| The Editors Page | Journal of the Illinois State Historical Society, 101.3-4

The Editor's Page

This double issue of the Journal of the Illinois State Historical Society commemorates the two-hundredth anniversary of Abraham Lincoln's birth. It is an honor for the Society and the State of Illinois to pay tribute to its most prominent citizen and our most distinguished president. No one in our nation's history has been written about more than Abraham Lincoln. One might therefore ask, "What more is there to write?" Our contributors have managed to find some new information as well as provide the always needed reflection of Lincoln's contribution to our shared national history and the unique freedoms Americans owe to him.
In "Lincoln's First Freed Slave" Carl Adams has unearthed an obscure case Lincoln tried before the Illinois Supreme Court in 1841 called Bailey v. Cromwell. A Negro girl named Nance courageously came forward to sue for her freedom in the highest court in Illinois. Lincoln's arguments convinced the Court to free her. The case illustrates that the legal groundwork for Lincoln's views of slavery was laid much earlier than many scholars have assumed. In "Abraham Lincoln and the Mormons: Another Legacy of Limited Freedom," Gary Vitale provides an alternative legal examination into Lincoln's and the Republican Party's views on slavery by looking at it through the lens of polygamy and popular sovereignty. Before he ever issued the Emancipation Proclamation, Lincoln signed into law the Morrill Anti-bigamy Act in July 1862. The close connection between Illinois history and the Mormons encourage Republican Party leaders to ask Lincoln to define their party's position on the issue in 1857. Once again, Lincoln used the opportunity to define a basic principle of American freedom that transcended states rights and singular religious beliefs.
"Murder at a Methodist Camp Meeting," also deals with a legal case that became Lincoln's most famous. He successfully defended the son of a friend accused of murder during a Methodist camp revival in central Illinois in the summer of 1857. Lincoln took the case because of deep affection for the boy's family, and he clearly demonstrated the legal acumen, oratorical skills, and nimble thinking that would serve him well in the coming years.
Patricia Bauer Burnette presents in "Jaquess and the Lincoln Connection," the espionage activities of James Frazier Jaquess during the Civil War. Lincoln had recruited him as a private agent. His mission took him to the Confederacy, Canada, and even Nicaragua in order to gain intelligence on alleged Confederate interest in peace. This was critical information for Lincoln who faced enormous pressure from New York newspaperman Horace Greeley and others who wanted an end to the bloody war and peace on any terms. The South's disingenuous peace "feelers" fortified Lincoln's resolve to continue the war on his terms.
Lincoln's political acumen is again demonstrated through his recognition of the political importance of German Americans in Illinois. Raymond Lohne, in "Team of Friends," argues that Lincoln courted this population, even secretly purchasing a German newspaper, to gain access to their support. German Americans were among his official mourners through their glee clubs in Chicago. Their public prominence, politically and culturally, allowed Lincoln, in return, to bolster their status in the city well into the twentieth century.
Jason Emerson has actually uncovered a previously unknown letter of Mary Todd Lincoln found in a steamer trunk owned by the children of Robert Lincoln's private attorney. This small bit of information helps piece together events of her life after the death of her husband. While admittedly containing no major revelations, Emerson claims this new bit of information adds to the complexity of her relationship with Robert and her life as the national widow.
William Ives's essay, "Abraham Lincoln in Mercer County, Illinois, 1832, 1834, 1858" explores Lincoln's days in this section of Illinois during these years. Lincoln the land surveyor left behind town plats that still bear his imprint today. Through his time in the county as a Black Hawk War captain, the future president learned about the need for improvisation in warfare that served him well in the White House.
Wayne Temple, one of our most prolific Lincoln scholars, continues to add to the historical record biographical sketches of individuals whose lives intersected with Abraham Lincoln. Senator William Ferguson of California began his career in Illinois and by happens stance his portrait is now hangs in the Law Library of the Old State Capitol in Springfield.
Finally, in "Lincoln in Lincoln," Darold Leigh Henson explains his adventure in writing a street play about a speech Lincoln gave in his first namesake town of Lincoln, Illinois. While there is no actual record of what Lincoln actually said there on October 16, 1858, Henson does a credible job of piecing together through various primary sources, a sense of the drama of the times and Lincoln the man.
Through all these articles, Lincoln's intelligence, political savvy, as well as his deep sense of humanity comes through and reaffirms, in these times of troubles and flawed leaders, why he is the Prairie State's most beloved son.

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