By Arthur Foulkes
MARSHALL, ILL. — More than 150 years after practicing law in the Clark County, Ill., Courthouse, Abraham Lincoln is back.
On Friday, a statue of a youthful Abe Lincoln, as he would have appeared about 1850, was unveiled on the Clark County Courthouse lawn in Marshall. In the sculpture, Lincoln, without a beard, is walking, wearing an overcoat, looking slightly to his left, holding papers in one hand and a tall hat in the other.
“It looks to me like he just came out of the courthouse,” said Virginia Deisher of Marshall, one of about 100 people braving chilly conditions to watch the bronze sculpture’s unveiling. “I think it’s fabulous.”
The Marshall Main Street project started working toward erecting a Lincoln statue more than a year ago, said Jeannette Tyhurst, president of the organization.
Years before becoming the nation’s 16th president, Lincoln practiced law in the Clark County Courthouse and stayed in the nearby Archer House hotel, she said.
“We have some true history with him here,” Tyhurst said.
Members of the Marshall City Band played music and the Women of Note chorus sang patriotic songs during the unveiling ceremony. The artist who crafted the sculpture, Bill Wolfe of Vigo County, also spoke before the unveiling.
Every sculptor hopes to someday be commissioned to craft a Lincoln sculpture, Wolfe said. “That’s the cream of the crop, right there. … It’s quite an honor.”
The bronze statue stands 6-feet-4-inches, Wolfe said. It is on a black granite base inscribed with the words, “Dedicated to the Residents of Clark County. Gerald and Jean Forsythe, 2009.”
“Anytime anyone thinks about Illinois, they think about Lincoln,” Marshall-native Gerald Forsythe said after the unveiling. “We’re really very pleased for the community.”
Arthur Foulkes can be reached at (812) 231-4232 or arthur.foulkes@tribstar.com.
