Lawyers and Book Lovers

"The things I want to know are in books; my best friend is a man who'll get me a book I ain't read." said Abraham Lincoln when he was about ten years old.  Lincoln, who was known to be awkward around the gentler sex, found he was comfortable discussing books with Mary Todd, a woman also interested in the "unfeminine" world of politics...

Lincoln met a kindred soul in Clinton's first resident lawyer, C. H. Moore, a great lover of books who owned the largest private library in downstate Illinois during the nineteenth century.  Before his death, Moore commissioned an architect to draw up plans for a public library.  His son-in-law and law partner, Congressman Vespasian Warner, donated funds and land to make Moore's dream come true.  The Vespasian Warner Public Library, including the C. H. Moore Rate Book Collection, opened in 1908, and today remains the repository for more than 5,000 volumes of Moore's collection.  Among its highlights is a book bearing Lincoln's handwriting, presented to his friend C. H. Moore shortly before Lincoln left Illinois to assume the office of President...

Looking for Lincoln wayside exhibits tell the stories of Lincoln’s life and times in Illinois.  Each wayside exhibit tells a unique Lincoln story and a local story.  Many of the waysides share little known stories about Lincoln and the individuals he interacted with.  There are over 260 Looking for Lincoln waysides in the Abraham Lincoln National Heritage Area.    

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