Lincoln and The Law, Looking for Lincoln — Clinton, IL
Posted by: 
adgorn
N 40° 09.225 W 088° 57.643
16T E 333004 N 4446665
Commemorates the cases Lincoln tried, as well as the time Lincoln and Douglas worked as partners on a case in Clinton, Illinois. Another of the "Looking for Lincoln" series.
Waymark Code: WMC9AG
Location: Illinois, United States
Date Posted: 08/11/2011
Views: 1
Thanks to the THE HISTORICAL MARKER DATABASE entry (
visit link) for transcribing the inscription:
"[ Top Section ]
Inscription. During his twenty years on the Eighth Judicial Circuit, Abraham Lincoln tried numerous cases in the DeWitt County courthouses, including a slander case involving William Dungey. Dungey, “a dark skinned man of Portuguese descent,” married Joseph Spencer’s sister. The brothers-in-law had a dispute that became so bitter that by 1855, Spencer was making a serious accusation: “Black Bill" Dungey, as Spencer was calling him, was a “negro.” In this time and place, if Dungey were indeed proven to have on-fourth African blood, he stood to lose his good reputation as well as his legal rights to his marriage, property ownership, his vote, and Illinois residency. Since 1819, Illinois laws permitted pseudo-slavery and discouraged free blacks from residing in the state. Representing Dungey in April 1855, Lincoln charged Spencer with slander. The case carried over to the fall term of court and was brought before a jury. Lincoln prevailed. Spencer was found guilty and ordered to pay $600 restitution and $137.50 court costs. Lincoln charged Dungey $25 for his services and counseled Dungey to avoid an appeal."
There is more to read when you visit the marker.
The Looking for Lincoln series comprises a total of 220 of these exhibits in 47 Illinois communities to help them more vividly tell their own unique Lincoln story. There are nine of these in Clinton.
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