Notes from the White County Historical Society as they appear in "The Carmi Times."

Copyright ©2000 by "The Carmi Times" Permission to reprint granted to Cindy Birk Conley and the ILGenWeb by Barry Cleveland, editor, "The Carmi Times."

In addition to letters which ask about family connections, we often get
other inquiries.

Some time ago, a U of I student wanted to know about the prevalence of
beavers in White County. Last week, we received a letter from a student
of Lincoln stories who wanted someone to certify the authenticity of
some of the Lincoln stories he had already garnered. However, I'm not
quite THAT old, so I can only say they're part of the lore of White
County.

The letter writer quoted the story of Lincoln coming to Carmi to attend
a Whig rally and barbecue on Sept. 1, 1840 when he was a guest of Edwin
B. Webb. Among the questions the writer asked (which I cannot answer)
were "How did Lincoln arrive in Carmi--carriage, horse and buggy, or
horseback?" and "With whom else might Lincoln have visited on this
occasion? What other places or sites might he have visited?"

Another story the letter writer already had was about the time Lincoln
spent the night at Ratcliff Inn. Again he asks, "With whom else might
Lincoln have visited on this occasion? What other places or sites might
he have visited?" (He had read the most likely reason Mr. Lincoln stayed
at the Inn was the activity at Edwin B. Webb's home caused by his
daughter Patty's preparations to return to school at Mt. Carmel.)

He also asked if anyone knew any other Lincoln stories with connections
to White County. The only other occasion I've ever heard of is when
Lincoln overnighted at the Bacon Hotel in Phillipstown. I heard
Lincoln's carriage was stoned as he left because Phillipstown residents
were of a different political persuasion than Mr. Lincoln. Van Henning
of Phillipstown still has a candelabra which was on the table the
evening Mr. Lincoln dined at the Bacon Hotel.

Now, does anyone else have any other story of Mr. Lincoln and White
County? If so, please let me know by phoning 1-618-966-3744 or coming in
to the Genealogy Library.

........

The Genealogy Library is open Wednesdays 11 to 5.

........

Address letters to Genealogy, White County Historical Society, PO Box
121, Carmi, IL 62821.

Return to the White County ILGenWeb Page

The Coordinator for the White County, Illinois ILGenWeb page is Cindy Birk Conley

Copyright © 2000 by Cindy Birk Conley, all rights reserved. For personal use only. Commercial use of the information contained in these pages is strictly prohibited without prior permission. If copied, this copyright notice must appear with the information.