Site of Lincoln's "Unknown Ground" Speech - Waterloo, IL
Posted by: 
YoSam.
N 38° 20.124 W 090° 08.994
15S E 749111 N 4246874
Mounted on the gazebo on the courthouse lawn, when the former court house stood
Waymark Code: WMKZ4F
Location: Illinois, United States
Date Posted: 06/19/2014
Views: 5
County of Marker: Monroe County.
Location of Marker: Main St. side courthouse lawn, Waterloo.
Marker Text:
Location of original
Monroe County Court House
Site of Abraham Lincoln's
"Unknown Ground" speech.
August 25, 1840.
AUGUST 19. En route. [Lincoln's whereabouts Aug. 18 to 22 have not been ascertained, but it is reasonable to believe that he and Field are meeting Whig leaders in county seats south and southwest of Springfield.]
AUGUST 22. Belleville? [Although no evidence of Lincoln's presence in Belleville on this day has been found, Field's letter of Aug. 17 indicates that it was his and Lincoln's immediate destination. Distance from Springfield -- approximately 100 miles -- could have been covered easily in four days.]
AUGUST 23. Waterloo. "The traveling missionaries, Lincoln and Field, reached Waterloo on Sunday." Register, Sept. 4.
AUGUST 24. Notice is posted at court house Monday morning that Lincoln will address people on Tuesday. Ibid.
AUGUST 25. Large crowd hears Lincoln. Adam Snyder, Democratic presidential elector, replies to Lincoln's two-hour address with one of equal length. Lincoln "seemed like a man traveling over unknown ground," declares "Register." Ibid., Belleville Advocate, Aug. 29.
AUGUST 26. En route to Mount Vernon? Exact day of Lincoln's speech in Mount Vernon has not been determined, but it is assumed that today and tomorrow are spent in making 80-mile trip from Waterloo to Mount Vernon.
AUGUST 28. Mount Vernon? On or about this date Lincoln and John A. McClernand, Whig and Democratic electoral candidates, debate in Methodist Church. Susannah Johnson, Recollections of Rev. John Johnson, 259.
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