Memoirs of 
 
 Abraham Lincoln 
 
 In Edgar County, Illinois 
 
LINCOLN ROOM 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS 
 LIBRARY 
 
 ■ MEMORIAL 
 
 the Class of 1901 
 
 founded by 
 
 HARLAN HOYT HORNER 
 
 and 
 
 HENRIETTA CALHOUN HORNER 
 
/ 0J? 
 
 a~| 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 > i I ■ 1 1 1 1 ■ ■ I ■ 1 1 1 ■ • > ■ ■ ■ ■ > • t ■ > ■ > • ■ M 1 1 1 ■ 1 1 1 ■ I M 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 ■ ■ 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 ■ t ■• 1 1 1 1 ■ 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 ' >"] 
 
 | Dedicated to the memory of the men who practiced 
 I law in Ed&ar County when Abraham Lincoln 
 
 I traveled the Circuit of the Eighth 
 
 Judicial District. 
 
 Compiled by The Book Committee of 
 
 The Edgar County Historical Society. 
 
 I MRS. WILLIAM T. SCOTT, President, 
 ! MRS. IVAN T. HOWARD, Secretary, 
 
 MRS, ARCHIE E. WOODS, 
 
 MRS, FRANK M. FOLEY, 
 
 MRS. E. O. LAUGHLIN. 
 
 Published by 
 
 1 The Ed^ar County Historical Society > 1925 
 
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MEMOIRS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 
 
 MR. LINCOLN IN 1850 
 
IN EDGAR COUNTY, ILLINOIS 
 
 jTl.M.uiK "Muiiiimirn ii 1 1 nun i n mi in mi iniiiii iiiiiiiiiiiinninniiiiiiiii linimiiiiinii Iiliimni [■] 
 
 I THE LINCOLN CIRCUIT I 
 
 i By E. 0. Laughlin f 
 
 [lh iiiiiniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiniiiiimiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii iiiiiiiiiiiinitinniiiiiiniiiin iiiiiiiiiiiiniiiiiniinim iiiiiiiiiiiniiiiipj] 
 
 In Springfield^ where his ashes lie) 
 
 A marble column rises high ; 
 
 To Springfield, year on year, there wends 
 
 A caravan, that never ends, 
 
 Of pilgrims, eager, come to pay 
 
 Their homage to his sacred clay ; 
 
 And yet niethinks the true estate 
 
 Of Lincoln, humble, simple, great, 
 
 Is better sensed in village street, 
 
 Where once he loved to walk and greet 
 
 In heartiness his fellows all, 
 
 In mart, in courthouse, tavern hall. 
 
 Methinks his spirit lingers where 
 
 He lived and wrought. No sepulcher 
 
 Of stately grandeur, cold and dim, 
 
 Can hold the human heart of him. 
 
 The little towns, the county seats, 
 
 With dreaming squares and idling streets, 
 
 Plain homes of plainer pioneers, 
 
 Unsung, yet hallowed through the years 
 
 Because in distant times they saw 
 
 Him come and go to practice law, 
 
 Tell homely tales, crack homely jokes 
 
 And neighbor with the common "folks"— 
 
 The little towns, the country roads, 
 
 The woods, the prairies, the abodes 
 
 Of humble men where malice fails 
 
 And charity for all prevails — 
 
 These are the shrines that still enfold 
 
 The heart of Lincoln as of old. 
 
 Whose living legend runneth thus : 
 
 We loved him; he was one of us. 
 
 (Published by permission of the Curtis Publishing Co.) 
 
 j - 
 
MEMOIRS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 
 
 LINCOLN CIRCUIT MARKER IN EDGAR COUNTY COURT YARD. 
 UNVEILED FEBRUARY 12, 1922 
 
IN EDGAR COUNTY, ILLINOIS 
 
 pallium hum i nun i i i i nun i in mini in , , , , -- 
 
 THE LINCOLN CIRCUIT 
 
 l Mrs. W. T. Scott [ 
 
 j*l ■ in ii iinn in i ii mi ii i ii mi iiiiiini i „ iininii-. 
 
 Some years ago, the Daughters of the American Revolution 
 of the Champaign-Urbana, Springfield and Danville Chapters, 
 became interested in marking the Lincoln Circuit when Judge 
 Cunningham of Urbana, in an address before these chapters in 
 the home of Mrs. George Busey of Urbana, November 11th, 
 1914, said his dearest dream was to mark the Lincoln Circuit. 
 
 These chapters determined to make that dream come true 
 by marking the highway along which Mr. Lincoln traveled twice 
 each year in his practice of law. This highway, from one 
 county seat to another in the old Eighth Judicial District, has 
 since that time, been known as the Lincoln Circuit. 
 
 To make possible this undertaking the records of the setting 
 of the courts were consulted and it was found Abraham Lincoln 
 rode this circuit regularly in the decade following his return 
 from his one year's service in the house of Representatives of 
 the United States Congress. 
 
 Eighteen Counties comprise this historic Circuit — Sanga- 
 mon, Tazewell, Woodford, McLean, Logan, DeWitt, Piatt, Cham- 
 paign, Vermilion, Edgar, Coles, Shelby, Moultrie, Macon, Chris- 
 tian, Menard, Mason and Livingston Counties. 
 
 Twice each year the judge of this district, Judge David 
 Davis, together with lawyers practicing in the courts of these 
 counties, would travel from one county seat to another follow- 
 ing in the order given, spending one week in each court. All the 
 lawyers of any prominence in this section of the country were in 
 the band at one time or another, but Mr. Lincoln was the only one 
 who always accompanied the Judge. Judge Cunnnigham of 
 Urbana, was the last of these lawyers. 
 
 After the close of the World War, the real work was begun. 
 The Lincoln Circuit Marking Association was organized; this 
 organization had the work of marking the Circuit through the 
 counties not having chapters of the Daughters of the American 
 Revolution. 
 
 Soon after the Madam Rachel Edgar Chapter was organized, 
 Mrs. John Adam Shank was appointed on the state committee 
 to have charge of the work in this countv. Through the untir- 
 ing efforts of Miss Lotte Jones, State Chairman, Mrs. Shank, 
 members of this chapter, with the financial assistance of the 
 Board of Supervisors, the marking of the Lincoln Circuit 
 through Edf?ar Countv was accomplished. 
 
 It was fitting that this memorial, out in the open, here in 
 the heart of the nation, was financed by the people through the 
 Board of Supervisors of each County, for Abraham Lincoln loved 
 the people. 
 
MEMOIRS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 
 
 The county line marker between Vermilion and Edgar Counties was 
 unveiled Nov. 13, 1923. Charles Harold on the left, of Vermilion County, and 
 William Foley Clark on the right, of Edgar County, assisted with the cere- 
 mony of the unveiling. On this particular occasion about three thousand 
 people were in attendance. 
 
IN EDGAR COUNTY, ILLINOIS 
 
 The County Seat Marker was designed by the late Henry 
 Bacon, who was chosen by the government to design the famous 
 Lincoln Memorial at Washington, D. C. We have in this marker 
 not only Mr. Bacon's design ; but the material used was his sug- 
 gestion ; while the tablet bearing the medallion head of Mr. Lin- 
 coln, was the work of Mr. George Lober, under which are the 
 words — Abraham L'ncoln traveled this way when he rode the 
 Circuit oi the old Eighth Judicial District 1847-1859. 
 
 Below are the insignia of the Daughters of the American 
 Revolution and the monogram of the Lincoln Circuit Marking 
 Association. 
 
 The ccuntv seat marker was unveiled at Paris, Edgar 
 County, Feb. 12, 1922. On this occasion Mr. Allen D. Albert 
 gave the address of the afternoon, the subject was "Lincoln as a 
 Neighbor." 
 
 Mrs. William T. Scott of Chrisman, Regent of Madam 
 Rachel Edgar Chapter, gave an address on the Lincoln Circuit. 
 The memorial was unveiled by Mary Shelledy and Jane Rowe, 
 descendants of prominent men of Mr. Lincoln's time, in Edgar 
 County. 
 
 The Paris Band furnished patriotic music. 
 
 The County Limits Marker is of ornamental concrete, bear 
 ing the same tablet with the exception of the Lincoln head. This 
 Marker was designed by Mr. Edgar Martin, State Architect of 
 Illinois. 
 
 Before the County Limits Markers were placed, Mrs. Shank 
 moved to Chicaero and Mrs. William T. Scott was appointed on 
 the state committee to have charge of the work in this county. 
 
