“Mr. Lincoln has been so well known personally, to so large a number of our people, and has so long been regarded as one of our own citizens, that his death seemed to fall with the most crushing severity upon our inhabitants.

From 1837 until he left for Washington, D.C. in early 1861, Abraham Lincoln spent more time in Bloomington than anywhere else other than his hometown of Springfield.

Here he earned a living as an attorney on the Eighth Judicial Circuit, representing everyone from regular folk to powerful corporations.

Here he came to know Bloomington and its people, developing professional and personal relationships.

Here Lincoln returned to politics with renewed vigor, reawakened by the threat of slavery’s expansion.

And it was here, assisted by a group of devoted McLean County friends, that Lincoln was vaulted to national prominence as the leader of the reinvigorated anti-slavery movement – the new Republican Party.