Lincoln land
Alesha Hardwick
Issue date: 2/17/03 Section: News
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Illinois students know the month of February usually holds a day off of school in honor of President Abraham Lincoln’s birthday. However, few are aware that Macomb harbors a local Lincoln historical site that some may have unknowingly visited.
The year is 1857 in Macomb, and the Randolph House, 1 East Side Square, a magnificent hotel located on the southeast corner of the Square, opened its doors with a level of elegance almost unheard of in Western Illinois.
Western Illinois University English professor John E. Hallwas said in his book “Images of America: McDonough County Historic Sites,” that Lincoln stayed at the Randolph House during his two visits to Macomb Aug. 25-27 and Oct. 25-26, 1858. The third-floor room in the hotel was later deemed a local historic site after Lincoln’s presidency and assassination.
At the time of his first visit, Lincoln was a senatorial candidate, and his stop to Macomb included a welcome by William H. Randolph, the hotel’s namesake, who headed the Macomb Republicans. His arrival was cause for celebration in the town.
“After it was fired, (Macomb’s cannon “Sister Emma”), the long procession — which included mounted members of the Republican marching club called “Wideawakes” and mounted girls dressed in white representing the 32 states — escorted Lincoln to the Randolph House and paraded around the square,” Hallwas said in “Macomb, A Pictorial History.”
Besides resting at the Randolph House, Lincoln debated with Stephen Douglas at the hotel, one of the most noted opponents of his political career. The debates gained Lincoln national attention.
According to “Lincoln at the Randolph House,” a Chicago Tribune article dated Aug. 9, 1891, in this particular debate, Lincoln asked Douglas a question about his stand on slavery in the United States. Douglas expressed his opposition to slavery.
Hallwas stated in “Macomb, A Pictorial History,” that “no one ever claimed that anything of importance took place during Lincoln’s second visit to Macomb, but it was that visit which local people remembered.”
The year is 1857 in Macomb, and the Randolph House, 1 East Side Square, a magnificent hotel located on the southeast corner of the Square, opened its doors with a level of elegance almost unheard of in Western Illinois.
Western Illinois University English professor John E. Hallwas said in his book “Images of America: McDonough County Historic Sites,” that Lincoln stayed at the Randolph House during his two visits to Macomb Aug. 25-27 and Oct. 25-26, 1858. The third-floor room in the hotel was later deemed a local historic site after Lincoln’s presidency and assassination.
At the time of his first visit, Lincoln was a senatorial candidate, and his stop to Macomb included a welcome by William H. Randolph, the hotel’s namesake, who headed the Macomb Republicans. His arrival was cause for celebration in the town.
“After it was fired, (Macomb’s cannon “Sister Emma”), the long procession — which included mounted members of the Republican marching club called “Wideawakes” and mounted girls dressed in white representing the 32 states — escorted Lincoln to the Randolph House and paraded around the square,” Hallwas said in “Macomb, A Pictorial History.”
Besides resting at the Randolph House, Lincoln debated with Stephen Douglas at the hotel, one of the most noted opponents of his political career. The debates gained Lincoln national attention.
According to “Lincoln at the Randolph House,” a Chicago Tribune article dated Aug. 9, 1891, in this particular debate, Lincoln asked Douglas a question about his stand on slavery in the United States. Douglas expressed his opposition to slavery.
Hallwas stated in “Macomb, A Pictorial History,” that “no one ever claimed that anything of importance took place during Lincoln’s second visit to Macomb, but it was that visit which local people remembered.”