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Paul Beaver
presents: 'Abraham Lincoln in Logan County,
IL 1834-1860'
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[February 21, 2012]
ELKHART
-- Paul Beaver, Lincoln College
professor emeritus, appeared as guest
lecturer at the Wild Hare Cafe in Elkhart
last weekend, for the first in a new series
of dinner lectures sponsored by the Elkhart
Historical Society. |
 Forty
customers enjoyed the tasty hometown cuisine
and Beaver's talk and PowerPoint
presentation, which revealed some of the
topics covered in his recent book by the
same title, presenting Abraham Lincoln's
work as a central Illinois surveyor, lawyer
and politician. They learned that Lincoln
both naturally and on purpose cultivated
friendships during these years, which did
everything to catapult him from regional to
national politics and eventually to the
presidency of the United States.
Several items that have been reported and
written in numerous books about Abraham
Lincoln were pointed out by Beaver to be
simply untrue or inaccurate. He supported
these findings with documented research that
he has done, including information from
interviews with descendants of family who
knew Lincoln in the mid-1800s.
Beaver also revealed information about
John D. Gillett, who was a local cattle
baron in those days and who supported his
friend Abraham Lincoln both emotionally and
financially in the months of 1860 when
Lincoln was a Republican nominee and elected
as our 16th president.
Several known court cases involving Mr.
Lincoln in the Postville and Mount Pulaski
county seat venues were discussed, including
one that occurred under a tree along Salt
Creek north of Mount Pulaski, reportedly on
the former Emmett Shellhammer farmstead.
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top of second column] |
Interestingly, Beaver pointed out that
Abraham Lincoln was not only extremely
interested in mechanical contraptions, but
further, is the only president of the United
States to ever hold a patent, which is on
display at the Smithsonian Institution in
Washington, D.C.
Beaver will again give a presentation on
March 16, with his talk on much of the same
material but with emphasis on the "Irish
Connection" to Abraham Lincoln and central
Illinois in those days. For information on
times and reservations, visit
www.elkharthistoricalsociety.org.
[Text from file received from Phil
Bertoni]
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