Moses L. Knapp to donate the land for a public square and to cause a courthouse to be constructed there. The Commissioners chose Postville and the tiny hamlet of three stores, several families, and a decent tavern was the new County Seat. Postville, near Salt Creek was founded by a ship’s chandler from Baltimore named Russell Post in 1837. Like many in the panic of that year, he went under financially, so conveyed the underlying land to the town’s three promoters. He himself left the area only to surface later in Minneapolis-St. Paul as a faith healer.

County elections were held on April 1st, 1839 James Primm, a St. Clair County, Illinois native who ran Seth Tinsley’s store in Postville, was elected Circuit Clerk. Dr John Deskins, proprietor of the Deskin’s Tavern, was elected as the county’s first sheriff and Jabez Capps of Mt. Pulaski was elected its first recorder. Postville was surrounded by miles of prairie, including the land that would become Lincoln fourteen years later. That town’s growth swallowed up Postville, which became part of Lincoln in 1865. The legislation creating the county placed Logan County in the 1st judicial circuit, but it became part of the legendary 8th in 1841, and remained so throughout Lincoln’s career.
The 8th judicial circuit included 9 counties when Logan was added to it 1841. Court was held in consecutive sessions annually in each county in the spring and fall. The judge and a varying group of lawyers would go from county to county through the beauty, solitude, hardship, and privation of the vast prairies. Sometimes they had a primitive road to follow, occasionally no more than a trace. At their best, the roads were never good.

The lawyers would greet people and pick up business as they went. Initially, there were no newspapers or easy transportation, so the traveling lawyers were the source of news and gossip. Court sessions also provided good entertainment. Their coming was looked on with great anticipation by the county’s residents. Court week had a festive air to it.

Accommodations were rough and yet it was an exciting and adventuresome time for the men. Accounts of this life are remindful of group of men today on a fishing trip, except the trip around the circuit lasted for two to three months. For this reason, few of the lawyers made the whole trek, though Abraham Lincoln did.

He was always the center of attention with his renowned wit and story-telling ability. The great loop around the circuit would start in Springfield, going north along the western edge of Logan County through Middletown. It is believed that Lincoln frequently spent the night in transit between Springfield and the Tazewell County Seat, at the Stagecoach Inn there in Middletown which still stands restored near its original location. This was a stop on the way to the Tazewell County Seat, Tremont, until 1850, then Pekin. From there they went to Metamora, the County Seat of Woodford County until 1896, and then on to Bloomington, scene of a number of significant events in Lincoln’s political and legal career, and home of some of his closest associates. These included David Davis and Leonard Swett, both of whom played a role in Lincoln’s law practice in Logan County.

From Bloomington they headed southwest toward Logan County. In the early 1920’s, an organization known as the Lincoln Circuit Marker Association placed a marker on every county line that Lincoln crossed at the point where it can best be determined that the route crossed the county line. The marker between McLean and Logan County is located on County Rd 2500 N, northeast of Atlanta. It was virtually destroyed by vandals in 1978 but was restored by the Abraham Lincoln chapter of the Daughters of American Revolution with substantial assistance from local historian Paul Adams.

The actual road used by Lincoln and his colleagues at the point of the marker has been plowed away, but one mile south the road resumes at the location of the Half-way House, an inn, consisting of a 2 story frame building, maintained by Samuel Hoblit from Ohio who came in 1828. The road past the Half-way House site angles around the Roach Cemetery, still active. Lincoln over-nighted at the Half-way House on frequent occasions, as he made this trip twice a year for many years. His partner and long time circuit riding companion John T. Stewart remembered them fishing on a nearby creek in the evening, while staying there. Once Lincoln showed up and there was nobody home except Samuel’s 16 year old son, John. He prepared a meal for Lincoln and they spent the evening entertaining each other. This in turn established a friendship which lasted as John became an adult. John settled farther south in a beautiful spot on top of the Shelbyville moraine east of present day Atlanta. Lincoln would stay on occasion with John. He stopped in 1858 to find that the Hoblit’s home had been burned and they were living in a shed on the property. Notwithstanding their offer to find better accommodations in the neighborhood, he stayed in the shed with them. The building still stands today on the Hoblit property. John’s wife was then pregnant. The child when born was named Abraham Lincoln Hoblit, recalled by current family members as, “Uncle Lincoln”.

As you drive the route they took through this area, which roughly paralleled today’s I55, it is easy to imagine the magnificent scene which confronted Lincoln and his comrades as they came off the ridge of the Shelbyville Moraine near present day Atlanta. On a clear day you can see Elkhart Hill, 20 miles to the southeast. Imagine no cars, no roads, no railroads, no towns, and no farms. Instead, imagine miles and miles of tall grass prairie, as high as a horse, undulating in the wind, golden brown in the Fall, its pattern broken by countless wildflowers of a variety of colors, shapes, and sizes.

