The Hancock-Henderson Quill, Inc.
LINCOLN & DOUGLAS: The names of Abraham Lincoln and Stephen A. Douglas are written at the top of the tablets of Illinois history.
Stephen A. Douglas is recognized a one who towered above his contemporaries in debate and until he met Lincoln had never met his match...Henderson County may be proud that both men have trod her soil.
Douglas was a Circuit Court Judge who held the first term of court in the county after its organization.
He visited the county many times as a judge and later as a candidate for Congress or the United States Senate.
Lincoln visited the county in three capacities: 1. as a soldier in the Black Hawk War; 2. as a lawyer and 3. as a candidate for the United States Senate. In was in the senatorial contest of 1858 that both found time to renew friendships in Oquawka.
(To be continued)