The home of Dr. Richard Eells, an abolitionist, symbolizes the key issue addressed by Lincoln and Douglas during their Quincy Debate. Built in 1835, it is the oldest brick house in Quincy and is a documented Underground Railroad station. It is located four blocks from the Mississippi River and was within sight of the debate. Ironically, Eells, who in April 1843 was convicted by Judge Stephen Douglas of helping a slave escape, was a distant cousin of Lincoln.
Hundreds of slaves escaped across the Mississippi River from the slave state of Missouri to Quincy by way of the Underground Railroad. In 1839 sixty-five members chartered the Adams County Anti-Slavery Society, the first in Illinois. Credited with assisting more than 200 slaves, Dr. Richard Eells was caught helping a fugitive. Charlie, escape. Eells was bound over for trial by Justice of the Peace Henry Asbury in 1842. Circuit Court Judge Stephen A. Douglas of Quincy convicted Eells, fining him $400 for harboring a runaway slave. Eells became president of the Illinois Anti-Slavery Party in 1843 and a candidate for the Liberty Party in the 1844 presidential election. Although he died before his case reached the U.S. Supreme Court, Eell's attorney, including William Seward and Salmon Chase—-future members of President Lincoln's cabinet—-carried his case through the nation's highest Court, though to an unfavorable verdict.
HM Number | HM13X1 |
---|---|
Series | This marker is part of the Illinois: Looking for Lincoln series |
Tags | |
Marker Condition | No reports yet |
Date Added | Thursday, September 18th, 2014 at 5:02pm PDT -07:00 |
UTM (WGS84 Datum) | 15S E 635903 N 4421328 |
---|---|
Decimal Degrees | 39.93116667, -91.40950000 |
Degrees and Decimal Minutes | N 39° 55.87', W 91° 24.57' |
Degrees, Minutes and Seconds | 39° 55' 52.20" N, 91° 24' 34.20" W |
Driving Directions | Google Maps |
Area Code(s) | 217 |
Closest Postal Address | At or near 415 Jersey St, Quincy IL 62301, US |
Alternative Maps | Google Maps, MapQuest, Bing Maps, Yahoo Maps, MSR Maps, OpenCycleMap, MyTopo Maps, OpenStreetMap |
Is this marker missing? Are the coordinates wrong? Do you have additional information that you would like to share with us? If so, check in.
Comments 0 comments