— Looking for Lincoln —
A proper Presbyterian Church was under construction in the summer of 1859. A floor was laid, walls, roof, and belfry nearly completed, when "a halt due to lack of funds" occurred. In October 1859, money was urgently needed to complete construction. The view from the building site to the DeWitt County Courthouse on the public square was unobstructed. Recognizing opportunity, the church ladies held a festival during court week to take maximum advantage of the generosity of visitors in town on legal business. Lincoln, wearing his stovepipe ha, was among those in attendance. Two church ladies, Mrs. Elizabeth Kent and Miss Roberts, greeted him at the entrance — for there was no door — and politely offered to take Lincoln's hat. Lincoln declined the offer, stating he had some important papers in it. Instead of handing the hat over, Lincoln placed it high on an unfinished beam, safely out of reach of others. According to local lore, Lincoln contributed to the fundraising efforts by purchasing a bouquet of violets from a little girl who accepted five dollars for the nosegay.HM Number | HMG2Z |
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Series | This marker is part of the Illinois: Looking for Lincoln series |
Tags | |
Year Placed | 2009 |
Placed By | Clinton Presbyterian Church, Lincoln Heritage of DeWitt County |
Marker Condition | No reports yet |
Date Added | Wednesday, October 1st, 2014 at 6:35am PDT -07:00 |
UTM (WGS84 Datum) | 16T E 333056 N 4446862 |
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Decimal Degrees | 40.15553333, -88.96015000 |
Degrees and Decimal Minutes | N 40° 9.332', W 88° 57.609' |
Degrees, Minutes and Seconds | 40° 9' 19.92" N, 88° 57' 36.54" W |
Driving Directions | Google Maps |
Area Code(s) | 217 |
Closest Postal Address | At or near 123 E Johnson St, Clinton IL 61727, US |
Alternative Maps | Google Maps, MapQuest, Bing Maps, Yahoo Maps, MSR Maps, OpenCycleMap, MyTopo Maps, OpenStreetMap |
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