Jacksonville

James Jaquess, the first president of the Illinois Conference Female Academy, now MacMurray College, once lived in this house. Jaquess, a Methodist minister, first met Lincoln when he was preaching and Lincoln was practicing law in central Illinois. During the Civil War Lincoln entrusted Jaquess with important missions. In 1863 Jaquess met with Confederate officials to discuss ending the war. The following year, Jaquess met with Confederate President Jefferson Davis, who declared that the South would accept peace only if it could remain independent.

The mural is painted on the side of the building on Sandy Street, at the southwest corner of Central Park. The wayside exhibit is located on the edge of the park in the southwest corner of Central Park. In 1856 Abraham Lincoln delivered a speech in the Morgan County Courthouse park, now known as Central Park, sharing his views about one of the hotly debated topics of the day – the extension of slavery into newly organized territories of the United States. Joseph O. King, a local merchant, later recalled Lincoln’s stirring oratory. “He spoke in the courthouse park, and when he came out sharp and strong against slavery, I threw up my hat and shouted, ‘Hurray for Abe Lincoln for president of the United States.’”

Newton Bateman, a well-known educator in Illinois in the 1800s and friend of Abraham Lincoln, lived in this Gothic Revival-style house in the 1850s. He was principal of what is believed to be the first free public high school in Illinois -– West Jacksonville District School – in the 1850s. Bateman, while serving as state superintendent of schools, had an office next to President-elect Lincoln in the Illinois Capitol in Springfield, and the two men became friends in the months prior to Lincoln’s departure for Washington, D.C.

Richard Yates, the first graduate of Illinois College, shared strong views with Abraham Lincoln; they both supported the Whig Party and strongly opposed Stephen A. Douglas. Yates was the Radical Republican Governor of Illinois during the Civil War. He made trips to visit and encourage troops by supporting the sick and wounded. This is why he became known as the “Soldier’s Friend.” As the war was ending, Yates became a member of the U.S. Senate.

In 1831 John J. Hardin moved to Jacksonville. Hardin and Lincoln served in the Black Hawk War and they both were lawyers and Whig politicians who became rivals for leadership of the party. It is said that Hardin may have saved Lincoln’s life by rushing to an island near Alton to stop a duel between Lincoln and General James Shields, at whom Lincoln poked fun in a published letter. Hardin persuaded the men to come to a compromise.