National Road Association of Illinois

06/04/2026

06/04/2026

THIS DAY IN LINCOLN HISTORY On June 3, 1861, Lincoln directs thirty days of mourning for Stephen A. Douglas, who dies in Chicago at the age of forty-eight.

Stephen Arnold Douglas was an American politician and lawyer from Illinois. A Democrat, he served in the United States Senate for fourteen years and defeated Abraham Lincoln to win reelection in 1858, a campaign known for the pivotal Lincoln–Douglas debates.

He was the representative of the Northern Democrats in the 1860 United States presidential election; with the Democrats split between northern and southern factions in the leadup to the American Civil War, he was defeated by Lincoln, the Republican nominee.

During his senate career, Douglas was one of the brokers of the Compromise of 1850, which sought to avert a sectional crisis over the issue of slavery. To deal with the volatile issue of whether to extend slavery into US territories, Douglas became the foremost advocate of popular sovereignty, which held that the voters of each territory should be allowed to decide.

At just 5 feet 4 inches (1.63 m) tall, Douglas was nicknamed the "Little Giant" because he was short in physical stature but a forceful and dominant figure in politics.

Info from Wikipedia. Photo from Library of Congress.

05/21/2026

With Illinois Route 66 Scenic Byway – I just got recognized as one of their top fans! 🎉

05/19/2026

Many early travelers on the National Road traveled by a covered Conestoga wagon. Here is such a wagon with the man standing on the "lazy board" that came out from under the wagon. They were the semi-trucks of the nineteenth century, measuring 19 ft long and weighing four to five tons. They originated in Pennsylvania in the 1700s. They were used on the National Road and the Santa Fe and Oregon trails. There are still deep ruts in the earth where they traveled.

05/19/2026

With Illinois Route 66 Scenic Byway – I just made it onto their weekly engagement list by being one of their top engagers! 🎉

05/15/2026

05/13/2026

05/13/2026

THIS DAY IN LINCOLN HISTORY ON May 13, 1744, Captain Abraham Lincoln was born.

Captain Lincoln was the paternal grandfather and namesake of the 16th U.S. president, Abraham Lincoln.

Captain Lincoln was a military captain during the American Revolution, and a pioneer settler of Kentucky. Some historical sources attest his last name as Linkhorn, although neither Abraham nor his children ever signed themselves as such.

Captain Lincoln learned the tanner's trade and later took his brother John as his apprentice. In 1768, his father John Lincoln purchased land in the Shenandoah Valley in the colony of Virginia.

Lincoln married Bathsheba Herring, and five children were born: Mordecai circa 1771, Josiah circa 1773, Mary circa 1775, Thomas born 1778 (the 16th president's father), and Nancy born 1780.

When Captain Lincoln died in 1786, tradition states that he was buried next to his cabin, which is now the site of Long Run Baptist Church and Cemetery near Eastwood, Kentucky.

Photo is of a stone memorializing Lincoln, and was placed in the cemetery in 1937.



Info and photo from Wikipedia.

05/13/2026

Here's the old classicly styled bank building in St. Jacob, IL. Is it still there?