Trial & Tribulations 2010

Trial & Tribulations is tentatively scheduled for Sept. 16-18, 2010 with programs for school groups on Thursday and Friday mornings and in the evenings each day for the general public. Watch here for more details as they evolve.

News Coverage of the Event

COLUMN: 'Trials, Tribulations' a polished portrayal of an historic event By Bill Lair, Managing Editor Mattoon Journal Gazette, Charleston Times Courier

'Trial & Tribulation' program brings Matson slave case, characters, to life By ROB STROUD, Staff Writer Mattoon Journal Gazette, Charleston Times Courier

Tickets on sale for Oakland Sept. 18-19 production of Lincoln, Rutherford roles in Matson slave case By ROB STROUD, Staff Writer Mattoon Journal Gazette, Charleston Times Courier

Play examines Lincoln's role in Matson trial By ROB STROUD, Staff Writer Mattoon Journal Gazette, Charleston Times Courier

Weekend performances re-live famous 1847 Matson slave trial By ROB STROUD, Staff Writer Mattoon Journal Gazette, Charleston Times Courier

Interactive event to commemorate Oakland slave trial By Amy Rose, Champaign News Gazette

New Lincoln Event in Oakland September 18 and 19 Paris Beacon News

Groups to re-enact Matson slave trial: Lincoln took part in precedent setting case By Bob Fallstrom, Decatur Herald-Review

Trial & Tribulations More Than a Play

Three Fifths of a Man, the original drama by David Jorns about the Matson Slave Trial is just one feature of the Trial & Tribulations program. The September 18 and 19 program will add a new layer to the familiar historic sites with interpreters who will portray seven of the characters from the Matson Slave Trial Story.

“This story is rather complex and has many fascinating elements besides Lincoln,” explains project coordinator, Renee Henry, “we have added the living history so Dr. Jorns’ play could be freed from so much historical detail. We hoped it would be a dramatic piece that would pull people emotionally into the story.” By meeting the seven interpreters and conversing with them as if they were in the 1870s, visitors will learn the historical and educational side of the story.

Ticket holders will find Dr. Rutherford outside his office ready to tell about his involvement in the saga. He will explain how his family had been involved in abolition and the Underground Railroad for decades before the trial. He will recount his altercation with Lincoln, and details of his life in 1847. Rutherford is portrayed by Kim McGee, Newman.

Gideon “ Matt” Ashmore will be found next to the Rutherford Garden across the Pike Street from where his tavern was in 1847. Matt will talk about his abolitionist beliefs and his life in Wisconsin after the trial. He will recant what was done to assist the Bryants and how his interest in the American Colonization Society resulted in the family’s emigration to Liberia. Roger Ashmore will depict the nephew of his great, great, great, grandfather.

Before leaving downtown, ticketed participants can view an exhibit at the Oakland Historical Foundation Museum, Independence: A Town and A Way of Life. Jeannie Rankin has designed a display of items used in the 1840s on the central Illinois prairie and which tells the story of early Oakland. The independent way of life refers to the Brushy Fork community of free people of color north of Oakland. The exhibit will explain how this bastion of freedom came to be just six miles from Matson’s slave-run farm.

A video, Shadows of the Past: the history of African-Americans in Coles County, can be viewed in about 17 minutes and will cover the Brushy Fork through the 1970s. It will be located two doors to the east of the museum.

Rebecca Coon and Nova Hunt have worked hard to create an enticing shopping experience at the gift shop located at the Meeting House. Antiques, crafts, Lincoln publications, t-shirts and a souvenir booklet about Trial & Tribulations will be for sale.

Of course, if you haven’t toured the Rutherford Home, you will want to do that. Local students and Landmarks, Inc. volunteers will allow ticket holders to tour the 1847 house and see family heirlooms.

Additional interpreters will be located at Independence Pioneer Village, as will historian, Ron Keller. Keller teaches history and curates the Lincoln College Museum; and formerly taught history at Oakland High School. He will talk about Lincoln and Slavery for about a half hour at 5:00 and 6:00 p.m. in the evenings and 11:30 and 12:30 on Saturday afternoon.

Abraham Lincoln will be found resting at the general store (yeah, we know he was dead in the 1870s, but go along with us anyway. Reverend Bob Lee will regale participants with stories of Lincoln’s law practice and his career on the 8^th Judicial circuit. He will also reflect on why he decided to be involved in the Matson Trial, especially on Matson’s side.

