Harlan-Lincoln Newsletter February 2013

Winter 2013

friends of the harlan-lincoln house, iowa wesleyan college, 601 n main street, mt. pleasant, iowa 52641Lynn Ellsworth, Executive Director, [email protected], phone: 319-385-6320

An Evening with Mr. & Mrs. Lincoln provided captivating entertainment

Husband and wife team Max and Donna Daniels entertained a large and appreciative audience on

October 25 at the Iowa Wesleyan College Chapel. The Daniels are well-known as Lincoln presenters. Their portrayals of Abraham and Mary Lincoln were captivating, moving and factual.

During their visit to Iowa Wesleyan, the Daniels toured the Harlan-

Friends of the Harlan-Lincoln House at Iowa Wesleyan Collegenews

Main Street Cinemas in Mount Pleasant highlighted the Harlan-Lincoln story during the run of the acclaimed Steven Spielberg film “Lincoln” in January. The marquee called attention to the local historic connection to the Lincoln legacy. Friends of the Harlan-Lincoln House provided brochures and posters to bring awareness of the connection to theater-goers. a

Celebrating the local connection to latest Spielberg movie

Lincoln House. Max said that it was thrilling for him to be in the actual spaces where members of the Lincoln family spent time. He expressed keen appreciation for the Harlan-Lincoln House as an historical treasure. Both enjoyed performing in the renovated Iowa Wesleyan Chapel Auditorium and would welcome an opportunity to return and present a different program in the future. a

Special showing of Love and ValorMay 17, 7:30 p.m., Iowa Wesleyan College Chapel

Through special arrangement with the director, Charles Larimer, Friends of the Harlan-Lincoln House will present the final edit version of his film “Love

and Valor: One Couple’s Intimate Civil War Letters” at the Iowa Wesleyan College Chapel on Friday, May 17, at 7:30 p.m. Three years ago, Larimer shared an earlier version of the movie with a local audience. Larimer is again offering the showing as a fundraiser for the Harlan-Lincoln House. Tickets may be purchased at the door for $5.00.

The film is based on Larimer’s book of the same name. Jacob and Emeline Ritner, the couple who wrote the letters, were Larimer’s great-grandparents. The Ritners lived in Henry County and Ritner served as captain in the 25th Iowa Infantry. a

March 5 The Garretson Family: Pioneers, Inventors, and Abolitionists Cathy Garretson Helman, a rural Salem native, will speak on her family history. The story of the Garretson family is one Henry County family’s story in the settlement of America. From a shipwreck off the coast of Long Island in 1657 to Jackson Township, Henry County, Iowa in 1837, notable characters, events and initiatives are all part of the Garretson family story. The arrival in Iowa included involvement in the Underground Railroad in and near Salem.

March 12 – Religion and the Civil War Larry Mitchell, former pastor of the First Presbyterian Church, Mount Pleasant, will provide an overview

on evangelicalism, revivalism, and abolitionism, denominational splits leading up to the War, and Lincoln’s theology as shown in his writings.

March 19 The Impact of Uncle Tom’s Cabin: Life Among the Lowly on American Culture Joy Lynn Conwell, Circulation/Special Collections Associate at Chadwick Library, Iowa Wesleyan College, will present a look at the history and impact of the book Uncle Tom’s Cabin. Published in 1852, this anti-slavery novel

was the second best-selling book of the 19th Century, following the Bible. When President Lincoln met author Harriet Beecher Stowe, he stated

“So you’re the little woman who wrote the book that started this great war.” Editions of the book held in the Special Collections of Iowa Wesleyan College will be on display. Those attending the lecture are invited to bring their personal copies of the book.

March 26 The Union Block: Past, Present, and Future Pat White, local researcher and historian, and Lisa Oetken, director of Mount Pleasant’s Main Street program, will speak about the history, current focus and future of one of the area’s most historically significant buildings.

Harlan-Lincoln House featured in Des Moines Register article

Brown Bag Lecture SerieS MarcH 2013This year marks the 10th anniversary of this annual series of presentations on historical topics. The Brown Bag Lectures are held Tuesdays in March at noon in the International Room of Chadwick Library at Iowa Wesleyan College. Audience members are encouraged to bring their lunch. The programs are free and open to the public.

Tours offer first-hand look at House

During the past few months, groups touring the Harlan-Lincoln House have included a class of Iowa Wesleyan

international students, the Midwest Old Threshers Log Village Explorer Post, Mt. Pleasant Christian School 4th and 5th graders, a Cadillac

LaSalle car club from Des Moines, women’s groups and family groups. A Lincoln enthusiast from Des Moines was delighted at what he found at the Harlan-Lincoln House and declared that it was a “diamond in the rough.” a

Iowa Wesleyan College international students visited the Harlan-Lincoln House.