 The County Limits Marker between Coles and Edgar Coun- 
 ties was dedicated June 5, 1923. The Gov. Edward Coles and 
 the Sally Lincoln Chapters of Coles County and The Madam 
 Rachel Edgar Chapter of Edgar County served a picnic dinner 
 at the noon hour at the Greenwood school, the dedication follow- 
 ing the dinner. Miss Ita Briscoe of Kansas, Regent of Madam 
 Rachel Edgar Chapter, gave the opening address. Miss Lotte 
 Jones, State Chairman, gave an address on the Lincoln Circu't. 
 Mr. B. H. Pinnell, of Kansas, and Mr. Frank Van Sellar of Paris, 
 each gave a short talk. Mrs. H. M. Rollins, Mrs. J. E. Robin- 
 son and Mrs. George Sitherwood, prominent D. A. R. of the 
 Lincoln Circuit of McLean County, were present. 
 
 The County Limits Marker between Vermilion and Edgar 
 Counties was unveiled Nov. 13, 1923. Mrs. C. E. Herrick, State 
 Regent of Illinois, gave the first address; this was followed by 
 Mr. Oliver Mann of Danville. Rev. Silas Wakefield of Chris- 
 man, gave the address of the afternoon. His subject was "Lin- 
 coln, the Man for the Ages." Dedication and presentation of 
 Guide Post by Miss Lotte Jones of Danville. 
 
 The Edo:ar County work of marking the Circuit was com- 
 pleted and at this time was accepted by Mr. B. H. Pinnell, who 
 
MEMOIRS OP ABRAHAM LINCOLN 
 
 represented the Edgar County Board of Supervisors. The school 
 children of Ridgefarm marched in a body and assisted by sing- 
 ing three patriotic songs. The Ridgefarm Band also furnished 
 some good music. Many prominent members of the Daughters 
 of the American Revolution were present: Mrs. J. E. Robinson, 
 State Regent of Daughters of the American Colonists and Mrs. 
 Harold Medberry, State Chairman of Sons of the Republic. 
 
 Between these markers the telephone poles at all cross or 
 diverging roads bear the emblem, a white circle with blue 
 border, and the words in blue, Lincoln Circuit. 
 
 Just eighteen counties in the state had the honor of mark- 
 ing the circuit of the man who was the crowning glory of Illi- 
 nois, Abraham Lincoln, American. 
 
 May these .. monuments placed along the highway which 
 Lincoln traveled speak in loud and clear tongue the gospel of 
 Americanism. 
 
 To tell the story through all time of his aspirations, hopes, 
 efforts and determination to do the right as God gave him the 
 power to see the right, and to preserve the nation of our fore- 
 fathers, dedicated to the proposition that all men are created 
 equal; these markers are jewels of history. 
 
 r«"! » 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 ion 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 i 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 m 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 ■> I 
 
 I CIRCUIT COURT OF PARIS, ILL. I 
 
 I May Term 1852 \ 
 
 pi 1 1 1 1 1 ■ 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 ■ 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 ■ 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 ■ ■ 1 1 1 1 1 1 ■ 1 1 1 1 ■ 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 ■■■■ 1 1 ■ 1 1 1 ■ I ■ 1 1 1 1 1 ■■ 1 1 ■■ 1 1 1 1 ■ 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 ■ ( 1 1 1 1 1 1 ■■ 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 ■ 1 1 1 . • [ I ■ Q£ 
 
 James Dudley and Richard B. Sutherland vs John S. Hite 
 and Alexander Mann. May Term 1852. Trespass. 
 
 Lawyers for Defendant — Linder and Lincoln. 
 
 Jury — Lawson Kimble, A. J. Fitzgerald, James P. Murphy, 
 Hugh Daugherty, John Hunter, David Light, Jo>m Wimsett, 
 Byron Boyd, James Clark, George Ewing, James M. McCowan 
 and Samuel Ewing, who for verdict herein say we the jury, 
 find the issue for the Plaintiff and assess their damage at one 
 hundred and fifty dollars and whereupon Linder attorney for 
 defendants, enters a motion for a new trial, which is granted 
 by court. 
 
 1853 — Lincoln, Plaintiff's attorney in case of James C. Hilt- 
 ibert vs Jarole Dalson. 
 
 1852 — October term — Lincoln for Palintifr"; Jesse K. Du- 
 bois vs James Nabb. 
 
 1852— Lincoln for Plaintiff; Sally Whitley vs M. K. Alex- 
 ander and others. 
 
 1853— April — Lincoln for Plaintiff; Jesse Dubois vs James 
 Nabb, Ejectment. 
 
 1853 — Anri 1 — Linco 1 ^ for Plaintiff; John Henderson vs 
 Willie, m Peed. Assrmrsit. 
 
IN EDGAR COUNTY, ILLINOIS 
 
 1853 — April — Lincoln for Plaintiff; James C. Hillibert vs 
 Jacob Dalson. Debt. 
 
 1852— Lincoln for Plaintiff; Levi James vs Bennett Red- 
 mon and others. Trespass. 
 
 1853 — April- — Blackburn, Lincoln and Steele for Plaintiff in 
 case; John S. Burwell vs Joseph R. Dickenson, Adm. of Robert 
 N. Dickenson, deceased, for debt. Plaintiff lost. 
 
 Edgar County 
 
 April 1853 — Levi James vs Bennett Redmon, Smalwood 
 Redmon and David Culbertson, Lincoln for Plaintiff. Trespass. 
 Continued to October, 1853. 
 
 October 4, 1853— This day, October 4, 1853, came the 
 Parties by their attorneys and issue being joined thereupon came 
 a jury of twelve good and lawful men, towit: George W. Rob- 
 erts, John Givens, Philip Chrisman, Asher Morton, N. B. Stage, 
 John W. McConkey, Levi Bledsoe, James Ellege, Richard E. 
 Tuley, A. C. Morton, Isaac Perisho and James Ewing, who after 
 being elected, tried and sworn the truth to speak, upon the issue 
 joined, upon their oaths do say: "We of the jury find the Defend- 
 ants guilty and assess the Plaintiff's damages at $112.00." 
 
 Therefore it is considered and adjudged by the Court, that 
 the Plaintiff herein recover of the Defendants the said sum of 
 One hundred and Twelve dollars damages as assessed by the 
 jury aforesaid, together with the costs and charges herein by 
 him expended about his suit, herein expended, by the Clerk to 
 be taxed and that execution issue therefore, etc. 
 
 A FRIEND'S ENDORSEMENT 
 
 St. Louis 
 
 Feb. 5, 1862 
 To the President 
 of the U States 
 
 Dear Sir — 
 If the Tax Bill passes Congress & the state does not as- 
 sume the direct Tax — -which I hope she will — there will be I 
 suppose an Assessor for the "Income or Specific Tax," to be 
 appointed. I understand our friend George Rives of Edgar 
 County desires the place 
 
 You know him as well as I do and it is probably superfluous 
 to write this letter — He is a man of good sense and judgement 
 and I should think would have a proper appreciation of the dif- 
 ferent values to put on property- 
 Mr. Rives has always since I knew him been a good poli- 
 tician — He has twice been endorsed by the people of Edgar for 
 County Clerk. 
 
 I do not know who the applicants are but dont believe that 
 there could be any objections to Mr. Rives suitability for the 
 place. His appointment would I think give satisfaction 
 
 Your Friend 
 
 DAVID DAVIS 
 
10 
 
 MEMOIRS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 
 
 ABRAHAM LINCOLN President 
 
 JOHN P. USHER Secretary of Interior 
 
 RICHARD W. THOMPSON Secretary of the Navy 
 
 JOHN SCHOFIELD Supreme Judge of Illinois 
 
 ORLANDO B. FICKLIN Congressman with Lincoln 
 
 ROBERT J. INGERSOL Congressman 
 
 USHER F. LINDER Congressman 
 
 SAMUEL H. TREAT Federal Judge of Illinois 
 
 JOSEPH G. CANNON Speaker of the House of Representatives 
 
 and many other prominent men practiced law in this 
 Edgar County Court, House. 
 
IN EDGAR COUNTY, ILLINOIS 11 
 
 jTjiiui.'i.i-.i m. mm; iMinimnrtiM nun ill ill I iiiiii iiiiiiiiiiiini nif"! 
 
