IN THE YEAR 1818 IN THIS RENTED BUILDING IN KASKASKIA, THE LEGISLATURE OF THE NEWLY FORMED
STATE OF ILLINOIS MET FOR THE
FIRST TIME.
ONE OF THEIR FIRST TASKS WAS TO
SELECT A LOCATION TO PLAT A NEW
TOWN THAT WOULD BECOME THE
STATE'S CAPITOL.
WHILE KASKASKIA HAD BEEN THE
TERRITORIAL SEAT, IT WAS NOT
CENTRALLY LOCATED BEING 40 MILES
SOUTH OF ST. LOUIS.
PLUS, IT WAS SURROUNDED BY TWO
RIVERS, ONE OF WHICH WAS THE
MISSISSIPPI MAKING THE TOWN
PRONE TO FLOODING.
HELLO, I AM JIM WILHELM.
A WOODED BLUFF ABOUT 90 MILES
NORTHEAST OF KASKASKIA WAS
CHOSEN AS A SITE OF THE NEW
TOWN.
THEY CALLED IT VANDALIA, AND
DURING ITS TIME AS THE STATE
CAPITOL, IT WAS HOME TO
ILLINOIS' FIRST THREE STATEHOUSE
S.
THE FIRST WAS A PLAIN TWO STORY FRAME BUILDING LOCATED AT THIS CORNER.
IT HAD NO SPACE SET ASIDE FOR
THE EXECUTIVE OFFICES.
IN FACT, THE STATE TREASURER
WORKED OUT OF HIS HOME.
AFTER JUST FOUR YEARS OF
SERVICE, THAT STATEHOUSE BURNED
IN JANUARY OF 1823.
THE NEXT ONE WAS HURRIEDLY
BUILT-IN SIDE A BURNED OUT BANK
BUILDING LOCATED HERE CLOSER TO
MAIN STREET.
LIKE ITS PREDECESSOR, IT, TOO,
SERVED MAINLY AS A MEETING OUT
FOR THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY, WITH
NO SPACE FOR THE EXECUTIVE
OFFICES OR THE STATE SUPREME
COURT.
IN 1834 ON A BLUSTERY NOVEMBER DAY, MUCH LIKED TO, A FRESHMAN REPRESENTATIVE ARRIVED IN
VANDALIA, AFTER A 26 HOUR
STAGECOACH RIDE FROM
SPRINGFIELD.
IT WAS, OF COURSE, ABRAHAM
LINCOLN.
HE WORE HIS FINEST ITEM OF NEW
CLOTHING, A NEW SUIT WHICH HE
HAD BORROWED MONEY TO BUY.
BY THE TIME HE ARRIVED HERE, THE
HASTY CONSTRUCTION OF THE SECOND
STATEHOUSE WAS EVIDENT.
THE FLOORS WERE SAGGING, THE
WALLS WERE BULGING, SO MUCH SO
IN FACT SOME FOLKS REFUSED TO
EVEN END ENTERING THE BUILDING
FOR FEAR OF ITS EMINENT
COLLAPSE.
STATE WOULDN'T SPEND THE MONEY
FOR REPAIRS.
THE POPULATION OF THE STATE WAS
MOVING TO THE NORTH, AND IT WAS
A MOVEMENT TO RELOCATE THE STATE
CAPITOL.
ALARMED BY THIS NEWS, THE
CITIZENS OF VANDALIA BUILT A NEW
BUILDING IN HOPES OF RETAINING
THE STATE CAPITOL.
COMPLETED IN 1836 AT A COST OF $20,000, IT WAS THUS FAR ILLINOIS' LARGEST STATEHOUSE.
FOR THE FIRST TIME, THERE WAS
NOW ROOM INSIDE FOR ALL THREE
BRANCHES OF THE GOVERNMENT TO BE
LOCATED UNDER ONE ROOF.
WE ARE NOW IN ILLINOIS' OLDEST IT STATE CAPITOL WHICH WAS BUILT IN 1836, A YEAR OF THE ALAMO.
ONE YEAR BEFORE ABRAHAM LINCOLN
RECEIVED HIS LAW LICENSE, A
PROCESS THAT ENDED IN A ROOM
RIGHT DOWN THE HALL HERE.
THIS IS THE ROOM WHERE THE STATE
SUPREME COURT MET WHICH AT THAT
TIME CONSISTED OF FOUR JUSTICES.
IT WAS ALSO HERE THAT MANY TOWNS
RECEIVED THEIR CHARTERS,
INCLUDING CHICAGO.
IT WAS HERE THAT LINCOLN'S NAME
WAS ENROLLED AS A PRACTICING
ATTORNEY, THE LAST IT STEP IN
RECEIVING HIS LICENSE.
AT THAT TIME, THE SUPREME COURT ONLY MET WHEN THE LEGISLATURE WAS IN SESSION.
BUT BEYOND JUST PRESIDING OVER
CASES, THESE JUDGES WERE ALSO
INVOLVED IN LEGISLATIVE AFFAIRS.
THAT'S BECAUSE ILLINOIS' FIRST
CONSTITUTION DID NOT GIVE THE
GOVERNOR ANY VETO POWER.
BUT IT DID SET UP A COUNCIL OF
REVISION THAT COULD VETO
LEGISLATION, A COUNCIL MADE UP
OF THE GOVERNOR AND ALL FOUR
JUSTICES.
AND SPEAKING OF THE GOVERNOR,
ACROSS THE HALL WAS HIS
ASSISTANT'S OFFICE.
THIS WAS THE OFFICE OF THE
SECRETARY OF STATE WHO BACK IN
THOSE DAYS WAS APPOINTED BY THE
GOVERNOR AND SERVED AS
GOVERNOR'S PERSONAL SECRETARY.
