Logan County Genealogical & Historical Society celebrate President Abraham Lincoln’s Birthday

 

[February 14, 2020] 

To say that the weather was somewhat nasty on Wednesday afternoon in Logan County would be an understatement. That nastiness may have been the primary reason for a light turnout at the Logan County Genealogical & Historical Society Lincoln Day open house. Even so, the volunteers on hand were enjoying the day and taking advantage of every opportunity to share their knowledge of our 16th President and our local community with visitors.

The open house began at 2 p.m. on Wednesday and wrapped up around 4 p.m. Volunteers on hand for the afternoon included Roseann Coers, Curt Dobihal, Bill Donath and Diane Farmer.

Guests were welcomed inside and offered sweet treats and warm cider as they visited with volunteers and took a look around at the items on display.

The society was also offering something special for a $25 donation. Plaster busts of Abraham Lincoln had been acquired from the Charlie Ott estate, and volunteers had mounted them in shadow box frames. The framed busts were very eye catching and got plenty of attention from visitors.

In addition, the society had a number of other items on display including a family tree of the Lincoln family.

Bill Donath was showing guests laminated copies of Lincoln Evening Courier from 1853 that included photos of the founders of the city of Lincoln. Donath said that the newspapers had been donated to the society by historian Leigh Henson.

The society offers one room that is dedicated solely to Abraham Lincoln and guests were encouraged to spend time looking at the many memorabilia items such as a collection of Lincoln plates, and some very attractive folk-art style caricatures of the President and many, many other items.

The room also includes a library of books pertaining to the President, as well as his life in Illinois and his relationship to the town of Lincoln.

For anyone who has not ever made a stop at the society, please consider doing so, especially if you have an interest in Mr. Lincoln, Logan County and its communities, or the people of the county.

The society does extensive genealogical research and has a large collection of books to search through when seeking to fill in local family histories. The volunteers will also assist with the searches and offer their knowledge of the communities in the county to those who are seeking to find their roots.

The society also offers a large selection of fact based books about our local communities written by local authors.

The Historical Society center is located at 114 North Chicago Street in Lincoln. The center is open on Tuesday, Thursday and Friday each week from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.

[Nila Smith]