 I LAWYERS' FEES SMALL IN 1842 ) 
 
 tiTmiii ■ iiiiii iiniiiiiii ■iiiiiiiii mi iiiiiiiiiiimiiiiiinii ■ ■■■■■■■■■iiiiimiin iiiiii mm iiiinimiiiiii hum iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiini[ail 
 
 It must be consoling to a multitude of young lawyers to 
 know that at 38, Lincoln was willing to engage in the prosaic 
 business of making collections at $10 a case. 
 
 The following letter was written by Lincoln Feb. 11, 1842, 
 from Springfield, where he was practicing law: 
 
 Envelopes were a part of the sheet on which the letter was 
 written and were simply folded over the letter. This one dis- 
 closes that the letter was written to G. B. Shelledy, Esq., of 
 Paris, Edgar County, Illinois. 
 
 "Yours of the 10th is duly received. Judge Logan and my- 
 self are doing bussiness (Lincoln's error) together now and we 
 are willing to attend each case you prepare and send us for $10 
 (when there shall be no opposition) to be sent in advance or you 
 to know that it is safe= — (Lincoln at this time and always used 
 a short dash for a period.) It takes $5.75 of cost to start upon, 
 that is, $1.75 to clerk and $2.00 to each of two publishers of 
 papers — Judge Logan thinks it will take the balance of $20 — to 
 carry a case through — This must be advanced from time to time 
 as the services are performed as the officers will not act with- 
 out — I do not know whether the bussiness (again) can be done 
 in our names. " 
 
 Thinking it may aid you a little I send you one of our blank 
 forms of Petitions — It, you will see, is framed to be sworn to be- 
 fore the Federal court clerk, and, if your cases will have to be 
 so far changed as to be sworn to before the clerk of your circuit 
 court and his certificates must be accompanied with the offi- 
 cial seal= — The schedules, too, must be attended to — be sure that 
 they contain the creditors names, their residences, the amounts 
 due each, the debtors names, their residence, and the amounts 
 they owe, also all property and where located. " 
 
 Also be sure that the Schedules are signed by the appli- 
 cants as well as the petitions. 
 
 Publication will have to be made here in one paper, and in 
 one nearest the residence of the applicant. Write us in each 
 case where the last advertisement is to be sent, whether to you 
 or to what paper — " 
 
 I believe I have now said everything that can be of any ad- 
 vantage. 
 
 "Your friend* as ever, 
 
 "A. LINCOLN." 
 
12 MEMOIRS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 
 
 prjitn'iiiiuiiii ii •■■■■ iiiiiiiiiiiini ■■■■■■lining] 
 
 | A TEST OF FRIENDSHIP [ 
 
 [•3 I ■■■■■■■Ill Mill 11)1 Ill llllllllllllll Itlllillll 111111 1 IIIIIIIIMMIIIItl" ' l.[a] 
 
 There were few people of Edgar County who were more in- 
 timately acquainted with the martyred Lincoln than Hon. Geo. 
 W. Rives, now deceased. During the pioneer days, and up to 
 1860, Mr. Lincoln and Mr. Rives were often thrown in each 
 other's company during the sittings of the circuit court at Paris, 
 and also during the political campaigns in the district. 
 
 An early friendship was thus formed by these men, wlrch 
 continued throughout the course of Mr. Lincoln's honored caraer 
 until his untimely death. The intimacy was a lasting one, and 
 was never tested but once. 
 
 During the summer of 1849, while a Member of Congress 
 from the Seventh District of Illinois, Mr. Lincoln prom'sed Mr. 
 Rives to use his influence in securing him (Mr. Rives) an Ind'an 
 agency or a land office in Minnesota. Some correspondence had 
 passed betweeen them on the subject, when Mr. Lincoln was 
 called to Kentucky on legal business. 
 
 Dr. Anson G. Henry of Springfield, now dead, also a per- 
 sonal friend of Lincoln's was likewise an aoplicant for office, and 
 curiously enough, wished the office that Mr. Rives was seeking, 
 and knowing the strong friendship which existed between Lin- 
 coln and Rives, sought to create an enmity between the two, and 
 thus further his interests. Accordingly his friends circulated 
 the report that Mr. Rives was talking of Lincoln in an abusive 
 manner, and trying in various ways to injure him. Letters were 
 written and sent to Lincoln, with information of this nature and 
 like rumors reached his ears. But Lincoln's high ideas of honor, 
 and the strong friendship hitherto formed for Mr. Rives, pre- 
 vented his placing implicit confidence in these stories, although 
 he was, to a certain extent, affected by them. 
 
 Mr. Rives had written several letters to Mr. Lincoln about 
 this appointment, directing them to Springfield in his ignorance 
 as to Mr. Lincoln's whereabouts, and had received no replies, un- 
 til in December, when the following characteristic letter reached 
 Mr, Rives, which explains: 
 
 Springfield, Dec. 15th, 1849. 
 G. W. Rives, Esq., 
 
 Dear Sir: 
 
 On my return from Kentucky I found your letter of the 7th 
 of November, and have delayed answering it till now, for the rea- 
 son I now briefly state. From the beginning of our acquain- 
 tance, I had felt the greatest kindness for you, and had supposed 
 it was reciprocated on your part. Last summer, under circum- 
 stances which I mention to you, I was painfully constrained 
 
IN EDGAR COUNTY, ILLINOIS 13 
 
 to withhold a recommendation which you desired and shortly 
 afterwards I learned in such a way as to believe it, that you 
 were indulging in open abuse of me, of course, my feelings 
 were wounded. On receiving your last letter, the question 
 occurred whether you were attempting to use me, at the same 
 time you would injure me, or whether you might not have been 
 misrepresented to me. If the former, I ought not to answer 
 you ; if the latter I ought, and so I have remained in suspense. I 
 now inclose you a letter which ycu may use if you think fit. 
 
 Yours, &c, 
 
 A. LINCOLN. 
 
 The letter which Mr. Lmcoln speaks of having enclosed was 
 a letter of recommendation for the position Mr. Rives had asked. 
 This showed that Lincoln still trusted Mr. Rives, despite the 
 damaging reports in circulation, and it was also a revelation to 
 Mr. Rives. Taking the first stage, Mr. Rives started at once 
 for Spr'ngfield, and 0:1 his arrival there he immediately started 
 in search of Dr. Henry, and upon finding him proceeded to de- 
 mand an instant retraction of all he had said. Dr. Henry, to 
 use Mr. Rives' words, "was a smooth-tongued, scheming, con- 
 niving, we T l-dressed fellow, and explained that he had nothing 
 to do with the lies started, and hoped there would be no trouble 
 arise." 
 
 Mr. Rives knowing the friendship which existed between 
 Lincoln and Henry, did not push the matter any further than to 
 demand an exoneration before Lincoln by Henry, which request 
 was compFed with and everything cleared up. 
 
 The recommendation was never used by Mr. Rives, but he 
 secured the post office afterwards for his brother-in-law, Mr. 
 John Stratton, through Mr. Lincoln's influence. 
 
 HOTEL AT BLOOMFIELD 
 
 The hotel of Alexander Sommerville, of Bloomfield, was a 
 famous stopping place for travelers for many years. Here was 
 entertained many noted men among them was Abraham Lin- 
 coln, while he rode the circuit as a lawyer. 
 
 Lincoln was also in the town as a temperance lecturer and 
 organized a society some time in the thirties with G. W. Riley as 
 president of the society. 
 
 The above taken from the paper of Thomas Hoult, written 
 for the Historical Society, giving early history of Bloomfield. 
 
14 MEMOIRS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 
 
 "Tin minim uimtn .. iiiiiiiii Illllllllllllllllll ■ ■• Illlllll ■■ iniiiirpj 
 
 Personal Memories of Lincoln \ 
 
 lEJ llltlllllllllllllllllllll Illllllllllll tin iiiiiiiii mi i nr minimum mcm.im n|T! 
 
 A. J. BARER 
 
 A. J. Baber, now deceased, heard Mr. Lincoln deliver the 
 first Republican speech ever made in Edgar County. (Taken 
 from the Paris Beacon, of Feb. 12, 1909.) 
 
 In 1856, the old Whig party was in favor of Ex-President 
 Fillmore for President, but the slaverv question was absorbing 
 the attention of the people. The Whig party as well as the 
 Democrat party had not opposed the further extension of 
 slavery. The Democratic candidate was James Buchanan. 
 
