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Abraham Lincoln Appreciation Day in Mt. Pulaski
~ OVERVIEW ~
Mt. Pulaski Grade School and Mt. Pulaski Zion Lutheran Grade School joined forces to celebrate Abraham Lincoln Appreciation Day - Feb. 11, 2009. Several vintage 1800's displays were presented by Fred Lipp (rifles, muskets and smooth bores), Larry Wilham (carvings), Phyliss Beccue (frontier kitchen & household items) at the Mt. Pulaski Grade School. Lonn Pressnall, an Abraham Lincoln impersonator, met and talked with the students. Mr. Pressnall also gave tribute to Mt. Pulaski's Harry Hahn, long remembered Abraham Lincoln impersonator who, for 38 years, portrayed Mr. Lincoln amongst the best of all of the impersonators throughout the United States. For the second part of their day, the students were bused uptown to the Mt. Pulaski Courthouse and Mt. Pulaski Township Historical Museum. The museum volunteers presented talks on some Abraham Lincoln connections to Mt. Pulaski as well as many interesting items and stories about Mt. Pulaski. A display case of two Mt. Pulaski pocket watches were shown. It was explained that this jeweler (Mr. Lushbaugh) and his family had lived across the street from Abraham and Mary Todd Lincoln in Springfield, but moved his family to Mt. Pulaski in the 1840's. It was related that upon Mr. Lincoln's trips to Mt. Pulaski as a traveling horseback lawyer, he would frequently stay with this Lushbaugh family, as the food was better, the beds more comfortable with no bed bugs, and the surroundings cleaner. The students were asked if they knew why Mt. Pulaski had its name. Many could answer that our town was named after Count Casimir Pulaski, a Polish general who fought in the American Revolutionary War. The presenter went on to tell them that Pulaski was recruited by Benjamin Franklin to travel to the American colonies and assist General Washington and the colonists in their fight for Independence from the British. The students were shown a life ring from the USS Casimir Pulaski that now hangs proudly on the museum wall. It was pointed out that while the US Navy commissioned a submarine named after General Pulaski in 1964, our town was named after this Revolutionary War hero in 1836. It was explained that three men founded Mt. Pulaski and all three were from England. A large photo of one of our founders, Jabez Capps, was shown. He lived to be 101 years old. The kids were asked about his hat that was on display. Most of them could answer: "It's a stove pipe hat". It was also pointed out that Abraham Lincoln wasn't the only one to wear these stove pipe hats. It was pointed out that Mr. Lincoln often stayed with the Capps family. A display of many items from old Mt. Pulaski drug stores was shown - and it was explained that now we refer to these stores as pharmacies. The Biedler Drug Store existed in 1857 and a large photo of that store was on display. The Connolley Drug Store, which existed on the South side of the square for over 40 years, had items on display. It was revealed by the presenter that their teacher, Mrs. Olson, was the granddaughter of the Connolley's. A sign was held up: "which is faster - airplane or train?" All the students would answer airplane. But, “what about in 1910?", the presenter inquired. It was related that the Chicago to Springfield race by a Wright Brothers bi-plane and the Illinois Central Railroad Train was held in 1910 and the winner was rewarded $10,000 - a mighty sum in those days. A photo showed the plane with many on-lookers about it, as it had landed in a field just down Washington Street where our present Mt. Pulaski American Legion Hall resides. As the plane took on water, oil and gasoline, the train sped by with Wilbur Wright as a passenger. Wilbur had contracted another man to pilot his bi-plane. Shortly, the plane took off and eventually passed the train and claimed the award. The presenter smiled as he admitted that the famous Wilbur Wright was in our town of Mt. Pulaski for about twenty seconds. The students were shown a stamp & cancelled postmarked letter collection. The students were asked what a stamp costs. Many answered: 42 cents. It was shown that these stamps were all 1, 2 and 3 centers - and fractions thereof. Also, it was pointed out that many towns and cities in the United States are named after animals, musical instruments, flowers and items such as "Biscuit" and "Bread Loaf". But, the presenter said, "isn't it wonderful that our town is named after a famous person and not something like 'Biscuit'"?” An old electric ice cream machine owned and operated by the Bertoni Restaurant was also shown. On the other side of the museum, the students were treated to a display of old military uniforms: Civil War, WWI, WWII, Korean and Vietnam. They saw an old bank vault which used to belong to the Mt. Pulaski First National Bank. They also saw many Abraham Lincoln photos and paintings as well as the Harry Hahn display. Harry was Mt. Pulaski's famous Abraham Lincoln impersonator, who passed away just a few years ago. Upstairs, the students saw various rooms decorated and outfitted in vintage furnishings: an old kitchen with a cream separator, old stove, old refrigerator; a sewing room with spinning wheels, old baby buggies; a dinning room, parlor, South Side Club Game Room, bed room, music room and school room. Ink-well desks, slate chalk boards and many pictures and trophies of old Mt. Pulaski Grade School and High School academic, music and athletic endeavors were on display. They were shown pictures of old adult bands that used to perform in and around Mt. Pulaski and Logan County. Photos and old records and music sheets of the first woman of radio - Leonore Vonderlieth, who went by the name: Vaughn de Leath was shown. She was born and raised in Mt. Pulaski. Finally, the students were treated to a tour of the Mt. Pulaski Courthouse, which had been the Logan County Seat from 1848 to 1855. The students walked up the steps to the second-floor courtroom. There, the wooden floor is the very same floor that Abraham Lincoln walked on when he was a traveling 8th Judicial Circuit lawyer. The United States Flag of 30 stars adorns one of the courtroom walls - there were only 30 states in 1848. The students were told that the courthouse became a school house for twenty years, and then served as city offices, a community center, an American Legion Hall, and a post office for many years. Dances used to be held in the old courtroom. All the students were in sheer wonderment, thinking that wow, "the 16th President of the United States was once a lawyer in our Courthouse".
The presenters were: Courthouse: Wally Kautz, Tom Romer and Chuck McCue. Museum: Darrell Knauer, Dolly Buckles, Maxine Downing and Phil Bertoni.
by phil bertoni |