In 1816 while this land area was still a part of the Illinois Territory and before Illinois became a state on December 3, 1818, two brothers named Lorton from St. Joseph, Michigan came to this vicinity and built an Indian trading house which also . . . — — Map (db m33295) HM
John Hanks was born in 1802 in Kentucky, he was a second cousin of Abraham Lincoln through Lincoln's mother, Nancy Hanks Lincoln. John Hanks stated that he first knew Lincoln when he was a boy of twelve in Spencer County, Indiana. However, it . . . — — Map (db m41240) HM
In June 1830 farm hand Abraham Lincoln was working on the farm of his relation, William Hanks, just a few blocks from the main square in Decatur. Suddenly, he heard a disturbance coming from the square. Hopping the fence and heading to the . . . — — Map (db m183839) HM
Lincoln
[Also engraved in the stone around the tomb are the names or abbreviations of every state at the time of Abraham Lincoln’s death] — — Map (db m4861) HM WM
Thomas Lincoln
Thomas Lincoln was born on January 7, 1778, in Rockingham County, Virginia, to Captain Abraham and Bathsheba Lincoln. He was the youngest of three sons and the fourth of five children. The Lincoln family migrated from . . . — — Map (db m46311) HM
Lincoln mounted a stump by Harrell's Tavern facing this square, and defended the Illinois Whig Party candidates near this spot at age 21 in the Summer of 1830.
This statue erected Oct. 12, 1968 by the Decatur and Macon County Heritage . . . — — Map (db m12199) HM
(center panel:)
Called the Illinois Traction System until 1937, the Illinois Terminal System was 550 miles of electrified railroad, linking farm communities of central Illinois to the bigger cities of Peoria, Springfield and St. Louis. . . . — — Map (db m162227) HM
"The Parrott gun was placed in the pike; it was opened as soon as the last message from Colonel Smith was received; and, as suddenly as if its flash had ignited them, Palmer's four guns roared out from the hill on the left of the road, about six . . . — — Map (db m170819) HM
During the Civil War, about 500 Macon County men served on each side. The Highland Rim ridge, as well as family loyalties, generally separated Confederates from Unionists. Gibbs Crossroads, where Confederate Gen. Braxton Bragg once had a . . . — — Map (db m82225) HM
The City of Decatur was chosen as the site for the 1860 Republican State Convention with Abraham Lincoln as the most prominent Republican present. As the convention delegates were beginning to take their first, formal balloting, Richard . . . — — Map (db m56912) HM
The second courthouse was an imposing structure far that time. Located on the southeast corner of Main and Main, it stood over forty feet tall, was made entirely of brick, and had a cupola for the courthouse bell. When not in use as a courthouse, . . . — — Map (db m183838) HM
Why Lincoln?
Neither Carl Fisher or Henry Joy ever met Abraham Lincoln but both had gown up in a nation that was still grieving over the death of the “Great Emancipator” and that was still searching for a fitting way to nationally honor the . . . — — Map (db m282521) HM
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 . . . — — Map (db m253554) HM
1941-1945
For God and country
This tablet is dedicated
in honor of
the
men and women of River Grove
Illinois who answered their
country's call in World War II
and
in memory of
these men who made
the supreme sacrifice
George . . . — — Map (db m230222) HM
On June 3, 1893, a mob of 1,500 white people lynched a 30-year-old
Black man named Samuel J. Bush across from the courthouse lawn in
Decatur, Illinois. Mr. Bush was accused of assaulting two white
women - one from Mt. Zion, a “sundown town”. He . . . — — Map (db m253545) HM
With the outbreak of the Civil War, Tennessee allied with the South in June 1861, making Nashville a Confederate capital. Unable to defend the city after the fall of Ft. Donelson, Nashville was surrendered to the Federal army in February 1862. . . . — — Map (db m256526) HM
Thin black lines indicate changes in relevance. Between each pair of lines entries are ordered geographically but all have the same relevance.
* Inflectional forms of words are their plurals, singulars, and possessives as well as gramatical tenses and similar variations.