 John C. Fremont was the candidate for the Republicans for 
 the presidency. The new anti-slavery party was only two years 
 old, 
 
 Richard Sutherland, of Grandview, had been a Whig, but 
 had joined the new party. He had recently made a tour of the 
 eastern states and saw the situation clearer than his neighbors 
 about Grandview, who were mostly in favor of Fillmore. 
 
 This virtually meant two slavery parties against the new 
 Republican Free Soil party, as it was called. Mr. Sutherland, 
 knowing Abraham Lincoln to be the most prominent leader of 
 the Fremont party in Illinois, induced the future great emanci- 
 pator to come to Grandview and deliver a Republican speech, 
 the first speech delivered in the county in favor of the new party. 
 
 Besides Lincoln, H. P. H. Bromwell, who afterward served 
 two terms in Congress from this district, was present and he 
 enjoyed the heartiest laugh of his life on this occasion, and 
 never forgot the incidents connected with Lincoln's speech dur- 
 ing his entire life. 
 
 Mr. Lincoln showed the old Whigs, who were strongly 
 opposed to the Democrats, that the slave-holders absolutely 
 controlled both Whigs and Democrats, and that if they wanted 
 to be free men themselves they must fight slavery. He explained 
 to the people the arrogance of the slave-owners, their aristo- 
 cratic and plutocratic tendencies and showed them, that, if they 
 wanted to be free men they must have free soil, and teaching 
 them that the slave-owners in opposing free soil were at the 
 same time insiduously opposing free men, white or black. In 
 fact, Mr. Lincoln made one of those simple, honest, straight- 
 forward speeches for which he was noted and made many con- 
 verts to the cause of freedom. A Dr. Goodell had located at 
 Kansas, Edgar County, to practice medicine. He sympathized 
 with the slave-holders and with others from Kansas attended 
 the Grandview speaking. He wanted to reply to the speech of 
 Mr. Lincoln, and the Whigs still being in the majority there, 
 
IN EDGAR COUNTY, ILLINOIS 15 
 
 stood by him and some wrangling ensued. Finally Josh Cooper 
 of Marshall, 111., who attended the rally, propo3ed that Dr. Good- 
 ell should rerly to Mr. Lincoln if he, Cooper, were allowed to reply 
 to Dr. Goodell. So a compromise was made along these lines 
 and Dr. Goodell replied to Lincoln. One peculiarity of Dr. 
 Goodell was his tendency to use big words. He used no words 
 but ponderous polysyllables if he could avoid it. So it was great 
 fun for those who could appreciate the humorous side of it, 
 and Mr. Lincoln and Mr. Bromwell lay on the grass within hear- 
 ing of Dr. Goodell and laughed and rolled from prolonged 
 mirth fulness. One sample of Dr. Goodell's speech which was 
 vituperative, so far as it meant anything, is as follows: The 
 new Republican party is composed of the essence of the 
 quintessence 01 the putresence of purulent matter and it has 
 agitated and shaken this great fabric from center to circum- 
 ference." At the c'ose of Goodell's speech Mr. Cooper said: 
 "Fellow citizens, I am going home and when I get there I am 
 going to take down mv dictionary and if I find one word in it, 
 you have iust listened to, I'll burn the thing in the cook stove so 
 none of it can escape." 
 
 At this time Mr. Baber also told of the occasion when Lin- 
 coln was to make a temperance speech at Baldwinsville school 
 house and missing connection with his host, Col. Baldwin, made 
 the trip of s'x miles on foot in order to keep his engagement. 
 
 HOWARD McCORD 
 
 Howard M~Cord tells of the meeting for Lincoln written 
 by Dr. Floyd M. Davis: 
 
 "I was just a green country boy of fifteen at the time, I 
 had probably heard of Lincoln, but the name had made but 
 little impression upon me. I came to town with a load of wood 
 the day he spoke. I passed the speakers' stand, saw the crowd 
 and remember that I stopped my team and asked someone who 
 was speaking. The reply was "Lincoln," and I wondered who 
 Lincoln was, as I drove on. I can't explain it, maybe it was Lin- 
 coln's speech, but it is safe to say that not ten days later the 
 "Tall Sucker" was the subject of conversation in about every 
 home in Edgar County." 
 
 The joint debate between Lincoln and Douglas at Charles- 
 ton took place eleven days after Lincoln spoke here, and all 
 parties partook of the general enthusiasm. How many went to 
 Charleston from Edgar County will never be known. Six hun- 
 dred went by train alone, but it is probable that double that 
 number rode or drove over. 
 
 An excursion train made up of "ten side door Pullmans" 
 (stock cars), with heavy boards on trestles for seats, left Terre 
 Haute at an early hour. There were about one hundred on 
 board when it reached Paris. Four hundred were waiting for 
 
It; 
 
 MEMOIRS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 
 
 
 
 &£k**J 
 
 #Y f*s\^j Via^, ^COkXT ^Jf 
 
 
 
 
 
 COPY OF LETTER WRITTEN BY MR. LINCOLN 
 
IN EDGAR COUNTY, ILLINOIS 1? 
 
 it here. The train arrived at Charleston with more than six 
 hundred on board. 
 
 Leaving the cars the passengers formed in two lines, one 
 of Douglas men, the other Lincoln. At the head of the former 
 was carried a long banner reading "Edgar County, 500 Major- 
 itv for Douglas." The Lincoln men carried a banner reading 
 "Old Edgar for the Tall Sucker." 
 
 )•] 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 ■ • » l > i e 1 1 1 1 1 1 ' 1 1 m i ii 1 1 ■ i ■ i ■ ■ 1 1 ■ ■ i ■ 1 1 1 ■ 1 1 1 1 ■ i ■ i ■ 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 ■ ■ 1 1 ■ 3 ) 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 > 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 » 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 n i 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 n 1 1 1 it 1 1 1 is n 1 1 : i jjj 
 
 I FREQUENT VISITOR IN PARIS I 
 
 inn ieiiiiii i ■ : : i ■ 1 1 1 1 ■ ■ i : [iniuiii 
 
 Abraham Lincoln, the private citizen, was known by the 
 Illinois friends, better in a S02ial way than in his public, or 
 political life. He was very near to those old friends, one of 
 whom was my father, Can. M. K. Alexander, at whose home 
 Mr. Lincoln was a visitor whenever he was in Paris on busi- 
 ness. The first time I met him, I have been informed by the 
 older members of the family, I celebrated the occasion by tak- 
 ing my first steps in his presence. The last time I saw him be- 
 fore his election as President was in 1856, when he made a poli- 
 tical speech in the grove of my uncle, Col. Washington Alex- 
 ander. 
 
 The grove occupied the ground between the present loca- 
 tion of the interurban station and the street east of that, a 
 beautiful grove of forest trees. There were no houses there 
 excepting my uncle's. Washington street has since been 
 extended through, and houses built on this ground. 
 
 I heard Mr. Lincoln speak, and saw him immediately after 
 at home. My father was an invalid and unable to leave the 
 house at that time. Although Stephen A. Douglas and Mr. 
 Lincoln were opposed to each other politically, they were in 
 social life, friends. Mr. Douglas was a frequent visitor to my 
 oldest sister, and on one occasion, Mr. Lincoin called with him. 
 The young lady, however, had become more interested in a new 
 suitor, and when she saw these gentlemen approaching, made a 
 very undignified disappearance through a back window. Dr. 
 John TenBrosck was the formidable rival. 
 
 I have a letter to my father in regard to some town lots in 
 Clinton, Illinois, a photographed copy is shown on page 20. 
 
 I saw Mr. Lincoln after he became President at the Conti- 
 nental Hotel in Philadelphia, where he and Edward Everett 
 Spoke from the balcony. 
 
 My husband, Judge R. B. Lamon, practiced law in Danville* 
 and knew Mr. Lincoln well. Ward Hill Lamon, his cousin, was 
 a law partner of Mr. Lincoln, both in Danville and Bloomington. 
 On one Sunday while Mr. Lincoln was attending court in Dan- 
 
IS MEMOIRS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 
 
 ville. Mr. Morgan, who live:! in the country, invited Mr. Lincoln, 
 Judge David Davis, Judge 0. L. Davis, Leonard Sweet, Ward 
 H. Lamon and my husband to spend the day. Judge David 
 Davis was at that time Circuit Judge, and was later appointed 
 one of the Judges of the U. S. Supreme Court by Mr. Lincoln. 
 Leonard Sweet was one of the most prominent lawyers of the 
 State. 
 
 Judge 0. L. Davis was later one of the Appellate Judges of 
 the State and Ward H. Lamon was appointed Marshal of the 
 District of Columbia by Mr. Lincoln. 
 
