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Mahomet in Champaign County, Illinois — The American Midwest (Great Lakes)
 

Lincoln's Mahomet / Mahomet's Lincoln

Looking for Lincoln

 
 
Top Section - - Lincoln's Mahomet / Marker image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Al Wolf, November 7, 2009
1. Top Section - - Lincoln's Mahomet / Marker
(Click on any of the photos to see the details.)
Inscription.
Lincoln’s Mahomet
Upper Section

The village of Middletown-Mahomet was platted by Daniel Porter in 1832 on the west bank of the Sangamon River near its headwaters. The main street of the village was actually a new road, made necessary by the location of the county seat at Urbana. The state road was moved to the south of the old Fort Clark Road. This change made Newcom’s Ford (on the northeast) obsolete and, thus, created a new ford near where the old railroad bridge stands today. The main street of Mahomet was once part of the Bloomington Road, reflected in its diagonal orientation, which would have made it align with the river and its ford.

Middle Section

Middletown or Mahomet? The young lawyer Abraham Lincoln in his travels on the Eighth Judicial Circuit actually visited both places. Lincoln arrived here when the town was called Middletown and visited later as it became Mahomet. Middletown, founded in 1832, was so named because it was the half-way point on the new Danville-Bloomington Road. However, by 1840, when a post office was granted to the growing community, “Mahomet” was the official name assigned, because by that time a site in Logan County had already taken the name “Middletown.”

For many years the town did, in fact,
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use both names. Middletown-Mahomet became a convenient stopping point for Abraham Lincoln and his colleagues on the Eighth Judicial Circuit. Lincoln typically came from the direction of the west, in the early years from DeWitt County, and later from Piatt County, on his way toward Urbana, the Champaign County seat. In an era with no bridges, Lincoln’s horse-drawn cart or buggy found the Sangamon River easiest to cross at Bryan’s Ford.

Bottom Section

The Bryans, in-laws to the landholding Busey family, opened their home to travelers on the east side of the ford. That home would later become the Ohio or Nine Gal Tavern under the proprietorship of Thomas Davidson. So named for Davidson’s nine red-headed daughters, the Nine Gal also hosted Abraham Lincoln between 1853 to 1856.

Legend has it that, when Abraham Lincoln passed through, he liked to bounce little Jimmy Davidson on his knee. Another Mahomet inn, the Bloomfield or Rea Tavern (north and west of Mahomet proper) was operated by Sarah Rea. The Rea tavern had two floors and its ceiling was so low that, when Lincoln went up to sleep in the second story, he had to duck his head to pass through the narrow overhead clearance on the staircase.

Mahomet’s Lincoln
Top Section

B. F. Harris brought the first mower, reaper, carriage, organ,
Full View - - Lincoln's Mahomet / Marker image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Al Wolf, November 7, 2009
2. Full View - - Lincoln's Mahomet / Marker
and cooking stove to Champaign County. When Middletown-Mahomet needed a doctor, he traveled to Ohio to learn a bit of the physician’s art and bring home medicines. He also introduced the first sawmill - - and brought the necessary workers to run it - - in order to build his frame house, in which Lincoln visited from 1852 to 1854.

When B. F. Harris went to Washington in 1861, it was to encourage his longtime friend Abraham Lincoln in his war efforts. Harris also visited with Mary Todd Lincoln and the boys and attended a cabinet meeting during his visit to the nation’s capital. When in Middletown-Mahomet, Lincoln dined at the Harris home, situated south and west of the town. Lincoln undoubtedly banked at the Cattle Bank (in Champaign), a bank in which B. F. Harris was a silent partner. Later, Harris would begin the First National Bank of Champaign.

B.F. Harris arrived in Champaign County before the tall-grass prairie could easily be plowed. Harris’ fortune was made by profitably grazing cattle on the same unyielding prairie. He accumulated large landholdings in Piatt and Champaign Counties and was know throughout the country for his prize steers, which he himself drove on foot from Champaign County to Pennsylvania and New York. When he died in 1905, the Pittsburgh Livestock Journal referred to him as the “grand old man of the livestock trade - - the
Close-up Photo - - Map on Marker image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Al Wolf, November 7, 2009
3. Close-up Photo - - Map on Marker
oldest and most successful cattle feeder in the world.”

Bottom Section

B. F. Harris was not the only early Middletown-Mahomet resident that Abraham Lincoln personally knew. B. F. Harris, along with Thomas Davidson, Hezekiah Phillippe, Wiley Davis, John C. Kilgore, and James Fisher helped to start the first Methodist Church in Middletown-Mahomet, the Bethel Church, on Harris’ farm. Some of these early church founders had heard the evangelist Peter Cartwright speak “at the headwaters of the Sangamon” in the 1830s. Peter Cartwright vehemently opposed Lincoln’s bid for the United States House of Representatives because Lincoln was not a churchgoer. By way of defense, Lincoln replied that he “never denied the truth of the Scriptures.”
 
