Lincoln mortgage document found in Tazewell County office
PEKIN, Ill. (AP) - Abraham Lincoln's presence around central Illinois is well known, from his days practicing law riding the circuit. But until last week, it wasn't known that he also owned land in Tazewell County.
That changed when officials in the Tazewell County Recorder of Deeds Office discovered a Lincoln document amidst the records in their office.
The document is a mortgage recorded on Sept. 10, 1844, for 234 acres of farmland located at what is now the southwest corner of the intersection of Allentown and Springfield roads in rural Tremont. The owners of the property in 1844, John H. and Isabella W. Morrison, presented the mortgage to Lincoln as collateral until they paid off a debt of $284.94 owed for legal services Lincoln and his legal partner Stephen T. Logan provided. John H. Morrison was Tazewell County clerk at the time, serving from 1836-1847.
'œWe had heard rumors that Lincoln had owned property in Tazewell County,'ť said John Ackerman, the county's current clerk and recorder of deeds. 'œWe couldn't locate anybody who knew it for certain. I thought that if he did, we would find something in the Recorder of Deeds Office. I told the staff to pay attention and see if (a relevant document) crosses our paths at some point.'ť
That point arrived last week. Ackerman considers it a rare find because Lincoln owned very little property at the time.
'œFor us to have (a record) of a piece of property in Tazewell County that he owned is very intriguing,'ť he added. 'œWe have no proof at all that he ever visited the property.'ť
The document also mentions Tremont residents Littleton Garth and Benjamin James.
'³(Garth) was a neighbor to the Morrisons, and he's mentioned in the document because he was a business partner to the Morrisons as well (as a neighbor),'ť said Ackerman. 'œThe gentleman who witnessed the document was Benjamin James. His father was actually one of the founders of the village of Tremont. So his family has a large history with the Tremont area.'ť
While the careers of Lincoln and Logan are fairly well documented, the Tremont residents mentioned in the mortgage are historically obscure figures. Tazewell County Genealogical and Historical Society President Susan Rynerson said the society has begun working to discover more about them through a study of court documents, census records and newspapers from the period.
'³(The mortgage document) gives us an opportunity to make people aware that every document can tell a story, even if it's something as mundane as a mortgage,'ť said Rynerson. 'œIt's interesting to see how the stories develop. Some people, you can't find a whole lot on. Other people, if you just keep looking, you never know what you're going to find.'ť
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Source: Pekin Daily Times, https://bit.ly/2HAwJbl