Lincoln vs. Davis

The Vigo County Historical Society has a wonderful set of five political envelopes from 1861 that feature President Abraham Lincoln and Confederate President Jefferson Davis. The two men are illustrated in a boxing ring.

The description of the envelopes reads, “each envelope progresses their conflict as an allegory of the larger Civil War. The crowd surrounding them varies but is generally made up of soldiers, politicians, animals and political symbolism. The fight ends with Davis defeated.”

Union Christian College: progressive for its day

In tiny Merom, Ind., a progressive college opened its doors in 1859. Union Christian College was a co-educational school where women were encouraged to enroll in any class that men took.

Pictured at right is the Linconian Hall, so named in honor of President Lincoln in 1863. The Linconian Society met in this room.

Union Christian College closed its doors in 1924. For the next 12 years, the facility was opened only in the summer for various camps. In 1936, the campus was reopened as the Merom Institute. Owned by the Indiana-Kentucky Conference of the United Church of Christ, the facility is now known as the Merom Conference Center.

This image is part of the Sullivan County Public Library collection. Check out a larger image of the Linconian Hall.

John G. Stephenson: Lincoln appointee

As the birthday of President Abraham Lincoln draws near it’s a good time to uplift the services of Terre Haute denizen John Gould Stephenson. Stephenson was chosen by President Lincoln to be librarian of Congress, beginning in May of 1861. At that time, the Library of Congress was located on the first floor of the Capitol Building.

Mike McCormick, Vigo County historian, wrote of the interesting life of Stephenson in an ad sponsored by Terre Haute First National (Financial) Bank, Wabash Valley Profiles: A series of tributes to hometown people and events that have shaped our history.

Stephenson was at the helm of the library until Dec. 31, 1864. During that time 13,000 books were added to the collection. In an interesting historical tidbit, it was Stephenson who asked Congress to remove the bread ovens in the Capitol basement because of the damage to the books that was created by soot!

To learn more about Stephenson and his contributions to the nation, click here. Be sure to celebrate our 16th president’s birthday on Feb. 12.