Producer's Notes, Lincoln: Prelude to the Presidency

Producer’s Notes

By Alison Davis Wood

Growing up in Springfield I can’t remember a day I didn’t know about Lincoln. In fact, it is almost impossible to find a central Illinois town without a Lincoln story since he was so embedded in this area. I, like many others who have long roots in central Illinois, can claim ties to the 16th President. I’m a descendant of the Watkins family and one of my Watkins ancestors sold Lincoln a General Store in New Salem (which later caused him to declare bankruptcy!). I learned from my cousins, Jeff and Keith, that my great -great grandfather, Charles Franklin Davis would listen to Lincoln tell stories around the fire, when he was staying with the family near Naples, Ill. Also, on my dad’s side, an ancestor named Woolbridge, who was a tough farmer like my husband, got into a scrape and needed a lawyer. He wanted to hire John Stuart, but Stuart was too busy and recommended his new young partner, Abraham Lincoln. But despite these family tales, this project taught me how little I really knew about Lincoln as a traveling lawyer.

Then I met Guy Fraker...

And as anyone that knows Guy can tell you, he can be very persuasive and his love of Lincoln is infectious. He convinced Tim Hartin and me that this was story that was worth telling. And whenever I hit a bump in the road while producing he would say to me, “Remember, Lincoln is worth it!”

Tim’s incredible visual sense is evident in this program. He crafted a piece that is beautiful to watch, from every interview to every blade of prairie grass. I was honored to have his help as director. One of our biggest challenges was telling the story of Lincoln from 1830 –1860 without many photographs. We decided that in order to explain some of his court cases we would need to do reenactments.

Tim was incredible at recruiting people to play parts in our cast. We found dozens of local reenactors from New Salem State Park and the David Davis Mansion Illinois State Historic Site who had costumes and were willing to spend days with us. Scores of others, local theater people, co-workers from WILL-TV, friends, family and crew members were also bribed with free food and the possibility of their “name in lights” to be a part of the film. They waited patiently in the cold trying to warm up with coffee while we set up another scene. Some got extremely quick horse riding lessons in order to play traveling lawyers. I was so thankful and amazed at their willingness to stick it out with us during those long days.

The prairie is also a central character in this program. Sadly there is little prairie left in Illinois, so we were thrilled to find two beautiful places that still have the essences of Lincoln’s landscape. They were Funk’s Grove in McLean, Ill., and Rock Springs Nature Center in Decatur. Thank you so much to those folks for welcoming our crew so we could capture the natural beauty of central Illinois.

As the program’s editor, Colin Hartin brought his own vision to the project. Colin worked as second unit director and videographer when were shooting the reenactments so he was already very familiar with the material. Whenever I would come into the edit bay to check on things, I would be amazed at the sound bites that he had dug up that I had somehow missed when writing the script. It showed me what a talented editor he is. Probably my favorite sequence that he put together is the “Mellissa Goings trial.” It is such a beautiful little film within the film.

My goal with this program was to show Lincoln as a complex man who lived in a complicated time. I hope that it reminds us that before he was an American icon, he was an attorney who etched out a living here in central Illinois. At first we thought maybe this was a “road movie,”  Lincoln with his buddies, traveling around having a good time – and that is certainly in there … but we realized that Lincoln was making several simultaneous journey’s as he traveled central Illinois. He was becoming a well-respected attorney and a national political figure, and he was shaping and refining his views on the important issues of the day, many of which he would face in the White House. 

We were also lucky to be able to shoot this production against a backdrop of historic sites such as the Old State Capitol, the Mt. Pulaski Courthouse and New Salem State Park. It was thrilling to follow Lincoln’s trail during this production and I hope that viewers of documentary across the country will come here to visit Metamora, Postville and the Lincoln Herndon Law Office so they can have that same experience.

Thanks to all the Lincoln scholars who gave their knowledge to this program. They know and understand Lincoln so much more than I ever will. It is their passion for history that really makes him come to life and insure that he will not be forgotten.

I will carry many memories of this project with me. Watching my son Charlie guide “Lincoln’s horse,”  production assistant Carlos Fuller’s smile and helpful suggestions – I’m so sorry he passed away before he was able to see the final product , striking the equipment in the pouring rain in Mt. Pulaski, getting a chance to interview Doris Kearns Goodwin, seeing the final product on screen at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library & Museum ... it has all been a bit like Lincoln on the circuit ... a marvelous journey that rekindled my love of central Illinois.