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Moweaqua in Shelby County, Illinois — The American Midwest (Great Lakes)
 

Lincoln's Cavalry Guard

Looking for Lincoln

 
 
Left Section - - Lincoln's Cavalry Guard Marker image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Al Wolf, May 15, 2010
1. Left Section - - Lincoln's Cavalry Guard Marker
(Click on any of these photos to see details.)
Inscription.

Left Section

In 1863, Ohio Governor David Tod believed that Lincoln needed a cavalry body-guard. Governor Tod requested one volunteer from each county in Ohio to serve on special duty. Guernsey County, in east-central Ohio supplied Ephraim Adamson, a twenty-four-year-old farmer. Recruits were unaware of their duty until mustered into service and transported to Washington, D. C. Officially the 7th Independent Company, Ohio Volunteer Cavalry, they were called the Union Light Guard. With a unit of more than one hundred men, not all cavalrymen stayed with Lincoln. A large contingent guarded important Washington public buildings, including the War and Treasury Departments. President Lincoln spent summers at the Soldier’s Home, and guards escorted him to and from downtown Washington. Private Adamson mainly served at General Daniel Rucker’s headquarters. In April 1865, Adamson was at the Executive Mansion and heard President Lincoln give his final speech on April 11. John Wilkes Booth heard the same speech and, because of it, decided to assassinate the President. Lincoln had no guard on the night of April 14 because he typically refused a detail while attending the theater.

Middle Section

Private Adamson mustered out of service in September 1865 and returned to Ohio, selling goods from a wagon. He
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married Josephine Scott and moved to Moweaqua, where he became a farmer. He accumulated substantial property in Illinois and Nebraska. Adamson, seated left in this photo from the 1890's and his wife had eight children. Along with many from his unit, Adamson attended reunions late in the nineteenth-century and was one of the last survivors, dying in Moweaqua in 1928.

Right Section

President Lincoln and his family frequently interacted with members of the guard. Once, Tad Lincoln obtained the captain’s whistle, which signaled the sentinels to change position at each half-hour. Tad blew the whistle constantly for a short period of time surprising and confusing the guards. Adamson and others also complained to Lincoln about not fighting on the front line. Lincoln admonished the men, stating that while he preferred not to have a guard, Secretary of War Edwin Stanton insisted upon it. Then he told the story of a farmer who could not “understand why the Lord put the curl in a pig’s tail. It never seemed to be either useful or ornamental, but he reckoned that the Almighty knew what he was doing when he put it there.”
 
Erected 2009 by Shelby County Historical Society.
 
Topics and series. This historical marker is listed in this topic list: War, US Civil.
Middle Section - - Lincoln's Cavalry Guard Marker image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Al Wolf, May 15, 2010
2. Middle Section - - Lincoln's Cavalry Guard Marker
In addition, it is included in the Former U.S. Presidents: #16 Abraham Lincoln, and the Looking for Lincoln series lists. A significant historical month for this entry is April 1865.
 
Location. 39° 37.47′ N, 89° 1.194′ W. Marker is in Moweaqua, Illinois, in Shelby County. Marker is on South Main Street south of East Main Street, on the right when traveling south. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: Moweaqua IL 62550, United States of America. Touch for directions.
 
Other nearby markers. At least 7 other markers are within 14 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies. Moweaqua Coal Mine Disaster Memorial (approx. 0.3 miles away); Moweaqua Coal Mine Disaster (approx. 0.3 miles away); Abraham Lincoln - Eighth Judicial District (approx. 12.8 miles away); First Home in Illinois of Abraham Lincoln (approx. 13.1 miles away); Whitley Mill and Dam (approx. 13.1 miles away); First Home of Abraham Lincoln in Illinois (approx. 13.2 miles away); Site of the Lincoln Cabin (approx. 13.2 miles away).
 
Also see . . .
1. Dedication of Lincoln's Cavalry Guard Marker. Courtesy Herald-Review.com:: here is a fine report of the Dedication and review - - by relatives of Ephraim Adamson of the historic marker. (Submitted on May 16, 2010, by Al Wolf of Veedersburg, Indiana.) 

2. Looking for Lincoln Video - on P. B. S.
Middle Section - - Photo "Ephraim Adamson Family" - Ephraim seated left... image. Click for more information.
Photographed By Al Wolf, May 15, 2010
3. Middle Section - - Photo "Ephraim Adamson Family" - Ephraim seated left...
"Protecting a President: Ohio's 7th Independent Cavalry"
Ohio History Connection website entry
Click for more information.
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 May 16, 2010, by Al Wolf of Veedersburg, Indiana.) 

3. Looking for Lincoln. Abraham Lincoln National Heritage Area website entry:
Many resources for tracking Lincoln through History and Illinois, for all ages. (Submitted on May 16, 2010, by Al Wolf of Veedersburg, Indiana.) 
 
Right Section - - Lincoln's Cavalry Guard Marker image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Al Wolf, May 15, 2010
4. Right Section - - Lincoln's Cavalry Guard Marker
Ephraim Adamson's Enlistment Papers image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Al Wolf, May 15, 2010
5. Ephraim Adamson's Enlistment Papers
Travel with Lincoln image. Click for more information.
Photographed By Larry Gertner
6. 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 May 16, 2010, by Al Wolf of Veedersburg, Indiana.)
Click for more information.
Full View - - Lincoln's Cavalry Guard Marker image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Al Wolf, May 15, 2010
7. Full View - - Lincoln's Cavalry Guard Marker
Looking South - - Lincoln's Cavalry Guard Marker image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Al Wolf, May 15, 2010
8. Looking South - - Lincoln's Cavalry Guard Marker
Looking North/West - - Lincoln's Cavalry Guard Marker image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Al Wolf, May 15, 2010
9. Looking North/West - - Lincoln's Cavalry Guard Marker
Village of Moweaqua "Jail " 1924 - 1945 image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Al Wolf, May 15, 2010
10. Village of Moweaqua "Jail " 1924 - 1945
This "Jail" is just a few steps to the West of the marker.
" "Oasis" Park " sign next to the "Jail" . . . image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Al Wolf, May 15, 2010
11. " "Oasis" Park " sign next to the "Jail" . . .
Looking North/East - - Lincoln's Cavalry Guard Marker image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Al Wolf, May 15, 2010
12. Looking North/East - - Lincoln's Cavalry Guard Marker
Looking West - - Lincoln's Cavalry Guard Marker image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Al Wolf, May 15, 2010
13. Looking West - - Lincoln's Cavalry Guard Marker
 
 
Credits. This page was last revised on July 28, 2021. It was originally submitted on May 16, 2010, by Al Wolf of Veedersburg, Indiana. This page has been viewed 1,492 times since then and 8 times this year. Photos:   1, 2, 3, 4, 5. submitted on May 16, 2010, by Al Wolf of Veedersburg, Indiana.   6. submitted on July 28, 2021, by Larry Gertner of New York, New York.   7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13. submitted on May 16, 2010, by Al Wolf of Veedersburg, Indiana. • Craig Swain was the editor who published this page.

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Mar. 28, 2024