Abraham Lincoln was kind enough to share a Copy of The Gettysburg Address with the Editor of this Publication. Mr. Lincoln delivered the Address on November 19, 1863. It is the Understanding of the Editor that only Five Known Copies of the Address are in existence.

In which the Editor offers Enlightenment and Wisdom For the Edification of the Readers & etc. & etc

Please read this. . .

Much to the Surprise of some of those at The Paragraph Factory, Abraham Lincoln was on hand to greet them as they entered The Paragraph Factory on Monday morning, the 15th Day of October.

Mr. Lincoln, otherwise known as George Buss from the Community of Freeport in Northern Illinois, paid a return visit to Union County for the recent Celebration of Jonesboro’s Bicentennial.

The Nation’s 16th President attended a special ceremony which was held at the Jonesboro Cemetery on the Morning of the 13th Day of October. That Evening, Mr. Lincoln delivered the Keynote Address at a Bicentennial Dinner at The Main Street in Anna. 

During his visit, the President also was a special guest at PAST’s Heritage House Museum in Jonesboro and at the Jonesboro Elementary School.

Your Editor understands that Mr. Lincoln was making his fourth Visit to Union County in recent Years. That does not count the Journey he made to our little Corner of the World back in 1858 for a debate with a Gentleman by the Name of Stephen A. Douglas.

Mr. Lincoln was Gracious enough to pay a Visit to the local Newspaper Office prior to heading back to Freeport.

To be Honest with You, it was a wee bit Disconcerting to see Abraham Lincoln walking through the Front Door. He was a wearing a Dark Suit and the Top Hat which has become such a familiar part of the Image we have of him.

After greeting Folks at The Paragraph Factory, Mr. Lincoln sat down for a bit of a chat with your Editor.Mr. Lincoln reflected on his most recent Visit to Union County. He shared that he was grateful for the warm and gracious welcome he received. Union County, he said, was home.

As we had prepared to sit down in the News Room at The Paragraph Factory, Mr. Lincoln removed his Top Hat. The Editor happened to notice some Papers in the Top Hat and made a Comment about what he had seen.

It seems that Mr. Lincoln utilized his Top Hat as a sort of Mobile Filing System. He would stash papers in the Hat. Sort of a Cloud for the 1860s.

The Editor mentioned something about the Top Hat Filing System. Mr. Lincoln responded by sharing a very special memento with yours truly.

He presented the Editor with several copies of the Final Draft of the Famed Gettysburg Address. And, he even signed one of the Copies. The Editor thanked him for a truly Special Gift. 

Mr. Lincoln delivered The Gettysburg Address on November 19, 1863, at the site of what have been the most Important battle fought during the Civil War. The Gettysburg Address was delivered as part of a cemetery dedication ceremony. 

The 21st century Website www.abrahamlincolnonline.org recalls that U.S. Sen. Charles Sumner referred to The Gettysburg Address as “the most famous speech ever given by President Abraham Lincoln.

Summer suggested that “Lincoln was mistaken that ‘the world will little note, nor long remember what we say here.

“Rather, the Bostonian remarked, ‘The world noted at once what he said, and will never cease to remember it. The battle itself was less important than the speech.”

Edward Everett, a noted orator who was the chief speaker at the Gettysburg cemetery dedication ceremony, said in a Letter that he wrote to Mr. Lincoln, that “I should be glad, if I could flatter myself that I came as near to the central idea of the occasion, in two hours, as you did in two minutes.”

Oh, if only politicians could learn how to say what they need to say in just a few minutes...

Just to refresh your memory, here’s a look at The Gettysburg Address:

“Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth, upon this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.

“Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived, and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting-place for those who here gave their lives, that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.

“But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate, we can not consecrate, we can not hallow this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here.

“It is for us, the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here, have, thus far, so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they here gave the last full measure of devotion that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.”

By the way, we had a little bit of Fun with the Newspaper this week. Hope you have enjoyed it...

The Gazette-Democrat

112 Lafayette St.
Anna, Illinois 62906
Office Number: (618) 833-2158
Email: news@annanews.com

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