he summer of 1836 the people of Vandalia, becoming alarmed at the
prospect of their little city's losing its prestige as the seat of the
State government, tore down the old capitol (much complaint being made
about its condition), and put up a new one at a cost of $16,000.
The tide was too great to be checked; but after the "Long Nine" had
secured the passage of the bill taking the capital to Springfield,
the money which the Vandalia people had expended was refunded. The
State-house shown in this picture was the third and last one. In it
Lincoln served as a legislator. Ceasing to be the capitol July 4,
1839, it was converted into a court-house for Fayette County, and is
still so used.--_J. McCan Davis._]
[Illustration: LINCOLN'S SURVEYING INSTRUMENTS--PHOTOGRAPHED FOR
McCLURE'S MAGAZINE.
After Lincoln gave up surveying, he sold his instruments to John B.
Gum, afterward county surveyor of Menard County. Mr. Gum kept them
until a few years ago, when he presented the instruments to the
Lincoln Monument Association, and they are now on exhibition at the
monument in Springfield, Ill.]
[Illustration: FACSIMILE OF A TAVERN LICENSE ISSUED TO BERRY AND
LINCOLN MARCH 6, 1833, BY THE COUNTY COMMISSIONERS' COURT OF SANGAMON
COUNTY.
The only tavern in New Salem in 1833 was that kept by James
Rutledge--a two-story log-structure of five rooms, standing just
across the street from Berry and Lincoln's store. Here Lincoln
boarded. It seems entirely probable that he may have had an ambition
to get into the tavern business, and that he and Berry obtained a
license with that end in view, possibly hoping to make satisfactory
terms for the purchase of the Rutledge hostelry. The tavern of sixty
years ago, besides answering the purposes of the modern hotel, was the
dramshop of the frontier. The business was one which, in Illinois, the
law strictly regulated. Tavern-keepers were required to pay a license
fee, and to give bonds to insure their good behavior. Minors were not
to be harbored, nor did the law permit liquor to be sold to them; and
the sale to slaves of any liquors "or strong drink, mixed or unmixed,
either within or without doors," was likewise forbidden. Nor could the
poor Indian get any "fire-water" at the tavern or the grocery. If
a tavern-keeper violated the law, two-thirds of the fine assessed
against him went to the poor people of the county. The Rutledge tavern
was the only one at New Salem of which we have any authenti
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