BGuthrie Photos: IL -- Beardstown

IL -- Beardstown:

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Copyrights: All pictures were taken by amateur photographer Bruce Guthrie (me!) who retains copyright on them. Free for non-commercial use with attribution. See the [Creative Commons] definition of what this means. "Photos (c) Bruce Guthrie" is fine for attribution. (Commercial use folks including AI scrapers can of course contact me.) Feel free to use in publications and pages with attribution but you don't have permission to sell the photos themselves. A free copy of any printed publication using any photographs is requested. Descriptive text, if any, is from a mixture of sources, quite frequently from signs at the location or from official web sites; copyrights, if any, are retained by their original owners.

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Specific picture descriptions: Photos above with "i" icons next to the bracketed sequence numbers (e.g. "[1] ") are described as follows:
1. BEARDS_090927_002.JPG: The courthouse
2. BEARDS_090927_005.JPG: Looking for Lincoln: Lincoln the Lawyer: It is the celebrated "Almanac Trial" of May 7, 1858 that has forever linked Abraham Lincoln with Beardstown. On that day, Lincoln defended William Duff Armstrong, the son of Lincoln's closest New Salem friends, Jack and Hannah Armstrong. Duff Armstong, with James Norris, was charged in the murder of James Preston Metzker. During the trial, Lincoln carefully cross-examined witnesses, including Charles Allen, who said he saw Norris and Armstrong attack Metzker by the light of the moon. Allen insisted the moon was high and nearly full. Then Lincoln produced an almanac, showing at the time of the attack the moon was low and within an hour of setting. Thus, Lincoln has discredited the witness. Lincoln did not rely entirely on the almanac, however. One defense witness, Charles Parker, M.D., provided crucial medical testimony, and Lincoln delivered a powerful closing argument. After reviewing the case, the recalled how Armstrong's parents had taken him into their home when he was poor and friendless. At least one prosecuting attorney credited Lincoln's emotional summation with Armstrong's acquittal.
3. BEARDS_090927_010.JPG: Historians and scholars have long argued about what proved to be the decisive factor -- the almanac, the summation, expert testimony -- if Duff Armstrong's acquittal. However, there is nearly unanimous agreement that the trial allowed Abraham Lincoln to demonstrate his considerate skills, ranging from his masterful use of the legal system for his client's advantage to his brilliant oratorical prowess. Lincoln's brilliance as a lawyer that was so well demonstrated in Beardstown was but a prologue to his skill as the nation's leader. Matters more prosaic than the "almanac" trial brought Abraham Lincoln to Beardstown's Cass County Courthouse many times. For instance, Lincoln defended Charles Reynolds in a rent dispute, represented Jonathan Gill in a divorce case, and sued the Illinois River and Peoria and Hannibal railroads on behalf of local railroad promoter Charles Sprague. This type of work provided Lincoln with an income, while helping bolster his reputation. Lincoln's attorney friend, Henry Dummer, lived in Beardstown. Lincoln met Dummer when the young Lincoln borrowed law books for study from Dummer's Springfield firm. Lincoln succeeded Summer moved to Beardstown. The two developed a close personal and professional relationship and corresponded after Lincoln was elected preisdent. In 1864, Dummer attended the Republican Convention in Baltimore that nominated Lincoln for a second term.
4. BEARDS_090927_050.JPG: Mural @ Beardstown, IL
5. BEARDS_090927_072.JPG: The Route 66 cars were here as well
6. BEARDS_090927_091.JPG: Looking for Lincoln: Lincoln in Beardstown: Although Lincoln was a strong supporter of water transportation, most of his travels to Beardstown and elsewhere in the Eighth Judicial District in Central Illinois were by horse or buggy. If town streets were unpaved, country roads were even more rugged, mere tracks across the prairie, with very few dwellings in between. Winter journeys were especially difficult. The drawing by Beardstown artist Williams Barnhart shows Lincoln mounted. Because of his height, he was an awkward figure in the saddle; if the horse was not tall, Lincoln's feet nearly dragged the ground. Abraham Lincoln first saw Beardstown in the spring of 1831 as he, two friends, and Denton Offutt steered Offutt's flatboat laden with merchandise on their way to New Orleans. He returned in 1832, first in March to help get the steamer Talisman up and back down the Sangamon River. In April, Lincoln often visited Beardstown and the surrounding region. He proved to be a good friend of the area. As a state legislator, he supported the creation of Cass County. He also wrote the bill that led to the construction of the state road from Beardstown to Petersburg and was unswerving in his efforts to win state financial support for the Beardstown and Sangamon Canal venture. Lincoln was in Beardstown on November 13, 1837, for an historic event. Now a young lawyer, Lincoln traveled to Beardstown -- most likely on horseback -- for the first session of the Cass County Circuit Court. Judge Jesse B. Thomas Jr. presided over the one-day session. It is unknown whether Lincoln made an appearance before the court. During his visits to Beardstown and Cass County, Abraham Lincoln most likely became acquainted with Beardstown's founder, Thomas Beard. According to tradition, Lincoln stayed at the inn Beard erected at the northeast corner of State and Main streets, the site of the present U.S. Post Office. When he crossed the Illinois River, Lincoln would have used Beard's ferry. The Illinois Lincoln traveled in the 1830s and 1840s was still a rugged frontier state, and Beardstown had the look of a rough frontier town. Most buildings were of wooden frame -- and often flimsy -- construction. Where existent, sidewalks were made of wood and subject to rapid deterioration. Any good rain would turn the dusty streets into nearly impassable quagmires. Horse excrement and urine made crossing the street a challenge and gave the downtown a distinctive aroma, especially during warm weather. Lincoln and his fellow Illinoisians had to be tough.
