On May 9, 1860, Abraham Lincoln was in Decatur to attend the Illinois State Republican Convention. Local photographer Edward A. Barnwell wanted to take a picture of "the biggest man" at the convention and invited Lincoln to his People's Ambrotype Gallery at 24 North Water Street to pose for this portrait. The next day, after Richard Oglesby introduced the "Rail Splitter," convention delegates unanimously endorsed Lincoln for President. On May 18 the National Republican Convention meeting in Chicago nominated him as the party's candidate.
Edward Barnwell sold his studio and glass plate negatives a few years later to W.C.Pitner and became a public official in Cerro Gordo, IL. He kept the printed photograph and this was passed to his daughter Grace after his death. On November 10, 1947 she donated it to the Decatur Public Library. State Historian Jay Monahan authenticated the photo and stated that "the print was unknown and never had been reproduced before. It's a rare discovery that adds another known fact to the Illinois history of the Civil War President."
Only a few hundred reproductions were made and distributed in 1948 and since that time few people have had access to the original. In 2007 Millikin University made an agreement with the library to digitally reproduce the photograph and market it throughout the world. It is the only known photo taken of Lincoln in Decatur, IL.