The first session of the circuit court for Logan County was actually held in Deskins Tavern because construction of the courthouse had not been completed. The tavern was where the visitors to Postville stayed. Among them, the judge, the lawyers including Lincoln, the litigants, and witnesses. They frequently shared the same table and each room had multiple guests, usually sleeping more than one to a bed. There was a colorful crowd that met at Deskins Tavern during the court sessions. Lincoln frequently told of an incident that occurred there, sometimes telling this story to his generals during the Civil War to encourage them to be more innovative when they complained about lack of ordinance. A traveler arrived late at night at the tavern anxious for a hard earned whiskey. First he was advised that the tavern had none. His inquiry as to other possible sources in town was greeted with the same negative answer. To this bad news he responded, “Give me an ear of corn and a tin cup and I’ll make it myself”. All that is now left of the tavern is its well.

The courthouse was constructed on the square facing south toward the tavern. It was two-story, of frame construction, twenty-eight feet by thirty-eight feet. It had two offices on the first floor, separated by a hallway, and a courtroom on the entire second floor. The building was constructed for $1,176.00. It was used as a church, meeting room, and lecture hall. The original courthouse building was purchased by Henry Ford in 1929, dismantled and moved to Greenfield Village in Dearborn, Michigan. A faithful reproduction now stands on the site.

The circuit’s presiding judge when Postville was county seat was Samuel Treat from Springfield. Treat recalled a trip he and Lincoln were making after dark from Postville to Springfield near Elkhart. He recounted that a, “polecat” was spotted crossing the road in front of them, causing potential problems with the horse. The frontier-raised Lincoln took the reins from Treat to guide the horse and carriage around the delicate confrontation with a skunk.
Little is known of Lincolns’ legal career in Postville. The Logan County Courthouse in Lincoln was destroyed by fire in 1857, and all the prior court records from the three county seats were destroyed. Lincoln regularly attended the semi-annual court sessions and was a fixture both in and out of the courtroom. There were no local, only visiting attorneys during those early days of the county. A number of residents of Logan County had migrated north from Springfield, so many of them knew the Springfield lawyers, besides Lincoln, who came to Logan County including Lincoln’s one time partners, Stewart and Logan, his current partner William Herndon, and Edward Baker, David Davis and Asahel Gridley of Bloomington also attended court in Postville during this period. As Lincoln did everywhere that he went on the circuit, he became uniquely a part of the community. Locals recalled the judge having to be hold up proceedings while Lincoln was summoned from a game of town ball that he was playing in the square with the town youngsters. He also shot marbles with them and was known to throw the maul in competition with older young men.

The next major event in the history of Logan County was the removal of the county seat from Postville to Mt. Pulaski, and Lincoln had a role in that as well.

In 1836, Jabez Capps, a Springfield merchant, learned of a beautiful stretch of high prairie on a mound between Salt Creek and the Lake Fork, and it’s large, shallow lake in northern Sangamon county. Upon inspection, he decided he would move there, and with Dr. Barton Robinson of Springfield, and George W. Turley, an early settler in that locale, they founded the town of Mt. Pulaski. It was surveyed and dedicated in July of 1836. Both Capps and Robinson were born in England. Capps was the first resident in the new town, constructing a building on the north side of the square, which served as a store with his residence on the upper floor. Capps reached central Illinois by walking from Louisville to St. Louis, and then on to Springfield. He lived in Mt. Pulaski until his demise in 1896, three months short of his hundredth birthday. He was a friend and political ally of Lincoln’s, assisting Lincoln in his campaigns. The town was named for Casimer Pulaski, the Polish revolutionary war hero.

In 1847 Mt. Pulaski’s promoters had a bill passed by the General Assembly, calling for a referendum in the county on the removal of the county seat from Postville to the booming Mt. Pulaski. The town’s location was in the south end of the Logan County so, it had grown more quickly than Postville. By the mid 1840’s the population was over 300, more than twice that of Postville. Commercial activity far outpaced that of the smaller town. The referendum resulted in Mt. Pulaski being chosen. One factor in the vote, no doubt, was the promise of a new courthouse. The citizens of Mt. Pulaski contributed $2,700.00 for it’s construction with another $300.00 coming from the county. It sits on the very top of the “Mount”, a kame similar to Elkhart Hill, the twin peaks of south Logan County. This mound rises about 65 feet from the edge of town. The courthouse is one of only two actual Lincoln courthouses on their original sites. A solid two-story brick building of Greek revival architecture, it has a broad double door with spreading stairs leading up to it, five double hung windows on the front, and six on each side. It has six chimneys, one for each of the offices on the first floor. These offices housed the Recorder, County and Circuit Clerks, Sheriff, Surveyor, Treasurer, and the School Commissioner. The utilitarian courtroom is on the second floor, divided by a rail that runs the width of the room, “the bar”. On one side is the judge’s bench, jury box, counsel tables and the witness stand, the public seating is on the other side. The upper floor also contains a jury room and the judge’s chambers. The only judge who ever presided in this courthouse was David Davis. The comparison between the frame Postville courthouse and this stately brick building is testimony to the evolving civilization of central Illinois during this period.
An early case in the new courthouse was brought by the three donors of the Postville courthouse. After the move of the county seat, the county sold the property for $300.00, and kept the money. The donor’s sued the county to recover the proceeds of the sale. Lincoln was the attorney for the county. Judge Davis ruled for the county could keep the money. The case was appealed to the Supreme Court which affirmed Judge Davis. Asahel Gridley of Bloomington, and Lionel Lacy of Mt. Pulaski associated with Lincoln on the case. The plaintiff’s were represented by Lincoln’s two former partners, John T. Stewart and Steven T. Logan.

