Village hails to the chiefs

TOLONO – Every day, hundreds of cars traveling on U.S. 45 pass near the large stone that marks the site where President Abraham Lincoln made his last formal speech in Illinois.

Reports say that on Feb. 11, 1861, a cannon boomed in salute as the train carrying Lincoln and his entourage arrived in Tolono. Thousands of people came to the depot, and they cheered and waved handkerchiefs, according to the historic telegraph dispatches.

"In response to the cheers, the President appeared on the platform and gave what proved to be the last formal address in the state of Illinois," according to the late Tolono historian Marion Moore.

The President said: "I am leaving you on an errand of national importance, attended, as you are aware, with considerable difficulties. Let us believe as some poet has expressed it, 'Behind the cloud the sun is still shining.' I bid you an affectionate farewell."

The train traveled on to Danville, where a crowd also gathered to see the new president, but history is cloudy as to if he actually delivered a statement – if so it was unrecorded – or just waved to the crowd.

Abraham Lincoln probably visited Tolono at least 20 times, local historian Bill Kirby said.

"He would stop here on his way to visit his (step)mother in Charleston," Kirby said. "It wasn't unusual for Lincoln to pitch horseshoes with the local residents while he waited for the next train."

Some citizens recorded that he played chess with the telegraph operator.

Other presidents to visit the village:

– In 1931, Ronald Reagan and his brother went to Suzanne's Sweet Shop in Tolono while they were attending Eureka College.

– In 1948, President Harry S Truman spoke to about 3,000 people at the Wabash and Illinois Central railroad intersection while campaigning.

– Presidential candidate Dwight D. Eisenhower spoke from the rear of an Illinois Central train stopped in Tolono in 1952.

– And in 1960, Richard M. Nixon stopped the IC train in Tolono as he campaigned for the presidency against John F. Kennedy.