Judge Bill Workman accepts donation of Lincoln head statue at the Logan County Courthouse

 

[October 20, 2018] 

On Friday morning Judge Bill Workman was joined in the third floor courtroom at the Logan County Courthouse by Bob and Judith Gordon. The trio gathered for a photo op with an Abraham Lincoln head donated to the Logan County Courthouse and Workman’s courtroom by the Gordons.

Judith Gordon offered the story behind the head. Several years ago Forbes and Hazel Hanson lived in Lincoln. While on a visit to Lincoln, Forbes’ mother went to Lincoln’s New Salem near Petersburg. There she bought the Lincoln head as a keepsake.

Judith said that when Forbe’s mother passed away, the head was given to Forbes and Hazel. The Hanson’s now live in Clarkfield, Minnesota. They decided the head should come back to Lincoln, Illinois. So they sent it to the Gordon’s with instructions to do with the head as they saw fit.

Bob Gordon is a bailiff in Judge Workman’s Court, and the couple decided they wanted to donate the head to the courthouse and Judge Workman’s Courtroom.

Judge Workman said that the head has been in the courtroom for a short while, and was at first placed on a table top display.

But, he said one of the attorneys took to rubbing Mr. Lincoln’s nose for good luck before going in front of the judge. Workman said that didn’t work out all that well for the attorney, but it was humorous.

Workman said he purchased a very rustic shelf made of barn wood that seemed to be a very fitting location for the statue to preside over the courtroom from behind the judge’s bench.

Workman said he was pleased to have the statue in his courtroom, and felt that because Abraham Lincoln is not only an important part of our nation’s history, but also a noted attorney who practiced law in Logan County, it was a fitting and proper place.

The plaque attached to the head reads: “Donated to Logan County Court House in Honor of Bob and Judith Gordon by Forbes and Hazel Hanson, Clarkfield, MN (formerly of Lincoln, IL).”

[Nila Smith]