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for searching only. acknowledgments
The Knox College Library was an indispensable resource for us, particularly its special collections on the Civil War and the Old Northwest. The library was our major workplace as we brought this project to completion, and we are espe‚cially grateful to Jeffrey Douglas, Sharon Clayton, Carley Robison, Bonnie Nie‚hus, Irene Ponce, and Kay Vander Meulen. The collection of Illinois local history materials at the Galesburg Public Library proved a rich resource, and Enid Hanks was untiring in aiding us in our numerous visits there.
Other libraries and librarians that offered aid and earned our gratitude include the Charleston, Illinois, Public Library: Barbara Krehbiel; the Illinois Historical Survey at the library of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign: John Hoffmann; the Lincoln Library at Spring‚eld, Illinois: Ed Russo; the Peoria Pub‚lic Library: Elaine Pichaske; the River Bluffs Regional Library, St. Joseph, Missouri: Sue Horvath; the Thomas Balch Library, Leesburg, Virginia; and the Petersburg, Illinois, Public Library.
Lincoln's memory is perpetuated at a number of historic sites and commemo‚rative institutions across the country. We found cordial assistance to be the rule at the Lincoln Boyhood National Memorial in Indiana, where Jerry Sanders and William Bartelt were our hosts. Mr. Bartelt has continued to serve us in a variety of ways. The same welcome has always been forthcoming at the Lincoln Home National Historic Site in Spring‚eld, where the late George Painter and Linda Norbut Suits were especially helpful. At the Historic Sites Division of the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency and at Lincoln's New Salem State Park, Mark Johnson, James Patton, and Richard Taylor have answered our queries and shared their own research and other resources on Lincoln's early years in Illinois. The as‚sistance of Cullom Davis and William Beard of the Lincoln Legals Project has been indispensable in attempting to make sense of the allusions to Lincoln's legal ca‚reer. Leo Landis at the Conner Prairie Museum in Indiana answered an impor‚tant question about plows used during Lincoln's lifetime.
Numerous historical and genealogical society of‚cers have responded to our inquiries since the early 1990s, as we have sought information about some of Herndon's over 260 informants. They include the Cass County, Illinois, Histori‚cal Society: Mary Ann Bell; the Cincinnati Historical Society: Anne B. Shepherd; the Clackamas County, Oregon, Family History Society: Sandy McGuire; the Clinton County, Illinois, Historical Society; the Historical Society of Quincy and Adams County, Illinois: Philip Germann; the McLean County, Illinois, Genea‚logical Society: Joy Craig; the Madison County, Illinois, Historical Society: Deanna Kohlburn; the Madison County, Iowa, Historical Society: Lorraine Kile; the Mary‚land Historical Society: Mrs. I. W. Athey; the Rock County, Wisconsin, Histori‚cal Society: Maurice Montgomery; the St. Clair County, Illinois, Historical Soci‚ety: Diane Kenner Walsh; the Sangamon County, Illinois, Genealogical Society: Wayne Temple and Jacqueline Stites; the Spencer County, Indiana, Historical Society: Becky Middleton; and the Tazewell County, Illinois, Genealogical Soci‚ety: Lorie Bergerhouse. We also acknowledge the assistance of the University Ar‚chives at the University of Illinois: Robert T. Chapel; the Oberlin College Archives:
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