The celebrated Almanac Trial of May 7, 1858, forever linked Abraham Lincoln with Beardstown. That day, Lincoln defended William Duff Armstrong, son of Lincoln's close New Salem friends Jack and Hannah Armstrong, after Armstrong and James Norris were charged with the murder of James Preston Metzker. Lincoln carefully cross-examined witnesses, including Charles Allen, who testified that he saw Norris and Armstrong attack Metzker by the light of a high, nearly full moon. Lincoln then produced an almanac showing that at the time of the attack the moon was low and within an hour of setting, discrediting Allen's testimony. He did not rely entirely on the almanac, however; defense witness Charles Parker, M.D., gave crucial medical testimony, and Lincoln delivered a powerful closing argument in which he recalled how Armstrong's parents had taken him into their home when he was poor and friendless. At least one prosecuting attorney credited that emotional summation with Armstrong's acquittal, and historians and scholars have long debated whether the almanac, the summation, or expert testimony proved decisive. There is, however, nearly unanimous agreement that the trial displayed Lincoln's considerable legal skill and brilliant oratorical powers. Other legal work also brought Lincoln many times to Beardstown's Cass County Courthouse: he defended Charles Reynolds in a rent dispute, represented Jonathan Gill in a divorce case, and sued the Illinois River and Peoria and Hannibal railroads on behalf of local railroad promoter Charles Sprague. Such work provided Lincoln income while strengthening his reputation. Lincoln's attorney friend Henry Dummer lived in Beardstown; Lincoln had met him when, as a young man, he borrowed law books for study from Dummer's Springfield firm, later succeeded him as John T. Stuart's partner when Dummer moved to Beardstown, maintained a close personal and professional relationship with him, and corresponded with him after Lincoln was elected president. In 1864, Dummer attended the Republican Convention in Baltimore that nominated Lincoln for a second term.