Because of the 1857 courthouse fire, little is known of the specifics of Lincoln’s cases in Mt. Pulaski either. He had a busy practice there because of the many former Springfield residents who knew him well. His cases had a broad range of subject matter that was typical of his practice everywhere. One noteworthy case of Lincoln’s was the “Horological Cradle case”. Lincoln’s clients had purchased the patent rights to a cradle machine which would self rock, with a series of pulleys and weights, thus freeing the harried mother of the day to pursue her other maternal duties. Actually, the patent was not for the mechanics of this miracle cradle, as represented, but only for the ornamental design on the machine. Lincoln sought to recover for the land his clients had traded in consideration for the patent transfer. Judge Davis ruled for Lincoln’s clients setting aside the transaction, because of the claimed misrepresentation. The decision was reversed by the Supreme Court on appeal. The court held that the plaintiff should have known that a cradle couldn’t be patented so that the representation could have only related to the ornamental aspects of the cradle, and also that Lincoln’s clients had no standing to sue because they had not dealt directly with the defendants.

Lincoln took a model of the cradle to his office and was showing it to a Springfield friend John Bunn who asked how you stopped it because it just kept on rocking. Lincoln replied, “It’s like some of the glib talkers you and I have known, when it gets going it doesn’t knew when to stop.”

Early Logan County has been characterized as an out post for the Springfield and Bloomington bars. Visiting lawyers from Springfield included both of Lincoln’s former partners, John T. Stewart, and Stephen T. Logan, as well as Benjamin Edwards and Stephen A. Douglas. The visiting lawyers from Bloomington included Asahel Gridley, William Orme, Leonard Swett, Lincoln’s close friend from Bloomington also practiced in Mt Pulaski and remembered being introduced to Lincoln for the first time by David Davis at the Mt. Pulaski House in the fall of 1849.

Logan County finally had a resident bar in the late 1840’s when William Young changed from a Postville teacher to a Mt. Pulaski attorney. Lionel Lacy came to Mt. Pulaski to practice law. He was a native of Belleville, and was an active Democrat, an ardent supporter of Stephen A. Douglas. This had no effect on the professional relationship between Lincoln and Lacy. He was an active litigator, opposing Lincoln more frequently than any other lawyer. He also associated with Lincoln on many cases. The leading local lawyer on the Mt. Pulaski scene was Samuel C. Parks. Born in Vermont, the son of an educator, he matriculated an Indiana University before coming to Springfield as a school teacher. Soon he was admitted to the bar and began a successful career in Mt. Pulaski. He associated with Lincoln more frequently than any other Logan County attorney. On occasion he also opposed Lincoln. Lincoln used Parks’ office in Mt. Pulaski as his base there. A Whig, Parks was a long-time avid supporter of Lincoln’s. When the Whig’s convened in 1846 to select a congressional candidate to succeed Lincoln, they chose Stephen T. Logan, primarily due to Lincoln’s unpopular stand opposing the Mexican war, only two delegates voted for his re-nomination. His partner William Herndon was not one of them, but Parks was.

Before the Seventeenth Amendment, the legislatures of each state selected their United States Senators. Parks was elected to the Illinois legislature from Logan County in 1854. A primary reason he ran was to be in the legislature to vote for Lincoln for the U.S. Senate. Parks wrote a letter to Lincoln, assuring him of his support, and volunteering to assist in any way that he could. Throughout the Lincoln / Douglas campaign of 1858, he campaigned hard for Lincoln, notably, in Tazewell, as well as Logan County. In 1856 the Republican Party held its first National Convention in Philadelphia. Lincolns name was placed in nomination for Vice President and he received one hundred ten votes, thus placing him briefly in the national spotlight. Parks was a member of the Illinois delegation which was behind this action. In 1860, Parks went to Chicago as a member of the cadre that David Davis had assembled to nominate Lincoln. His task was to lobby the delegation from his home state of Vermont. Following Lincoln’s nomination in 1860, several campaign biographies appeared. The most extensive of which was by William Dean Howells. It was loosely based on the autobiography Lincoln had written for Bloomington’s Jesse Fell. Parks loaned his copy to Lincoln which Lincoln in turn carefully corrected with annotations and notes in the margins. This document is today a significant piece of Lincoln literature.

