HAPPY BIRTHDAY ABE; HIS VISITS TO REGION DETAILED IN NEW BOOK

The tall, ungainly farmboy turned lawyer was in hostile country when he appeared at the Jonesboro town square in rural Union County of Southern Illinois.

The area in September of 1858 was heavy Democratic country and Abraham Lincoln, a Republican nominee for the U.S. Senate, was in Jonesboro to debate the flashy incumbent, Sen. Stephen A. Douglas, popularly known as the "Little Giant."

"The people who came to town for the debate were sitting in homemade chairs in rickety farm wagons drawn by oxen teams," wrote George W. Smith, author of `When Lincoln Came to Egypt.'

When Lincoln stepped to the platform, "some roughnecks in a wagon with fiddles" tried to drown him out," the book notes.

But, Lincoln sized up the crowd and aligned himself with the commoners.

"I was raised just a little east of here," he said. "I am part of this people."

Of course, Honest Abe didn't add that he grew up more than 140 miles to the east and in another state.

This incident, and others are detailed in an updated edition of the rare Smith book, just in time for Lincoln's birthday, which is being observed nationally today.

The book, "When Lincoln Came to Egypt," is a rare one, although published in 1940 by Smith, a Southern Illinois University history professor, who spent 50 years tracking people who had encountered Lincoln in courthouses and verandas in Southern Illinois.

The new edition was released recently by Gordon Pruitt, founder and sole employee of Crossfire Press in Herrin, which has focused on re-publication of rare, long out-of-print titles of Southern Illinois history.

The Crossfire publication, which includes a forward, "Abraham Lincoln in Southern Illinois," by John Y. Simon, a history professor at Southern Illinois University-Carbondale, is available in paperback, $12.95, or hardback, $24.95, at book stores in Southern Illinois, or by calling Pruitt, (618)-942-3856.

No other man in public life in Illinois, whose home was as far north as Springfield, was so often in "Egypt" as was Abraham Lincoln.

The "Egypt" referred to here is "Little Egypt," a reference to Southern Illinois, from Cairo north to the Marion/Carbondale area and communities in between.

Lincoln, a tall farmboy turned lawyer and eventually president of the United States, traveled extensively in Southern Illinois, with visits to Cairo, Anna, Jonesboro, Thebes, and Mound City. Lincoln's visits to more than 25 towns are detailed in the book.

The book contains the only documentation available about some Lincoln-related events in Southern Illinois, noted Simon. "As a result many modern scholars use it for both source and interpretive materials."

Smith, in compiling his information, spoke to a lot of witnesses who weren't interviewed elsewhere, according to Simon.

One of those witnesses was a J.L. Hacker, a pilot and later captain, who spent 68 of his 88 years on the Mississippi River. Hacker's father, an attorney at Cairo, rode the Cairo Circuit with Lincoln. "They frequently attended court together at Thebes," noted Hacker in the book.

Another name in the book is that of Joel Lackey, who reported that Lincoln stayed overnight at his farm home near Pulaski, following a trial at Caledonia, east of Pulaski. Lincoln's acquaintance with Lackey dated back to about 1850, when Lincoln had been a speaker at a religious gathering held in Lackey's new double-log house.

While most of the accounts in Smith's book ring true, a few may be legend, notes Simon.

"When Lincoln Came to Egypt," actually benefits from its unusual blend of fact and fiction, according to Simon. The Abe fables sprang from stories by admirers who sought to keep his fading memory alive, said Simon.

"It's tempting to slough off all of the folklore and legend, but I don't like to," said Simon. "It's an indication of how much Lincoln meant to people in Illinois."

Meanwhile, many Illinoisans will observe Lincoln's birthday today and Sunday with special events at the state's capital, Springfield.

The observances starts today with the 60th annual National Pilgrimage to Lincoln Tomb, by members of the Springfield American Legion Post 32. Veterans and state and local dignitaries will assemble at 10 a.m. The American Legion National Commander will address those gathered at 10:30 a.m., followed by remarks from state and local officials.

The 47th annual Pilgrimage of the Veterans of Foreign Wars will take place Sunday at the Lincoln Tomb State Historic Site. A grand parade of flags will proceed from the entrance of Oak Ridge Cemetery to the front of the Tomb, where an 11 a.m. service will feature a eulogy for Lincoln.

Lincoln's birthday observance will be capped by the 20th annual Abraham Lincoln Symposium to be held at the Old State Capitol State Historic Sites's Hall of Representatives tonight.

The Symposium Banquet is scheduled at 7 p.m. in the Springfield Renaissance Ballroom, where actor Sam Waterston will perform a selection of Lincoln speeches.

Lincoln was nominated and elected as 16th President of the United States in 1860. He was re-elected in 1864, but was assassinated in 1865.