The Long Nine Museum, a Lincoln Heritage Stop

This has long been on the bucket list! This past week, my husband Keith his brother Kim and wife Terri and I stopped in Athens, Illinois. We traveled to the Abraham Lincoln Long Nine Museum to check it out. They are only open from June to the end of August, so if you are looking for something to do to round out your summer activities, here is an idea!

The Abraham Lincoln Long Nine Museum has a lot of history. It is located in the historic Colonel Matthew Rogers building at 200 South Main Street in Athens Illinois not too far from New Salem State Park .

Colonel Matthew Rogers history

Col. Rogers arrived in what was then Sangamon County with his two sons-in-laws around 1819 settling in what would later become Athens. He has his title of Col. because of service in the New York militia in the War of 1812. In 1820 he helped survey the “Spoon River Road”, from Springfield to the Illinois River. In 1828 became the postmaster for the “Rogers Post Office” which was located in his home. The brochure I picked up also credits him with starting the first “nursery” of apple and other fruit trees in the region. In 1829, Roger’s son, Henry took over as Postmaster.

In 1831-1832 Rogers built a new home constructed to be both a general store and post office. He used boards from Johnathan Dunn’s steam powered circular sawmill. This is a site that although gone can be seen on a walking tour. Dunn also had a grist mill as well.

After Rogers house was completed, the post office was moved to the building where the museum is now located. When the post office was moved, Rogers changed the name from Rogers Post Office to the Athens Post Office. Athens is now Menard County’s oldest town. In Lincoln’s time the area was part of Sangamon County and later it would become Menard County in 1839.

The Lincoln’s Rogers connection

It was in 1831 that Lincoln came to New Salem and got to know the Rogers family. There were many connections. He borrowed books from them. It was noted that Roger’s daughter Arminda taught both Abraham Lincoln and Ann Rutledge. They shared that the Kirkham’s Grammer text used now resides in the Library of Congress in Washington D.C.

Then there was the post office connection since he was the postmaster at New Salem, he picked up the mail there at times when the Sangamon River flooded. He would pick up mail on trips to and from Springfield. The path passed right through Athens.

As a surveyor, Lincoln also surveyed Athens and Sangamo Town. The Post Road he surveyed was only a scant 40′ in front of the Rogers home and store.

Then the most conspicuous part of the story is the political connection. The August 3, 1837, banquet took place at the building to honor the “Long Nine” for helping obtain approval to relocate the Illinois state capital from Vandalia to Springfield.

Lincoln also served as Col. Rogers attorney when he purchased this very building helping him repossess it from Josiah Francis after he sold it in 1841. The building was then later sold to Louis Salzenstein who used it for decades as a store. In 1914, the building was sold to the Athens Masonic Lodge. It was 1972 that it was leased to the “Long Nine Museum”. John Eden purchased it in 1988 and although he has passed, it is still owned by the family.

In 2005, the building became listed on the U.S. Department of Interior’s “National Register of Historic Places” and in 2008 was added to the “Looking for Lincoln Heritage Coalition”.

The Long Nine

The nine legislators were called the “Long Nine” because together their height totaled 54 feet, each man was over 6′ tall or taller! The banquet was held in the upper room of the building. Visitors can see the recreated scene today. Five were lawyers, three were farmers, and one was an innkeeper. Seven were originally from the South and two from the North.

The inscription at the Vandalia Courthouse in Fayette County where the courthouse was moved from explains who the “Long Nine” were.

“The representatives included: Abe Lincoln who at age twenty-seven was the youngest of the group; John Dawson, the oldest at age forty-five, and the father of ten children; William F. Elkin who was forty-four and the father of thirteen children; Ninian W. Edwards, the aristocratic son of the former Territorial Governor Ninian Edwards, who was twenty-nine; Andrew McCormick, age thirty-five, who weighed almost three hundred pounds; Daniel Stone who was a college-educated lawyer, a native of Vermont and a former Ohio legislator; and Robert L. Wilson, thirty-one, who was a one-term member of the legislature and the father of eight children. The senators were: Job Fletcher, the father of seven children and a resident of Sangamon County since 1819, and Archer G. Herndon, a businessman, and the father of William Herndon, who later became Lincoln’s law partner.”

The Museum displays

The museum consists of three floors, the first floor where you enter, the second floor, and the basement. When you enter there is the gift shop and post office.

To the right of the original building is an addition that was added where stairs lead to the next floor. The upstairs has a variety of dioramas, a life mask and more. These dioramas share about Lincoln’s life and a wall shares the biographies of the Long Nine members.

The banquet room I found quite interesting. Behind the banquet is a painting by Dayton, Ohio artist Lloyd Ostendorf.

The basement section is an antique lover’s dream. There is part of the original fireplace with the kettle arm along with a tool display.

Details!

Jim Sberell provided us details of the Long Nine Museum. Sharing pamphlets and information we learned one of the reasons the museum is so well preserved is it was in the Louis Salzenstein family for so long. He added that the Long Nine Museum is a frequent stop for bike riders. This is one of the great Lincoln stops!

There is a ton of history at the Long Nine Museum. From the Col. Rogers perspective to the County history. Then there is most of all the Lincoln story! Looking for last minute summer fun, head to Athens and check it out! The museum is open 1-5 Tuesdays through Saturdays, June 1-September 1 (excluding July 4 holiday). Call 217-636-8755 for more information.