IN HENNEPIN IS THE STATE'S OLDEST COURTHOUSE STILL IN USE, AND DESPITE
MODERNIZATION, IT HAS RETAINED
MUCH OF ITS ORIGINAL CHARM.
THIS IS THE BUILDING THAT HOUSES
ALL COUNTY OFFICES, AND IT IS
THE ONLY COURTROOM AS YOU SEE
HERE THAT THE COUNTY USES.
THE ORIGINAL CONSTRUCTION WAS
AUTHORIZED IN 1831, BUT NOT
COMPLETED UNTIL 1838 TO 1938.
THAT WAS THE SAME YEAR PUTNAM
COUNTY'S PRESENT DAY BOUNDARIES
WERE ESTABLISHED.
AND WHILE THE COURTHOUSE WAS NOT
PART OF THE 8TH JUDICIAL
CIRCUIT, IT WAS VISITED BY
LINCOLN BOTH AS HIRED ATTORNEY
AND AS A CANDIDATE.
>> YOU WILL NOTICE THE LETTER
THAT I BROUGHT OF LINCOLN IN
1845, AND HE CAME BY A FIELD
WHERE THESE RELATIVES OF MINE
WERE WORKING.
AND THEY STATED THAT THEY
COULDN'T VOTE FOR HIM AT THAT
TIME UNLESS HE CAME OUT AGAINST
SLAVERY RIGHT THEN AND THERE.
>> AFTERWARDS LINCOLN WROTE THIS
LETTER TO EXPLAIN HIS POSITION
AND THE NEED FOR SOUTHERN
SUPPORT ON SEVERAL KEY ISSUES
PENDING IN WASHINGTON.
TODAY, WHILE THE COURTHOUSE
APPEARED PRETTY MUCH AS IT DID
DURING LINCOLN'S TIME, IT HAS
UNDERGONE TWO MAJOR CHANGES
ABOUT A HUNDRED YEARS APART.
>> IN THE 1890'S BECAME EVIDENT
THAT TWO ADDITIONAL ROOMS
DOWNSTAIRS AND UPSTAIRS WOULD BE
NECESSARY FOR HOUSING THE
RECORDS.
TWO VAULTS WERE ADDED TO THE
NORTH SIDE OF THE BUILDING.
>> IT IS THOUGHT THAT DURING
THAT TIME, THE FURNITURE IN THE
COURTROOM WAS REPLACED WITH THE
ORNATE PIECES STILL IN USE.
ALSO, SEATING FOR THE PUBLIC WAS
CHANGED TO THESE BENCHES WHICH
ARE THE TYPE ONE WOULD EXPECT TO
FIND IN AN OLD SCHOOLHOUSE.
THE NEXT BIG CHANGE OCCURRED IN
THE 1990'S WITH THE RARE
ADDITION TO INCREASE
ACCESSIBILITY TO THE COURTROOM.
>> WHEN ABRAHAM LINCOLN WOULD
HAVE VISITED THIS COURTHOUSE,
THE ENTRANCE TO THE COURTHOUSE
WAS A SPIRAL STAIRCASE AT THE
FRONT OF THE BUILDING.
YOU OH WOULD COME UP THAT SPIRAL
STAIRCASE AND ENTER THROUGH WHAT
IS NOW THE JUDGE'S BENCH.
THE JUDGE'S BENCH WAS AT THE
OPPOSITE END OF THE COURTROOM,
AND SO YOU WOULD BE COMING IN
THE BACK OF THE COURTROOM FACING
THE JUDGE'S BENCH, AT THE
OPPOSITE END.
THAT WAS CHANGED WHEN WE PUT THE
ACCESSIBLE PART OF THE BUILDING
AND THE ADDITION OF THE 1990'S
AT THE END WHERE THE JUDGE WAS
SITTING.
WE DIDN'T WANT PEOPLE COMING IN
BEHIND THE JUDGE.
>> DOWN IN THE VAULT IS THIS
BEER BOTTLE, AN EXHIBIT LEFT
OVER FROM PROBABLY THE MOST
SENSATIONAL CASE EVER HEARD IN
THIS ROOM WHICH OCCURRED IN
1912.
>> I WAS DOING SOME RESEARCH ON
THE MILLER FAMILY SEVERAL YEARS
AGO, AND THERE WAS A MURDER CASE
THAT KATIE MILLER WAS CHARGED
WITH MURDERING HER
BROTHER-IN-LAW.
>> IT WAS CLAIMED HE HAD BEEN
DRINKING WHEN HE CAME TO HER
HOUSE AND THREATENED HER.
AS HE LEFT, SHE FIRED A GUN TO
HURRY HIM AWAY HITTING AND
KILLING HER BROTHER-IN-LAW.
>> WE HADN'T HAD WOMEN CHARGED
WITH ANYTHING LIKE THAT PRIOR TO
THAT.
IT WAS USUALLY LAW CASES OR
MISDEMEANORS WERE AGAINST MALES
AND NOT AGAINST FEMALES.
THAT'S PROBABLY THE ONE THAT
STANDS OUT MOST IN MY MIND
BECAUSE FROM THIS JAIL SHE DID
GO TO A LARGER PRISON, AND DID
SERVE SOME TIME AND LOST HER
CHILDREN BECAUSE OF THAT CASE.
HAVE THE JAILER'S BOOK THAT
SHOWS WHERE KATIE MILLER WAS
INCARCERATED AND WHY, WHAT THE
CHARGE WAS, IT WAS MANSLAUGHTER.
AND THAT SHE WAS RELEASED ON
THOUSAND DOLLARS BAIL.
>> ACCORDING TO THE JAIL OTHER'S
BOOKS, SHE HAD AN EDUCATION, WAS
HEALTHY, BUT HAD BAD MORALS.
AND HERE IS THE VERDICT THAT WAS
HANDED DOWN BY THE JURY FOR MAN.
INSPITE OF THE JURY ASKING FOR
LENIENCY, HE DID SERVE TIME IN
JOLIET STATE PENITENTIARY.
>>.
>> AS A LAWYER, TO HAVE A
SPECIAL FEELING TO PRACTICE IN A
COURTROOM OF THIS ANTIQUITY AND
THIS BEAUTY OF SIMPLE IN SOME
WAYS IT IS INTRICATE IN OTHERS,
AND IT MAKES YOU FEEL AS
PRACTICING LAWYER OR AS A JUDGE
PRIVILEGED TO SIT ON THE BENCH
THAT YOU ARE, IN FACT, PART OF
ILLINOIS' HISTORY.