Two Noted Homes QA14
Half a block south is the home of Major General William Mahone, famed for his gallant conduct at the Battle of Crater, July 30, 1864. Two blocks south of here is the Wallace Home, where Abraham Lincoln conferred with General Grant April 3, 1865, preceding Grant’s march to Appomattox.

---

Old Military Road WI119
In March, 1863, Abraham Lincoln signed an Act of Congress which enabled the states of Michigan and Wisconsin to begin construction of a road between Fort Howard at Green Bay and Fort Wilkins near Copper Harbor. It took one year to build the road from Fort Howard to Keshena. By 1869 it had reached the Michigan state line. First used for transporting federal troops and supplies, the road also was used by explorers, settlers, trappers and hunters. By the turn of the century it became an artery for the lumbering interests who kept the road repaired until it became a part of the state trunk highway system in 1923. Along this road are many points of historic legendary interest. Nine Mile Creek, Langlande and Lily were important logging centers. Way stations were established during the 1880's at the Otter Slide, three miles north of Sullivan Falls, the Gauthier Place near Shotgun Eddy, and Mag Lawe's station, two miles north of Keshena Falls, and served both the lumber trade and weary travelers.

---

Birthplace of Republican Party WI135

In 1852 Alvan Early Bovay of Ripon met with Horace Greeley in New York and advocated dissolution of the Whig Party and formation of a new party to fuse together antislavery elements. At the same time he suggested the name "Republican" because he felt "it was a good name.....with charm and prestige."

The opportunity to act came in January 1854 when Senator Stephen Douglas of Illinois introduced the Kansas-Nebraska Bill, which permitted the extension of slavery beyond the limits of the earlier Missouri Compromise. Three months' debate on the bill created upheavals in all the existing political parties.

When the bill passed the Senate on March 3, 1854, Bovay promptly called a meeting of 53 voters in the little white schoolhouse to organize a new party. Years later Bovay recalled: "We went into the little meeting, Whigs, Free Soilers, and Democrats. We came out Republicans, and we were the first Republicans in the Union."

On February 22, 1856 a convention was held at Pittsburgh to establish a national organization and the name "Republican" was adopted for the new party. Among those present were Horace Greeley and Abraham Lincoln.

Erected 1964

---

Cordelia A.P. Harvey WI305

Wisconsin women rallied to support the Union during the Civil War. They became nurses, hospital matrons, sanitary agents, and ministers. Cordelia A. Perrine Harvey attained national prominence for her role in promoting convalescent aid for sick and wounded soldiers.

Cordelia had moved with her family to Southport (Kenosha) in 1840. She married Louis P. Harvey, who became governor in 1862. That April, Governor Harvey drowned while visiting Wisconsin troops wounded at the Battle of Shiloh in Tennessee. Mrs. Harvey thereupon dedicated herself to improving conditions for hospitalized soldiers. She criticized military hospitals for improper sanitation, urging that disabled soldiers be sent northward to medical centers near their homes where care would be better.

In 1863 Cordelia Harvey met Abraham Lincoln and convinced the president to approve the establishment of recuperation hospitals in the North. The first of three such hospitals in Wisconsin opened in Madison. (The other two were in Milwaukee and Prairie du Chien.) The Harvey United States Army Hospital in Madison was redesignated the Wisconsin Soldiers' Orphans Home in 1866. It operated under Mrs. Harvey's direction until 1867, and it closed in 1874.

---

Route of Abraham Lincoln 1832 and 1859 WI93
Twice in his lifetime Abraham Lincoln is known to have traveled within sight of the Rock River east of this marker. Lincoln passed this way July 2, 1832, as a private in a mounted company of Illinois militia accompanying forces under General Henry Atkinson during the Black Hawk War. On October 1, 1859, Lincoln again passed this way after delivering a political address in Hanchett's Hall at the invitation of the Beloit Republican Club. He spoke the same evening in Janesville and spent the weekend as a guest in the home of William M. Tallman. While following the Prairie Road between Beloit and Janesville in 1859 Lincoln pointed out to his companions the route taken by the army in pursuit of Black Hawk's band.

---

Medal of Honor WI291
The Medal of Honor is the highest decoration for bravery awarded to members of the armed forces of the United States. It is bestowed by the President, In the name of Congress, only for a deed of supreme valor and self-sacrifice distinguished by "gallantry and intrepidity at risk of life above and beyond the call of duty". More often than not the Medal of Honor is awarded posthumously. President Abraham Lincoln approved the creation of the Medal of Honor in 1862, and during the Civil War some 1,527 Union soldiers and sailors earned it. In all, 3,394 Medals have been awarded. Wisconsin citizens received 62, including the special Medal of Honor awarded by Congress to Milwaukee-born advocate of air power General William C. "Billy" Mitchell. Wisconsin citizens have received the Medal of Honor in the following conflicts: Civil War, 21; Frontier Wars, 7; Spanish American War, 1; Philippine Insurrection, 1; Boxer Rebellion, 1; Mexican Campaign, 2; World War I, 2; World War II, 15; Korea, 5; Vietnam, 6.

