Overview

The Illinois Abraham Lincoln lived in—a place of unbroken prairie, steamboats, railroads, log cabins, and rural county seats—long ago gave way to the modern world of interstate highways, commercial farmland, and cities. Yet houses and inns from Lincoln’s time survive, providing a physical connection to the past. This richly illustrated compendium of twenty-two historic buildings in the Abraham Lincoln National Heritage Area includes houses, a hotel, and an art center, all of which are open to the public. Each site links today’s visitors with a place Lincoln lived, a home of a Lincoln friend or a colleague, or a spot that illuminates Lincoln’s era and legacy in central Illinois. Along with dozens of modern full-color photographs and historical photographs, entries contain explorations of historical connections to Lincoln and detailed information about exceptional features and artifacts. Complete with maps, the book is a handy guide for day trips, extended tours, or armchair adventures. The four homes in which Lincoln or members of his extended family lived include Thomas Lincoln’s log cabin and the Vachel Lindsay house, where Mary Lincoln’s sister, Ann Todd Smith, resided in Springfield. Eight homes of Lincoln’s friends and acquaintances, including John Greene Shastid and David Davis, give the impression that Lincoln easily moved between humble halls and lavish parlors. Ten other sites, —including the homes of an abolitionist, a farmer, and Illinois governors as well as Joseph Smith’s homestead and mansion and Carl Sandburg’s birthplace, —reveal how nineteenth-century Illinoisans lived and show that Lincoln’s cultural legacy was still very much alive long after he left the state. An appendix features related sites and the Pittsfield talking house tour. A showcase of Illinois heritage, this enlightening guide promotes a new understanding of Lincoln’s relationships with family, friends, colleagues, and political allies and inspires readers to visit these historic treasures in person.

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9780809336968

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Reviews

"""Erika Holst is to be commended for a well-written and properly researched work. It is a significant addition to the heritage of Abraham Lincoln in this state. Enjoy the pictorials and then read the descriptions. You might even do it with family members.""--Journal of the Illinois State Historical Society ""This book is a fascinating, heavily illustrated, slim guidebook that further illuminates the life of America's favorite president."" --Ellen Neumann, H-Net ""If a picture is worth a thousand words, this book is priceless. Learned, informative, and intriguing, Looking for Lincoln in Illinois: Historic Houses of Lincoln's Illinois proudly showcases a new social history that brings historic sites alive. I warmly recommend it for all Americans who have rediscovered Lincoln in a troubled era.""--Charles B. Strozier, author of Your Friend Forever, A. Lincoln: The Enduring Friendship of Abraham Lincoln and Joshua Speed ""A welcome addition to the Looking for Lincoln in Illinois series, Erika Holst's thoroughly researched, clearly written, and handsomely illustrated book ably supplements previous works by Bryon Andreasen and Guy Fraker. Anyone in search of central Illinois Lincoln sites will find this volume and its companions indispensable guides.""--Michael Burlingame, editor of Sixteenth President-in-Waiting: Abraham Lincoln and the Springfield Dispatches of Henry Villard, 1860-1861 ""In this volume, Erika Holst welcomes a new generation into the historic homes of Lincoln's era, introducing them to the sixteenth president's central Illinois contemporaries and the tumultuous times they lived through.""--Samuel Wheeler, Illinois State Historian, Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum"

Erika Holst is to be commended for a well-written and properly researched work. It is a significant addition to the heritage of Abraham Lincoln in this state. Enjoy the pictorials and then read the descriptions. You might even do it with family members. --Journal of the Illinois State Historical Society This book is a fascinating, heavily illustrated, slim guidebook that further illuminates the life of America's favorite president. --Ellen Neumann, H-Net If a picture is worth a thousand words, this book is priceless. Learned, informative, and intriguing, Looking for Lincoln in Illinois: Historic Houses of Lincoln's Illinois proudly showcases a new social history that brings historic sites alive. I warmly recommend it for all Americans who have rediscovered Lincoln in a troubled era. --Charles B. Strozier, author of Your Friend Forever, A. Lincoln: The Enduring Friendship of Abraham Lincoln and Joshua Speed A welcome addition to the Looking for Lincoln in Illinois series, Erika Holst's thoroughly researched, clearly written, and handsomely illustrated book ably supplements previous works by Bryon Andreasen and Guy Fraker. Anyone in search of central Illinois Lincoln sites will find this volume and its companions indispensable guides. --Michael Burlingame, editor of Sixteenth President-in-Waiting: Abraham Lincoln and the Springfield Dispatches of Henry Villard, 1860-1861 In this volume, Erika Holst welcomes a new generation into the historic homes of Lincoln's era, introducing them to the sixteenth president's central Illinois contemporaries and the tumultuous times they lived through. --Samuel Wheeler, Illinois State Historian, Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum

If a picture is worth a thousand words, this book is priceless. Learned, informative, and intriguing, Looking for Lincoln in Illinoisproudly showcases a new social history that brings historic sites alive. I warmly recommend it for all Americans who have rediscovered Lincoln in a troubled era. --Charles B. Strozier, author of Your Friend Forever, A. Lincoln: The Enduring Friendship of Abraham Lincoln and Joshua Speed A welcome addition to the Looking for Lincoln in Illinois series, Erika Holst's thoroughly researched, clearly written, and handsomely illustrated book ably supplements previous works by Bryon Andreasen and Guy Fraker. Anyone in search of central Illinois Lincoln sites will find this volume and its companions indispensable guides. --Michael Burlingame, editor of Sixteenth President-in-Waiting: Abraham Lincoln and the Springfield Dispatches of Henry Villard, 1860-1861 In this volume, Erika Holst welcomes a new generation into the historic homes of Lincoln's era, introducing them to the sixteenth president's central Illinois contemporaries and the tumultuous times they lived through. --Samuel Wheeler, Illinois State Historian, Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum

Author Information

Bryon C. Andreasen, a historian at the LDS Church History Museum in Salt Lake City, is the author of Looking for Lincoln in Illinois: Lincoln’s Springfield. He was formerly the research historian at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum in Springfield, Illinois, and helped create the Looking for Lincoln Heritage Coalition.

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