Singing from the church will draw listeners to Anthony Bryant, the freedman husband of Jane. He will talk about his life as a freedman since 1830 and his role as a Methodist exhorter, or lay minister. Anthony will proudly explain how he tenaciously sought aid for his family.

Jane is here, too, and will tell about her life as a Matson slave. She and her children would spend fifty-eight days in jail before gaining their freedom. Visitors will learn about that and the family’s decision to immigrate to Liberia in hopes of finding a new and better life of freedom.

Lucy Dupee was the matriarch of the Brushy Fork community, all free people of color. She will explain what life was life as a free black in Illinois under the Black Codes and recall how she and her family became free. Professional interpreters from Freetown Village of Indianapolis are portraying her, Anthony and Jane.

The final character ticket holders will meet is the Bryant’s enslaver Mary Corbin, Matson’s lover, housekeeper, and eventual wife, who caused all the trouble. She will converse with people about Matson’s and her own history, which included a divorce, while making the case for slavery as essential to the southern lifestyle. Marylee McGee will bring her to life and talk about her lonely life on the Illinois prairie.

Ticket holders will be able to wander among all these activities and have dinner for the first three and a half hours of the program. Dinner is served in four sessions to ease the crowding, so participants should be sure to eat at their assigned time. The play will be performed at the Columbian Building during the final hour of the program.

Historical Costuming Adds to Trial & Tribulations

What to wear? We each deal with this question everyday, but Gretchen Phillips is tackling it for fourteen people. She has volunteered to clothe the actors and interpreters for Trial & Tribulations: The Story of the 1847 Matson Slave Trial program on Sept 18 and 19 in Oakland.

Ticket holders to the program will meet seven of the main characters in the story: Dr. Rutherford, Matt Ashmore, Mary Corbin, Lincoln, the Bryants and Lucy Dupee at the Rutherford Complex and Independence Pioneer Village. These interpreters will be working under the premise that they are from the 1870s and are reflecting back on their involvement with the trial. After conversing with these folks, and enjoying an 1840s dinner, the visitors will watch a play where the younger version of these characters portray the events of the 1847 trial in a play, Three Fifths of a Man.

Hence, Phillips is challenged to costume from two time periods. “The men’s styles don’t change much over these thirty years, but the ladies style is dramatically different,” notes Phillips. The 1840s style is elegant and simple compared to the excesses of the periods before and after. The sleeves are moderate in size; the fit is flattering and feminine. Since the 1840s costumes are for a play, they have to help convey the character to the audience, so our costumes for the three women Interlocutors or narrators are more neutral than those typical of the period, explains Phillips. We will use more beiges and less of the “poison green,” magentas and teals that were popular at the time of the trial.

The 1870s style on the other hand is a time of transition from hoops to outlandish bustles. The interpreters will be wearing the early, less prominent bustle. “Luckily, the Freetown Village interpreters have costumes from this period, so we won’t have to worry about them,” mentions Phillips.

The biggest challenge for the men is the amount of clothing. “The actors and interpreters are hoping that this cooling weather sticks around,” jokes Phillips. They will wear long–sleeved shirts, vests and a frock coat in most instances. Back then, suspenders were considered underwear, never to be seen, so if you took off your coat to get comfortable, you would still have your vest on. In fact, a volunteer will be needed to wash the shirts late Friday night so that they are fresh for Saturday.

Phillips is making two of the 1840 dresses and Katrina Bohn, one of the actresses, is making her own costume. Phillips points out, “There are lots of interesting sewing techniques in these dresses: piping, boning, seams in different places and cartridge pleating.” The latter is a method of gathering fullness that must be done by hand and will allow more fabric to be used than today’s methods. But she quickly adds, “We aren’t doing it all by hand, or we wouldn’t have them ready until next September.”

The program is renting the remaining women and men’s costumes from Grand Ball Costumes in Charleston. In fact, Phillips is looking forward to choosing the costumes tomorrow so that there is time for altering them if necessary.

Phillips has always loved history, and finds that manifesting itself in creating dresses from various eras for herself. She was home schooled and when they studied the Revolutionary War, she made a dress to wear to the Feast of the Hunters Moon in Lafayette, Indiana. Unfortunately, when she arrived she discovered that the zipper wasn’t accurate and the fact that her elbows showed meant that she was being immodest. Phillips wasn’t daunted, she just decided to learn more and make the gown more accurate. She now owns clothing of her own making from the 1820s, 1830s, Civil War era, the time of Titanic and the 1930s. “This is the first time I have made something from the 1840s and it is lots of fun,” she enthuses.

