Family donates boxed linked to Lincoln to historical society

ROCHESTER, Ill. (AP) - A simple wooden box reportedly made from a tree stump on which Abraham Lincoln delivered one of his first political speeches has been donated to a historical society in a central Illinois village.

The (Springfield) State Journal-Register reports Lincoln made the speech on the walnut tree stump in Rochester in 1832 as he campaigned for the Illinois House of Representatives.

A Green City, Missouri, man, Terry Campbell, presented the box to the Rochester Historical Preservation Society Friday on behalf of the Campbell family. It had been in the family for more than 130 years.

The 59-year-old inherited it after his father, Bill Campbell, died several years ago. They'd discussed donating it.

The society's president, John Runions, calls the box "a great link" to Lincoln for the small community outside Springfield.

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Information from: The State Journal-Register, http://www.sj-r.com