Civics
1
In a structure built about 1832, residents of the Athens area held a banquet on August 3, 1837, for the “Long Nine”—Abraham Lincoln and the other state legislators from Sangamon County. The men, whose height totaled fifty-four feet, were honored for their success in the tenth General Assembly in changing the state capital from Vandalia to Springfield. State offices were moved in 1839. At the Athens banquet Lincoln gave a toast: “Sangamon County will ever be true to her best interests and never more so than in reciprocating the good feelings of the citizens of Athens and neighborhood.”
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Athens, Illinois · United States
