Macon County Museum

Macon County Museum. . In 1838, Abraham Lincoln had the opportunity to practice law in Macon County's first courthouse. He took part in five court cases. , According to Lincoln biographer Ms. Ida Tarbell, the first Macon County Courthouse was probably the only log courthouse that Lincoln ever practiced law in during his career – the rest already made of planked wood or brick. Shortly after Lincoln participated in those five cases, Macon County replaced the log courthouse with a brick structure. In 1830, Lincoln and his family arrived in Illinois to make Macon County and Decatur their first home. He had many opportunities to view the Courthouse, built in part by his second cousin, John Hanks. Hanks had been hired to do the "chinking and daubing” of plastering for the log courthouse. Many also claimed that Lincoln probably attended the sessions of the court when he was in Decatur during 1830. After the log courthouse was replaced, it was rented out for offices and later moved to a farm for use as a meeting house, a school, a stable, and a corncrib. , [Caption] The courthouse was in danger of becoming a forgotten piece of Lincoln history until it was purchased and given to the Macon County Old Settler's Association. It was subsequently owned by the Daughters of the American Revolution and the Decatur Park District before being obtained by the Macon County Historical Society and moved to its present location in 1992. , The Macon County Historical Society had its birth on May 25, 1916, when twelve people met in the Decatur Public Library, adopted a constitution, and elected officers. Later that year, there was an appeal to the public for any items of historical interest. The Society had plans “to establish a library of local and state history, to maintain a museum, and to cultivate the historic sense and diffuse knowledge upon these subjects by meetings and publications.” The Society would become inactive and then reorganized a few times over forty years. In 1962, several local citizens met to discuss the reactivation of the Society. Meetings were held in Decatur's old Carnegie Public Library until the Society had the chance to purchase the north Cumberland Presbyterian Church for its meetings. Today, the Society maintains its Museum and Prairie Village highlighted by the Lincoln Log Courthouse.