Lincoln Coming to Illinois - Decatur, IL
Posted by: adgorn
N 39° 50.466 W 088° 57.342
16S E 332669 N 4411951
A marker describing the coming to Illinois of Lincoln's family in March 1830. Another of the Looking for Lincoln series.
Waymark Code: WMCEMH
Location: Illinois, United States
Date Posted: 08/29/2011
Views: 4
Summary of the sign text - In March 1830 the tiny hamlet of Decatur, Illinois, with a dozen log cabins in place, was greeted by a caravan of thirteen people. This was the family of Thomas and Sarah Bush Johnston Lincoln. It was the first time that Abraham Lincoln saw the place where he would live for the next year. ...they made over night camp in the (nearby) town square. Later, as Lincoln attained success as a lawyer riding the Eight Circuit, he pointed out the location to a group of his fellow lawyers.
There is more to read when you visit the marker.
The Looking for Lincoln series comprises a total of 220 of these exhibits in 47 Illinois communities to help them more vividly tell their own unique Lincoln story. There are fifteen of these in Decatur, placed in 2009. See (
visit link) for a map of all of Decatur’s Looking for Lincoln markers.
From a City of Decatur newsrelease at (
visit link)
“Few people know that Decatur has more Lincoln history than any other city in Illinois outside Springfield. Mr. Lincoln lived in Macon County when he first came to Illinois, practiced law, made his first political speech and was first nominated for President in Decatur and the surrounding area, among other things.”
Decatur abounds in Lincoln and other historical markers and monuments.
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