Left to right: Patrick Bree as
Nathaniel Whittaker, plaintiff; Sam
Fielden as Reuben Miller, defendant;
Mark Foley as Abraham Lincoln,
lawyer for the defendant; Brady
Walsh, an eighth-grader, as John
Hurt, bailiff; Samantha Fanning as
Mrs. Miller, wife of the defendant;
Justin White as Judge David Davis;
Rebecca Henrichsmeyer as Matilda
Whittaker, wife of the plaintiff;
Timothy Koehler, foreman of the
jury; Caleb Coppinger as Preacher
Uriah Schwalb; Jordan Taylor as
narrator; Derek Baunach as David
Campbell, lawyer for the plaintiff;
and seated, Nick Raineri, an
eighth-grader, as Raspus Finfrock,
Mount Pulaski House bartender. |
Performances at Mount Pulaski
Courthouse remember Lincoln
Send a link to a friend
[February 14, 2011]
MOUNT
PULASKI -- Mount Pulaski celebrated
Abraham Lincoln's birthday on
Saturday with four presentations in
the second-floor courtroom of the
Mount Pulaski Courthouse.
The
Mount Pulaski High School Drama Club
performed the re-enactment of the
1850s Cast-Iron Tombstone Trial with
Abraham Lincoln and Judge David
Davis at two showings in front of
packed courtroom audiences.
(Click
on pictures for larger images.) |
|
Bloomington lawyer and author Guy Fraker
spoke on the 1850s Illinois 8th Judicial
Circuit, and Chris Vallillo closed the day
with a wonderful musical and narrative
performance of Abraham Lincoln-era ballads
and stories that took Abe from his early
Kentucky home through Indiana and on to
Illinois and the presidency.
Donna Koehler did a masterful job with
her students, using the bicentennial script
that was written locally for Mount Pulaski's
celebration of Abraham Lincoln's 200th
birthday in 2009. Mark Foley, who portrayed
Abraham Lincoln, was pressed into double
duty, as he had to be whisked away by his
parents for a makeup varsity basketball game
with Tri-City following the first
performance at 2 p.m. and then quickly
returned for the second performance at 5
p.m. Mark played three quarters of the game,
but true to the character that he portrayed
in the re-enactment, kept his promise to
completely honor his first commitment, as
Abe would have done over 150 years ago.
Mrs. Koehler employed a PowerPoint
presentation at the end of each performance,
during the final narrative explanation of
the trial and its actual lower and higher
court results, showing some of the
structures, personalities and tombstones
that were involved in this historic trial,
one of two such trials in Logan County
during the 1850s -- one at the Mount Pulaski
venue of the county seat and the other at
the new Lincoln venue -- each with the same
defendant but with different plaintiffs. A
more detailed explanation of these two
trials may be found in Paul Beaver's
recently released book, "Abraham Lincoln in
Logan County, Illinois 1834-1860."
Guy Fraker pointed out that Logan County
voted every time for Abraham Lincoln in his
state and national candidacies, while
Sangamon and Menard counties did not. Fraker
offered an interesting view that perhaps our
"16th president had more of an influence on
Logan County than Logan County had on him."
In the wider view, taking his presidency
into consideration, this would no doubt be a
truism. But in the short run, it appears
that Mr. Lincoln did grow in character and
matured as a lawyer and legislator from his
work on the Illinois 8th Judicial Circuit,
which included Logan County. Further, Paul
Beaver noted in his book what Judge Lawrence
Stringer once wrote: "Lincoln's mind and
character was most happily fostered by the
free life of the circuit, and it was this
which largely molded the man, in the
formative period of his career."
[to
top of second column] |
Fraker concluded that Mount Pulaski has
to be complimented on "keeping the torch
alive" in the memory of Abraham Lincoln, who
worked in this very courthouse, visited with
the town's citizens in the Mount Pulaski
House across the street, and dined and slept
in homes of his old Springfield friends down
these very streets.
Chris Vallillo performed his "Abraham
Lincoln in Song," combining mid-1800s music
and his extensively researched Lincoln
stories into a fabulous and crowd-pleasing
presentation of the time period of Abraham
Lincoln.
Vallillo noted that "Dixie" was one of
Abraham Lincoln's favorite songs, and though
it had been adopted as the "Confederate
anthem," it nevertheless was written in the
North for pre-Civil War minstrel shows to
reveal the Southern culture in music. In
fact, President Lincoln had bands strike it
up on many occasions, including the
celebration day that marked the end of the
Civil War.
Throughout the day at the courthouse,
delicious cookies and cake were served. The
Mary Todd Lincoln almond cake was served
following Vallillo's virtuoso performance,
rewarding both the audience for its
participation and the performer for his
genius.
The Rev. Barbara Stroud-Borth, Wally
Kautz and Phil Bertoni organized the
performances; Helen Schmidt baked the
cookies; and Mike and Jennifer Richner of
Topper Catering researched and prepared the
Mary Todd Lincoln cake. Many other Mount
Pulaski 175th Anniversary Committee members
were on hand during the day and evening. It
was estimated that 160 people visited the
courthouse, some making their travels from
Decatur, Springfield, Lincoln, Shelbyville
and Quincy.
[By PHIL BERTONI] |