Many legends abound about Abe Lincoln's digs
There is hardly a cave in Indiana or Kentucky that doesn't have graffiti stating, "Daniel Boone was here." Likewise, in Illinois, tales of Abraham Lincoln abound and most commonly those of "Lincoln slept here."
In Lake County there are several Lincoln legends, but there is only one documented visit.
In April 1860, while in Chicago, Lincoln took the train to Waukegan to give a speech and to visit his attorney friends Elisha Ferry and Henry Blodgett. He had dinner at the Ferry home on Julian Street, followed by his speech in Dickinson hall. Afterward, Lincoln returned to the Ferry home and spent the night, giving the home the legitimate claim of "Lincoln slept here."
The bed in which he slept is displayed at the Waukegan Historical Society.
Three unsubstantiated legends persist: U.S. Army soldier Lincoln marched through Lake County during the Blackhawk War; Lincoln stayed overnight in a home near Hainesville; and Lincoln had law offices in Half Day.
These legends will be addressed in a two-part article, beginning with the latter.
Lincoln lived in Springfield and based his work out of his law office there. He wasn't a man of great means, so owning duplicate sets of law books and renting offices two hundred miles apart would have been out of his capabilities and highly impractical.
Nonetheless, Lincoln traveled a great deal. Six months of the year he rode the circuit for the Eighth Judicial Circuit in central Illinois.
The biggest factor against a law office in Half Day was that the nearest courthouse was in Waukegan. However, Waukegan was not on Lincoln's circuit as a trial and appellate lawyer, and the nearest federal court was in Chicago.
Although Lincoln occasionally traveled to Chicago, especially after the federal court was relocated from Springfield in 1855, travel was slow and wearisome and mostly by stagecoach. A "commute" from Half Day would have taken the better part of a day, and complicated Lincoln's timely attendance at federal court and access to clients.
Lincoln said: "Every man is said to have his peculiar ambition. Whether it be true or not, I can say for one that I have no other so great as that of being truly esteemed of my fellow men, by rendering myself worthy of their esteem."
Even without proof of Lincoln having a law practice in Half Day, it is clear that we long for a connection to a great man who is more than worthy of our esteem.
• Diana Dretske, author of "Lake County, Illinois: An Illustrated History" is the collections coordinator for the Lake County Discovery Museum. The Lake County Discovery Museum, a department of the Lake County Forest Preserves, is an award-winning regional history museum on Route 176, west of Fairfield Road near Wauconda. The museum is open from 11 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 1 to 4:30 p.m. Sunday. Call (847) 968-3400 for information.