---

Florida’s First African-American Insurance Company FL132

Florida's First African-American Insurance Company
190 - 2001The Afro-American Insurance Company, formerly the Afro-American Industrial and Benefits Association, was founded in 1901 to provide affordable health insurance and death benefits to the state’s African-Americans. Founded by the Reverend E.J. Gregg, E.W. Latson, Abraham Lincoln Lewis, A.W. Price, Dr. Arthur W. Smith, J.F. Valentine, and the Reverend J. Melton Waldron, the Afro’s first office at 14 Ocean Street was destroyed by the great Jacksonville Fire two months after it opened on May 3, 1901. It then moved to 621 Florida Avenue, the home of treasurer and future president, Abraham Lincoln Lewis (1865-1947). From their next home office at 105 E. Union Street, the company wrote millions of dollars of insurance policies and started district offices in Georgia, Alabama, Louisiana and Texas. Lewis formed the African-American Pension Bureau and in 1935, land was purchased on Amelia Island for the black resort called American Beach. On April 22, 1956, the company dedicated its new, million-dollar building at Ocean and Union Street. After over 80 years of serving black southerners, the company closed on July 17, 1987. The 11th Episcopal District of the African Methodist Episcopal Church owns the Building.

---

Historic American Beach FL193

American Beach was established in 1935 under the leadership of Abraham Lincoln Lewis, one of seven co-founders of the Afro-American Life Insurance Company, and one of Florida’s first black millionaires. His vision was to create a beach resort as a benefit for company executives and as an incentive for employees to exceed in sales. Florida’s beaches were racially segregated until the passage of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. Because of this, American Beach became regionally popular since it was one of the few beaches in the Southeast open to African Americans. Other sites in American Beach trace their history to the Civil War era. Amelia Island was home to several Sea Island cotton plantations, including the Harrison Plantation. In 1862 Union Forces captured Amelia Island and the freed slaves founded Franklin Town at the south end of this island. The Franklin Town cemetery, which had been given by the Harrison family to their slaves as a burial place for their families, still exists today on the west side of Highway A1A. In 1972, encroaching development forced Franklin Town residents to move north to American Beach. Their Methodist Church, built in 1949, was also moved here where it now serves as the church’s fellowship hall.

---

John Greene Shastid House IL122
John Greene Shastid House
Built 1838

Built by John Greene Shastid of New Salem where he and Abraham Lincoln became close friends. Shastid moved to Pittsfield in 1836. Lincoln consistently visited when he came to town as an attorney. Thomas Hall Shastid recalls many stories of his grandparents visits with Lincoln in the book, "My Second Life." "On one such occasion it happened Grandfather (John) Shastid had just come in from the country,...and had bagged a dozen pigeons. Wild meat was on that day...the only meat this family had. Grandfathers numerous progeny stood about, hungry wide-eyed, waiting for the pigeons to finish boiling. All at once, as the custom was then, somebody pushed the door open without knocking. And behold! there stood Abraham Lincoln. Abe was offered the place of honor at the head of the table and the platter of pigeons was placed before him. Abe talked vivaciously, then fell completely silent and started eating voraciously as pigeons disappeared into the vast Lincoln reservoir. A gesture from my grandmother kept all the rest from calling for pigeon. After a short time Abe, still abstracted, reached out his fork for the last pigeon, took it to his own plate, and began to eat it. Then my father, Tommy, who at this time was still very young, burst suddenly into tears, and cried out 'Abe Lincoln, you're an old hog.'"

Owned by the Pike County Historical Society.

---

Lincoln - Douglas Closing Debate IL125
1858 - 1908
ERECTED BY
THE CITIZENS OF ALTON
COMMEMORATING THE
CLOSING DEBATE BETWEEN
ABRAHAM LINCOLN
AND
STEPHEN A. DOUGLAS
WHICH TOOK PLACE HERE
OCTOBER 15, 1858.

From plaque in deck of monument:
"At this site on the 15th of October in 1858, on a temporary platform built in front of city hall, Abraham Lincoln and Stephen A. Douglas engaged in the seventh and final encounter of their famous series of debates.
At an early hour on that date, the spectators began to arrive. They came on foot, on horseback, by carriage, lumber wagon, steamer, and railroad. By noon they numbered six thousand.
At the hour of two Douglas opened the debate with a speech of one hour. His speech was flat and unsatisfactory, unredeemed by a single sparkle of with or patriotic elevation.
In his reply of one and one-half hours, Lincoln took the charges of Douglas and scattered them to the winds. His performance was deemed clear and logical, honest and candid.
Douglas' half hour rejoinder was in better spirit than his opening but the consensus of the day was that Lincoln had scored the victory.
Although Lincoln won the non-binding popular vote, Douglas was elected U.S. Senator by the state legislature in January 1859. Lincoln was elected President of the United States in November 1860.
City hall was destroyed by fire in 1923. The stone wall behind this plaza stands where the east wall of city hall stood.
The lifesize sculptures of Lincoln and Douglas, created by Jerry McKenna of Boerne, Texas under commission by the Alton-Godfrey Rotary Club, were dedicated on October 15, 1995"

---