 Judge Lamon said it was a most interesting day, that there 
 was not an uninteresting thing said. They talked, of course, of 
 various things, among them, they discussed fiction. Mr. Lin- 
 coln had not expressed himself, so was asked, as to who was his 
 favorite author on that line. He replied, "Gentlemen, I have 
 never had time to read fiction, or poetry, excepting Shakes- 
 peare," of his works, however, he was very fond and familiar. 
 A copy belonging to the family of Judge Oliver Davis is 
 valued on account of the marking by Mr. Lincoln of his favorite 
 passages, while a visitor at the Davis home. 
 
 My husband was in court on one occasion when Judge David 
 Davis was presiding. There was an outburst of laughter among 
 the attorneys, Judge Davis rapped for order and said, "Gentle- 
 men, we must have better order in the room." As soon as quiet 
 prevailed the Judge called one of the lawyers and asked, "What 
 was Lincoln te 7 lmg you this time?" 
 
 Ward H. Lamon was not only a partner in law of Mr. Lin- 
 coln, but was a most intimate friend. At Mr. Lincoln's request 
 he accompanied him to Washington for the Inauguration. Mr. 
 Lamon was anro'nted Marshal of the District of Columbia very 
 soon after. This was not of his own choosing, but in deference 
 to Mr. Lincoln's wish to have him near him in the trying times 
 he anticipated, he accepted the appointment. 
 
 Mr. Lincoln never neglected any attention he could give to 
 his own people, Dennis Hanks, his own cousin, and who was 
 reared in the same house with him, spent the last years of his 
 life with his daughter, Mrs. James Shoaff. who was my neigh- 
 bor. I saw quite a little of him at that time, and found him in- 
 teresting. He was a reader and an interesting talker. The 
 only time he was in Washington after Mr. Lincoln was President, 
 he went directly to the White House, and knowing nothing of the 
 formalities for gaining access to the President, went to the way 
 leading to the rooms where Mr. Lincoln received, and was asked 
 at the door for his credentials, and as to whether he had an ap- 
 pointment with the President. But he had nothing to show for 
 it, so was denied admission, all of which astonished him, that 
 there would be any trouble of this kind. He finally decided that 
 the next party that secured admission he would accompany 
 whether or no. So he pushed right in, and it happened that Mr. 
 
IN EDGAR COTJNTY, ILLINOIS 1 ( J 
 
 Lincoln was standing facing the door and saw Demi's at once, 
 he rushed over to him, put his hands on his shoulders, and said, 
 "Why, Dennis, where did ycu come from?" Mr. Hanks said he 
 enjoyed seeing those "Lackeys*' at the door, with their eyes pop- 
 ping out in amazement. 
 
 Mr. Lincoln never had a gold watch until he went to Wash- 
 ington. He bought one, and while Mr. Hanks was there he gave 
 him the silver watch he had carr'ecl for years, and Mr. Hanks 
 shewed it to me with a great deal of pride. 
 
 Ward Lamon was apprehensive of danger to Mr. Lincoln, of 
 assassination from the first, but could not convince him of it. 
 Me told me that once when he was talking to him on the danger 
 of gong about as he was in the habit of doing, unguarded, and 
 had enlarged on the subject, the President said, "Now, Hill, if 
 you will cut short your lecture, 111 come and sit in your Jap, and 
 be good.'" And to Judge Usher, who happened in, he said, "This 
 boy has been trying to scare me; he has to go to Richmond on 
 Government business for a few days, and wants me to promise 
 that while he is gone, I will not go out nights, particul?rlv to the 
 theatre, he thinks T am in danger of being murdered. Why, if 
 a man wanted to kill me, he could come right in here and do it." 
 Judge Usher said he agreed with Lamon, but Mr. Lincoln would 
 not promise. Col. Lemon went to Richmond and three days 
 later the President was assassinated. Col. Lamon thought he 
 could have prevented Mr. Lincoln's going to the theatre that par- 
 ticular night had he been at home. 
 
 The one poem that we have associated in oar minds with 
 -Mr. Lincoln, my mother heard him recite, when she went with 
 my father to the first Capital of the State, Vandalia. The first 
 verse is given here : 
 
 "Oh, why should the spirit of mortal be proud? 
 
 Like a swift fleeting meteor, a fast flying cloud, 
 A flash cf the lightning, a break of the wave 
 Man passes from life to his rest in the grave." 
 
 LUCY A. LAMON, 
 
 Personal recollections of Mrs. Belle Pierce, of Redmon, 111.'. 
 
 "When I was about four years of age, my foster parents, 
 Mr. and Mrs. Moses Burnett, kept the Burnett Tavern which was 
 in the southeast corner of Grandview. I can remember of Mr. 
 Lincoln's visits, at our tavern. His meals were served for ten 
 cents, his horse was also fed for the same price, this also in- 
 cluding the care of it. Mr. Lincoln always had saddle bags, and 
 Would throw them down in the bar room. This I remember 
 quite distinctly, as I often stumbled over them. Mr. Lincoln 
 always carried a lantern among his effects." 
 
20 
 
 MEMOIRS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 
 
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 -c-ev-4'jt 
 
 SH^oAjL/ 
 
 
 
 
 fj^p^^f ^w 
 
 ^Ma- 
 
 
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 ,,.,.., 
 
 .. >. , f . 
 
 COPY OF LETTER WRITTEN TO GEN. M. K. ALEXANDER 
 
_ IN EDGAR COUNTY, ILLINOIS 21 
 
 ^>|ll:illlllllll<llllllll II I mil 1 1 lllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll lllllllllllllltllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll \*} 
 
 I PERSONAL RECOLLECTIONS | 
 
 1*1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 ! 1 1 [•! 
 
 AS WILLIAM B, SHERIFF REMEMBERS MR. LINCOLN. 
 
 On North Main Street, Paris, Illinois, May 17th, 1858, I was 
 walking down the street and met Mr. Charles Summers, an at- 
 torney of Paris, a brother-in-law of Judge A. Y. Trogdon. Mr. 
 Summers, for whom I had run some errands, was a director of 
 the Terre Haute, Alton & St. Louis Railway. He said, "Will, 
 would yon like to go to Charleston tomorrow to hear the joint 
 debate between Douglas and Lincoln for United States senator- 
 ship; there is to be a special train going in the morning and 
 returning in the evening? He saying, if I cared to go he would 
 write me a pass, which he promptly did, and said to me, "Doctor 
 NewelFs son John, your playmate, would enjoy going, " and he 
 made out a pass for him. I said that John would be delighted 
 to go, as I wanted company. I remember how the platform oc- 
 cupied by the speakers faced to the east, one of the speakers be- 
 ing of a long frame, and the other a short, heavy-set man. I did 
 not get much benefit of the arguments, as a boy of my size and 
 age being more interested in the red lemonade and the melons, 
 I suppose. Fifty years later, on May 16th, 1908, I went to the 
 celebration of the fiftieth anniversary of the debate at Charles- 
 ton. The platform occupied the same ground as fifty years be- 
 fore. They reserved space in the front of the platform for peo- 
 ple who attended the debate fifty years before. That space was 
 filled up by a number of gray haired people. I remember that 
 Judge A. Y. Trogdon was one of them. The committee distrib- 
 uted a very good badge with Lincoln and Douglas pictures ; the 
 supply gave out before they reached me. One side of the badge 
 was for 1858 and the other the fiftieth celebration. I went down 
 to the Courier newspaper office and a young lady clerk asked 
 what she could do for me. I said I would be obliged to get a 
 badge of the fiftieth anniversary. She replied that they were 
 only given to those who were there fifty years before. I said 
 that was why I was asking, I was not very old at the time, but I 
 was there. She remarked that I did not look it, for which I 
 thanked her. I have the badge and it is in very good condition. 
 
 There was seven of the joint debates during the year 1858 
 and all ox the sites are marked with monuments. I went to In- 
 dianapolis in 1865 to see Lincoln's body lying in state in the 
 State House while on the way to Springfield via Chicago. Later 
 I went several times to the cemetery at Springfield and have had 
 a full sized portrait of Lincoln hanging in my office for many 
 years. 
 
