Zachariah N. Garbutt House IL118
Zachariah N. Garbutt House
Built ca. 1841-1846
Presidential Secretary John Nicolay's Home

All 3 of Lincoln's Presidential secretaries came from Pike County. John George Nicolay was one and lived here, 1848-1855. Nicolay started his career when he answered Zachariah Garbutt's advertisement for a printer's devil in the Free Press: "Wanted-an intelligent boy, from 14 to 17 years of age, who can read and write, to learn the Printing Business." Nicolay walked Pittsfield, spent the night sleeping on sacks of wool in the "Carding Machine" and got the job the next morning. Mr. and Mrs. Garbutt, who founded the newspaper in 1839, took a liking to Nicolay and took him into their home. Nicolay succeeded Garbutt as editor. Thomas Shastid (house on Jefferson St.) introduced Lincoln to Nicolay. Nicolay later moved to Springfield where he served as clerk to Illinois Sec. of State, Oziah M. Hatch of Griggsville. On a visit back to Pittsfield in 1860, Daniel Bush, editor of the "Pike County Journal", asked him to write an article advocating Lincoln as President of the United States on the Republican ticket. This editorial is believed by some to be the first to suggest Lincoln for President. Nicolay served as U.S. Consul at Paris, France, edited the Chicago Republican newspaper and served as Marshall to the Supreme Court of the United States, 1872-1887.

Rev. and Mrs. Zachariah Garbutt became John Nicolay's foster parents when he was 16.

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The Retreat T17
One and a half miles north is The Retreat, home to three distinguished generations of the Parker family. Thomas Parker, a general in the War of 1812, constructed this imposing Federal-style house in 1799. Richard Parker, his nephew, was a U.S. senator, justice of the state Supreme Court of Appeals, and jury member at the trial of Aaron Burr. His son, Richard Elliot Parker, served in the U.S. House of Representatives and presided as a federal judge at the trial of John Brown. During the Civil War, the Battle of Cool Spring was fought near The Retreat on 18 July 1864.

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Historic Vandalia IL85
Vandalia was the second capitol of Illinois, 1820-1839. Here met the General Assembly, the Supreme Court, and the Federal Courts. Abraham Lincoln served in the House of Representatives 1834-1839, and Stephen A. Douglas 1836-1837.

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Stephen Arnold Douglas, 1813-1861 IL53
Stephen Arnold Douglas, one of the most distinguished statesman of his day, was a justice of the Illinois Supreme Court, member of the House of Representatives, and the United States Senate. Although a political rival of Lincoln, he supported the Union at the outbreak of the Civil War and contributed greatly to the solidarity of the North. This tomb stands on Oakenwald, Douglas' former estate.

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Christian County Courthouse 1840-1856 IL25
CHRISTIAN COUNTY COURTHOUSE
1840-1856

The first courthouse of Christian County (originally Dane County) was built in 1840 for $2,350. It was located in the center of Taylorville’s public square. Court was held on the lower level with county officers sharing the upstairs floor. Since the circuit court came to town only twice each year, the courtroom was available at other times for use by county commissioners or for public functions.

Until 1853, Christian County was part of the Eighth Judicial Circuit. A judge would travel to all county seats in the circuit twice each year to hear cases. The circuit was almost 450 miles long and took almost three months to complete by horse and buggy.

Abraham Lincoln was one of the attorneys who traveled the Eighth Circuit and came to Taylorville. He had trials in this courthouse before Judge David Davis, whom he later appointed to the United States Supreme Court. During one trial, Lincoln was interrupted by a loud noise from the hogs underneath the courthouse. In mock earnestness, he asked Judge Davis to issue a “writ of quietus” requiring the sheriff to abate the nuisance!

This courthouse was replaced with a new one in 1856 and sold for $267. It was moved several times before being placed on these museum grounds in honor of it's historical significance and its connection to Lincoln.

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Stephen A. Douglas in Quincy IL5
Statesman and politician Stephen A. Douglas began his distinguished national career in Quincy. A resident of the city from 1841-1847, he served as Associate Justice of the Illinois Supreme Court from 1841-1843, then in the U.S. House until he was elevated to the Senate in 1847. Douglas maintained a residence at the Quincy house located on this site. On October 13, 1858, Judge Douglas returned here, visiting old friends before crossing the street to share the lecture platform with Lincoln for the sixth debate in the statewide series that helped determine the outcome of the Senate race and shape the future of the nation. Douglas later referred to his years in Quincy as when "I was first placed upon a national career where I was ever after kept."

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Langley Fork T33
Two 18th-century roads intersect just west of here: Sugarlands Rolling Road (now Georgetown Pike) and Little Falls Road (now Chain Bridge Road). Several historic structures stand near the fork: Langley Toll House (ca. 1820); Langley Ordinary (ca. 1850); Mackall House (ca. 1858); Gunnell’s Chapel (ca. 1879); Langley Friends Meeting House (ca. 1893), and Hickory Hill (ca. 1870), at times the home of Supreme Court Justice Robert H. Jackson, then -- Senator John F. Kennedy, and his brother Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy. Thomas Lee, of Stratford Hall, acquired Langley in a 1719 and named it for a family estate in England.

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The Hollow FF12
In 1765, John Marhsall, then nine, moved with his family from his birthplace 30 miles southeast to a small, newly constructed frame house one-quarter mile east known as The Hollow. The house built by his father, Thomas Marhsall, was his home until 1773, when the family moved five miles east to Oak Hill. After the American Revolution began, Thomas Marshall and his sons, John Marshall, James Markham Marshall, and Thomas Marshall, Jr. fought in numerous Revolutionary War battles including Great Bridge and Yorktown. John Marhsall later served as chief justice of the United States Supreme Court from 1801 to 1835.

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Paul Carrington M9
Member of the House of Burgesses, 1765-1775, of Virginia Conventions, 1774-1788, including Constitutional Conventions, of first Supreme Court of Appeals of Virginia. A founder of Hampden- Sydney College. Lived and is buried at Mulberry Hill nearby. Virginia State Library, 1961.

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Buck v. Bell Q28
In 1924, Virginia, like a majority of states then, enacted eugenic sterilization laws. Virginia’s law allowed state institutions to operate on individuals to prevent the conception of what were believed to be genetically inferior children. Charlottesville native Carrie Buck (1906-1983), involuntarily committed to a state facility near Lynchburg, was chose as the first person to be sterilized under the new law. The U.S. Supreme Court, in Buck v. Bell, on 2 May 1927, affirmed the Virginia law. After Buck more than 8,000 other Virginians were sterilized before the most relevant parts of the act were repealed in 1974. Later evidence eventually showed that Buck and many others had no hereditary defects. She is buried south of here.

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