| Beardstown
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Beardstown _____________
Driving Directions
From Quincy take Broadway, State 104, to I172. Go north on I172 for 5
miles, exit on U.S. 24 east. Follow U.S. 24 for 44 miles. Turn east on
State 103 to U.S. 67. Turn right about 1.5 miles to Beardstown.
Calendar of Events
Check out this
site for a calendar of community events.
History
Beardstown was settled in 1819 when a young man from Ohio, Thomas
Beard, went searching for a place of opportunity. Beard’s first of
many construction projects was a log cabin near the Illinois River where
he traded with the local Native Americans. Next he would build a two-story
brick building that would be Beardstown’s first inn and store. This
inn would later host a young lawyer, Abraham Lincoln. Lincoln’s history
with Beardstown doesn’t start with Thomas Beard’s inn. In August1832,
young Lincoln took a family down the Sangamon River from his home in New
Salem to Beardstown. The next spring he volunteered for service in the Black
Hawk War. Lincoln was elected to lead a company of soldiers and was installed
as captain in what is known today as Schmoldt Park in Beardstown. In 1855,
Lincoln gave a speech in Beardstown’s city square while running for
the Senate. Three years later and two years prior to becoming President
of the United States, Lincoln tried the most famous of many court cases
he would try at the Cass County Courthouse. After a change of venue from
Mason to Cass County, the murder trial of William “Duff” Armstrong
was heard at the Beardstown courthouse. Lincoln was able to successfully
defend Armstrong by producing an 1857 almanac that showed an eyewitness
could not have seen the murder because there was no moonlight on that night.
The trial became known as the “Almanac Trial”.