The Founding of New Salem
Illinois became a state in 1818. During the 1820s more and more people
began to settle in central Illinois. Most people were farmers, but villages
and cities emerged to provide services to the growing population.
In 1828 James Rutledge and John Camron received permission from the state
legislature to dam the Sangamon river about 15 miles northwest of
Springfield for the purpose of building a mill. The next year farmers in the
area could hall their grain to the mill to be ground. The men also used
power from the mill’s water flow to saw logs into lumber.
The mill owners sold lots on the bluff overlooking the mill and called
their town New Salem. The village soon bustled with activity. Newcomers
built log homes and opened shops.
Many of the settlers moved from Kentucky and Tennessee. The buildings
they erected were made from logs with the sides squared off. The buildings
protected the people of New Salem from the cold and rain, but they certainly
were not fancy. When you visit Lincoln’s home in Springfield, compare it to
the buildings in New Salem.
Lincoln Not Born in Illinois
Illinois proudly claims to be "The Land of Lincoln," but Lincoln was not
born in our state. He was born in a one-room cabin in Kentucky in 1809. His
family moved to Indiana when he was seven. When he was 21 his family moved
across the border into Illinois.
Lincoln in New Salem
Lincoln was 22 when he came alone to New Salem in 1831. He lived there
until 1837. When you visit New Salem it will look much as it did when
Lincoln lived there. The buildings have been restored or replaced to appear
as they did during the 1830s.
As you walk around New Salem and see the log homes and shops, try to
imagine what it was like to live there when Lincoln did. Look at the small
houses and picture yourself living in one with several brothers and sisters.
Imagine chickens and pigs wandering about.
Shortly after coming to New Salem, Lincoln entered an election to become
a member of the state legislature. He lost that race, but two years later he
won. He was elected three more times.
At that time legislators were not paid. Lincoln tried several different
jobs to earn a living while in New Salem. He clerked in a store, was part
owner of a store, worked in the mill, operated a still and served as
postmaster. He split wood for rail fences, helped in the fields, was a
surveyor, served as a subscription agent for a Springfield newspaper and
fought as a soldier in the Black Hawk War.
Lincoln eventually turned to a career in law, which fit his political
ambitions and his debating and storytelling ability. In 1837 Lincoln moved
to Springfield to work as a lawyer.
The Decline of New Salem
The founders of New Salem probably hoped that it would one day become a
great city. That was not to be. The Sangamon River upon which the mill was
built was not large enough for steamboats. It could not become a port city.
Two years after Lincoln left for Springfield, the nearby town of
Petersburg was named county seat of Menard County. New Salem would not
become a political center either.
Within a few years nearly everyone had moved from New Salem. It was no
longer a thriving town.
The Reconstruction of New Salem
The buildings in New Salem were eventually moved or destroyed. The
buildings you will visit are almost all copies of original buildings. The
only original building is the cooper shop of Henry Onstot. As a cooper,
Onstot made buckets, tubs and barrels. He moved his shop to Petersburg in
1840, but the building was brought back to its original site in the 1920s.
You will want to look at all of the buildings in the village. Be sure
that you don’t miss the saw and grain mill down by the river. It gave New
Salem its start. Also see the carding mill up in the village. The carding
mill, powered by two oxen walking on a large wheel, prepared wool to be spun
into yarn.
As you tour New Salem, note the trades carried on in the shops –
blacksmith, dry goods merchant, doctor, cooper – and you will learn a great
deal about the necessities of life on the frontier prairie. You also will
discover what life was like for Abraham Lincoln as a young man.
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