Erected 2008 by Village of Mahomet.
 
Topics and series. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Government & PoliticsSettlements & SettlersWar, US Civil. In addition, it is included in the Former U.S. Presidents: #16 Abraham Lincoln, and the Looking for Lincoln series lists. A significant historical year for this entry is 1832.
 
Location. 40° 11.219′ N, 88° 23.074′ W. Marker is in Mahomet, Illinois, in Champaign County. Marker is on East Oak Street west of Heather
Middle Section - - Lincoln's Mahomet / Marker image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Al Wolf, November 7, 2009
4. Middle Section - - Lincoln's Mahomet / Marker
Drive, on the left when traveling west. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 1403 East Oak Street, Mahomet IL 61853, United States of America. Touch for directions.
 
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within 10 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies. Champaign County's Lincoln (approx. 1.4 miles away); Abraham Lincoln - Eighth Judicial District (approx. 6 miles away); Roger Joseph Ebert (approx. 8.8 miles away); New Orpheum Theatre (approx. 8.8 miles away); Inman Hotel (approx. 9 miles away); Champaign's Lincoln (approx. 9.1 miles away); The First Congregational Church (approx. 9.1 miles away); The Cattle Bank Building (approx. 9.1 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Mahomet.
 
Also see . . .
1. Looking for Lincoln Video - on P. B. S. Follow Henry Louis Gates, Jr. "...from Illinois, to Gettysburg, to Washington, D. C., and face to face with people who live with Lincoln every day...". (Submitted on November 11, 2009, by Al Wolf of Veedersburg, Indiana.) 

2. Looking for Lincoln. Abraham Lincoln National Heritage Area website homepage:
Many resources for tracking Lincoln through history and Illinois, for all ages. (Submitted on November 11, 2009, by Al Wolf of Veedersburg, Indiana.) 
 
Travel with Lincoln image. Click for more information.
Photographed By Larry Gertner
5. Travel with Lincoln
All the HMDb Lincoln Circuit Markers, and a few others, following Lincoln's travels while a member of the Circuit of the Eighth Judicial District from 1847 - 1857.
Climb into Lincoln’s buggy and take a trip with Lincoln and his fellow lawyers on the job traveling Illinois as Circuit Lawyers. See all the Lincoln Circuit Markers (and a surprise or two), in the order of his travels while a member of the Circuit of the Eighth Judicial District (of Illinois) during 1847-1857. Use the “First >>” button in the upper right to see these markers in sequence, starting from Springfield.
(Submitted on November 11, 2009, by Al Wolf of Veedersburg, Indiana.)
Click for more information.
Bottom Section - - Lincoln's Mahomet / Marker image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Al Wolf, November 7, 2009
6. Bottom Section - - Lincoln's Mahomet / Marker
Close-up - - Photo on Marker image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Al Wolf, November 7, 2009
7. Close-up - - Photo on Marker
' Malinda Bryan ' - - Marker Illustration image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Al Wolf, November 7, 2009
8. ' Malinda Bryan ' - - Marker Illustration
Mahomet's Lincoln - Side image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Al Wolf, November 7, 2009
9. Mahomet's Lincoln - Side
Full View - - Mahomet's Lincoln - Side image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Al Wolf, November 7, 2009
10. Full View - - Mahomet's Lincoln - Side
Close-up Photo - - Illustration ' B. F. Harris ' image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Al Wolf, November 7, 2009
11. Close-up Photo - - Illustration ' B. F. Harris '
Bottom Section - - Mahomet's Lincoln - Side image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Al Wolf, November 7, 2009
12. Bottom Section - - Mahomet's Lincoln - Side
Close-up Photo - - ' Abraham Lincoln ' image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Al Wolf, November 7, 2009
13. Close-up Photo - - ' Abraham Lincoln '
Close-up Photo - - ' Peter Cartwright ' image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Al Wolf, November 7, 2009
14. Close-up Photo - - ' Peter Cartwright '
 
 
Credits. This page was last revised on October 11, 2021. It was originally submitted on November 11, 2009, by Al Wolf of Veedersburg, Indiana. This page has been viewed 2,390 times since then and 25 times this year. Photos:   1, 2, 3, 4. submitted on November 11, 2009, by Al Wolf of Veedersburg, Indiana.   5. submitted on June 25, 2021, by Larry Gertner of New York, New York.   6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14. submitted on November 11, 2009, by Al Wolf of Veedersburg, Indiana. • Bill Pfingsten was the editor who published this page.

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Mar. 19, 2024