Lincoln and the Logan County Court Houses

[STS Lincolnite]

I had a great time on this year’s Springfield tour and definitely learned a some things. I thought I would post a little more information about what I learned about a few of the places we visited. Joe and Gene provided lots of great photos from our trip (see the “Springfield Tour” thread). I am posting a couple of photos here so some photos are handy.

Lincoln was one of a group of lawyers that traveled the Eighth Judicial Circuit. Twice a year, he and others, along with Judge David Davis, would ride from county seat to county seat to hear court cases brought by the local residents. During these years, he probably spent as much time riding the circuit as he did at home in Springfield. As a brief aside, author Guy Fraker believes it was Lincoln’s time spent on the circuit that paved his way to the Presidency. One of the counties on the Circuit was Logan County, IL. There were several different Logan county seats and courthouses during Lincoln’s time and the ones in Postville and Mt. Pulaski were two of them. Not many details are known about Lincoln’s cases in Logan County as a fire in 1857 (by then, the county seat was in Lincoln, IL) destroyed most of the Logan County court records from the period when Lincoln served on the circuit. There are some remaining documents that shed some light on a few of his cases. These are apparently duplicate records that exist related to appeals of some of the cases in another court. We paid visits to the historical sites related to both the Postville and Mt. Pulaski courthouses. A replica (built in 1953) of the original Postville Courthouse sits at the original location. It is in what is now Lincoln, IL at 914 5th Street. I can’t tell you what is inside now because it was closed when we were there. The Mt. Pulaski Courthouse is at 113 S Washington St., Mt. Pulaski, IL. It has been restored to look like it did when Lincoln served as an attorney inside its walls. The floors and railing in the courtroom are original and were there during Lincoln’s time. The Mt. Pulaski Courthouse is one of only two original courthouses remaining in Illinois in which Lincoln practiced law while riding the circuit. The other is in Metamora, IL.

Postville Courthouse
The Postville Courthouse was built in 1840, about a year after it was decided that the community of Postville would be the seat of the newly formed Logan County. It was a frame building built in a very simple, Federal style and looked like a regular house. In addition to the courtroom, the building housed the offices of the county clerk, the recorder of deeds, the Sherriff, the coroner, and the county surveyor. When not in use by the circuit court, the courtroom was used by the justice of the peace and as a meeting room for the county board of commissioners. This building served as the courthouse for 8 years (1840-1848). In 1848, the residents of Mt. Pulaski, IL offered to build a new structure to serve as county courthouse. The residents collected $2700 of the $3000 necessary to build it. The county leaders accepted the offer, partly due to a fear of courthouse fire and thereby the destruction of the county’s legal records. A fear that proved to be well founded as many of the county’s legal records were in fact destroyed in a fire in 1857 as stated above. After the county seat moved to Mt. Pulaski, the building became a private home. The town of Postville was annexed by the town of Lincoln, IL in 1860, and the building became sort of forgotten. It was bought by Henry Ford for about $8000 in 1929, when he became interested in buying up historical properties. Yes, the same Henry Ford who said in a 1916 interview with the Chicago Tribune, “I don’t know much about history, and I wouldn’t give a nickel for all the history in the world. It means nothing to me.” Guess he changed his tune – probably because he thought he could make some money. Anyway, Ford’s crew dismantled the building and its foundation. The pieces were moved and then reassembled at the Henry Ford Museum and Greenfield Village in Dearborn, MI. I have not been there, but apparently the building is still there. The attached photo is of the replica courthouse in Lincoln, IL.
   

Mt. Pulaski Courthouse
As stated above, it was the decided that the Mt. Pulaski Courthouse would be a masonry structure to help protect against fire. The courthouse was completed in 1848, being a brick building in the Greek Revival style. Mt. Pulaski was, and is, located in the southeastern part of Logan County. In the early 1850s, a railroad was built (it would become the Chicago and Alton Railroad) heading to the northeast from Springfield. While this rail line passed through Logan County, it was nowhere near Mt. Pulaski. Because all of the new development of the county was focused around the railroad, it was decided that the Logan County seat would move again. This time to a location on the rail line and more near the center of the county. It was moved to Lincoln, IL, the only community to be named for Lincoln during his lifetime. The county voters solidified the choice in 1853 and by 1855 the county government had been relocated. In the years following the relocation of the county seat to Lincoln, IL, the former courthouse building was used as a school, a city hall and jail, and as a post office. In the 1930s the IL Governor started a program to find any surviving buildings in which Lincoln had spent time. In 1936, Mt. Pulaski gave the building to the state of Illinois. The state restored it to its mid nineteenth century courthouse character from 1936-1939. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1978. Restoration and maintenance projects continue in the courthouse which now serves as a historical site. The attached photos are of the exterior of the courthouse and of the second floor courtroom.
       

For additional information on Lincoln’s time on the eighth judicial circuit, check out the following:

Lincoln’s Ladder to the Presidency: The Eighth Judicial Circuit, by Guy C. Fraker

http://www.lookingforlincoln.com/8thcircuit/index.html