THERE WOULD HAVE BEEN A THUMB OF
CLERKS WORKING HERE, HAND
COPYING DOCUMENTS FOR
DISTRIBUTION OR FILING.
NOT ONLY WAS THIS OFFICE
RESPONSIBLE FOR KEEPING RECORDS
OF LEGISLATION BEING PASSED, BUT
ALSO TOOK CARE OF THE STATE'S
SEAL AND CENSUS, PLUS THE
SECRETARY WOULD CHARGED WITH
OVERSEEING CUSTODIAL SERVICES
AND MAINTENANCE OF THE
STATEHOUSE.
IT IS SPECULATED THAT THIS ROOM
WAS ALSO USED BY THE GOVERNOR
WHO DID NOT HAVE AN OFFICE IN
THIS BUILDING.
BEHIND ME IS ONE OF THE FEW
REMAINING ORIGINAL PIECES FROM
VANDALIA'S EARLY CAPITOL DAYS.
THIS IS THE DESK THAT WAS USED
BY ILLINOIS' FOURTH GOVERNOR,
JOHN REYNOLDS WHO SERVED FROM
1830-1834.
PREVIOUSLY, HE HAD BEEN A STATE
REPRESENTATIVE AND A MEMBER OF
THE STATE SUPREME COURT.
THIS ROOM WAS USED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES WHICH MET ONLY EVERY OTHER YEAR AND
EVEN THEN ONLY DURING THE WINTER
MONTHS BETWEEN HARVEST TIME AND
PLANTING TIME.
BUT WHILE THE FURNISHINGS IN THIS ROOM ARE REPRODUCTIONS, THERE IS ONE ORIGINAL PIECE,
THIS DESK.
THE REPRESENTATIVES SAT FIVE TO
A DESK.
THEY RECEIVED FOUR DOLLARS A DAY
WHILE IN SESSION, PLUS A TRAVEL
ALLOWANCE OF 20 CENTS PER MILE.
ALSO, ORIGINAL TO THE BUILDING
IS IS THE PRIME WOOD FLOORING ON
THE SECOND LEVEL.
TODAY VISITORS TOURING THE
STATEHOUSE ARE WALKING ON THE
SAME FLOORBOARDS AS ABRAHAM
LINCOLN.
IN 1836 THERE WERE 90 MEMBERS OF
THE HOUSE.
THE DEMOCRATS SATURDAY HERE, AND
ON THIS SIDE, SAT THE MEMBERS OF
THE WHIG PARTY.
REMEMBER THE REPUBLICAN PARTY
HAD NET YET BEEN FORMED.
THERE WERE NOW ASIGNED SEATS AT
THE TIME, BUT IT IS THOUGHT
ABRAHAM LINCOLN WOULD HAVE SAT
IN THIS GENERAL AREA.
SOMEWHERE ACROSS THE AISLE R,
SAT A FRESHMAN MEMBER WHO WOULD
FIGURE PROMINENTLY IN LINCOLN'S
POLITICAL CAREER, STEPHEN
DOUGLAS.
IT WAS THIS THIS ROOM THAT
LINCOLN FIRST TOOK A STAND
AGAINST SLAVERY, PROTESTING A
RESOLUTION IT THAT HAD BEEN
PASSED EARLIER.
BUT PROBABLY THE BIGGEST ISSUE
FACING THE HOUSE MEMBERS WERE
SELECTING A NEW LOCATION FOR A
STATE CAPITOL.
THERE ARE SEVERAL REASONS FOR
THE MOVE, FIRST, THE ACT THAT
CREATED VANDALIA AS A STATE
CAPITOL WAS GOOD FOR ONLY 20
YEARS AND THAT TIME WAS JUST
ABOUT UP. THEN THE POPULATION
OF ILLINOIS IS BEING
CONCENTRATED MORE TO THE NORTH,
PLUS ABRAHAM LINCOLN, ALONG WITH
EIGHT OF HIS COLLEAGUES
COLLECTIVELY KNOWN AS THE "LONG
NINE" WERE AGGRESSIVELY
CAMPAIGNING FOR SPRINGFIELD.
THAT DEBATE HAD BEGUN IN THE OLD
SAGGING BUILDING, AND HAD
SPURRED THE CITIZENS OF VANDALIA
TO CONSTRUCT THIS STATE HAD
HOUSE IN HOPES OF KEEPING THE
CAPITOL HERE.
IT TOOK ONLY FOUR MONTHS TO
COMPLETE THIS BUILDING WHICH WAS
FINISHED IN TIME FOR THE 1836
GENERAL ASSEMBLY.
BUT IT WAS ALL IN VAIN.
BY THE PLASTER ON THESE WALLS R
WERE STILL DRYING, HOUSE VOTED
THAT SPRINGFIELD WOULD BECOME
THE STATE'S THIRD STATE CAPITOL.
M THE MEANTIME, VANDALIA WOULD
CONTINUE TO FILL THAT FUNCTION
FOR TWO MORE YEARS
AFTER THE STATE CAPITOL LEFT VANDALIA, ITS POPULATION DROPPED FROM 900 TO ABOUT 200.
OVER AT KASKASKIA, IN 1871,
AFTER DECADES OF EROSION, THE
MISSISSIPPI RIVER FINALLY
CLAIMED MOST OF THE TOWN AND THE
SITE NOW LIES UNDER ITS WATERS.
TODAY VISITORS CAN TOUR THE OLD
STATEHOUSE AND LEARN ABOUT
LINCOLN'S AND ILLINOIS' EARLY
DAYS.
FOR DAYS AND TIMES OF THE
BUILDING IS OPEN TO THE PUBLIC,
CALL (618)283-1161.