The Feature
The Newsletter of the Illinois Foundation for Frontier Studies - Spring 2005 

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The IFFS was organized in December of 2004 to support research of the colonial and frontier period of Illinois history. (1673-1840).

To this end, the IFFS will become a sponsor of lectures, programs, publications, archaeological excavations and special projects.

Of particular interest to the Foundation is the integration of archival and archaeological investigations. Such interdisciplinary approaches promise to provide rich new insights into frontier era lifeways.

The IFFS is currently filing for nonprofit status with the IRS. This will allow for tax deductible donations to the Foundation. It will also allow the IFFS to apply for grants from government and private funding sources. In the meantime, the Foundation is conducting a charter membership drive, in order to raise operating funds and to begin sponsorship of important historical projects.

Lincoln's First Property

On January 21, 2004, the IFFS co-sponsored a program held at the Under the Prairie Museum in Elkhart, Illinois. The museum curator, Robert Mazrim and Illinois State Historian Thomas Schwartz presented new research that has demonstrated that Abraham Lincoln owned a building and lots in the village of New Salem.

The conventional wisdom has been that Lincoln never owned property at New Salem. The rediscovered document revises that interpretation of his life as a young man in the frontier village. Know as a "writ of execution for judgment", the document reveals that in March 1835 the sheriff of Sangamon County auctioned off Lincoln's personal property, to settle a debt Lincoln incurred as a storeowner. The writ  describes Lincoln's ownership of a half interest in lots 16 and 17 North of Main Street in New Salem". In the auction, Lincoln's horse and surveyor's equipment were sold. A notation on the writ indicated the horse and equipment brought $81. The notation further states that the "sale of the house and lots was stayed by order of the plaintiff."

This new information indicates that Lincoln had a more vested interest in the village than previously believed. Lots 16 and 17, which were not shown on the original 1829 plat of New Salem, are believed to have been the site of the Denton Offutt store - where Lincoln worked as a clerk in 1831. Lincoln appears to have acquired a financial interest in the property after Offuts's departure.

Further archival research might provide further clues to Lincoln's connection with this property. Archaeological investigation on lots 16 and 17 could also yield answers to this exciting discovery. The SAC publication "Magnificent Storehouses and Forgotten Lot Lines" is available at the Under the Prairie Museum in Elkhart, or at www.undertheprairie.com. It can also be purchased at Prairie Archives in Springfield, Illinois.