An article in the January 14 edition of the Des Moines Register identified the connections Abraham Lincoln had to Iowa. Featured prominently was the Harlan and Lincoln family connections, and information on the Harlan-Lincoln House. A photo of the House accompanied the article. a

Des Moines Register 01/14/2013 Page : E003

Copyright © 2013, The Des Moines Register.Use of this site signifies your agreement to the Terms of Service and Privacy Policy . 01/14/2013January 14, 2013 12:48 pm / Powered by TECNAVIA

Copy Reduced to %d%% from original to fit letter page

The Des Moines Register | Metro Edition Monday, January 14, 2013 | Page 3E

Today on Television Find expanded program schedules for cable and satellite televisionproviders in the Des Moines area at DesmoinesRegister.com/tv.

Broadcast Local Channels

12:00 12:30 1:00 1:30 2:00 2:30 3:00 3:30 4:00 4:30 5:00 5:30 6:00 6:30 7:00 7:30 8:00 8:30 9:00 9:30 10:00 10:30 11:00 11:30WOI The Chew General Hospi-

tal (N)The Jeff ProbstShow (N)

The Doctors (N) Katie (N) News WorldNews

News Enter-tainment

The Bachelor (N) 9:01 Castle Underthe Influence (N)

News 10:35 Jimmy Kim-mel Live (N)

11:35Nightline

KCCI KCCI 8News

Bold/Beautiful

The Talk (N) Let’s Make aDeal (N)

Dr. Phil (N) The Dr. Oz Show(N)

KCCI 8News

EveningNews

KCCI 8News

InsideEdition

How IMet

Big Bang 2 BrokeGirls (N)

Mike &Molly (N)

Hawaii Five-0Kapu (N)

KCCI 8News

Late Show WithDavid Letterman

Fergu-son

IPTV Caillou(EI)

DanielTiger

Clifford-Dog

Thomas/Friends

Fetch!With

ElectricComp.

Arthur(EI)

MarthaSpeaks

WildKratts

WordGirl(EI)

CuriousGeorge

PBS NewsHour (N) MysteryCars

Antiques Road-show (N)

Market Warriors(N)

Royal Memories:Prince Charles

Business Are YouServed?

Doc Martin DryYour Tears

WHO Channel 13 Newsat Noon (N)

Days of our Lives(N)

The Ricki LakeShow (N)

Jeop-ardy!

Jeopar-dy! (N)

The Ellen DeGe-neres Show (N)

News NightlyNews

News Wheel ofFortune

The Biggest Loser Cut the Junk (N) 9:01 Deception (N)(DVS)

News at10

The Tonight ShowWith Jay Leno (N)

JimmyFallon

KDSM Maury The People’sCourt (N)

Judge Mathis (N) JudgeJudy (N)

JudgeJudy

FamilyFeud

FamilyFeud

Simp-sons

Big Bang Two andHalf Men

Big Bang Bones The Diamond in the Rough; TheArchaeologist in the Cocoon (N) (PA)

13 News at 9 onFox 17 (N)

Two andHalf Men

Ray-mond

Seinfeld Dish Na-tion (N)

KCWI Cops Cops We thePeople

JudgeRoss

Steve Harvey (N) The Bill Cunning-ham Show (N)

FamilyGuy

Ameri-can Dad

How IMet

TMZ (N) Engage-ment

Engage-ment

The Carrie DiariesPilot (N)

The Carrie DiariesPilot

The Of-fice

The Of-fice

How IMet

King ofQueens

Baggage Cash Cab

ION Lethal Weapon 3(1992) ›››

Without a TraceLight Years

Without a Trace Criminal MindsCradle to Grave

Criminal MindsThe Eyes Have It

Criminal MindsThe Performer

Criminal MindsOutfoxed

Criminal Minds100

Criminal MindsSlave of Duty

Criminal MindsRetaliation

Criminal Minds Criminal MindsValhalla (DVS)

KDMI Captive Hearts(1987) ››

The Sailor From Gibraltar ›› JeanneMoreau, Vanessa Redgrave

Toys in the Attic ››› Dean Martin,Yvette Mimieux

A Star for Two Lauren Bacall Former lov-ers try to rekindle their relationship.

