Your opinion on why New Salem died

[Troy Cowan]

Gene said, "The river was not good enough for year round navigation, and the cost to make it that way was to expensive and not practical."

Petersburg is two miles north of New Salem on the very same river. If the river had anything to do with the death of New Salem, Petersburg would have the same problem.

Also, the railroad had nothing to do with the death of New Salem. The Alton & Sangamon Railroad began to be built in 1847. New Salem died ten years earlier.

Please give me the name of any person that moved from New Salem because of the difficulty in navigating the Samgamon.

I will tell you of a person that moved because of the Clary's Grove boys. One night the Clary's Grove boys broke every window in the Radford grocery. Fearful that the Clary's Grove boys would kill him next he took a $400 IOU for his store and moved away.

Liz, you said, "(But "best" friend of Lincoln is probably overstating it - I think the only person who qualified in that regard was Joshua Speed.)"

If we were talking about the time they both lived in Springfield, I would certainly agree. I believe that when they both got married, their friendship declined. I am unaware that Joshua Speed and President Abraham Lincoln were maintaining a close friendship. Ward Lamon and President Lincoln certainly had a tight relationship and many believe they were best friends.

Joe you said, "When I made mention of "reinforcement", I was not thinking that things were being rehashed. Rather, I was referring to the action-reaction effect of even responding to some posts because it will only result in another "Oh, Yeah?" rejoinder from those who, for example, see Lamon as an unimpeachable source. You and Bill and others are absolutely right in your assessment of Lamon."

Joe are you trying to open lines of communication of shut them down?