7. BEARDS_090927_113.JPG: Looking for Lincoln: Lincoln and the River: When Abraham Lincoln sought election to the Illinois legislature in 1832, his platform focused on his belief that improvements should be made to the Sangamon River, which he said would be "vastly important and highly desirable to the people of this county." Soon news arrived that the steamboat Talisman was bound for Illinois to demonstrate the Sangamon could be a river of commerce. Accompanied by New Salem and Springfield friends, Lincoln rushed to Beardstown. Armed with axes, corn knives and hooks, they cleared ice, snags, and low-hanging branches at the mount of the Sangamon. They boarded the Talisman for the trip to Portland Landing above Springfield. On the return journey, Lincoln served as the assistant to pilot J. Rowan Herndon. Lincoln lost the election, finishing eighth in a field of thirteen candidates. The Sangamon project was denied the advocacy of its most ardent supporter. By the time Lincoln was elected to the legislature in 1835, the railroad interests had the upper hand. Construction on the Northern Cross Railroad began at Meredosia in the spring of 1838. Though Lincoln could not turn the Sangamon into a navigable waterway, he continued to support the development of waterways as arteries of commerce. One such venture was the Beardstown and Sangamon Canal. The canal would have paralleled the Sangamon. Beardstown stood to gain from such an enterprise, since river steamers would have transferred their cargoes to canal boats at Beardstown, thus making the city a transportation hub. Lincoln pushed this project for a number of years, trying to force the canal through legislation. Despite the construction of the Illinois and Michigan Canal in northern Illinois, Lincoln and his allied failed to secure state support, and private promoters were never able to raise the necessary funds to acquire land and begin construction. Beardstown's Canal Street is the lone reminder of the Beardstown and Sangamon Canal.
8. BEARDS_090927_165.JPG: Mural @ Beardstown, IL
9. BEARDS_090927_172.JPG: Looking for Lincoln: Lincoln Photograph: Abraham Lincoln had just won an acquittal for his client William Duff Armstrong in what is now known as the celebrated Almanac Trial of May 7, 1858. At the conclusion of the trial, held on the second floor of the Cass County Courthouse in Beardstown, a young entrepreneur named Abraham Byers invited Lincoln to walk to his nearby studio for a short photography session. No doubt, Lincoln was tired and perhaps looked forward to supper and then retiring to his room at the Dunbaugh House. According to some accounts, Lincoln initially declined Byers' invitation, insisting his suit was too rumpled and that he would make a poor subject. In the end, Byers convinced him to pose. Byers made us of the newest photographic technique called ambrotype, which produced a picture by imaging a negative on glass backed by a dark surface. Byers took two photos, one of which was lost or, according to some accounts, discards by Byers. The other shows an obviously tired Lincoln attired in a white linen suit, seated with his right arm resting on the arm of a chair. A copy hangs in the courtroom where Lincoln defended Armstrong.
10. BEARDS_090927_174.JPG: Abraham Byers' famous May 7, 1858, photograph of Abraham Lincoln is a seven-by-nine-inch ambrotype, mounted in an ornate brass frame. Taken at Byers' Beardstown studio, it is the only known portrait of Lincoln in a white suit. Also, it is generally believed to be one of ten photographs taken of Lincoln during 1858. Owned by the University of Nebraska, the photo is usually kept in a vault, though it was displayed at the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, DC during the bicentennial celebration in 1976. As Abraham Lincoln was no ordinary lawyer, Abraham Byers, was no ordinary photographer. In fact, this man who took the famous portrait of Lincoln in a white suit was not really a photographer. A store clerk, Byers settled in Beardstown for time, but spent much time in Nebraska engaged in land speculation. He gained ownership of the photography studio in a settlement of an unpaid loan. Byers taught himself the art of ambrotype photography. In the 1850s, Byers developed a friendship with Lincoln, accoridng to his daughter, Olive Byers Hayes. In 1861, Byers married Mary Tull in Beardstown. Later, they moved to Aledo, Illinois, where Byers became a successful banker. Byers remarried after Mary's death in 1902. He eventually went to Omaha, where he passed away in 1920. His widow, Zora, donated the famous photograph to the University of Nebraska.
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Wikipedia Description: Beardstown, Illinois
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Beardstown is a city in Cass County, Illinois, United States. The population was 5,766 at the 2000 census.