Interpreters for 7 Characters in Place

Visitors to Trial & Tribulations will start the program by meeting seven of the key characters in the Matson Slave Trial story at two historic sites in Oakland. The characters will be portraying Dr. Hiram Rutherford, Gideon "Matt" Ashmore, Mary Corbin, Jane and Anthony Bryant, Lucy Dupee, and Abraham Lincoln from a fictitious time in the 1870s as they look back to the events of 1847. Participants can converse and ask questions with the characters as they move through the grounds of Dr. Rutherford's home, now a historic site, and Independence Pioneer Village. By having these interpreters hail from the future (even though some had died in real life by that period), they can talk about the aftermath of the trial and look back at the events with some historical perspective.

We are happy to announce that Roger Ashmore has agreed to portray his own ancestor, Matt Ashmore. Kim McGee will create the character of Dr. Rutherford. Freetown Village, a living history program from Indianapolis will bring to life the Bryants and Lucy Dupee. Lincoln and Corbin are yet to be finalized, but we'll let you know soon who will portray them.

Volunteer Still Needed

Volunteers are needed for “Trial and Tribulations, the Story of the Matson Slave Trial”, Friday and Saturday September 18 and 19. If you can volunteer some time to help on one of these crews please email us at trial.tribulations1847@gmail.com or call 217-508-9113.

Columbian Bldg. Work Crew start on Saturday, August 22 during the day, hang pipes to support curtains, lighting and quilt display, clean up the building, set up serving area, hang curtains and lights.

Set-up Work Crew, Foreman and Crew to set up tents, chairs, porta-potties, work will be: Thursday 17 during the day set up chairs and tables in Columbian Bldg, hang quilt display, distribute chairs to other areas for set up on Friday. Friday morning 6 am til finished, then return after 7 to close up for the night. Saturday morning 7am til finished, then return after 7 to take down

Interpreters: Four out-going people with a love of history to interpret the characters of Rutherford, Ashmore, Lincoln and Mary Corbin. Performance will be all day on Friday and Saturday (4 different performances), time will be needed to study the history and the character before rehearsals, then rehearsals and preparation will be scheduled for the week before.

Video Operators: Two people for each performance to operate the video equipment to show the WEIU black history video. Training will be provided on Thursday. Performance times will be: Friday: 3:30-7:15, Saturday: 10:00-2:15 and 3:30-7:15

Piano Player or Guitarist, Fiddle or Banjo player to play period music during the meals, Friday 3:30-7:00, Saturday 10:00-1:30 and 3:30-7:00 Music might include Stephen Foster songs and Negro spirituals.

Assistant Director and stage set up and props Person: assist Dr. Jorns as needed

Ticket Processor: someone with clerical skills to receive ticket orders and mail tickets, needs to keep detailed records. Thanks to Jane Kite for taking this on.

Bus Guides: Four people for each performance to get on school buses as they arrive and act as guides to direct the group through the program. Friday 8:30 -11:15 and 11:15-2:00 Training will be given on Thursday.

Welcome Tent: Two people needed for each performance to pass out programs and give directions. Friday: 3:30-6:30 Saturday 10:00-1:00 and 3:30-6:30 Training will be provided on Thursday.

Ticket Punchers: Seven people, could be scouts or church youth group, will be needed for each performance, five at the Pioneer Village and two in town to punch visitors tickets. Friday 3:30-7:00; Saturday 10:00-1:30; and 3:30-7:00 Training will be provided on Thursday.

Program and Booklet Layout: Someone to layout the free program and the souvenir booklet. Thanks Greg Baker for agreeing to do this.

Cast in Place for Three-Fifths of a Man

Local actors will be the stars in the historical drama about one of Oakland’s most important brushes with the famous. Hiram Rutherford and Gideon Madison “Matt” Ashmore put Oakland into the history books, when they stood to protect Anthony and Jane Bryant from slavery with Robert Matson against Abraham Lincoln. Five men, three women and one teen will help tell that story as part of the Trial & Tribulations program on September 18 and 19.

Most actors will portray two people in the original drama written and directed by Dr. David Jorns. Jorns announced, “I am very impressed with the quality of this cast, they will do an outstanding job.”