Company Business ›› Gene Hackman,Kurtwood Smith

The Patriot ››› Mel Gibson, Joely Richardson A man and hisson fight side by side in the Revolutionary War.

Basic Cable Channels

12:00 12:30 1:00 1:30 2:00 2:30 3:00 3:30 4:00 4:30 5:00 5:30 6:00 6:30 7:00 7:30 8:00 8:30 9:00 9:30 10:00 10:30 11:00 11:30A&E Criminal Minds

LuckyCriminal MindsPenelope

The First 48 The First 48 LifeSnatched

The First 48 The First 48 Duck Dy-nasty

Duck Dy-nasty

Duck Dynasty Duck Dy-nasty

Duck Dy-nasty

Duck Dy-nasty

Duck Dy-nasty

Duck Dy-nasty

Duck Dy-nasty

11:01 Duck Dy-nasty

AMC 12:15 The Color of Money ››› Paul Newman A former poolshark shows an upstart how to hustle.

Casino ››› Robert De Niro, Joe Pesci A mob employee makes a play for power in1970s Las Vegas.

A Few Good Men ››› Tom Cruise A Navy lawyer defends twoMarines in a comrade’s death.

10:01 Unforgiven ›››› Clint Eastwood,Morgan Freeman

CNN CNN Newsroom (N) CNN Newsroom (N) The Situation Room (N) Erin Burnett Out-Front (N)

Anderson Cooper360 (N)

Piers Morgan To-night (N)

Anderson Cooper360

Erin Burnett Out-Front

Piers MorganTonight

COM Dead Man onCampus ››

American Pie Presents: Band Camp››› Tad Hilgenbrinck

ComedyCentral

3:22 Fu-turama

3:53 Fu-turama

AlwaysSunny

AlwaysSunny

5:26Tosh.0

ColbertReport

DailyShow

6:57 Fu-turama

7:28 Fu-turama

SouthPark

SouthPark

Brickle-berry

SouthPark

DailyShow

ColbertReport

SouthPark

SouthPark

DISC Texas Drug WarsCartel Crackdown

Texas Drug WarsCartel Crackdown

U.S. Drug WarsCaptive by Coyotes

U.S. Drug Wars U.S. Drug Wars U.S. Drug Wars Extreme DrugSmuggling

Extreme Smug-gling Drugs (N)

Shipwreck MenWreckers Gold (N)

Amish Mafia HolyWar

Shipwreck MenWreckers Gold

Extreme Smug-gling Drugs

DISN AgentOso

Gaspard& Lisa

Phineasand Ferb

Austin &Ally

Austin &Ally

Austin &Ally

A.N.T.Farm

Shake ItUp!

Shake ItUp!

Shake ItUp!

Good-Charlie

Jessie Good Luck Charlie, It’sChristmas! Bridgit Mendler

Shake ItUp!

Austin &Ally

Dog A.N.T.Farm

Good-Charlie

Austin &Ally

Jessie Wizards-Place

Wizards-Place

ESPN SportsCenter (N)(Live)

SportsCenter (N)(Live)

OutsideLines

FootballLive

NFL Live (N) (Live) Aroundthe Horn

Interrup-tion

College GameDay(N) (Live)

College Basketball Louisville at Con-necticut (N) (Live)

College Basketball Baylor at Kansas(N) (Live)



FAM FullHouse

FullHouse

Reba Reba Reba Reba ’70sShow

’70sShow

’70sShow

’70sShow

Bunheads Switched at Birth Switched at Birth(N)

Bunheads (N) Switched at Birth The 700 Club FreshPrince

FreshPrince

FNC America Live (N) Studio B WithShepard Smith (N)

Your World WithNeil Cavuto (N)

The Five (N) Special ReportWith Bret Baier (N)

FOX Report WithShepard Smith

The O’Reilly Fac-tor (N)

Hannity (N) On Record, GretaVan Susteren

The O’ReillyFactor

Hannity

FX Star Trek (2009) ››› Chris Pine, ZacharyQuinto, Leonard Nimoy

Jumper › Hayden Christensen, SamuelL. Jackson

How IMet

How IMet

Two andHalf Men

Two andHalf Men

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen ›› Shia LaBeouf, Josh DuhamelSam Witwicky holds the key to defeating an ancient Decepticon.

