Image of Abraham Lincoln donated to Macon County Courthouse

DECATUR, Ill. (AP) - A copy of a well-known portrait of President Abraham Lincoln is now hanging inside the Macon County Courthouse in Decatur.

The (Decatur) Herald and Review reports (http://bit.ly/2lvbcHF ) the 30-by-40-inch portrait is a reproduction of a campaign photo taken in 1860 by Alexander Hesler. He made the portrait shortly after Lincoln was nominated as a candidate for president.

The image was a gift to Macon County from Mark Sorensen, past president of the Illinois State Historical Society. The society owns positive plates that historians believe were made from the original negative glass plates Hesler used.

Macon County Presiding Judge A.G. Webber IV says it's "altogether fitting and proper" to hang the image in the courthouse.

He noted Lincoln practiced law in Illinois' Eighth Circuit, which included the courthouse in Decatur.

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Information from: Herald & Review, http://www.herald-review.com