Lincoln Nomination Convention "Wigwam" markers - Decatur, IL
Posted by: 
adgorn
N 39° 50.532 W 088° 57.228
16S E 332835 N 4412069
A Looking for Lincoln exhibit and a plaque with relief, commemorating the location of the May 1860 endorsement of Abraham Lincoln as the candidate of the Illinois Republican Party for President.
Waymark Code: WMCEKW
Location: Illinois, United States
Date Posted: 08/29/2011
Views: 5
The Looking for Lincoln exhibit explains that the term wigwam was borrowed from the Native American term for temporary structure. The convention was held on May 9, 1860 and involved some 2,500 people. A tent 100 feet wide and 70 feet deep was procured from a local circus company to house the crowd.
The Illinois Republicans adopted a resolution stating "That Abraham Lincoln is the first choice of Illinois for the Presidency, and that our delegates be instructed to use all honorable means for his nomination at the Chicago convention, and to cast their votes as a unit for him." Less than a week later the National Republican Convention opened in Chicago and the Illinois Republicans kept their word and nominated Lincoln for President.
Adjacent to the sign is a sculpture representing Lincoln being carried overhead through the dense crowd.
You can hear a narration of the sign at (
visit link)
The other plaque with relief tablet at the same location is inscribed as follows:
"ON THIS SITE STOOD A WIGWAM 120' X 50' IN
WHICH ABRAHAM LINCOLN WAS INDORSED
FOR PRESIDENT BY THE STATE REPUBLICAN
CONVENTION MAY 9-10, 1860 AND BECAME
KNOWN AS THE "RAILSPLITTER" CANDIDATE.
BAS RELIEF PLACED BY DECATUR AND
MACON COUNTY HERITAGE COMMITTEE.
PLAQUE PLACED BY
STEPHEN DECATUR CHAPTER NATIONAL SOCIETY
DAUGHTERS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION
JULY 25, 1970"
Decatur abounds in interesting Lincoln and other historical markers and monuments.