Finding Lincoln in Dewitt County

2007-12-03T01:35:00.000-06:00

"Abraham Lincoln was a frequent visitor in DeWitt County, 1839 to 1859, where he:

1. Gave four known speeches.

2. Coined the famous phrase "You can fool all the people...."

3. Served "as judge" in at least 37 court cases.

4. Represented the Illinois Central Railroad in a damage suit. George McClellan, Stephen Douglas, and David Davis were present in the courtroom. (All four later became candidates for presidency)

5. Learned to play billiards in a local parlor (Never before published fact)

6. Spent over one hundred evenings in Clinton in local hotels or as guest of local citizens."

Finding Lincoln in DeWitt County is an "easy read" embellished with many jokes and humorous incidents with the local connection.

Preview, "Finding Lincoln in DeWitt County" - by Helen Stites:

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"There was a connection between Abraham Lincoln and the town of Clinton, Illinois, before he ever stepped within its boundaries. In his early years in Springfield Lincoln told his friend, Joshua Speed, that he “aimed to be the DeWitt Clinton of Illinois”, of course, never dreaming he would far exceed that ambition to become the 16^th President of the United States.

DeWitt Clinton, Governor of New York State during the years 1817 to 1828, is known as the “father” of the Erie Canal and was responsible for the movement to develop a network of railroads in the eastern states. The town of Clinton was so named in 1835 by James Allen, a state legislator, and Jesse Fell, a land speculator from Bloomington. DeWitt County was created from parts of Macon and McLean counties in 1839 with Clinton declared the county seat in a hotly contested election between Clinton and the town of Marion, now DeWitt.

From 1834 to 1847 Lincoln was a member of the Illinois legislature in the then state capital, Vandalia. He and some colleagues (known as the Long Nine because of their heights) had two main agendas:

1. To remove the state capital to Springfield, and

2. To draft an internal improvements bill for a network of railroads built around the Central Railroad. Both bills passed.

During these years Lincoln borrowed and began his self-study of law books. On March 1, 1837, he was formally licensed to practice law in the courts of the State of Illinois. Thus, the former backwoodsman and farm laborer in southern Illinois; flatboat hand on the Mississippi River; captain in the Blackhawk War; storekeeper, postmaster and deputy surveyor in New Salem became the “Hon. A. Lincoln, Esquire, Attorney and Counselor at Law,” all accomplished in his first twenty-six years of life.

Lincoln changed his residence to Springfield, from New Salem, and became a law partner with Stephen T. Logan, and later with William Herndon."

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