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen ›› ShiaLaBeouf, Josh Duhamel

HALL Marie Dean Cain HappyDays

HappyDays

HappyDays

HappyDays

GoldenGirls

GoldenGirls

GoldenGirls

GoldenGirls

BradyBunch

BradyBunch

BradyBunch

BradyBunch

HappyDays

HappyDays

HappyDays

HappyDays

Frasier Frasier Frasier Frasier GoldenGirls

GoldenGirls

HGTV Love It or List ItThe Mitchell Family

Love It or List It Love It or List ItThe Turner Family

Love It or List ItThe Pliskat Family

Love It or List ItThe Denil Family

Love It or List It Love It or List It Love It or List It Love It or ListIt (N)

HouseHunters

HuntersInt’l

Love It or List ItThe Elliott Family

Love It or List It

HIST PawnStars

PawnStars

PawnStars

PawnStars

PawnStars

PawnStars

PawnStars

PawnStars

PawnStars

PawnStars

PawnStars

PawnStars

PawnStars

PawnStars

PawnStars

PawnStars

American PickersThe Doctor Is In

PawnStars (N)

PawnStars (N)

Amer.Pickers

Amer.Pickers

PawnStars

PawnStars

LIFE How IMet

How IMet

Frasier Frasier Frasier Frasier My Life Is a Life-time Movie

My Life Is a Life-time Movie






10:01 My Life Is aLifetime Movie

11:02 My Life Is aLifetime Movie

MCC High SchoolFootball

ESPNEWS Newsleaders Thresherman’s ReunionParade

RapidsWalleye

AARP3rd CD

CultureCravers

It AllAdds Up

ImpactGolf

Newsleaders Frame ESPNEWS Midwest Cage Championships

MTV True Life 12:20 BUCKWILD Catfish: The TVShow

2:40 Teen Mom 2 Caught inthe Middle

3:50 Washington Heights Snooki & JWOWWNew Beginnings

Catfish: The TVShow

Teen Mom 2 Teen Mom 2 A NewDirection (N)

Catfish: The TVShow

Teen Mom 2 A NewDirection

NICK Dora theExplorer

Go, Di-ego

TeenageMut.

Sponge-Bob

Sponge-Bob

Odd Par-ents

Kung FuPanda

Sponge-Bob

Sponge-Bob

Sponge-Bob

Sponge-Bob

Sponge-Bob

Dora theExplorer

Drake &Josh

FullHouse

FullHouse

FullHouse

FullHouse

TheNanny

TheNanny

Friends 10:33Friends

11:06Friends

11:39Friends

SPKE A Bronx Tale (1993) ››› Robert De Niro,Chazz Palminteri, Lillo Brancato

Fighting ›› Channing Tatum, Zulay Henao A youngman becomes a champion street brawler.

Kick-Ass ››› Aaron Johnson, Mark Strong An ordi-nary teen decides to become a superhero.

The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift ›› LucasBlack, Bow Wow

The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift ›› LucasBlack, Bow Wow

SYFY Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986)››› William Shatner

Star Trek: First Contact ››› Patrick Stewart Half-robot Borg tries to sabotage a rocket flight.

Star Trek: Nemesis ›› Patrick Stewart Capt. Picardfaces his Romulan-engineered clone.

Continuum A Stitchin Time (N)

Being Human It’s aShame About Ray

Lost Girl CagedFae (N)

Continuum A Stitchin Time

Being Human It’s aShame About Ray

TBS Ray-mond

Ray-mond

Engage-ment

Engage-ment

Ray-mond

Friends Friends Friends Friends King ofQueens

King ofQueens

Seinfeld Seinfeld Seinfeld Family Guy EpisodeVI: It’s a Trap

FamilyGuy

FamilyGuy

FamilyGuy

FamilyGuy

Conan (N) The Of-fice

The Of-fice

TNT Law & Order Chal-lenged

Law & Order LostBoys (DVS)

Law & Order Fall-ing (DVS)

The Mentalist TheRed Mile

The Mentalist The MentalistRedacted

The Mentalist The MentalistBloodsport

The MentalistBloodhounds

The Mentalist RedAlert

CSI: NY Veritas CSI: NY Page Turner

USA Law & Order: Crim-inal Intent No Exit

Law & Order:Criminal Intent

NCIS Iceman NCIS Grace Period NCIS Cover Story NCIS Brothers inArms

NCIS In the Dark(DVS)

WWE Monday Night RAW (N) (Live) 10:05 NCIS: LosAngeles

CSI: Crime SceneInvestigation

WGN-A WGN MiddayNews (N)

Walker, TexasRanger

Walker, TexasRanger Devil’s Turf

Walker, TexasRanger Days Past

Law & Order: Crim-inal Intent Beast

OldChristine

OldChristine

America’s FunniestHome Videos



WGN News atNine (N)


Engage-ment

Engage-ment

University, the scriptabout a college-agedson’s surprise visit backhome with his girlfriendwas the winner of Tall-grass’ seventh annualIowa Playwrights Work-shop. It’s been polishedover the last fewmonthswith feedback from pub-lic readings and the usualrehearsals Tallgrassdevotes to all of its plays,by Pulitzer winners andnewbies alike.

