Quincy

The Village consists of seven original cabins located on Quinsippi Island and built in the 1800’s, including the 1850 Clat Adams Log Cabin dedicated to Adams, who was a riverboat captain and storekeeper in Quincy. Some of the cabins have been refurbished and professionally restored by the Friends of the Log Cabins group.

The Museum was an undertaking of the Looking for Lincoln Heritage Coalition and Quincy's Lincoln Bicentennial Commission. It is located across the street from the debate site in Washington Park and was dedicated in October 2009 as a lasting legacy to the sixth debate and to commemorate Abraham Lincoln’s place in Quincy’s history.

The museum reopened in 2023 on the 165th anniversary of the debate after an 18-month renovation of its space and the production of five state-of-the-art videos and four new exhibits. The Turning Point video and exhibit panels explain why the debate was so important, how it affected United States history, and its importance in defining the morality of slavery and catapulting Abraham Lincoln to national attention.

Other videos and exhibits include Quincy in the Lincoln Era, Lincoln’s 30-year friendship with the Brownings, the hidden history of Lincoln’s Rum Sweat after the debate, Quincy’s Judge Douglas, A Slave Nation, and the Lincoln Heritage Trail: Quincy's 18 Looking for Lincoln Wayside Exhibits. 

Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas campaigned in 1858 to become a United States Senator from Illinois. They agreed upon a series of seven debates in different parts of the state, the sixth of which was held in Quincy. The Sesquicentennial Plaza commemorates the Lincoln-Douglas Debate in Washington Park and was rededicated by the community and Quincy’s Lincoln Bicentennial Commission in 2008. 

Sesquicentennial Plaza design elements:

• A bas relief sculpture by renowned artist Lorado Taft. 

• Two Looking for Lincoln storyboards providing historical context of the debate.

• A concrete plaza featuring an 1858 map of the United States and an Illinois flag.

• A low limestone wall flanking the plaza which features six pairs of points/counterpoints from the debate.

Dr. Richard Eells built this home, now located within the Downtown Quincy Historic District, in 1835.  

Eells built only the front portion of the house as it stands today, four blocks from the Mississippi River. He lived here until his death in 1848. Quincy, Illinois, was the first Underground Railroad station across the border of Missouri—a slave state. An abolitionist, Eells was actively involved in the Underground Railroad. In 1842 he was caught helping an escaped slave, Charley, from Monticello, Missouri. Charley was brought to the Eells house by a freed black, Barryman Barnett, who had spotted Charley swimming across the Mississippi River. While transporting Charley to Quincy's Mission Institute, a safer hiding place, Eells came across a posse looking for Charley. Charley fled, on Eells's advice, and was later found and returned to Missiouri. Eells returned home where he was shortly arrested and charged with harboring and secreting a fugitive slave under the Illinois Criminal Code. Judge Stephen A. Douglas heard the case in April 1843, and fined Eells $400, which he appealed.

Meanwhile, Eells became president of the Illinois Anti-Slavery Party in 1843 and was a candidate for the Liberty Party for the presidential election of 1844. He lost his appeal to the Illinois Supreme Court, the process of which drained him financially and emotionally. Eells died on a river boat on the Ohio River while on a a trip east to rest. His estate appealed his case to United States Supreme Court, which also upheld the guilt verdict. The town of Quincy is also notable as the location of the sixth Lincoln-Douglas debate of their senatorial campaign on October 13, 1858, a debate which centered on the question of expansion of slavery.

Today, this restored home houses the Quincy Underground Railroad Museum, and interprets the story of the Underground Railroad and Eels.

James W. Singleton was both Lincoln’s friend and a political opponent. Learn why the two former Whigs went different directions and about Singleton’s “Copperhead” opposition to the Civil War.  Also find out how Singleton helped reelect Lincoln as President.

Looking for Exhibits Wayside Exhibits related to Quincy in the Lincoln Era are located at 18 sites. The exhibits provide details about Lincoln, events, local people, and environment that contributed to Lincoln's Quincy story. 

Guide to Lincoln's Quincy:  https://seequincy.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/lincoln-in-quincy_web_2016.pdf