In 1862 Lincoln appointed Parks to the Territorial Supreme Court of Idaho, a post he resigned in 1865 in a dispute over a leave of absence he took to return to Illinois following the death of a child. At the urging of David Davis, President Rutherford B. Hayes later appointed him to the Supreme Court of the Territory of New Mexico.

Mt. Pulaski’s hotel was the Mt. Pulaski House, a two-story brick building on the northwest corner of the square. In an1851 letter, David Davis described it as, “perhaps the hardest place you ever saw… everything dirty, and the eating horrible”. The old woman who waited tables, “looked as we would suppose the witch of Endor looked.” Lincoln generally stayed in private homes in Mt. Pulaski, first at the home of Jabez Capps, and then at the home of Thomas Lushbaugh, on North Marion Street. The Lushbaughs had been neighbors of Lincolns on 8th Street until they moved to Mt. Pulaski. Elizabeth Lushbaugh Capps recalled, “That because of the miserable accommodations at the hotel, Lincoln stayed with her family on all of his trips to Mt. Pulaski for the last five years that it was the county seat. She recalled Lincoln sitting in the front yard of their home, under the trees talking to Davis, Stewart, and Swett, among others. Lincoln shared a room with her brother when he slept there. He talked the Lushbaugh’s into allowing Swett to stay there, as well. Elizabeth recalled in this era before screens, her job at the meal time was to wave a large fan to keep the flies off the food and the guests.

The coming of the railroads in the 1850’s rang the death knell of the vast prairies and the last vestiges of the pioneer life. The Chicago & Alton made its way from Alton northeast into Logan County. New towns cropped up along the right of way, including Lincoln, Atlanta, and Elkhart. Elkhart was platted in 1855 by John Shockey, a native of Pennsylvania. He arrived in the early 50’s and acquired a substantial amount of land in the vicinity of present day Elkhart prior to his death in late 1859. He had 10 children live to adulthood, 5 of whom served in the Civil War. He built a large frame hotel in Elkhart. Lincoln represented him in a number of cases, several where he was sued for debt, and several defamation cases.

Atlanta was platted before Lincoln, March 22, 1853. The town’s founder was Richard Gill, one time sheriff of Tazewell County, and a native of Kentucky. He discovered the area and its potential as a stage coach driver through the now defunct town of New Castle. He and his brother Thomas learned of the coming of the railroad and purchased several thousand acres from which they sold the railroad its right of way in 1852. The line had to veer slightly to the west to find a gentler grade up the steep side of the moraine. Richard Gill built the first house in town and boarded a newcomer from Rhode Island for two years, Dr. George N. Angell. Angell was to draw a number of people from his native Rhode Island to the booming new town. Richard Gill’s younger brother John also settled in Atlanta. He served in the Mexican war, and at the battle of Vera Cruz, captured the artificial leg of General Santa Anna, of Alamo fame, and the President of Mexico.

Lot sales occurred in May of 1853. As was typical throughout central Illinois, as the railroads arrived, the tiny town of New Castle packed up and moved to Atlanta. Early lot buyers included Jabez Capps and Bertram Robinson, the founders of Mt. Pulaski, and Alexander Morgan, the proprietor of the Mt. Pulaski House. The town was platted as Xenia, after the area in Ohio from which a number of early settlers had come in. Because this name was taken Gill changed it to Atlanta for the Georgia city, but not until 1855. Another settler of considerable influence was Lemuel Foster, founding minister of the Congressional Church in Atlanta. He was a graduate of Yale Theological Seminary and an outspoken anti-slavery pro-temperance advocate. He and Angell immediately pushed for free education in Atlanta and started the Atlanta Seminary, which was operating by 1855. Atlanta was off to a running start. The first train reached town on October 16, 1853. By 1855, Atlanta had three hotels, and the county’s first newspaper, the Logan County Forum. By 1856 it had fifteen-hundred residents, seven doctors, four lawyers, and eight different religious denominations. Its first public meeting place was built by Hezekiah Armington. Thomas N. Gill started the first bank in Atlanta with the sizable amount of money he made in his land dealings, known as Thomas N. Gill & Company. Abraham Lincoln represented this company in a suit brought on a certificate of deposit issued by the bank, and he also represented Gill in a suit breech of contract to purchase 1231 hogs for $4000.00 in 1858. Lincoln spoke at Armington’s Hall on behalf of the Republican’s first presidential candidate, John C. Freemont on October 23, 1856, as reported by the weekly Pantagraph two days later.

