On the Illinois Frontier: Dr. Hiram Rutherford, 1840-1848
These letters and papers present the saga of a pioneer doctor who migrated to Illinois, made house calls on horseback, harbored a slave family in violation of Illinois' Black Laws, and, when hauled into court, sought legal counsel from a friend, Abraham Lincoln, only to learn that Lincoln was already in the pay of the slave owner.
The first selection of this book contains a series of personal letters, mostly to John Bowman, Dr. Rutherford's future brother-in-law, in Pennsylvania. Rutherford describes life in Illinois in the 1840s in vivid enough detail to make it real for Bowman--and the contemporary reader.
But Rutherford's real reason for writing to Bowman was to get him to bring Lucinda Bowman, whom Rutherford had vowed to marry, to Illinois. Rutherford tried subtlety: "I am still in a state of single blessedness & will probably ever remain so unless you bring me a spare rib." When oblique reference failed, the doctor spoke with candor and finally got Lucinda--much to her mother's dismay--to the Illinois prairie.
The middle portion contains articles Dr. Rutherford wrote for the local paper. Here he describes the people, the "characters," with precision and wit: "Matt was a speculator by nature, had much good gas in him and believed in names, high-sounding ones of course." He describes both Dan Swalls, who blew up the still by approaching the first batch with his candle, and the tippling Baptist preacher who, awakening to see a vulture staring at him, took the temperance pledge.
The final section discusses the famous Matson slave trial. The central interest in this case is that Abraham Lincoln acted as attorney for the slave owner. The editors quote liberally from contemporary accounts, but note that no one has yet explained the future president's behavior.
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