22 MEMOIRS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN' 
 
 MY PERSONAL RECOLLECTIONS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 
 
 Back in the days when the judges and attorneys rode the 
 circuit from county seat to county seat to hold the terms of 
 court, at one term in Paris, either in the year 1852 or 1853, I 
 was engaged in a game of marbles at the east door of the old 
 Court House. A tall spare built man, plainly dressed, came out 
 of the door and stopped to look at the game. After looking for 
 a few moments, he asked one of the boys engaged in the game, 
 and I think it was Mert Jaauith, gave this gentleman his mar- 
 ble and he participated in the game, and, by the way, he was 
 an expert player. After finishing that game, he thanked the 
 group of boys and passed on down toward the old Paris Hotel, 
 where he was stopping. 
 
 I thought very little of that incident at the time, but as 
 years went bv, in 1858, Abraham Lincoln became a candidate 
 for United States Senator from Illinois. His opponent was 
 Stephen A. Douglas, usually called the "Little Giant. " During 
 that campaign. Mr. Lincoln was billed to sneak in Paris on a 
 certain date. The platform was erected in the Wash Alexander 
 grove, which is now East Washington Street. I came to the 
 sneaking and when the speaker was introduced, I recognized 
 him immediately as the man who had participated in t^e game 
 of marbles five or six years previous to that time. The two 
 incidents together impressed my mind so that they never es- 
 caped from my recollection. As time went on, as the people 
 all know, this same Abraham Lincoln was elected President of 
 the United States. As President of the United States he was 
 a^so Commander-in-Chief of the Army of which I was a member 
 during the War. He was assassinated before my term of serv- 
 ice expired, conseouently, I was prevented from ever seeing 
 that peculiar type of man again. 
 
 This country has produced a great manv very eminent 
 men, known in their own country as well as in foreign lands, 
 but to my mind, Abraham Lincoln was pre-eminently the great- 
 est statesman that America has ever produced, both at home 
 and through the length and breadth of t h & civilised world. 
 
 W. C. SLEMONS. 
 * * * 
 
 RECOLLECTIONS BY HON. H P. H. BROMWELL. 
 
 The following clipping from an old paper was presented to 
 The Daily Beacon by the late R. G. Sutherland, cashier of the 
 First National Bank: 
 
 "In the days of President Lincoln, the Hon. H. P. H. Brom- 
 well was a prominent man in Illinois, indeed in national rolitics. 
 A member of the same bar and about the same age as Mr. Lin- 
 coln, politically of the same faith, he and the judge were natur- 
 ally warm friends. When approached by a reporter concern- 
 ing a Lincoln anecdote, he said, 'I was present and know all 
 about it; except I forget some of the most laughable parts of 
 
IN EDGAR COUNTY, ILLINOIS 23 
 
 the altercation between the lawyer and doctor referred to. If 
 I could recollect every word, I could not tell it as Mr. Lincoln 
 could and did. There is a sequel to the story, more interesting 
 than any part of it, which must go with it ; it concerns Mr. 
 Lincoln directly in the last days of his life. There is not now 
 another person than myself alive who knows all of both parts 
 of this story. I will give you the facts just as they happened, 
 and you may be assured that every expression attributed to 
 Mr. Lincoln is in the very words used by him, unless where I 
 state it to be otherwise. 
 
 "Late in September, 1856, Mr. Lincoln and I were on a trip 
 together speaking through the old Seventh Congressional Dis- 
 trict of Illinois. We left Charleston, Coles County, about 10 
 o'clock in the morning, on a freight train on the Terre Haute 
 & Alton railroad, to go to Grandview, a small town about two 
 miles from the railroad, in Edgar county, where a township 
 meeting was to be held at 1 o'clock that day. There were no 
 other passengers as I can recollect, and we got off at Dudlev, 
 two miles from Grandview, and went to dinner with R. B. 
 Sutherland, who lived then at the station, an old and leading 
 citizen of Grandview, and one of the best men of Edgar county. 
 He is now no 'more on earth,' but he was one of those men 
 whom I cannot mention with indifference at anv time. After 
 dinner we went in a one-horse wagon, with Mr. Sutherland and 
 others, to Grandview, where a platform had been built in a 
 grove that was fenced in, and the ground was covered with a 
 rank growth of blue grass nearly two feet high. The scenery 
 around Grandview was worthy of the name. The whole neigh- 
 borhood presented a succession with walnut groves, between 
 which lay the farms stretching out for miles with large orch- 
 ards, wide cornfields, and white farmhouses, all overlooking the 
 grand prairie on the north, and bounded by the 'rich woody' for- 
 est on the south. The place in which the meeting was to be held 
 was one of the most beautiful of these groves, the trees being 
 tall and straight, and just enough scattered to give all the beauty 
 of mingled shade and sunshine, and the mellow autumn sun- 
 light breaking through the wide spreading branches of the pen- 
 sive seeming walnut trees, bending with the weight of their 
 orange-like fruit, together with the wide and quiet landscape 
 toward the north, gave a wonderful air of repose to the whole 
 scene. The people assembled and sat down on the cushion of 
 blue grass which filled every square foot of the inclosure, and 
 shortly after 1 o'clock the speaking began. Mr. Lincoln was 
 one of the Republican nominees for elector-at-large on the Fre- 
 mont ticket and I was nominee on the same ticket for elector 
 for the district which included Logan county, running 70 miles 
 north of Springfield, and Lawrence county, opposite Vincennes 
 on the south. What our chances were in that region may be 
 inferred from the numbers of each party present (if, being a 
 
24 MEMOIRS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 
 
 Republican meeting), which were 90 Democrats and 46 Fillmore 
 men, or 46 Democrats and 90 Fillmore men, I forget which, and 
 6 Republicans. Although that may seem a slim showing for us, 
 ye f by comparison it didn't seem so bad to me. for there were 
 present 5 more Republicans than I found in all Clay county, and 
 6 more than in Piatt county at the beginning of the campaign, 
 Mr. Lincoln spoke last, and made one of the most masterly 
 speeches of his life. His jovial spirit seemed to fill the assem- 
 bly, and there was not only universal good humor, but, from 
 some cause, there grew up a remarkable disposition to have 1 
 some fun. 
 
 "Everybody was at ease and leisure; all had been to din- 
 ner, and to eat dinner with the Edgar county people meant to 
 get what the Frenchman called a "ver grand stately'' of the 
 good things which a country produced where it was constantly 
 remarked that a man could work one day and live on it six. 
 
 "The lawyer and doctor mentioned by Mr. Usher were both 
 there, though not by appointment. The lawyer was the Hon, 
 J. P. Cooper, a Republican of Marshall, Clark County, formerly 
 Democratic member of the legislature and afterward judge of 
 the county court of Coles county, and the doctor was Dr. A. 
 Goodell, of Kansas, then as always a devoted Democrat. They 
 were both men of remarkable fluency of speech, both excitable, 
 and each for certain peculiarities never had an equal that I ever 
 saw. Each for some reason had a special desire to get after the 
 other, and each had come to make a speech if a chance could be 
 had. Each was full of wit and droll, comical expressions; but 
 they were so different that if either had been pitted against any 
 other man than the other, nothing extraordinary would proba- 
 bly have happened. But the combination brought them out. 
 They were both restless while the appointed speakers were on 
 the stand, and just before Mr. Lincoln concluded Dr. Goodell 
 came and asked me if we had any objections to his taking the 
 stand. I said no, and went and told Mr. Lincoln what he wanted 
 and he announced that the doctor would speak. Judge Cooper, 
 who, it seems, did not expect that, was annoyed, and came to 
 me, saying he wanted to speak. I mentioned this to Mr. Lin- 
 coln, and it was arranged that Cooper should follow the doctor. 
 The crowd cheered the announcement, and as soon as Mr. Lin- 
 coln concluded, the doctor mounted the stand, amid a roar of 
 cheers, with his attention fixed on Cooper, who was in front of 
 the stand, and seemed to take to himself everything the doctor 
 had to say, and it was plain that each rejoiced in the scalp of the 
 other in advance. 
 
 Among the doctor's peculiarities the most remarkable was 
 his wonderful stock and flow of words — words of all descrip- 
 tions, but especially those of the sciences, theology and meta- 
 physics, besides the medical vocabulary, He spoke fast, and 
 the crowd cheered, and as the cheering went on increasing it be- 
 
IN EDGAR COUNTY, ILLINOIS 25 
 
 came necessary for him to speak louder and louder in order to 
 be heard above the din, and as they excited him he went on fast 
 and faster. He was witty and made some remarkable hits and 
 as the cheering went on he seemed to credit it all to that ac- 
 count, though the crowd enjoyed a good deal more than that 
 what was going on. Judge Cooper, who seemed to take the 
 whole speech to himself, was in front of the platform, passing 
 back and forward and gesticulating violently, and freauently 
 making some retort, at which the crowd shouted with all their 
 might, whereupon the doctor would start on another flight of his 
 remarkable words, the crowd roaring until he was utterly 
 drowned out by noise and he would stop for breath, and the 
 screaming and laughing would go on. As soon as it slacked the 
 judge cut in between them with something that set all .^oing 
 louder than ever, and the next lull, the doctor, with fresh breath 
 and a new supply of his curious words and wit, took all by storm. 
 