Lincoln was a frequent visitor to Atlanta and was closely acquainted with its residents. Tom Larrison of Atlanta was elected Sheriff in 1856 as a member of the “Know-nothing” Party. He appointed his brother Able, as Deputy Sheriff. Able recalled playing cards with Lincoln while he was attending court. He did legal work for Richard Gill. In 1858, he was in town to see Gill several days before the famed Freeport debate with Stephen A. Douglas, where Lincoln framed questions to Douglas that would have major implications for both the senatorial race and also the presidential campaign against Douglas two years later. Gill owned a large frame building on Vine Street next to the railroad tracks. The first floor was a store. The upper floor included Gill’s office and an apartment. Lincoln used the apartment to prepare for the coming debate; Dr.George Angell overheard him practice his debate presentation out loud that day.

Sylvester Strong of Atlanta had been a friend of Lincoln’s since1839 when Strong was serving as a juror in Clinton, Illinois. Strong invited Lincoln to speak at Atlanta’s 1859 4th of July celebration. Lincoln declined and recommended his friend, Springfield attorney, James Matheny; He also agreed to attend. The celebration was held on Turner’s Hill, east and south of town. The Pantagraph of July 6th reported the event, describing a procession from town out to the celebration site as a mile long that included 7 veterans of the war of 1812. Following Matheny’s rousing speech, Strong presented Lincoln with a specially made cane of orangewood with fourteen silver buttons with the fourteen letters of Lincolns name on fourteen knots, the length of the cane. The Pantagraph reported, “Mr. Lincoln responded to the personal compliment in a short speech abounding with beauty, wit, and feeling; just such a speech as this distinguished gentleman can give utterance to as such a one as goes home to the hearts of his audience.”

Following the celebration, Lincoln repaired to the Strong home, and then to Richard Gill’s for dinner. Then they went to the Lemuel Fosters’ Congregational Church for an ice-cream social being held to raise money for pews in the newly constructed church. Several toasts were offered appropriate for the occasion, including one by Attorney Samuel Parks. A local baker presented Lincoln with a cake, which Lincoln gave to the ladies so that they could auction it off for the church.

One of the effective devices of the Lincoln campaign in 1860 was the “Wide-Awakes”, young men who marched in large torch light parades across the country in support of Lincoln. One of the earliest such organizations was that organized in Atlanta on June 22, 1860, only 6 weeks after the Republicans nominated Lincoln. There banner now hangs in the fine museum of Lincoln College with many other items relating to Lincoln and this era.
Lincoln was to serve as attorney for other residents of Atlanta in addition to Gill. His typical indifference to the identity of the opposing parties is demonstrated in several cases involving Atlantan’s. There were several cases in which he sued George Angell. Another such case is Samuel Hoblit v. Richard Gill at al. Hoblit, represented by Samuel Parks sued Gill and his partners on a note for a loan to finish a steam mill in Atlanta. Gill failed to appear and was defaulted. Judgment was entered against him. He appealed and Hoblit engaged Lincoln to handle the appeal, no doubt a referral from Parks. Lincoln lost the appeal, the court ruling that the service of summons was defective in the first place.

Many years later, James Hoblit, a Lincoln attorney recalled a courtroom encounter, when he was a boy, with Abraham Lincoln. Lincoln’s client, Paullin, had a bull which frequently strayed onto James’ uncle’s farm. His uncle encouraged his sons to drive the bull from their land, and none too gently. One of the boys harpooned the bull with a pitchfork, causing permanent damage and the suit followed, brought by Lincoln against Hoblit. James, a key witness, reluctantly told the story under Lincoln’s examination. Lincoln’s client won the suit. James was contrite because of his role against his family. Lincoln met him outside the courtroom and sympathized with him about the difficult position he was in, and assured him that he had done the right thing.

Lincoln and Parks represented Reuben Burt in a suit against Burt and his two partners in 1859. The three agreed to purchase a horse from a man named Loomis for 1200.00 to be paid with a down payment and two subsequent installments. They failed to pay the second installment because the horse was not a good “foal getter”. Loomis died and Lionel Lacy brought the suit as administrator of his estate. Ward Hill Lamon of Bloomington associated with him on the case. The case was tried before a jury which returned a verdict for $150.00, less than the $500.00 installment owed.

The city of Lincoln was founded by Virgil Hickox of Springfield, Robert Latham, then of Mt. Pulaski, and John D. Gillette, then of Cornland. Their carefully planned strategy was in three steps. The 1st step was to buy land along the Chicago and Alton Railroad right of way in the central part of the county. Second was to plat a town, and third was to get the county seat moved from Mt. Pulaski to their newly formed town. Abraham Lincoln was their lawyer engaged to execute this plan. Over the years he had represented them separately, as well as jointly, on these towns related transactions. Hickox was a successful merchant from Springfield, who was the uncle of Gillette’s wife. Lincoln regularly represented him on commercial matters. The railroad was chartered by the legislature in 1847. Both Hickox and Lincoln were on the committee of Sangamon County citizens formed to promote the railroad and the sale of its stock, then known as the Sangamon & Mississippi Railroad. Hickox was a member of the company’s board of directors at the time of the transactions in the 1850’s. He was a long time chairman of the Illinois Democratic Central Committee and a close personal and political friend of Steven A. Douglas.

