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Visit the Bryant Cottage State Historic Site
"Bryant Cottage was built in 1856 as the home of Francis E. Bryant, a local businessman and friend of Stephen A. Douglas. According to Bryant family tradition, Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas met in the parlor of Bryant Cottage to plan their famous series of 1858 debates. The cottage is maintained with original and period furnishings, providing a glimps of small-town life in the mid-1800s. Bryant Cottage State Historic Site is managed by the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency.
Francis E. Bryant settled in the village of Bement in 1856. His was only the seventh family to arrive there. Bryant opened the village's first bank and store and began merchandizing grain, coal, lumber, and salt. The aspiring businessman built his four-room cottage, which was thoroughly modern in its time, just one hundred feet from Bement's lifeline, the Great Western Railroad tracks.
Lincoln returned to Chicago and on July 24 wrote a letter to Douglas formally challenging him to a series of nine debates, one in each congressional district. Douglas had not yet replied when the two opponents met five days later on the road between Bement and Monticello. Douglas had completed a speech at Monticello and was traveling to Bement with the Bryants when they encountered Lincoln about a mile and a half south of Monticello on present Route 105. Lincoln was scheduled to speak at Monticello - seven miles away - later in the day. The two men conferred briefly and agreed to meet that evening to plan a series of debates. It was in the parlor of Bryant's Bement cottage that, according to tradition, Lincoln and Douglas worked out the details of the debates. Lincoln then, it is said, took the midnight Great Western train to Springfield."
Illinois Historic Preservation Agency Brochure
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Visit the Looking for Lincoln Wayside Exhibits and Stroll Along the "Path of Information"
“Follow the Looking for Lincoln Story Trail! If you would like the experience of Looking for Lincoln and want to know all about the places he has been and the people he knew as he traveled across hundreds of miles throughout central IL, then we invite you to explore the Looking for Lincoln Story Trail. Visit our web page at www.lookingforlincoln.com, where you will find information on the 210 wayside exhibits placed in 50 communities across central IL. The wayside exhibits serve as storyboards that tell us Lincoln’s unique connection to each of the communities, describing friendships, law cases and important political events, all leading to his presidential election and life in the White House. Each of the exhibits holds a unique “medallion” so you can collect rubbings that depict interesting and noteworthy Lincoln experiences. Go to the web site to find maps and web links that will lead you on this exciting journey across the Looking for Lincoln Story Trail!”
Quoted from Official Literature
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Bement Public Library
Hours: Monday & Wednesday 12 noon - 8 p.m.
Tuesday, Thursday, Friday 12 noon - 5 p.m.
Saturday 9 a.m. - 2 p.m.
Closed Sunday
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