The workshop’s direc-tor, Erica Spiller, won thefirst contest seven yearsago with a script shewrote as a senior atSimpson College.

“I hadn’t planned for itto go any further. Mymother spotted a note inthe paper and made sureI submitted it,” she said.

It turned out to be asmart move.

“Having that playstaged, seeing it live andgetting the feedbackfrom Tallgrass and theaudience gave me theconfidence to know that Ireally did have the abilityto write, that I couldpursue it further,” shesaid. She now has a mas-ter’s in English literatureand teaches writing atKaplan University.

She’s seen a handful ofplaywriting projectsemerge in the last fewyears. Actors at StageW-est and the Des MoinesCommunity Playhouse

read fresh scripts everymonth, usually fromestablished writers butnot always. The DesMoines Social Club orga-nizes page-to-stageevents, and area schools—Drake, Simpson, DesMoines Area Community

College — often hostfestivals of short plays.The 711Theatre Project,in which teams haveseven days to produce11-minute plays fromscratch, has become afrenzy of creativity ev-ery summer.

TomDeiker, a localplaywright and retiredIowa Department ofHuman Services official,compiled a list of 11 suchopportunities statewidefor a seminar a whileback at DMACC. Hisgroup, the Iowa Script-

writers Alliance, invitesanybody with a pen andpaper to bring up to 15pages to monthly script-reading meetings. Actorscan come and practicereading lines cold. Oth-ers come to offer feed-back or simply listen in.

The important thing isto just keep at it. At lastcount, Deiker has written92 plays. Forty-six havebeen staged by a total of35 theaters in 17 states.

“There are more than700 community theatersin the United States,” hesaid. “Many of them arehappy to do play compe-titions or workshops,knowing they’ll get freescripts.”

And a growing num-ber of them happen to behere.

PLAYSContinued from Page 1E

LEARNMORE» The Iowa Scriptwriters Alliance meets in Des Moines on the last Tuesday of each month toread and critique screenplays and stage scripts by anyone. www.iowascripts.org» The 711 Theatre Project challenges teams to create 11-minute plays every summer at GrandView University’s Viking Theatre. www.711theatre.com» StageWest’s Scriptease series presents a new script on the last Tuesday of each month at theFirst Unitarian Church. www.stagewestiowa.com» Actors read a script on the first Monday of each month at the Des Moines Community Play-house. www.dmplayhouse.com» Tallgrass Theatre accepts submissions year-round for its annual Iowa Playwrights Workshop.www.tallgrasstheatre.org» Several other groups invite submission for full-length productions or short-play festivals,including: the City Circle Acting Co. in Coralville, www.citycircle.org; Davis County Players inBloomfield, www.daviscountyfinearts.com; Dreamwell Theatre in Iowa City, www.dreamwell.com; and Shelterbelt Theatre in Omaha, www.shelterbelt.org.

only means of large-scaletransportation, had triedunsuccessfully to blockits construction.

When the steamboatEffie Afton struck one ofits piers andburned, dam-aging the bridge, theboat’s owners initiated alawsuit against the RockIsland Railroad, claimingthe bridgewas a hazard tonavigation and should bedismantled.

Lincoln, by then a re-spected Springfield, Ill.,lawyer, was hired to de-fend the railroad. Hiswork resulted in a hungjury that historians sayhelped hasten the end ofthe riverboat era and in-crease the pace of expan-sion into Iowa.

3 1858: Lincoln, aspir-ing U.S. senator,visits BurlingtonNominated to run

against incumbent Ste-phenA.Douglas for a seatin theU.S. Senate, Lincolnfinally accepted one ofseveral requests, whichhistorians believe startedaround 1844, to visit Bur-lington, Ia., thenan impor-tant political center in thestate.Aspartof thehistor-ic Lincoln-Douglas de-bates, Lincoln traveled toGalesburg on Oct. 7. Bur-lington, about 46 mileswest, provided an oppor-tunity to respond to argu-ments Douglas had madethere on a recent visit.