Robert Latham was born in Kentucky and accompanied his father, James, north to Logan County, in 1819. He was only eight years old at the time of his father’s death, following which he was sent to Peoria and then Kentucky for schooling. At age 16 he completed his education in Springfield, where he became acquainted with Lincoln when he would go to his office for help with homework. He sold his inherited farm in 1850 and moved to Mt. Pulaski as a real estate speculator. He was elected sheriff of Logan County in 1850. The railroad engaged Latham to acquire right of way through Logan County so he knew the location of the railroad and knew that it would go slightly west of the languishing Postville. He was married to the daughter of John D. Gillette, Logan County’s wealthiest citizen. Gillette was born in Connecticut in 1819, the son of a ship’s captain. He was educated in New Haven, Connecticut, after a brief period in Georgia, he came to Central Illinois. Part of Gillette’s task was to invest his family’s money in the lands of the new country. He did eventually acquire 20,000 acres. Before farm drainage, much of the prairie was difficult to farm, so Gillette took up cattle raising. He refined the short-horned breed and would eventually ship out 1500 head a year becoming known as the “Cattle King of the World”. Gillette first settled in Cornland, building a large house that still stands, which was visited frequently by Abraham Lincoln. In 1868 he purchased Elkhart Hill from John Shockey’s estate, including a fine home which was destroyed by fire in 1872. It was replaced by the stately mansion that sits on the south side of the hill, still occupied by his descendents. He was a client, friend and supporter of Lincoln. Family sources say Lincoln represented him on many of his land transactions. Both Latham and Gillette were members of the official party that accompanied Lincoln to Washington for his inauguration in 1861. Lincoln rode to Gillette’s home in Cornland to extend this invitation.

Gillette’s daughter Emma was to marry Richard J. Oglesby, a politician and lawyer from Decatur. Oglesby was among Lincolns’ staunchest and hardest working supporters. He first promoted the use of split rails that gave rise to the nickname “Railsplitter” in Lincoln’s 1860 run to the presidency. The humble railsplitter image was a major factor in Lincoln’s successful pursuit of the presidency. Oglesby was the only man to be elected Governor of Illinois three separate times, 1864, 1872, and 1884. He built a huge mansion on Elkhart Hill known as Oglehurst, which stood until 1982. Both Gillette and Oglesby are buried in the beautiful Gillette family cemetery on top of Elkhart Hill, which is dominated by the stately John Dean Gillette Memorial Chapel.

Hickox and Gillette gave Latham the power of attorney to purchase the town site that they selected, 160 acres of prairie north of Postville. He went to Pennsylvania to purchase the quarter section directly from its owner. Lincoln drew these papers and handled the transaction. Next, Colby Knapp, Logan County’s legislator from Middletown, introduced the bill to hold a county-wide referendum in November on the issue of moving the county seat from Mt. Pulaski to the new, as yet, unnamed town. Lincoln drafted this bill and given his busy practice as a lobbyist, there is reason to speculate that he lobbied on this bill as well. The bill passed and the referendum was set. One curiosity about this bill was that it proposed that the county seat move to a non-existent town with no name. In the referendum the site was designated by its technical legal description.

The next step was the formation of the town. Lincoln did all this work as well. The three speculators met in his office in August of 1853 to complete the papers including a power of attorney to Latham to sell the lots on behalf of the three partners and to execute the documents accompanying the plat. At the time they met with Lincoln in his office to finalize these documents, the town still had no name. It was, then, that they proposed to their attorney that the town bear his name, “Lincoln”. When he filled in the blank on the power of attorney document for the town name, he modestly wrote “Lincoln” in quotes and stated”, “Nothing named Lincoln has ever amounted to much”. The town was platted on August 26,1853. The owners conveyed the current Court House square to Logan County in a deed, skillfully drawn by Lincoln providing that the conveyance was void, unless the county seat was removed to the new town and public buildings erected thereon.

On August 29th, a sale of lots was held at the depot site in the middle of the prairie. A special train brought people from Springfield, including Lincoln, for this occasion, the railroad having been completed to this point. Lincoln came on the train and was present for the successful sale. 90 lots were sold for $6,000.00; the 3 had paid $1280.00 for the entire 160 acres of which the platted town was but a part. Lincoln prepared the contracts and deeds used in the lot sales. These sales were contingent upon voter approval of the move of the county seat to the new town, which wouldn’t take place until fall. Following the sale the founders invited Lincoln to toast the new town. He split two watermelons from a nearby stack, caught the juice in a cup, and poured it onto the ground to christen the newborn town.

