BLOOMINGTON, Ill. (WMBD) — The McLean County Museum of History now owns a document dating back to 1851, written by Abraham Lincoln.
The document was donated, Saturday morning, by retired Bloomington attorney and Lincoln scholar Guy Fraker. Representatives from the museum called the document “invaluable.”
The one-and-one-half page document is a legal pleading that summarizes the claims of Robert H. Rutledge, a client of Lincoln’s, against a neighboring landowner Jesse Funk The claims involve an aborted real estate deal involving 160 acres on the southern edge of Downs Township in McLean County.
The case ended two years later when the McLean County Circuit Court ordered Rutledge to see 80 of the 160 acres. Fraker said this document is important because it shows Lincoln’s connection to the community.
“The donated pleading is fascinating on my levels,” Fraker said. “It not only speaks powerfully to Lincoln’s ties to McLean County: it says a lot about the importance of land in the nineteenth century.’
Fraker received the document from Marilyn Townley, widow of Judge Wayne Townley Jr. in 2008 and now, 12 years later, wanted the museum to publicly display the document at least once a year- on or around Lincoln’s birthday.
“I wanted to ensure that this document would be cared for and made available for many years to come,” Fraker said.
Fraker said the document is now at home where it belongs.
“The McLean County Museum of History is a first-rate institution with a well-deserved reputation,” Fraker said. “I can think of no better place for this priceless document.”