The cast is as follows: Hiram Rutherford/William Lloyd Garrison – Caleb Schaffer; Matt Ashmore/Orlando B. Ficklin – Ben BcBurney; Robert Matson/Usher Linder – Bill McBurney; Abraham Lincoln – Jacob Norris; William Gillman/Joe Dean – Rob Lee; Interlocutor 1 – Stephanie Borntreger; Interlocutor 2/Mary Corbin – Flynn Welles; Interlocutor 3/Mary Chestnut – April Lee; Patient – Benny Lee.

Characters in "Three Fifths of a Man" by Dr. David Jorns

Currently the following characters are in the play:

Women: The three female roles are interlocutors or narrators who move the play along.

• Mary Corbin, the future wife of Robert Matson, his housekeeper/mistress and mother of one of his children was between 26 and 32 born in Kentucky or Virginia, possibly divorced and her temper caused the Bryants, the slave family, to flee.
• Mary Chestnut, age 24, South Carolinian aristocracy, her father was governor and a US Senator, her husband was a lawyer and later also a US Senator, married 7 years at time of trial in 1847, witty, active in husbands political life, and one of the most important diarists of the Confederacy during the Civil War.

Men:

• Dr. Hiram Rutherford, age 32, born in Pennsylvania and educated at a medical college in Philadelphia, widow of 2 years and father of one boy, lived in Illinois for seven years in 1847, abolitionist.
• William Lloyd Garrison, age 42 Massachusetts resident, newspaper editor, founder of the American Anti-Slavery Society, very articulate and radical abolitionists. Famous nationally.
• Matt Ashmore, age 37, born in Tennessee, but had lived in this part of Illinois since he was 4 years old, tavern owner, school teacher, town founder.
• Orlando B. Ficklin, age 39, attorney, born in Kentucky, served in Illinois General Assembly, owned $4,000 in real estate, educated at Transylvania University, elected to Congress in 1843-1849.
• Abraham Lincoln, age 38, beardless, attorney, married for 5 years with 2 children, he was well-known and respected in his career, had been elected to Congress and would leave for there in two weeks after the trial, practicing law with Herndon for last six years.
• Robert Matson, age 51, Kentuckian, fairly wealthy, owned slaves, kind of a scoundrel, bachelor, served in Kentucky Legislature many years earlier.
• Usher Linder, age 38, Kentuckian, former Illinois Attorney General, member of the Illinois General Assembly, liked his drink, was a recognized orator.
• William Gilman, age 46, Kentuckian, tavern owner, lived in Illinois 7 years, not very well educated though served as Justice of the Peace.
• Joe Dean, age 52, Kentuckian, at one time owned two slaves, but owned no land in Illinois, but lived here, kind of "white trash."
  

Auditions in Oakland for Historical Drama about Lincoln

The play may be titled “Three Fifths of a Man,” but only whole men and women should apply.

Open auditions for this original play, about the 1847 Matson Slave Trial when Abraham Lincoln represented a slave owner for the only time in his law career, will be held on July 30 and 31 at 7:00 p.m. in the Columbian Building in Oakland Illinois. The building is located at the corner of Pike and Main Streets on the picturesque town square.

All adults over the age of 18 are welcome and no prior experience is needed to audition. One minute prepared auditions are welcome, but not necessary. Tryouts will involve reading from the script written and directed by Dr. David Jorns.

The performance is part of an innovate historical program, Trial & Tribulations, on September 18 and 19 where audience members will informally meet seven of the characters from the trial at two historic sites in Oakland, enjoy an 1847 meal, and attend the performance of this play.

The mostly male cast will portray real people from 1847 highlighting their inner motivations as well as the historical events. Jorns explains, “It’s so unlike the Lincoln we know from school. He is human, a man of his times who struggled with this important moral issue for many years. This Lincoln is more complicated than the myth.”

The program is made possible in part by a grant from the Ruth and Vaughn Jaenike Access to the Arts Outreach Program of the College of Arts & Humanities, Eastern Illinois University.

For more information visit the project’s website http://matson1847.blogspot.com, email at trial.tribulations1847@gmail.com, or call 217-508-9113.

Brushy Fork Descendant Returns to Her Roots

They say you can never go back to the way things were, but sometimes, its enough just to go back. Marlyn Mounger Peridon came back to visit the area her ancestors settled on Tuesday, June 2 in the company of local researchers and residents. This isn't unusual, as many people visit family in Douglas County, but the family Peridon found was special - they were some of the first free people of color to live in east central Illinois, at a settlement called Brushy Fork.

