The debate is finished, both parties have rested their cases and the question again remains: "Did Abraham Lincoln practice law in the first Lincoln Christian Church building?"

 

In a widely publicized announcement in early September, Todd Parmenter, executive pastor of Lincoln Christian Church, said he did.

After Parmenter's story appeared in area newspapers, Leigh Henson, professor emeritus of English at Missouri State University, took issue with the research that spawned the announcement.

Henson says although it's highly likely that Lincoln did practice law in the church, that fact can't be said with 100 percent certainty without more primary evidence.

Parmenter said he has produced more secondary evidence than most other conclusions are drawn upon.

"People are convicted of murder without a body," he said Monday by telephone. He said the secondary evidence makes it highly unlikely that the court could have been held anywhere else.

Parmenter worked for months with church preaching minister Ron Otto and local historian Ron Keller, curator of the Lincoln College Museum, researching the topic. He also did online research of the Papers of Abraham Lincoln to reach his conclusion.

According to the research, Lincoln served as a lawyer in two cases and as a judge in a third during the circuit court term in the spring of 1858. Their research showed that the court was moved to the church because the Logan County Courthouse burned in 1857.

Henson operates and promotes an extensive Web site about the history of Lincoln, Ill.

Henson notified The Courier by e-mail on Sept. 11, to express his concern over the announcement.

"I, too, have considered the question of whether Abraham Lincoln ever practiced law in the Christian Church of Lincoln, Illinois," Henson wrote.

"I have examined the same sources as Misters Otto, Parmenter, and Keller. My analysis employs a significantly different approach, and I arrive at significantly different conclusions from theirs.

"In fact, I believe these gentlemen have jumped to conclusions."

Henson also contacted Parmenter and has posted each round of e-mails between the two men on his Web site at http://www.geocities.com/findinglincolnillinois/churches.html#abechurchquestion.

"I congratulate the Lincoln Christian Church historians for their efforts thus far, but I urge them to do more work before applying for the historical marker," he wrote in one e-mail. "Some of materials they have gathered are more convincing than others. The most credible kind of evidence is that which dates to Mr. Lincoln's time and has been verified as directly involving him. His 1858 cases in the Logan County Circuit Court are examples.

"Unfortunately, the Church historians have dismissed the 1857 Steigleman case because Mr. (historian James) Hickey had said Mr. Lincoln was in Chicago and could not have appeared in Lincoln, Illinois, then.

"Since Mr. Hickey's time, new information has surfaced that shows Mr. Lincoln was back in Springfield in the last days of September and first two days of October, when he could have traveled to Lincoln, Illinois, to appear in court. If that document can be found and is dated in the given time frame, it would be strong evidence because Mr. Hickey had verified it to be in Mr. Lincoln's handwriting."

Henson believes the transcript of the Steigleman case could be the real "smoking gun" as far as evidence is concerned.

Thursday, Parmenter wrote in an e-mail to Henson, "Thank you for your understanding and your kind words. I appreciate your advice and I intend to follow it.

"I believe you have stayed focused in your responses and I recognize that we are not that far apart. I concur that we cannot have total agreement until the last few missing pieces of primary evidence are located. I am hopeful that they eventually will be found.

"I, too, consider these last few conversations as case closed and thank you for your graciousness."

On Monday, Parmenter said, "He does come out and say it's highly probable - that we can't say with 100 percent confidence unless we have more primary evidence.

"He does acknowledge that we have sufficient secondary evidence. The only thing missing is a piece of paper that says in the spring of 1858, Logan County Circuit Court met in the Christian Church building.

"We may never have that."

Parmenter believes that any future evidence will be similar to a court case referred to by historian James Hickey that talked about the church building being used as a courtroom.

"That wasn't actually a piece of paper," he said, "but it was still viewed as a primary source and it was entered into official court records.

"It will be something similar to that, that nails this down."

Parmenter said Henson gave him two or three sources that he intends to investigate that may have that type of information.

"We have a (church) member who volunteers at the Illinois State Historical Society," Parmenter said. "When her time is freed up, she has said she will look for it.

"Mr. Henson was really helpful. He has promised in his research, if he comes across something, he will forward it to us.

"I feel like I have made a friend."

"I think it's wonderful people are this passionate about our local history," Keller said, "and I welcome a healthy historical exchange.

"I think sometimes it comes down to interpretation of the facts and it comes down to us to decide and discern the evidence.

"I haven't done my research to see which perspective corners the market of accuracy."