Just as with the move of the County Seat to Mt. Pulaski provoked a law suit, the move from Mt. Pulaski to the new town of Lincoln also provoked a suit. Just as with the first suit, the County hired Abraham Lincoln as its attorney in the second. It was brought by Mount Pulaski’s founders, old friends of Lincoln, Jabez Capps, Barton Robinson, and George Turley, who were represented by Benjamin Edwards and John T. Stuart. Lincoln’s associate in the case was Parks and ex-partner Logan. The basis for the suit was that the relocation bill had not been read in the legislature the requisite three times prior to passage. On this basis, the County was temporarily enjoined from the move. Lincoln submitted evidence to prove that the General Assembly had amended its journals to show that the bill was thrice read as required, and the injunction was dissolved. The decision was appealed to the Illinois Supreme Court, where Lincoln continued to represent the county. The court affirmed and the move of the County Seat was completed. The move left a certain amount of bitterness. In 1922 when the Lincoln Circuit Marker Association put out its county line marker, it also put out a differently styled marker at every courthouse site where Lincoln practiced. The Logan County dispute was resolved by putting a marker at each courthouse, Mt. Pulaski and Lincoln..
Lincoln grew rapidly. It’s first school house was built in 1854. It’s first public meeting hall, Musick’s Hall, was built in 1855. The towns first newspaper, The Herald, began publication in 1855. The town’s founders Hickox, Latham, and Gillette built the first hotel, the Lincoln House at the southeast corner of Broadway and Chicago, where Lincoln and the other traveling lawyers generally stayed. The Circuit Court started operating in Lincoln in the spring of 1854, after lawyer Lincoln’s successful conclusion of the relocation litigation. The first court house was built on a current site, though it was destroyed by fire on April 15, 1857. Arson was never ruled out. This fire destroyed all of the existing court records, so the only comprehensive records of court activity date from that fire. The new building served as the county court house until its replacement by the current building in 1907.

As in other counties, Lincoln’s Logan County practice was overwhelmingly civil, not criminal. His most frequent type of case, was mundane, debtor / creditor litigation representing each side with similar frequency. He handled a wide variety of cases otherwise, including divorce, foreclosures, chancery matters, will contents, slander, malicious prosecution, partition, and real estate title disputes. In April of 1860 the Logan County bar passed a resolution, mourning the death of Governor Joel Matteson. The motion to adopt the resolution was made by Lincoln, participating as a member of the Logan County bar. In 1858 and 1859 he frequently acted as Judge, at Judge Davis’ request, in the judge’s absence.

Lincoln’s long-time law partner, William Herndon was also quite active in the Logan County Circuit Court. One of the most significant cases ever handled by the firm, Dalby v: St. Louis, Chicago, and Alton Railroad was handled in both the trial court and the Supreme Court by Herndon. The firm represented Dalby in association with Samuel Parks and was suing the railroad even though it generally represented the railroad. Though Lincoln worked on this case, Herndon handled it in both the trial and Supreme Courts.

The fundamental proposition of law established in Illinois by this case is that a corporation can be liable for an assault by its employees. The Railroad, was represented by John T. Stewart and his partner Benjamin Edwards.
Dalby had been unsuccessful in attempting to buy a ticket for the train in the station at Elkhart. The price, if purchased at the station, was three cents a mile, and four cents a mile if purchased on the train. Dalby claimed he was entitled to the lower price. When he refused to pay the difference, three railroad employees beat him badly, until he agreed to pay the full price. He sought damages for his assault in the amount of $10,000.00. The jury returned a verdict of 1,000.00. The railroad appealed the case to the Supreme Court, which affirmed holding that the railroad was liable for the tortuous acts of its employees. Dalby’s gratitude was shown by his naming a son Abraham Lincoln Dalby in 1860.

In addition to Lincoln’s trips to court, there were important events that occurred in his namesake town.

The life mask and hand castings of Lincoln made by sculptor Leonard Volk in Chicago in 1860 are among the most interesting and significant of Lincoln artifacts. Volk and Lincoln first met on the street in front of the Lincoln House in 1858, which conversation led to Lincoln’s agreement to submit to the plaster casting later.

Unlike many of his contemporaries in Illinois, Lincoln did not speculate in real estate. He did, however, own two lots on the square in Lincoln, which he acquired from his old friend, James Primm in payment of a $400.00 debt, owed by Primm to Lincoln. Over the years, Primm had acquired sizable land holdings, but he was cash poor. In 1857 he went to New York to borrow money on his lands. While there he needed cash and met with former Illinois Governor Joel A. Matteson, to borrow the sum of $400.00. Lincoln was also in New York, attempting to collect his $5,000.00 fee from the officers of the Illinois Central Railroad. Matteson loaned him $200.00, as did Lincoln, apparently also guaranteeing the Matteson loan. Lincoln drafted a thirty-day note with interest of ten percent, dated July 27, 1857. On August 28th, Lincoln paid Matteson his $200.00. Primm was unable to pay Lincoln back, so in settlement of the $400.00 debt, he deeded him the two lots at 523 Pulaski. The lots were never developed by Lincoln, and remained in his family until 1891, long after his death.

