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 The LSC is a group of local volunteers focused
on sustaining Lincoln’s legacy while increasing the number of
visitors and encouraging the exploration of our community and
county, as well as contribute to a strong, positive image of the
community. Wanting to convey the story of Lincoln, the lawyer, in an
artistic way, the group commissioned renowned artist John McClarey
to create a life-size, bronze statue of Mr. Lincoln.
About the sculptor: John McClarey of Decatur, Illinois, specializes
in the form and thought of Abraham Lincoln. His life-size sculptured
works of Lincoln, at times with another figure, can be found in
thirteen Illinois sites. His most prized works include the heroic
size Lincoln for the centerpiece of the Lincoln Presidential Library
complex in Springfield, and a bronze bust of Lincoln for the Russian
State Library for Foreign Literature in Moscow. While in Moscow, Mr.
McClarey served as a “Lincoln Ambassador” under a grant from the
United States State Department. Other Lincoln works can be found in
the Hall of the Revolution in Havana, Cuba, and Askikaga, Japan. His
collected works can be found in the Library of Congress, the
Illinois
Supreme Court, the United States Supreme Court, the Eastern National
Park Service, twelve or thirteen schools of Law, including the
University of Illinois, as well as in many private collections. He
was the 2005 recipient of the Richard Nelson Current Award of
Achievement at the Lincoln Forum in Gettysburg, the first
anti-historian to receive this award. In 2009, the artist was
elected to the Order of Lincoln, the state’s highest award, and in
2008 was inducted into the Hall of Fame of the College of Arts and
Sciences at Illinois State University. His most recent piece, “Iron
Determination” was dedicated in the reconstructed Old Courthouse
Square in Rockford, Illinois in 2009. His “Field of Dreams” National
Abraham Lincoln Agricultural Award was presented in 2007 and again
in 2009 to ten persons with distinguished accomplishments in
Agriculture at the National Farm Progress Show held in Decatur. Mr.
McClarey’s works have appeared in the Journal of the Abraham Lincoln
Association, Illinois Issues, Illinois Heritage, and in numerous
book and film documentaries on Lincoln including the PBS Illinois
Stories.
Major non-Lincoln sculpture commissions include the founders of
Methodism for Bicentennial of American Methodism, and the founder
and first President of Millikin University in Decatur. In 2002, he
presented six lectures on Lincoln as depicted in his art at Lincoln
Land College in Springfield, and in 2009 was a guest lecturer at
Millikin as part of the Lincoln Bicentennial celebration. McClarey
holds a B.A. from Millikin and a M.S. from Illinois State
University. He has taught school at many levels and worked in state
government for many years. He resides on a farm near Decatur with
his wife Carole.
Realizing that the greatest asset of any community is its people,
the citizens of Mt. Pulaski strive to honor our sixteenth President,
Abraham Lincoln, who practiced law. Located on the town square is an
original courthouse, where Mr. Lincoln tried cases from 1849 to
1855. Most of the case history for Logan County/Mt. Pulaski was lost
in a fire, but some cases went on to the supreme court. One noted
case involved was the Cast Iron Tombstone. Wanting to keep the
statue related directly to the courthouse and our local history, the
decision was made to commemorate the Cast Iron Tombstone Case and
title the statue The Pursuit of Truth. There are still two known
cast iron tombstones, located in the Mt. Pulaski Cemetery and the
Turley Cemetery.
The statue will be life-size and bronze. It depicts a younger,
beardless, Abraham Lincoln-the lawyer, who practiced law at the Mt. Pulaski
Courthouse and traveled the Eighth Judicial Circuit. Lincoln is sitting on a
bench reading papers for his upcoming case about the cast iron tombstone and
scratching his head trying to figure out how to win his case. The idea of
scratching his head is suggested by the artist John McClarey. He was inspired by
the quote below.
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“I am slow to learn and slow to forget that which I
have learned. My mind is like a piece of steel, very hard to scratch anything on
it and almost impossible after you get it there to rub it out.”
― Abraham Lincoln
Below is a passage from mountpulaskitownshiphistorical
society.com that explains the Cast
Iron Tombstone Case.
“Another known Lincoln case was the Cast Iron Tombstone Trial, held in Mount
Pulaski in 1854. A second Cast Iron Tombstone trial was held in the Lincoln
court a year or two later. The plaintiffs in these two trials were William E.
Young and Nathaniel Whitaker, also both of Mount Pulaski. Young was a local
lawyer and Whitaker was currently the proud owner of the Mount Pulaski House
Hotel, a Justice of the Peace, and a member of the Mount Pulaski School Board.
They charged that Ruben Miller of Menard County, an authorized agent of the
owner of the patent, “made false and fraudulent representations concerning the
patent.” They claimed that they should have their money and property returned to
them since the manufacturing patent rights to the Cast-Iron Tombstones did not
include the actual tombstones, but merely the decorative part of the tombstones.
[Photocopy of original Supreme Court Manuscript, January 1864: Cast iron
Tombstone Case, Illinois State Historical Library, Springfield, IL.] Stephen T.
Logan, Milton Hay, William H. Herndon, and Abraham Lincoln defended Miller in
the Mount Pulaski Court and later in the new nearby town of Lincoln Court. Both
cases were lost on the county seat level, and they were appealed to the Illinois
State Supreme Court.”
FUNDRAISING
Fundraising efforts are underway for the committee. A minimum project cost total
required for the statue is $130,000. The group is selling maquettes of the
statue in two different sizes and is accepting pledges and donations. Currently
the committee is sending out letters and brochures that explain the project more
in depth. The group is also seeking various grants. (Please
see the attached brochure)
This project will span over the next few years and require collaborative
efforts. The group is working diligently with the Illinois Department of Natural
Resources for approval of proper lawn placement and suitable state procedures
for such projects.
The statue is tentatively planned to be placed on the north-west quadrant of the
courtyard with a sidewalk leading to the statue area.
Please see photo below.
Lincoln Statue Committee Members:
Phyllis Beccue: Co-Chair
Renee Martin: Co-Chair
Sue Stewart
Barbara Stroud-Borth
oyce Maxheimer
Allen Schaal
Sue Schaffenacker
Marla Blair
Rick Volle
Steve Martin: Courthouse Site Manager
Please email mpmuseum95@gmail.com
for more information about the statue or contact Phyllis Beccue at 217.652.7314.
Statue
Brochure and Order form - Pdf
[Renee Martin - Mount Pulaski
Township Historical Society]
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