Beardstown was the birthplace of the jazz vibraphone pioneer Red Norvo. ...

History:

Beardstown was first settled by a man named Thomas Beard in 1819. His son was Edward "Red" Beard, a noted gambler and saloon keeper of the Old West who was killed in a gunfight in Kansas in 1873 by "Rowdy Joe" Lowe. Thomas Beard erected a log cabin at the edge of the Illinois River, from which he traded with the local American Indians and ran a ferry. Later he built a two-story brick building which was used for 85 years as a store and inn. This inn is alleged to have sheltered Abraham Lincoln on his visits to Beardstown, but that is legend and unconfirmed. The building was demolished and replaced by a post office.

The Beardstown Ladies Fraud:

From 1984 to 1993, a group of 16 late-aged women were picking stocks in the Dow Jones and over the course of nine years were claiming returning of 23.4% on their stocks. Once they went public with the amazing returns, they gained national recognition for their success. The Beardstown Ladies, with an average age of 70 (1994), were asked to appear on The Donahue Show, CBS's "Morning Show", NBC's The Today Show, and ABC's Good Morning America. For six straight years they were honored by the National Association of Investors Corp's "All-Star Investment Clubs". In 1993, they produced their first home video for investors called, "The Beardstown Ladies: Cooking Up Profits on Wall Street". By 1994, they wrote their first book, "The Beardstown Ladies' Common-Sense Investment Guide", which sold over 800,000 copies by 1998 and was a NY Times best seller. The Beardstown Ladies become a global phenomenon and TV stations from Germany, Brazil, and Japan were interviewing them and taping their monthly meetings in Beardstown. Although their success was beyond anything this small ...More...
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Sort of Related Pages: Still more pages here that have content somewhat related to this one :
- 2009_IL_Almanac_Play_090927: CWPT Grand Review (2009) in Springfield, IL -- Almanac Trial recreation (presentation) (76 photos from 2009)
- 2009_IL_Almanac_Prep_090927: CWPT Grand Review (2009) in Springfield, IL -- Almanac Trial recreation (pre- and post-production) (41 photos from 2009)
Same Subject: Click on this link to see coverage of items having the same subject: [Structures]
2009 photos: Equipment this year: I mostly used the Fuji S100fs. I've also got a Nikon D90 and a newer Fuji -- the S200EHX -- both of which are nice but I still prefer the flexibility of the Fuji. Overnight trips this year: Niagara Falls, NY, New York City, Civil War Trust conferences in Gettysburg, PA and Springfield, IL, and my 4th consecutive San Diego Comic-Con trip (including Los Angeles, Yosemite, Death Valley, Kings Canyon, Joshua Tree, etc). Ego strokes: I had a picture of a Lincoln-Obama cupcake sculpture published in Civil War Times and WUSA-9, the local CBS affiliate, ran a quick piece on me. A picture that I took at the annual Abraham Lincoln Symposium appeared in the National Archives' "Prologue" magazine. I became a volunteer with the Smithsonian American Art Museum. Number of photos taken this year: 417,000.
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