Museums
Postville Courthouse
Address:
914 5th Street
Lincoln, IL 62656
Contact:
Phone: 217-732-8930
E-mail: david@davidalanbadger.com
Postville Courthouse in Lincoln, Illinois, is a reproduction of the original 1840 courthouse visited by lawyer Abraham Lincoln while he traveled the Eighth Judicial Circuit. Reconstructed on the site of the original courthouse in 1953, Postville Courthouse State Historic Site is today administered by the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency.
Logan County Seat
Russell Post founded Postville, located about 25 miles north of Springfield, in 1835. A growing population prompted the organization of a new county -Logan- four years later, and three commissioners were appointed to select a new county seat. Three towns-Middletown, Mt. Pulaski, and Postville-competed for the county seat.
Postville had the advantage of being near the center of the county. In addition, the town's new promoters-Tinsley, Knapp, and Bird-offered to construct a courthouse at no cost to the county. The commissioners named Postville as the county seat in 1839, though it was not official until the legislature confirmed it two years later.
The courthouse, completed in 1840, housed offices for the sheriff, coroner, recorder, surveyor, county clerk, commissioners, and justice of the peace. Citizens came to the new courthouse to pay taxes, register their deeds, list strayed livestock, and conduct legal business with the circuit court.
Circuit Court at Postville
In addition to the year-round activities of county government, circuit court was held at Postville Courthouse in the spring and fall of each year. Illinois was divided into nine judicial circuits, each composed of several counties. Postville Courthouse was on the Eighth Judicial Circuit.
A judge traveled in the spring and fall to each county on his circuit, taking two or three months to complete the trip. Judge Samuel Treat presided over the Eighth Judicial Circuit, and he generally held court in early June and early November at Postville. The Eighth Judicial Circuit encompassed eight counties, including Logan, in 1840, and in 1845 took in fifteen counties.
Accompanying the judge on the semiannual tour were a district attorney and a group of lawyers. The judicial entourage arrived in each county seat a day or two before court commenced. Lawyers often arrived in town not knowing who would be their clients or the details of each case. Lawyers set up for business in the courthouse, local inn, or wherever they could find room to meet with prospective clients.
Court was a social as well as a judicial event. Citizens flocked to the county seat for court sessions and to sell farm products, buy supplies, visit neighbors, talk politics, gossip, and listen to news and stories from the judge and lawyers. Often the judge, lawyers, and litigants stayed in the same inns, sharing meals and telling stories in the evening.
Cases presented before the judge were generally civil suits, reflecting the concerns of early settlers. Boundary disputes, breach of contract, indebtedness, and ownership of strayed livestock dominated the case load. Most cases were resolved quickly, though more complicated cases could be held over for the next term of court.
Lawyer Lincoln at Postville
Abraham Lincoln, like most lawyers of his day, traveled the circuit to make a living. Most communities were too small to support resident lawyers. Lincoln and his contemporaries handled simple, low-paying cases.When Lincoln first came to Postville, he was the junior partner of John Todd Stuart and later Stephen T. Logan. In 1844 Lincoln opened his own law practice in Springfield with William Herndon as his junior partner. Lincoln most likely handled civil cases in Logan County, but little is known of Lincoln's legal work there because the court records were destroyed in an 1857 fire.
Equally important to his legal work was Lincoln's contact with the public. Logan County citizens helped elect him to the state legislature for four terms (1834-1842) and elected him to one term in Congress in 1846. His work in Logan County bolstered a very successful legal career and helped set the stage for later political successes.
Courthouse Days
Mt. Pulaski, eleven miles southeast of Postville, wrested control of the Logan County seat in 1848 following an April referendum in Mt. Pulaski's favor. County records were moved from Postville to Mt. Pulaski later that year. Postville quickly declined, and within a few years Postville was eclipsed by Lincoln, Illinois, located on the new railroad line. The Logan County seat was moved to Lincoln in 1855, and by the Civil War that city had absorbed old Postville into its boundaries.
Postville Courthouse was sold for $300 to Solomon Kahn, who used the building briefly as a store and later as a post office. As decades passed, the old courthouse was used as a private home. As interest in the life and career of Abraham Lincoln grew, the citizens of Lincoln and Logan County proposed various ways to preserve the building, perhaps as a museum, a library, or civic center. As late as 1929 the building was offered for sale to the community, but without result.
In August 1929 automobile magnate Henry Ford purchased the old courthouse and its one-block site for $8,000. Ford planned to dismantle the structure, move the pieces to Michigan, and rebuild it as a Lincoln memorial at his Greenfield Village in Dearborn, Michigan. After several meetings with local citizens who urged that the building remain at Lincoln, Ford decided to proceed. A Ford work crew arrived on the site on September 6, and by the end of the month the old courthouse, including stones from the old foundation, was gone.
The Postville Courthouse was rebuilt in time for the grand opening of Greenfield Village on October 29, 1929. The downstairs, partially furnished as an 1800s courtroom, housed a display of Lincoln memorabilia. Today the first floor is fully furnished as a mid-1800s courtroom; the upstairs is closed to the public.
A Historic Site
After dismantling the old courthouse, Henry Ford donated the block, to be used as a park, to the Logan County Historical Society. For two decades the block was empty. During its centennial in 1953 the city of Lincoln presented the block to the State of Illinois as the first step in creating a Lincoln memorial.
The State of Illinois began construction of a replica building based on the original courthouse in Greenfield Village. The exterior of the two-story frame building was completed in 1953, but three years passed before the interior was finished and visitors were allowed.
In 1956 a local museum collection was installed on the first floor while the second floor was furnished as a mid-nineteenth century courtroom and offices. In 1977 a new interpretive exhibit on the Eighth Judicial Circuit replaced the local collection. The second floor still houses a courtroom and office furnished and arranged as they might have been in the 1840s when Abraham Lincoln visited Postville Courthouse.
I6Tickets/Admission Info:
Postville Courthouse State Historic Site is open Friday and Saturday from Noon to 5 P.M. Groups of 25 or more must have a reservation. Suggested donation: Adults $2, Children $1. Several special events and activities are held each year at Postville Courthouse. For additional information, write Site Manager, Postville Courthouse State Historic Site, PO Box 355, Lincoln, IL 62656, or phone 217/732-8930. Postville Courthouse is a reproduction of the first Logan County Courthouse, which was in use from 1840 to 1847. During this period Abraham Lincoln served as a lawyer on the Eighth Circuit, which held semi-annual sessions at the courthouse. The town of Postville was mapped out in 1835 and became the first Logan County seat in 1839. The main floor of the courthouse contains an exhibit that introduces visitors to the Eighth Judicial Circuit. The second floor contains a courtroom and a county office furnished to the 1840's period. Hours: 12 - 5:00 p.m., Tuesday - Saturday
Closed: Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year's Day
Directions: Postville Courthouse is Located in Lincoln, Illinois. From I-55, take Lincoln Exit 126 (State Route 10). At the first stoplight turn south. At the next stoplight (Fifth Street) turn east, and proceed five blocks to the site.
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