In 1908 the State Historical Society started a movement to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of the Lincoln-Douglas speeches throughout the state. Officers of the Woodford County Historical Society decided that the logical place for holding the celebration in Woodford County would be in Metamora where the speeches were actually made.
A bronze memorial tablet placed in a concrete base read:
SPOKE HERE
DOUGLAS-LINCOLN
OCT. 2, 1858 OCT. 9, 1858
DEDICATED BY OLD SETTLERS’
AND HISTORICAL ASSOCIATIONS
OF WOODFORD COUNTY, ILLINOIS
AUGUST 27, 1908
This historic data was dedicated and unveiled during the Old Settlers’ Days celebration on August 27, 1908. A souvenir watch fob was sold for a dollar to defray the cost of erecting the memorial tablet in the Village Park. However, many people objected to the price of the fob not realizing the worthiness of the cause.
The Metamora Herald reported that beautiful weather, good bands, great speeches greeted about six thousand visitors on this commemorative day.
It was noted that the dates on the tablet were incorrect. The dates should have read
Spoke Here–Douglas September 30 and Lincoln October 4, 1858
The tablet was torn down in July, 1931, and was placed in the masonry of the new cobblestone bandstand being erected at the time. The tablet today can be seen to the right of the steps going up into the bandstand. The sheet iron box containing records and story of the celebration were found to be a mass of wet paper pulp. The box had rusted through.
History and photo submitted by Shirley A. Adams.