 "Now, Judge Cooper was short and fleshy, and being lame in 
 one hip, used a very stout cane, which he flourished most when 
 speaking, and as he moved back and forth in front of the stand, 
 and the doctor on the platform "chased" from one end of it to 
 the other, each letting fly at the other in his peculiar way, and 
 the people rolling and sprawling in the blue grass, and roaring 
 and the noise increasing every moment, it soon became a ques- 
 tion of time, or rather endurance on the doctor's part how long 
 before he must yield the platform and Cooper take his place. 
 
 "The doctor held the stand about an hour, when he closed, 
 utterly out of breath, and everybody jumped up and shouted 
 for about five minutes, until the noise could have been heard a 
 mile at least, 
 
 "Cooper was instantly on the platform, and as soon as he 
 could be heard went for the doctor, who was now in front, and 
 moving back and forth, every minute making some repartee, un- 
 til it became a regular set-to between them. 
 
 "I lay on the grass, and at times leaned against the trunk 
 of a walnut tree about seven feet from the right hand corner of 
 the platform. Mr. Lincoln lay at full length with his feet at the 
 same corner and his head supported at times on his hand, his 
 elbow on the ground. Sometimes he moved around and cracked 
 a joke with somebody else. He remembered all the strange, 
 witty or ludicrous things that were uttered by either party or 
 by the audience, but I have forgotten most of them. I recol- 
 lect, however, that Cooper was descanting on the fact that just 
 at the time of such momentous movements in the political 
 world, his doctor should make his appearance among men, and, 
 in addition to that, should have a vision and see the obsolete 
 things or all dictionaries in every language, and nothing else 
 that the people wanted to know — 
 
 " 'That's more than any lawyer round here has seen lately/ 
 
26 MEMOIRS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 
 
 shouted the doctor, 'a vision of anything homogeneous with a 
 dictionary would throw their whole system into spasms.' 
 
 " 'If a lawyer or anybody else should take spasms or get 
 foundered on any kind of valuable knowledge/ said Cooper, 'a 
 Democratic speech would work it all out of him in time to save 
 life.' 
 
 "And so they went on. All questions concerning the Ne- 
 braska bill, Missouri Compromise and Slavery were lost sight 
 of in the contest of outwitting each other. Each was several 
 times on the platform and sometimes both — the crowd shout- 
 ing, 'Go it Billbags,' 'Go it lawyer/ 'Stick to him, Doctor/ etc., 
 hats flying twenty feet in the air, some standing, some rolling 
 in the grass and all in a roar of laughter. 
 
 "At one time the judge let off a hit at the doctor and he re- 
 plied with a short 'That's not so — that's a lie.' 'You say that's 
 a lie, do you?' screamed Cooper; 'well, doctor, I'll take that off of 
 you ; I'll take anything in the world from you ; but for God's 
 sake don't give me any of your pills.' 
 
 " 'I've got no pill that would help your case — I don't treat 
 delirium,' said the doctor; 'I'll let you know that I am not prac- 
 ticing medicine at all now.' 'You don't practice medicine any 
 more, you say,' shouted Cooper; 'the country is safer than I had 
 supposed.' 
 
 "And so it went on from 4 o'clock until just as the sun set, 
 when the speakers subsided from sheer exhaustion and the crowd 
 began to stir around and separate; but the cheering and laugh- 
 ing did not slacken. On every road that they went you could 
 bear them more than a mile off, making the woods ring. Mr. 
 Lincoln had laughed till he was worn out. Several who were 
 near us found it impossible to stop. For my part, it was the 
 first and only time in my life that I laughed till I became 
 alarmed ; but the fact was, it produced a kind of spasm through 
 the chest and the body which did not entirely pass off for sev- 
 eral hours. 
 
 "We rode back to Mr. Sutherland's and nobody thought of 
 wne: to bed before midnight: yet even then the laughing would 
 break out somewhere about the house and all hands would join 
 in, and so it went on for hours. The next morning we separated, 
 and I saw Mr. Lincoln no more till me met at Atlanta, Logan 
 county. 
 
 "Nearly nine years after, in the last days of March, 1865, I 
 was at Washington, and went with Judge Steele, then chief 
 clerk of the land division of the Indian bureau, to call on Mr. 
 Lincoln. We found him writing a letter at a long table. Gov. 
 Yates and Delegate Burleign, of Dakota, were in an adjoining 
 room and came in. Mr. Lincoln asked us to excuse him till he 
 should finish the letter. Before he had finished writing the 
 door opened and Mr. Seward came in with a portfolio under his 
 arm and advanced to the opposite side of the table. As he did 
 
IN EDGAR COUNTY, ILLINOIS 27 
 
 so, Mr. Lincoln spoke out in a loud ringing tone, 'Good morning, 
 Mr. Secretary. I was just writing a letter to send to you, but 
 as you are here now, I will give it to you myself.' And with 
 that he said it made him think of a story about a lawyer up in 
 one of the northern counties of Illinois who wrote a letter to the 
 judge while court was in session, because the judge would not 
 allow him to speak further in the case. After he told the story, 
 he introduced me to Mr. Seward, and said, 'This is the man who 
 was with me at Grandview the time I told you of, when we had 
 so much fun.' Then he said to Gov. Yates, 'You never heard 
 that story, did you?' The governor said he had not. There- 
 unon Mr. Seward said to Gov. Yates that he must hear it, and 
 Mr. Lincoln began to tell it with all the particulars. The table 
 was a long one. standing about six feet from the fire-place, and 
 in one corner of the room stood a long hickory cane with the 
 bark on. It was about four feet long. As he began to describe 
 the performances at Grandview, he stepped to the corner, took 
 that long staff, and came round on the side of the table furthest 
 from the fire, and flourishing the cane and limping as though 
 with a lame hip as he used it, he went backward and forward 
 before the table, imitating Judge Cooper in action and voice; 
 then laying the cane on the table he would give the doctors 
 part, and so on, the room in a roar of laughter. 
 
 Gov. Yates, Judge Steele and I knew Judge Cooper, who was 
 very short and fleshy, with a wide head, and here was Mr, Lin- 
 coln, over six feet high, slender and straight, with a cane far 
 too long even for him, showing a man of such opposite form and 
 likeness, which made the whole thing ten times more laughable 
 t^an otherwise. Just as he had repeated the words of Cooper: 
 'Then the country is safer than I had supposed,' and was whirl- 
 ing around the corner of the table with the cane against his 
 right hir— Secretary Seward, Senator Yates and all the rest 
 convulsed with laughter — the door opened and in came the 
 usher, saying, 'Mr. President, that soldier is out here waiting 
 to see you again. He wants to know when yon will see him.' 
 Mr Lincoln said, 'Tell him I can't see him any more about that 
 matter. I've seen him as many times as I can;' and turning 
 towards the rest of us, he continued, 'I wish that man would let 
 me alone. I've seen him again and again. I've done everything 
 for him that I can do, and he knows it just as well as I do: and 
 I've told him over and over, and he ought to let me alone, but 
 he won't stop following me up. He knows I can't do anything 
 more for him. I declare, if he don't let me alone, I'll tell him 
 what I did a fellow the other day, that I'll undo what I have 
 done for him.' " 
 
