The Lincoln Heritage Trail

 The following information appears in a self-published book by former Raymond resident, David A. Sorrell, called “As I Remember.” The book features Mr. Sorrell’s recollections about the early days of Raymond. The stories appeared in a weekly column in The Raymond News from 1963-1972. 

Another very interesting thing related to Raymond, and a very valuable one in in my estimation, was a map showing the old Lincoln Douglas Trail which did pass directly through our town. The map shows the trail in Hillsboro coming up on through Butler, passing the Moses Berry farm on up to the Fred Mondhink place. It goes on past the Doyle and Seward farms and to Elias Miller’s place where the trail crosses the East Creek, past the Asbury Cemetery. Straight across looking East for about a quarter of a mile would be the Quinton cabin, and on past that what we now know as the Nokomis Road. Here we angle northwest a bit and on our right is a log storage building. Now the road runs straight north again past the Pepperdine and Gamlin places and the Free Methodist Church, where the trail angles Northeast past the Carter-McClurg, McNaughton, Moore, and Scherer homes, and on past the Lincolnwood High School. It again heads due north where it goes by the Gurthrie, Eads, and Berry farms.

No, none of the places mentioned were there when Abraham Lincoln went along this muddy road that wound through the tall prairie grass except the Sam Quinton cabin. I mention these other places that came later so that you might know just where the Springfield Vandalia trail passes through Raymond. How appropriate is the name of the present High School. How fortunate that both of Raymond’s schools are located right on the Heritage Trail. How fine it would be to place a marker there on the site of the old tavern where Lincoln must have spent many nights as he travelled his sometimes-weary way along the muddy trail that led between Springfield and Vandalia. It was some of Abe Lincoln’s soldier boys that planted the trees and laid out the park where the Lincolnwood High School now stands. Who were these men you say - they were: Winfield Carter, Hezekiah Moore, Thomas Sorrells, Wm. Guthrie, and Reynolds Chapman - all of these men were Abe’s boys and had followed the flag they loved through many fierce battles to save the Union. I doubt if any of them knew that the park they were making to beautify their little town was right beside the road that their beloved Abe had travelled over many times as went up and down the state of Illinois during his various campaigns. How pleased they would all be in they could know the Lincoln Heritage Trail activity.

The tavern, you say, where was it? Early historians say that it was there on the south bank of the east Creek as you come up the trail from Hillsboro on Route 127.