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For
the best part of an hour Saturday afternoon at Mount Pulaski’s
Courthouse’s 1850s Open House, Don Russell, Springfield actor and
director, portrayed "just plain Billy Brown," an ordinary
man who knew Abe Lincoln. Russell gave so convincing a performance
that some folks in the audience admitted to having tears in their eyes
when "Billy" talked about Lincoln’s death: "He wasn’t
going to be coming home. He wasn’t going to sit in a chair in my
store again."
The
Billy Brown character was created by author Ida Tarbell in her
"History of Abraham Lincoln." Brown was part fact, part
fiction, Russell explained, though there was a real William Brown who
ran a store in Springfield and no doubt knew Lincoln.
In
one of Billy’s stories, Abe Lincoln the lawyer was in the courtroom
when Judge David Davis of Bloomington, an old friend and fellow
circuit rider, was presiding. Lincoln had told a story that had the
whole courtroom laughing, and Davis was so annoyed he fined Lincoln
five dollars for disturbing the court. A few minutes later, when the
story finally got around to Davis, the judge burst out laughing, too.
Then he remitted the fine.
Billy
thought at first folks were making fun of Abe when they suggested he
run for the highest office in the land, because he didn’t look
anything like George Washington or Tom Jefferson. But Abe didn’t put
on any airs after his nomination. "He looked just same. No
struttin’ around.
"Yes,
I knew Abraham Lincoln. I knew him well. There was never a better man
made. He just suited me," Billy concluded.
The
courthouse itself, one of the few places left where visitors can stand
in a courtroom where Lincoln practiced law, added to the feeling of
stepping back in time, with its two wood stoves, six-over-six window
panes, candles in the chandeliers and hard wooden benches.
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top of second column in this article]
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Music
and musical instruments of the time when Lincoln lived, and of much
earlier times too, were also on Saturday’s program. Performer and
luthier (maker of stringed instruments) Dale C. Evans of Bloomington
played instruments that were popular in the1800s, such as the hammered
dulcimer and the mountain dulcimer, and one unusual music-maker that
came along a little later.
A
hurdy-gurdy that Evans himself built, played by turning a wheel and
picking out a tune on a keyboard, created a sound that reminded some
in the audience of a bagpipe. Also called a barrel organ, the
hurdy-gurdy was the first instrument to use a keyboard. Dating back to
early medieval times, it was not only the predecessor of all keyboard
instruments, Evans told the audience, it was also the ancestor of
today’s computer.
Evans
also played an unusual instrument that was popular in the early part
of the 20th century, a Ukelin. This box-like instrument is played
using both a bow and a pick. The melody, played by the bow, is
accompanied by chords played with the pick. Evans said Ukelins were
made by a Michigan company and sold door-to-door, and a Ukelin teacher
would follow up later to give customers a few lessons. Now these
instruments are usually found only at flea markets, he said, and most
people don’t know what they are or how to play them.
These
"folk" instruments, dulcimers and others, were popular in
the days before radio or television, when people stayed home and made
their own music. "Homemade music is like homemade biscuits,"
Evans told the audience. "There’s something special about
it."
More
homemade music will be part of the Dec. 2 Christmas Open House at the
Mount Pulaski Courthouse, said Richard Schachtsiek, site manager. The
courthouse will be open from noon to 8 p.m., and Judy Schmidt of
Canton, Mo., will give concerts on the hammered dulcimer at 3 and 6
p.m.
[Joan
Crabb]
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