28 
 
 MEMOIRS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 
 
 FROM NEGATIVE OWNED BY H. W. FAY, CUSTODIAN OF LINCOLN'S 
 
 TOMB 
 
IN EDGAR COUNTY, ILLINOIS 
 
 29 
 
 For President — 
 
 Abraham Lincoln 
 For Vice President — 
 
 Hannibal Hamlin 
 For Presidential Electors — 
 
 Leonard Sweet 
 
 John N. Palmer 
 
 Allen C. Fuller 
 
 William B. Plato 
 
 Lawrence Weldon 
 
 William P. Kellogg 
 
 James Stark 
 
 James C. Conkling 
 
 H. P. H. Bromwell 
 
 Thomas G. Allen 
 
 John Olney 
 For Congress — 
 
 James T. Cunningham 
 For Governor — 
 
 Richard Yates 
 For Lieutenant Governor — 
 
 Francis A. Hoffman 
 For Secretary of State — 
 
 Ozias M. Hatch 
 
 DEMOCRATIC TICKET 
 
 For President — 
 
 Stephen A. Douglas 
 For Vice President — 
 
 Herschel V. Johnson 
 For Presidential Electors — 
 
 James L. D. Morrison 
 
 William H. W. Cushman 
 
 John A. Rawlins 
 
 John W. Drury 
 
 S. W. Randall 
 
 S. Corning Judd 
 
 Calvin A. Warren 
 
 Anthony Thornton 
 
 Nsthan W. Tupper 
 
 William H. Underwood 
 
 Isham N. Haynie 
 For Congress — 
 
 James C. Robinson 
 For Governor — 
 
 James A. Allen 
 For Lieutenant Governor — 
 
 Lewis W. Ross 
 For Secretary of State — 
 
 George H. Campbell 
 
 For Auditor of Public Accounts For State Auditor — 
 Jesse K. Dubois Bernard Arntzen 
 
 For State Treasurer — For State Treasurer — 
 
 William Butler Hugh Maher 
 
 For Superintendent of Public For Superintendent Public In- 
 
 Instruction struction — 
 
 Newton Bateman Edward R. Roe 
 
 For Prosecuting Attorney — For State's Attorney- 
 
 James R. Cunningham 
 For Representative — 
 Napoleon B. Stage 
 
 Joseph G. Cannon 
 
 For Representative — 
 William P. Dole 
 
 For Clerk of the Circuit CourtFor Circuit Clerk- 
 William P. Gregg William D. Latshaw 
 
 For Sheriff— For Sheriff — 
 
 William B. Bailey Micheal E. O'Hair 
 
 For Coroner— For Coroner — 
 
 John W. Harshbarger Levi James 
 
 For Convention For Convention 
 
 Against Convention Against Convention 
 
 These Tickets copied from the original tickets of 1860, pre- 
 served by James T. Scott, and are now in possession of W. T. 
 Scott 
 
30 M EM OIKS OF ARK AH AM LINCOLN 
 
 j COPY OF ADVERTISEMENT j 
 
 [3 ■ "" ■ « '»!3 
 
 Advertisement appearing in The Prairie Beacon, Paris, Ed- 
 gar County, Illinois, Friday, April 26, 1861: 
 
 PARIS HOTEL, 
 
 R. Patton, Proprietor. 
 South-East of Public Square, Paris, Ills. 
 
 Having refitted and refurnished this House, I am now pre- 
 pared to accommodate the traveling community in a manner 
 that will ensure satisfaction. Omm'bus running to all trains 
 free of charge. Office of Southern Hack Line. 
 
 * # # 
 
 Mrs. Mary M. Patton, 305 South Central Avenue, City, re- 
 lates the following, which came to her through information 
 from her husband, Mr. Geo. W. Patton, whose father, Mr. R. 
 Patten, owned the Patton Hotel, which in the late '50s was the 
 only hotel in the town. 
 
 It was situated on the south side of the public square, and 
 when Attorney Lincoln was in Paris attending to his law cases 
 he made the Patton Hotel his headquarters, and always occupied 
 room No. 22, which room they designated as Lincoln's room. 
 
 In later years when the hotel was removed, that part which 
 had the room where Attorney Lincoln had slumbered was trans- 
 ferred to East Washington Street and took its place in the build- 
 ing there erected, which was for many years the home of Mr. 
 Geo. W. Patton and family. 
 
 With the exception of some minor change, the room re- 
 mains the same as when Attroney Lincoln occupied it, and 
 thought over his pleadings for his cases in the Edgar County 
 Court House, and dreamed his dreams. 
 
 LECTURE ON ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 
 
 Mrs. Angeline McMillan, who enjoys the distinction of be- 
 ing the first white child born in Paris, talked to a number of 
 little folks at the Carnegie Library at four o'clock today, giving: 
 personal recollections of Lincoln. — (Paris Beacon of Feb. 12, 
 1909.) 
 
IN EDGAR COUNTY, ILLINOIS 31 
 
 f r j 1 1 iic n >i;ii'.iiMiiiiiimiimiiiii iiiiiiiiiii'iiii iiiiii i iiih nniii nm inmnQj 
 
 ! Lincoln Mementoes and Relics ! 
 
 | Dr. E. O. Laughlin | 
 
 i J ■•■ ■ 11:1111111111 ■■■; mi 11 Minium : n i n i m limit miiiinmriiipit 
 
 Considering the brief time it has been in existence the Ed- 
 gar County Historical Society has been quite fortunate in hav- 
 ing been made the recipient, by gift and loan, of a number of 
 Lincoln mementoes and relics. All are well authenticated and 
 several are of priceless value. 
 
 Most cherished, because they connect the Great Emanci- 
 pator so intimately with our community and bring his majes- 
 tic, shadowy presence home to us, are the chair he frequently 
 used when visiting at the home of his friend, Hon. George W. 
 Rives, loaned by the Rives family, the desk at which he sat 
 when practicing law at the Edgar County bar, presented by the 
 directors of school district 86, and the flute, over a century old, 
 which was played upon by Lincoln and Dennis Hanks. 
 
 Closely related to the days when Lincoln, the circuit riding 
 lawyer, practiced in Paris ?re the key to the old court house, 
 loaned by the Misses Trogdon, and the old court house bell, pre- 
 sented by the following heirs of George W. Brown: John A. 
 Brown, Joseph E. Brown, George W. Brown, Jr., Mrs. Ida B. 
 Morris, Mrs. Addie M. Easter, Mrs. Ola R. North and Harry F. 
 Brown. 
 
 Other interesting Lincoln relics reposing in the Society's 
 museum may be mentioned a picture of Lincoln, a leaflet and a 
 piece of oak taken from the Lincoln home at Springfield, pre- 
 sented by H. W. Fay, Custodian of the Lincoln Tomb; picture 
 in frame of Lincoln, Dennis Hanks, John Hanks. Sarah Bush, 
 the cabin in which Lincoln was born and cabin built by Thomas 
 Lincoln, from Mrs. M. Barney ; an autograph letter of Lincoln, 
 loaned by Faber Blackman, and a picture of the Lincoln monu- 
 ment taken in 1869. 
 
 Our people should always bear in mind, too, that a part of 
 the old Patton hotel, including the identical room occupied by 
 Lincoln when stopping at that old-time hostelry, still stands at 
 131 East Washington Street, upon ground which was once a por- 
 tion of Alexander's Grove, where Lincoln made one of his fa- 
 mous campaign speeches. 
 
 Not on the Golden Eagle will we see Lincoln's face, 
 Not on the shining silver those dear loved features trace; 
 But on the humble copper, that lowly coin instead, 
 Was given the high honor of bearing Lincoln's head. 
 The man of many millions that image may not grasp, 
 But childhood's chubby fingers that penny oft will clasp, 
 The poor man will esteem it and mothers hold it dear; 
 
 The plain, the common people Lincoln loved when he was 
 here. —ROBERT G. MACKAY. 
 
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 \ \ 
 
 ! i 
 
 3 3 
 
 ; I 
 
 I The memory of \ 
 
 \ Abraham Lincoln ! 
 
 { Is one of the t i 
 
 \ Priceless heritages of I 
 
 I American life, \ 
 
 \ It is a great I 
 
 \ Constructive force in \ 
 
 \ Molding the character and = 
 
 \ Spirit of the nation. \ 
 
 | The entire world has f 
 
 | Felt his influence and % 
 
 § His history belongs to \ 
 
 | Mankind and the ages. f 
 
 I His example has I 
 
 I Inspired many purposeful and \ 
 
 I Determined lives and | 
 
 I Will continue through I 
 
 ! Coming generations. = 
 
 I His love of justice \ 
 
 | Tempered with mercy, \ 
 
 | His faith in right 1 
 
 I Over might, I 
 
 I His devotion to duty, | 
 
 I His fidelity to I 
 
 I The ideal of human service, I 
 
 His humility in the use of power. 
 
 I His unfailing good humor = 
 
 | Under stress = 
 
 | And his confidence in the = 
 
 \ Future of our national life I 
 
 | Such were the elements of \ 
 
 | His greatness, | 
 
 I MRS. W. T. SCOTT. I 
 
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