"I am 80% certain this is where your great great grandmother, Emily Bass Minnis, is buried," confirmed local researcher, Melinda Buchanan, as she and Peridon shared a moment in front of the commemorative marker labeled, "Negro Cemetery" at the center of Sargent Township. Peridon laid white roses on the memorial and expressed her gratitude for this meeting of the generations. "I was visiting my son in Chicago and came here as a favor to my daughter, Angie, who is really into this research, but I find myself deeply moved," noted Peridon.

Like many other families, Peridon's search for her ancestors began with a family tradition which said they were part Cherokee and Blackfoot. Back in the 1970s she and her sisters decided to see if they could track down their origins. They traveled all over the state of Kansas, looking in telephone directories and courthouses for relatives. "One lady that we called, said she had a family paper," explained Peridon, "that gave all the facts about the family back several generations but it was for my father's side of the family." The Native American connections were proven through her father, and her mother's paternal side.

Her grandmother's maternal side, the Minnis' from Illinois, has been more difficult to track down. Everything the sisters knew came from a couple of newspaper clippings about their great Uncle Alonzo Minnis. One article from a Topeka Kansas paper recognized him in the early 1960s as being 102 years old. In it he remembered being in a wagon train as the family moved from Illinois to Kansas when he was 12 years old. "My Daddy fetched a colony out from(Douglas County) Illinois, he recalled. There were about eight or ten wagons. And I walked almost all the way, killing game for the wagon train." Another article celebrated Alonzo and his brother, Edward, as some of the first Western cowboys in Kansas. They picked up cows at Dodge City, Kansas and drove them to Hutchinson, which was the closest stockyards. The article pointed out that Ed Minnis trained horses for Vanderbilt andoperated the first race track at Kinsley, Kansas. Ed was also the only black member of the prestigious Bird Dog Club because of his expertise in raising setters. The boys' parents were Edward (Ned) and Duphena Emily Bass Minnis. Emily descended from a family well-known in the Nansemond tribe of Virginia.

Angie Peridon Sandro remembers her mother and her Aunt Charlotte traveling from Pratt to St. John digging through library archives researching the families migration from Illinois to Kansas, and how both frustrating and elated they were when they found a clue as to the origins of our family. She recalls, "As I watched my mother and grandmother and the older generation start forgetting or passing away without ever sharing their memories it became ever more important to me to carry over the knowledge that my mother had found and build upon it for my children." A couple of years ago I did a search over the Internet for "Edward Minnis" and found an article written Sunday, January 16, 1967 by Frettia Lewis "Negro Cemetery's History In Douglas County Comes to Light" that had my ancestor listed and a location to start my search. Next I bought a membership with Ancestry.com and began searching. It was hard but so very exciting. I contacted my family and begged them for stories and pictures to add to my tree. Sandro went as far as she could then hit a wall. "It was so frustrating to have all these questions but no way to answer them. Then one day I received an email from Melinda Buchanan asking about my family and I was reinvigorated," she enthused, "Finally, there was someone out there who shared my passion for this story who had more information than I did."

Buchanan started her search in 1990 after a dear friend and cousin, Bill Overturf took her out to the cemetery and talked about his heavy heart. "He was worried that these people had lived and farmed here, were buried here, and we didn't know why they left or where they went," she recalled. From that point on, she was determined to try and ease his mind with some information about these families, a task that has proven to be a real challenge and labor of love. The research took longer than she initially thought and Bill has passed away, but his niece, Marylee McGee, was there to witness Peridon's visit. Little did she expect these families to intersect in any way with her ancestors, but it turned out that one member of the community, Isom Bryant, came to the area with her great great grandfather, David Yarnall.

It's been hard to find out anything about Peridon's great great grandfather, Ned Minnis, and his ancestors. After many years of research, Buchanan agreed that she still hasn't discovered definitively how Ned and his sister, Lucy, ended up in Douglas County. "But I am more and more convinced that these early settlers of Brushy Fork were tri-racial: white, African-American, and Native American," Buchanan confirms. Their marriage patterns paralleled those of mixed racial groups in the Appalachians. Peridon notes that family tradition maintains that their ancestors were never slaves and remembers Ned as a red-headed man whose father was Irish. His descendants have skin in varying shades from light beige to dark brown. Some branches of the family are listed as white in the early 1900 census'. Ned had ten children and outlived two wives. Eight of his children survived into old age and had families of their own with six to fifteen children each. "There were 3-500 people attending Minnis family reunions when I was a little girl," Peridon noted.