Among accounts of theOct. 9 visit was one byClark Dunham, editor ofThe Burlington HawkEye, who described Lin-coln coming down thestairs at his hotel, theBar-ret House, to meet a localdelegation with his armsstretched high as hestruggled to pull a fresh,boiled shirt over his head.Lincoln later spoke atGrimes House, a hallowned by Iowa Gov.JamesW. Grimes, and thenextdayvisitedGrimesathis home before leavingtown.

4 1859: Lincoln visitsDubuqueTraveling with clients

from the Illinois CentralRailroad on a break froma trial in Galena, Lincolnmade a side trip to Du-buque in 1859.

The party reportedlystayed at the extravagantJulienHouse hotel, an im-pressive structure thatgreeted travelers cross-ing the Mississippi Riverinto Iowa.

While theoriginalhotelwas destroyed by fire in1913, its elegant replace-ment completed in 1915 isstill open as the Hotel Ju-lien Dubuque.

51859: Lincoln travelsto Council BluffsInwhatmay have been

Lincoln’s most significantIowa visit, he traveled toCouncil Bluffs a year be-fore becoming a seriouschallenger for the Repub-lican nomination forpresident.

After a speech in theKansas Territory, Lincolnarranged a trip up theMissouri River to CouncilBluffs to survey parcelsof landhis friend,NormanJudd, had offered as secu-rity on a loan. He alsomade arrangements for aspeechon“political issuesof the day,” which gath-ered a packed house forwhat the Council BluffsNonpareil then describedas a “masterly and unan-swerable speech.”

Lincoln was intro-duced toGrenvilleDodge,a civil engineer workingfor the Mississippi andMissouri Railroad. Rival-ry for therailroad’sexten-sion pointwestward led to

a conversation on one ofthe broad porches of thePacific House Hotel inwhich Lincoln questionedDodge, who made a casefor Council Bluffs— laterLincoln’s choice for therailroad’s eastern termi-nus.

6 1860: Iowans helpLincoln win thepresidencyJosiah B. Grinnell of

Grinnell andHendrik Pie-ter Scholte of Pella wereamong the delegates whosupported Lincoln at theRepublican National Con-vention in Chicago. AndIowa Gov. Samuel Kirk-wood of Iowa City, for-merly ofOhio, is noted forhaving used his connec-tions to win support awayfrom rival Salmon P.Chase of Ohio.

Scholte later wrotecampaign endorsementsforLincoln and translatedcampaign materials intoDutch and German. Healso attended the inaugu-ration inWashington,D.C.Kirkwood was laterIowa’s war general underLincoln.

7 1861: President Lin-coln consults JamesHarlan, beginning abond between thetwo families.Illinois native James

Harlan moved to Iowa in1843, serving as a teacherand lawyer before beingnamed president of theMount Pleasant Colle-giate Institute, now IowaWesleyan College. Elect-ed to the U.S. Senate in1855, he became one ofLincoln’s trusted advis-ers, even escorting firstlady Mary Lincoln at thesecond inauguration in1865. Lincoln’s eldest son,Robert, escorted SenatorHarlan’s daughter, Mary,to the inauguration ball.

8Lincoln’s IowalegacycontinuesUpon the news of Lin-

coln’s death on April 15,1865, Iowansgrieved inanoutpouring that includedpublic meetings wherethey openly wept. In IowaCity, a mile-long proces-sion wound through thestreets on April 19.

The romance betweenLincoln’s son, RobertTodd Lincoln, and IowanMary Eunice Harlanforged a lasting Iowa tie.The two married in 1868,and in the late 1870s and1880s, brought their chil-dren to spend summers inthe Mount Pleasant homebuilt byMary’s father.Ar-tifacts there today in-clude a section of the coatLincoln was wearing atthe time of his assassina-tionand themourningveilworn by Mary Todd Lin-coln. Their three chil-dren’s heights in 1883 arestill recorded on a door-way in the home, whichcan be visited by appoint-ment with Lynn Ells-worth, executive directorof Friends of the Harlan-LincolnHouse, at 319-385-6320 or [email protected].

LINCOLNContinued from Page 1E

DORIS KEARNSGOODWINWhat: Presidential historianand Pulitzer Prize-winningauthor Doris Kearns Goodwinis the featured speaker at theGreater Des Moines Part-nership’s annual dinner Tues-day. Her best-selling book,“Team of Rivals: The PoliticalGenius of Abraham Lincoln,”inspired Steven Spielberg’sOscar-nominated film, “Lin-coln.”When: The Partnership’sannual dinner, which cele-brates successes in the busi-ness community, starts at5:30 p.m. Tuesday with asocial hour. The dinner andprogram begin at 6:30 p.m.Reserve tickets at www.desmoinesmetro.com/annualdinner. General seating is$125 per person or $1,250per table.

