The Turning Point

We visited New Salem, a reconstructed town in IL near Springfield where Abraham Lincoln spent 6 years as a young single man in his twenties. The town disappeared but through the monetary donations of James Randolph Hearst a group was able to reconstruct it and it is a very authentic looking place. When I think of Lincoln's surroundings I think of Washington DC, or on a train campaigning, or in a woodsy place and this is definitely a woodsy place although they say that by the time all the residents had built their homes and businesses there wasn't much left of the woods.

He was a store-keeper for a while and this is the replica of the Berry-Lincoln store

He worked for a time at the grist mill.





He walked to work at the grist mill on this path.

I like thinking about how our early missionaries of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day saints were walking all over the land between Maine and Missouri and criss crossing IL. They must have walked places where Lincoln walked in the years he was an aimless young man.

He said when he arrived in New Salem he was an aimless young man. But the stay in this little town was a Turning Point in his life. This is where he discovered his leadership and political skills serving in the Black Hawk war. He found his love for studying the law and honed his debating skills with Jack Kelso the outdoorsman. He didn't own a home here. It was the custom of that day that young single men would buy board and room in peoples homes. I appreciated the comments from the man giving the tour. He said it took a real woman to run a household in those days. A young single guy couldn't have done it. Everything had to be done from scratch.

Abraham Lincoln signed the charter for the city of Nauvoo because he was in the IL legislature in the 1840's
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This shows some midwest flooding we saw on our drive to New Salem. You can see the road comes out again at the other side of this body of water.

This is a darling cupcake that a young sister made for a party she gave for her husband. She invited all the mowers of lawns in Nauvoo of which Dad is one.