An interesting scenario arose in Lincoln during the Lincoln / Douglas Senatorial race in 1858. A large Douglas rally was held in Lincoln on September 4th. The town was overflowing with Douglas supporters. The mass rally was held in a tent where the circus was also appearing. The crowd formed a huge procession that proceeded from the Lincoln House, across which a banner proclaimed: “Stephen A. Douglas: Champion of Popular Sovereignty”. The procession passed under an arch that spanned Main Street, bearing the legend, “Douglas Forever”. Lincoln was returning from a large rally of his own that had been held the previous day in Bloomington. He took the train to Lincoln and unceremoniously stepped off the back of the train, and hung out on the fringes of the crowd, unnoticed. S. Linn Beidler of Mt. Pulaski related seeing Lincoln by himself, with no friends or supporters nearby. He followed the crowd in the possession to the large circus tent where the meeting was being held. Douglas was introduced by attorney Lionel Lacey, and spoke to an enthusiastic audience. It’s ironic that this prominent attorney and political leader was walking unnoticed through the town named for him, while his opponent was feted as the favorite of this large crowd. After the meeting, Beidler got on a train for Springfield and walked through several cars before coming across an empty seat, which happened to be next to Lincoln. Lincoln chatted about his friendships in Mt. Pulaski, and the folks with whom he had stayed there, including Thomas Lushbaugh and Jabez Capps.

The highly partisan pro-Lincoln Pantagraph had great fun with Douglas’ rally being timed between two performances of Spaulding and Rogers, a New Orleans circus. On Sept 8, 1858 the Pantagraph reported that the daylight performance of the circus would be concluded before Judge Douglas’ speech. The paper stated that, “Where Judge Douglas is classed we are not informed, whether he’s among the ‘riders’, ‘acrobats’, ‘gymnasts’, ‘votiguers’, ‘equilibrists’, ‘calisthenics’, or one of the three clowns, the bill leaves us in blissful ignorance.” The Pantagraph reported that the 11:30 performance would be concluded prior to Douglas’ speech, which was to be made in the circus tent.

Lincoln appeared at his own huge rally on October 16th the day after the debate against Douglas at Alton. 5000 people showed up from all of the towns of the county. The procession included fifty wagons from Mt. Pulaski alone. Lincoln spoke from the west side of the Court House, after being introduced by Samuel Parks. The county ended up supporting Lincoln’s candidacy in the election. He won the popular vote, statewide, but the legislature selected the Senators prior to the seventeenth amendment, and the Illinois legislature selected Douglas.

Lincoln’s last political appearance in Logan County was in Lincoln and Atlanta as he took a train to Chicago to meet his newly elected Vice President, Hannibal Hanlin of Maine on November 21, 1860. The train stopped and Lincoln offered a few remarks from the back of the train in each town.

Robert Latham wrote to President Lincoln on several occasions during his presidency. On October 4, 1864, he and several other residents of Lincoln, petitioned for the early exchange of a Lincoln resident, Lt. Abraham Allee, who had been captured in Virginia in January of 1864. Lincoln endorsed this request to the appropriate General, Ethan Hitchcock; however, Hitchcock denied the request, as unfair to the others also being held. Latham wrote to President Lincoln about the founding of Lincoln College.

The school was founded as Lincoln University in the early 1860’s, affiliated with the Cumberland Presbyterian Church. Locals pledged $29,000.00 to induce its location in Lincoln. Latham wrote on March 4, 1865, “I write to inform you, more fully, of the University and of the prosperity of our town, believing you feel a lively interest.” He advised that Lincoln has about 2800 inhabitants, and that houses are going up, almost daily. “Our people… are very anxious to make the University a success.” He advises that Wyatt, Gillette, and he had donated ten acres of land, and $3,000.00 in cash toward the effort. There was never any response from Lincoln, whose assassination occurred a mere forty-five days after the date of this letter.

Somber crowds greeted Lincolns’ mortal remains on the return to Springfield for his final rest. The slow moving train started from Chicago on May 3rd. He had laid in state there as well as in Philadelphia and New York along the long route home. His funeral train passed through Logan County reaching Atlanta at 6:00 a.m. where a grandstand had been erected on the side of the track he had helped bring to the town. The train reached Lincoln at 7:00 where a large crowd sang a requiem as the train passed the depot, draped in black, and went under an arch bearing the legend, “With malice toward none, with liberty for all.” The train proceeded on to Elkhart under a span that simply stated, “Ours the cross, thine the crown”. Abraham Lincoln had returned to Logan County for the last time.