Howwe compiled this story: Grant Veeder’s(left) article, “Abraham Lincoln and the Hawk-eye State,” published in Iowa Heritage Illustrat-ed Winter 2008, was referenced, along withartifacts, interviews and records from the StateHistorical Library of Iowa, the State HistoricalSociety of Iowa, and the Council Bluffs PublicLibrary, as well as Iowa Public Television, the

Davenport Public Library, Pella Historical Village, IowaWesley-an College, the Union Pacific Railroad Museum, PBS, Universityof Iowa Press, The Lincoln Institute, the National GovernorsAssociaiton, the Wisconsin Historical Society and the AbrahamLincoln Presidential Library and Museum websites.

The Harlan-Lincoln house in Mount Pleasant, Ia. SPECIAL TOTHE REGISTER

Des Moines Register 01/14/2013

Page : E001

Copyright © 2013, The Des Moines Register.Use of this site signifies your agreement to the Terms of Service and Privacy Policy . 01/14/2013

January 14, 2013 12:47 pm / Powered by TECNAVIA

Copy Reduced to %d%% from original to fit letter page

Poring over biograph

ies

from the archivesat the

Universityof Northern

Iowa libraryin 2008,

Black Hawk County Au-

ditor Grant Veederfelt

himself being pulled into

a delicioustrip back in

time.Asamemberof theIowaAbraham

LincolnBicentenn

ial Commission, he

had agreed to researchLincoln’s

ties to

Iowa for a series ofbrochur

es.

Early in theproject,Veede

r received

copies of old Iowa newspaper articles

from a commission colleague with the

State HistoricalLibrary

of Iowa. “They

were like preciousgems in my hands,”

he said. And they inspiredhim to look

not just to Lincolnbiograph

ies, butto

those of historic Iowans.

“Iowa grew enormously in the 1850s

and ’60s,” Veedersaid. “A

s I was re-

searching some of these people, I

saw

that a lot of them had similar stories to

Lincoln,moving west in their youth.

They were people who were searching

forwhat we’d call the American dream,

people that knew there would be more

opportunities for

them to be successful

in whatevertheir calling was if they

went to the Western frontier.”

In the 1840s, asLincoln’s

reputation

grew, prominent Iow

ans began extend-

ing invitations. His travels here, alo

ng

with the roles Iowa residents played in

his life and leadership, place Iowa

“among a very small number of states

wherehehad a signific

ant amount of in-

teraction,” Veede

r said.

A look at some of Lincoln’sconnec-

tions to the state of Iowa:

11855: Lincolnbecomes an Iowa

landowner

Early in his adultlife, Linc

oln enlist-

ed in the Black Hawk War, now consid-

ered key to openingIowa to Europea

n

American settlement in 1832. Histori-

ans’ accounts of b

roken treatiesand de-

scriptions of the events of the struggle

canbehard tosqu

areagainst21stce

ntu-

ry viewpoints. And while Veeder

and

other historians s

ay Lincolnheld views

typical of Europea

n Americansduring

his time, “he had some interaction with

Native Americansthat show his well-

deservedreputati

on for personal empa-

thy and fairness.”

Lincolnlater received

land grant

warrants awardedbyCongres

s. In1855,

he legally acquireda parcel o

f 40 acres

in TamaCounty, which remainsmarked

by a plaque four miles north and two

miles west of Toledo. In 1860, he

used a

secondwarrant for 120 acres to

acquire

a piece of ground in Crawford County,

marked a mile east of Schleswig. Lin-

coln died without seeing the land he

owned in either county, which was later

owned by his son, Robert, and his wife,

who sold the parcels in 1875 and 1892.

John A. Hansen, 60, and his wife,

Sharon,own 40 acres of the Crawford

County land, anduse it to graze cattle.

“It’s just a big hill. It’snot good

farm-

land. It tied in to my grandfat

her’s land

—that’swhyhebought it,” Joh

nHansen

said. “His land was rightnext to it.”

Lincolnalso held land in and around

CouncilBluffs. Railroad attorney

Nor-

man B. Judd borrowed $2,500 from his

friend Lincolnin 1857 to purchas

e land

there, anticipatin

g that thearea would

become valuabledue to railroad

expan-

sion.

