Much to be learned on a Jacksonville Saturday

Over the past few weeks, bit by bit, I’ve shared my memories of the 2009 Illinois History Symposium, “Abraham Lincoln in Ante-bellum Illinois: 1830-1861.” I attended the symposium from Thursday, March 26 through Saturday, March 28.

In the next few blog posts, I’ll tell you about some of the Saturday events I attended, including a:

• breakfast program with Mark Steiner presenting,
• morning session with Samuel Paul Wheeler and Raymond Lohne,
• brown bag lunch with Eileen McMahon,
• lectures by Norbert Hirschhorn, M.D. and Ron Solberg and
• a visit to Woodlawn Farm.

There’s too much for one article. You’ll have to wait until later blog posts for some of these. I’ve got some pretty cool things to share.

Steiner on Lincoln, the lawyer
One of my fellow Lincoln bloggers, Brian Dirck, has a great book out through the University of Illinois Press, titled Lincoln the Lawyer. I’m not a lawyer or even the least bit knowledgeable about the law, yet Dirck’s book kept me engaged and made it easy to learn about Lincoln’s legal career.

Had I not read his book, I’m not sure I would have been as interested in hearing Mark E. Steiner’s talk. Steiner, a professor of law at Southern Texas College of Law, presented his lecture over breakfast at the beautiful Hamilton’s Banquet Hall in old downtown Jacksonville (Ill.).

Steiner answered the question, “Has the Lawyer Lincoln Theme Been Exhausted?” This is a spinoff on a question Lincoln scholar James G. Randall first asked in his 1936 article, “Has the Lincoln Theme Been Exhausted?” in the American Historical Review.

Mark E. Neeley, Jr. addressed the question again in 1979 in his essay, “The Lincoln Theme Since Randall's Call: The Promises and Perils of Professionalism,” in the Journal of the Abraham Lincoln Association. And, across the country in classrooms, lecture halls and symposium venues like Hamilton’s, the question is asked and answered again and again.
So what did Steiner have to say that was any different than what we’ve heard over and over? He talked of important advances in Lincoln research, such as the Lincoln Legal Papers and digitization of other crucial documents and records related to Lincoln.

He pointed to books as compact as one of Allen Guelzo’s (unfortunately I can’t remember which title – they’re all good) and as vast as Michael Burlingame’s 2,000 page, two-volume Abraham Lincoln: A Life.

And the answer, of course, is still, “The topic exhausted? No way.” You can learn more about the lawyer Lincoln and Steiner’s work on the topic by reading his book, “An Honest Calling: The Law Practice of Abraham Lincoln,” published by the Northern Illinois University Press.

And, if you’re asking me whether to read Dirck’s or Steiner’s, the answer is “Read both.” Each provides a unique view about Lincoln and his career as a lawyer. I advise reading Dirck’s first. I think it sets the stage, then follow up with Steiner’s.

But don’t stop there. Keep your eyes open for another book about that same prairie lawyer. Guy Fraker, a lawyer himself from Bloomington (Ill.), is working on a book to be published by Southern Illinois University Press – in 2010 or 2011, I believe. Last I knew, the working title was “The Eighth Judicial Circuit: Lincoln’s Ladder to the Presidency.” I really don’t think anyone knows more about the circuit than Fraker, so this book will be well worth the wait. And, if you hear of a time when Fraker will be speaking, you won’t want to miss it. He’s scheduled at venues throughout Illinois through the Illinois Humanities Council’s Road Scholars Program.

For those of you across the United States, if you ever get the chance to hear Steiner talk, be sure you do. He’s a pretty funny guy. Not, however, as funny as Guelzo, who is a real hoot – and a brilliant scholar, to boot.

© Copyright 2009 Ann Tracy Mueller. All rights reserved.

Reading Lincoln

I’ve had a little R & R these last couple weeks, which has given me an opportunity to catch up on some Lincoln reading I’ve wanted to do.

