Everybody loves a good mystery. Watching any detective use investigative skills to uncover clues then tie those clues together to develop a solution to a mystery is very satisfying and entertaining. Of course, in books, in movies and on television the script is complete and a nice tidy solution to the mystery ends the story. In real life the clues used to solve a mystery rarely present themselves in neat packages, in a short time frame or in a helpful sequence.

Many mysteries exist right here in Logan County. Volunteers working with the Logan County Genealogical & Historical Society are continually working to find clues to solve mysteries clients present to them. Sometimes solutions take months, years or sometimes are never found. There are times the researchers would like to send out letters to every person in Logan County to ask for help with finding answers to the many questions that come up during research sessions. Of course, that is impractical. Using the media and hoping that the right person reads the right article is the next best thing.

On February 12, 2009, the whole country will be celebrating the 200th birthday of Abraham Lincoln. Many national and state celebrations are being planned. Our local Logan County historians, civic organizations and event organizers are making their preparations too.

Mr. Lincoln became the most written about American in history. He is by far the most "perfect person" to ever hold the office of President of the United States.

The personal development of Mr. Lincoln's skills and beliefs that contributed his great personal success occurred long before he was elected President. A portion of that development occurred in his interaction with the people he met while riding the 8th Judicial Circuit in Illinois. The mystery for Logan County is discovering whom he might have visited with while attending court sessions in the County or just passing through.

Many disjointed stories are told about how Mr. Lincoln stayed with or visited families while traveling through Logan County. The Logan County Genealogical & Historical Society is undertaking the project of compiling those stories of Mr. Lincoln's many visits with the residents of Logan County. The Society intends to include those stories in a publication to be ready for the 200th anniversary of Mr. Lincoln's birthday. The Society will collect all stories relating these visits. Some stories will be "documented" others will not. The Society wants them all.

As an example, the author's family history has always included, in the family lore, that Mr. Lincoln visited the home of his great-great-grandfather, John F. Boy. That home stood at what is now 1103 Fifth Street, Lincoln, Illinois, formerly Postville in the 1850's. The home was very close to Postville Courthouse. Stories of this sort add excitement to any family's history. When those stories can be confirmed the excitement is even greater. Increased too is the possibility that the future president was influenced in some way by an ancestor to become the man who saved the United States.

For the author's family the confirmation of the family lore came in the form of a 1939 obituary. The obituary of the author's great-great-grandmother, Mary Vogel Boy's, youngest sister, Julia Vogel Rabenberg, included this paragraph. "In early childhood she lived with a married sister in Lincoln, Ill., where she frequently saw Abraham Lincoln when he was practicing law in the courts of Logan County, and on one occasion, memorable to her, talked to him when he was a guest in her sister's home. She always clearly remembered too, the time that the town was named ‘Lincoln' in his honor, and of his appearance at the ceremony."

If you want your family lore about Mr. Lincoln preserved for future generations of your family, please submit it in writing to The Logan County Genealogical & Historical Society. The Society's Center is at 114 N Chicago St. Lincoln, IL. Contact the Center also by calling 217-732-3200 or by email at lcghs1@msn.com.

This page is "Lincoln Lore Needed" on the Logan County, Illinois, ILGenWeb site. The address of this page is http://logan.ilgenweb.net/lcghabe.htm.

This Page Was Last Updated Sunday, 06-Apr-2008 15:42:55 EDT