February 13, 2013, The Abraham Lincoln Statue Committee has received much welcomed support for its project of placing a statue of Abraham Lincoln on the Logan County courthouse lawn. That support comes in the form of a donation from Main Street Lincoln. MSL has agreed to donate prints of a painting of the event the statue will commemorate.

The event, to be commemorated by the statue, is a speech given by Abraham Lincoln on the Logan County Courthouse lawn on October 16, 1858. This speech was given one day after the last of the famous Lincoln-Douglas debates at Alton, IL, during the Senatorial campaign of 1858.

Interest in this event by Main Street Lincoln is not new. In 2008, the 150th anniversary of the speech, MSL organized a successful and extremely entertaining re-enactment of the event. Also in 2008, MSL commissioned a painting of the 1858 speech. The painting, which can be viewed at Lincoln College, depicts Lincoln making the speech to a crowd of 5,000 people on the courthouse lawn. At the time of commission of the painting, MSL had a limited run of prints of the painting produced. The MSL work was funded by a grant from the Looking For Lincoln Bicentennial Committee. It is a portion of those prints that MSL is making available to the Abraham Lincoln Statue Committee for fund raising purposes.

The ALSC will award copies of the prints to donors. Individuals who donate $100 will receive a print. The prints are not framed. The donor is asked to pay for framing if desired. Groups, businesses and corporations making a donation of $500 will receive a framed print.

The ALSC has established a budget of approximately $48,000 for the project. The bronze statue of Abraham Lincoln will take $45,000 of the budget. A sign, similar to the one near the Civil War Monument, will tell the story of the speech and also have an image of the painting. The sign and the dedication ceremony is expected to take up the remainder of the budget.

Donations are to be made to the Logan County Genealogical & Historical Society (LCGHS). LCGHS is a 501(c)(3) Non Profit Organization, making donations to this project tax deductible. Donations may be dropped off at or mailed to LCGHS at 114 N. Chicago St. Lincoln, IL 62656. The memo line on a check should note that the donation is for the A. Lincoln Statue. Include contact information so committee members can give information for receiving the print.