Two books I’d used as references for my paper on Lincoln and his mentors caught my interest and seemed worthy of further examination. My first impression of both was correct. Neither disappointed me.

It will soon be time for me to return them to the respective libraries from whence they came. Before I do, I want to tell you a little more about: Lincoln the Lawyer by Brian Dirck and Lincoln Legends: Myths, Hoaxes and Confabulations Associated with our Greatest President by Edward Steers, Jr.

I’m currently reading Lincoln’s Sword: The Presidency and the Power of Words by Douglas L. Wilson. Watch for more about that in a future post.

Lincoln the Lawyer
Until I began my Heartland college course on Lincoln, I had no idea how long Lincoln’s law career was (25 years) or how many cases he handled (5,000). In my class, I had the privilege of hearing Bloomington, Illinois attorney, Guy Fraker, who likely knows more about Lincoln’s time on the Eighth Judicial Circuit than anyone. Guy and my instructor, Dr. Scott Rager, both helped to create a hunger to learn more about Lincoln’s legal career, especially since it was right here in Central Illinois.

Brian Dirck’s Lincoln the Lawyer fed that hunger. Dirck, an Anderson University professor, takes his readers from the shock a Sangamon County farmer expressed when he learned Lincoln was studying law to Lincoln’s final days as an attorney in his law office across the street from the Old State Capitol in Springfield.

That journey took Lincoln through three partnerships – with John Todd Stuart, Stephen T. Logan and William Herndon – through courts in Springfield and the Eighth Judicial Circuit and in front of the Illinois and United States Supreme Courts. By the time Lincoln left for Washington, this self-taught lawyer was one of the most respected in the state. His cases ranged from property disputes and divorces to murders and large railroad cases. Fees he received ranged from $10 or less to the $5,000 fee he received representing the Illinois Central Railroad in their dispute with McLean County over taxes assessed the railroad.

Dirck is an academic and his book meets all the criteria of a scholarly volume – well researched, indexed, well cited – yet at no time as a reader do you feel as if you’re wading through an academic work that’s way over your head. Dirck’s book is a comfortable, entertaining read. He’s a gifted writer and a scrupulous scholar.

In my book, Dirck’s is a must read for anyone who really wants to understand those 25 years and the longest career in Lincoln’s life.

And if you can't wait to get the book to read Dirck's writing, in the meantime, you can get doses of Dirck through his blog, A. Lincoln Blog. It, too, is one of my must reads.

Lincoln Legends
As I worked on my recent paper, I realized what a large part legend played in the Lincoln story. It was often difficult to discern what was real and what wasn’t – who I could believe and who I couldn’t. People have been collecting stories about Lincoln and writing about him since shortly after his death – and, through his dying, the stories became glorified. The windows through which many of those people saw him were foggy indeed.

Although not a university-affiliated academic like many Lincoln scholars, Edward Steers, Jr., author of Lincoln Legends: Myths, Hoaxes, and Confabulations Associated with Our Greatest President, writes with all the authority of the best of them. Steers explores 14 of the most powerful Lincoln legends. He provides readers with the truth as he finds it – and, believe me, he digs until he’s left few stones unturned. If you’re curious about anything from who Lincoln’s father was to whether he loved Ann Rutledge or if he was gay, you can read about it in Steers’ book, and come away with a certainty that he’s done his homework and given you the right answer.

Lincoln Legends is also a comfortable read. I read both his and Dirck’s in front of the fireplace over a long weekend – a cold, rainy one with few interruptions. I’d recommend both of them to anyone wanting to learn more about our sixteenth president. What better way can you think of to celebrate the bicentennial of Lincoln's birth than by learning more about him?

As I read and learn about other Lincoln books, I’ll tell you a little about them. I hope you find some value in my little musings. Please use the Reactions check boxes below to let me know what you think about this article.

© Copyright 2008 Ann Tracy Mueller. All rights reserved.