Lincoln's New Salem archaeology probes for more evidence of first building owned by Abraham Lincoln

[APRIL 29, 2006]  PETERSBURG -- Archaeologists have returned to the reconstructed log village where Abraham Lincoln lived for six years during the 1830s to search for more evidence of the first building he owned.

"A recently discovered document from the 1830s revealed that young Abraham Lincoln owned property in New Salem and this property included at least one structure," said Dr. Thomas Schwartz, interim director of the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum in Springfield, who found the document. "This building would have been the first he ever owned, and the archaeological investigation will give us more information about this important, previously unknown chapter of Lincoln's life."

Archaeologists from the Sangamo Archaeological Center in Elkhart have resumed work at several locations at Lincoln's New Salem State Historic Site, near Petersburg. They are focusing on the reconstructed Offutt Store in the east end of the village, the area in which recent archaeological surveys indicate the Lincoln-owned property was located.

So far, crews have uncovered a small portion of the original Offutt Store cellar that escaped destruction during the 1930s rebuilding of New Salem as a state park. This has produced artifacts and fragments of items that were part of the store and its inventory. Nearby, they have found evidence of what may have been a "brick clamp" used to manufacture bricks for nearby fireplaces, such as the one in the Offutt Store. The crew also hopes to confirm the size and shape of the original buildings that stood on the property, one of which is now thought to have measured more than 30 feet long.

"These findings may help us develop new interpretive themes in the village," said David Hedrick, site manager for Lincoln's New Salem. "New Salem visitors have always been drawn by our Lincoln connection, and this may give us tangible proof of what Lincoln owned and what his property may have looked like."

It appears that Lincoln and another clerk at the store, Charles Maltby, may have purchased Offutt's property in 1832. The two had planned to operate a warehouse at New Salem to serve as a distribution and shipping point for steamboats along the nearby Sangamon River. The shallow river soon dashed any hopes of steamboat travel in the area, and the Black Hawk War pulled Lincoln away from the project in the summer of 1832. When he returned, Lincoln re-entered the retail business and may have briefly used the old Offutt Store building. Three years later he still owned the property, which he may have occasionally used as a storage area, residence or an office for his surveying work.

"Dr. Schwartz's recent research, combined with what we're finding on-site, promises to revise our understanding of Lincoln's investment in the frontier community of New Salem," said Robert Mazrim, director of the Sangamo Archaeological Center. Mazrim has conducted archaeological and archival research at Lincoln's New Salem for more than 10 years and will soon publish a book about his findings.

The reconstructed log village at Lincoln's New Salem State Historic Site tells an important part of Abraham Lincoln's life story. He arrived by flatboat in 1831 as an unemployed, 22-year-old with no real direction in his life and left in 1837 as a self-taught lawyer with a bright political future.

Lincoln's New Salem is open daily for free public tours. The site is located along Route 97, about two miles south of Petersburg and 20 miles northwest of Springfield.

The Illinois Historic Preservation Agency administers the site.

[Illinois Historic Preservation Agency news release]