21857: Lincoln, the

attorney, helps

hasten westward expansion into

IowaThefirst

bridgeacross the

Mississip-

pi River, completed in 1856 and span-

ning from Rock Island, Ill., to Daven-

port, openedan unprece

dented route

for western travel. Riverboatopera-

tors, who had previously offered

the

Long before Steven Spielberg

’s biopic of our 16th

presidentreceived

12 Academy Award nominations,

AbrahamLincoln connected

with the stateduring his travel

s and ascensionin politics.

MARKMARTURELLO/REG

ISTER ILLUSTRATION FROM REGISTE

R FILE AND STATE HISTORICAL SOC

IETY PHOTOS

By Ann Hinga Klein

Special to the Register

See LINCOLN, Page 3E

A plaque in Crawford County,marking

part of the 120 acres of

land Lincoln once

owned. He never saw the land, and

his

son later soldthe parcels. G

RANT

VEEDER/SPECIAL

TO THE REGISTER

IOWANS AND THE CIVIL WAR

Thousands of Iow

ans answered Abraham

Lincoln’scall to serve in the Civil War in 1861,

and Iowa regiments fought in a number of

decisivebattles. A

t home, Iowa women ran

farms and stores and sent food

and medicine

to woundedsoldiers.

Learn more and view

more than 300 artifactsand documents at

“Iowa and the Civil War, Nothing But Vic-

tory,” currentlyon display a

t the State His-

torical Museum of Iowa, 600 E. Locust

St. in

Des Moines.

Find events on your ph

one

Download the Register’s mobile app

at DesMoinesRegister.com

/dmrmobileIowaLife

DesMoinesRegister.com

/life

| MONDAY,JANUAR

Y 14, 2013| METRO EDITION

TELL ME ABOUT IT 2E | TELEVISION 3E | DEAR ABBY 4E | COMICS 4E-5E

| CROSSWORD 5E

Follow Joe Lawler’s Iowa music blog

at desmoines.metromix.com/Joe

When someone

writes a story

and wants to

turn it into a book, it’sno

longer that difficu

lt to

make it happen. Find a

self-publishing website.

Click. Print. Ship

. The

end.But playw

rights have

a trickierchalleng

e. If

they want a finished

product,they have to

wrangle up a stage, a

directorand actors to

bring the story to life.

There are many moving

parts, but they come

togetherin central I

owa

more often than you

might expect.

Two homegrown

shows are slated to open

Friday— one produced

by Tallgrass Theatr

e in

West Des Moines and

another,written by mid-

dle- andhigh-sch

ool stu-

dents, atFisher T

heater

in Ames.“The fact that

I can sit

and watch a play that was

initiallywritten by an

11-year-old, I mean, holy

cow! It’s notShake-

speare. It’s not Te

nnessee

Williams. It’s MaKenna

Wallace,” Ames Chil-

dren’s Theater D

irector

Carole Horowitz said of

the Ankeny writer, oneof

five who penned “Play

With Words.”

The show consistsof a

few short stories and

poems set to original

music. It’sa joint eff

ort

by ACT, the Ames Public

Libraryand Iowa State

Center, which stepped

up

to providestudents

cre-

ative opportunities that

don’t always happ

en in

the era of test-score-

focusedschools.

The studentswrote

the poems and stories —

about a wagon train,

fairies and at least o

ne

big, scary dog— during a

workshoplast sum

mer.

They recruited a teacher

to direct amultigene

r-

ational cast. Iowa State

staffersjoined in to help

with lighting,sets and

ticketing.

The same kind of co-

operative energy is guid-

ing “Open House” in

West Des Moines. Writ-

ten by Craig Owens, who

teachesEnglish

at Drake

MICHAELMORAIN

[email protected]

Growing

crop oflocalplays hits

the stage

PLAYWITHWORDS

WHEN: 7:30 p.m. Friday,

2

p.m. Saturday and Sunday

WHERE: Iowa State Center’s

Fisher Theater, at

Beach

Avenue and Lincoln Way in

Ames

TICKETS: $10

INFO:www.center.

iastate.edu

OPEN HOUSE

WHEN: 7:30 p.m. Friday a

nd

Saturdaythrough

Feb. 2

WHERE: Rex Mathes Au

di-

torium, 1401 Vine St., West

Des Moines

TICKETS: $12 in advance,

$15

at the door

INFO:www.tallgrasstheatre

.orgNOTE: Th

is play contains

adult situations and lan-

guage.

See PLAYS, Page 3E

DM-9000364937

E

Harlan-Lincoln Newsletter February 2013

Documents

Transcript of Harlan-Lincoln Newsletter February 2013