One of those relations at the early Minnis reunions may have been a Bowen. Sandro reconnected with a previously unknown fourth cousin, Tim Bowen, after they found the others information on Ancestry.com. Ned's daughter Jerusha, a sister to Peridon's great grandmother Permelia, wed Thompson Bowen in the early 1870s in Douglas County. Tim was told by his dad, Eugene Bowen Jr., that Thompson Bowen and the Minnis' as well as another family left Illinois to go to Kansas. Bowen, who is currently serving in Iraq, notes "Kansas was a free state and John Brown had been from there so it was a popular location for people of color in that time," though the Bowen/Minnis move predates the famous Exodusters who formed their own communities like Nicodemus. The 1862 Homestead Act also provided incentives to move west by making 160 acres available for $1.25 per acre if you filed the proper paperwork, improved the land, and lived on it for at least six months; if you lived on it for five years you got it free. Tim was also told that Illinois was just a stop over to drop off Thompson Bowen's brother while Thompson intended to move on west. However, Buchanan and Sandro have discovered that Thompson stayed long enough to own land here.

Bowen started his research in 2000 after his great grandfather on his dad's side died. He explains, my family started showing me pictures of his past and I took interest. I never knew my Dad's father well and I wanted to know more especially after finding out that Thompson Bowen came to Kansas on a covered wagon with 13 children, one dying by falling off. Thompson also built one of the first churches in Stafford County in the town of St. Johns. Tim has followed the research and Marlyn's trip to Illinois via e-mail, "its great that we are all reconnecting, I just wish I wasn't in Iraq and could experience it first hand." As does everyone else involved in this adventure to the past who look forward to his eventual visit to this "home place."

Lincoln's Motivation to Participate

Historians and the public are curious about Lincoln’s participation on behalf of the enslaver and the contrast between that and his later role as the Great Emancipator. While we will never know his motivations for sure, the interpretations of his actions often reflect the prevailing attitudes toward our country’s heroes and raise questions about historical myth versus truth. In brief, there are four reasons ascribed to his actions:

1) He supported slavery and, therefore, was committed to seeing Matson secure his property. Or with a slight variation may have believed that every man deserves representation in court, no matter what his crime or position;

2) Lincoln may have participated in the trial because it was just another job, not venturing a moral opinion;

3) Lincoln or other participants may have been interested in manipulating the outcome of the trial. One branch on this tangent maintains that Lincoln argued the case poorly with the purposeful intent of losing as a way of supporting freedom for the slaves. The other, newer theory is that the trial was arranged to become a precedent for future slavery related trials; and

4) Lincoln’s own personal and political ambitions may have been his motivation. Perhaps he took the case as a personal favor to his close associate, Linder, or he may have considered it politically expedient to be involved.

No matter his motivation Lincoln’s acceptance and prosecution of this case complicates him as a person and politician more than prior historians have credited him. The tale risks falling into obscurity – buried or trivialized by well-meaning mythologies about the Great Emancipator.

The irregularities and the illustrious cast of characters have led current scholars to believe that the proceedings were arranged by the justices to be beyond reproach and was an attempt to set precedence for future slavery cases. We know of no time when the ruling was referred to in other trials, but then precedent was not used then as it is today. Lincoln would have been a preferred participant in this arrangement as he was one of the leading trial lawyers in Illinois at the time. He may have been approached by Wilson to be an attorney in the trial, and it would of Wilson he might have approached to be released from the Matson side of the event. It may not have mattered to Wilson which side Lincoln was on, just that the best attorneys available were involved, hence his ability to change sides. Lincoln could have agreed to be involved in the trial because it would be politically helpful to have his name linked to a trial with strong public appeal and because it would bring in income.

Click Here to take survey on Lincoln's Motivation

Project Featured in News-Gazette

Trial & Tribulations is featured on-line and in the News Gazette Newspaper today. See article by clicking here.

Project Endorsed by Illinois Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission

The Illinois Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission is pleased to endorse the Trial and Tribulations historical program developed by the Independence Pioneer Village, Oakland Historical Foundation and Oakland Landmarks, Inc.

Project Awarded Jaenike Access to the Arts Grant

$1000 is being awarded from the Ruth and Vaughn Jaenike Access to the Arts Fund of the EIU College of Arts & Humanities to Oakland Landmarks, Inc./Oakland Historical Foundation for the play/living history public and school programs that make up the Trial and Tribulations: The Story of the 1847 Matson Slave Trial project.

Volunteers Needed to Help the Project

Volunteers Needed to Direct the Following Areas:

• 1847 Meal - Contact caterer, Designate servers, Table Décor and Prep, Ticket Punch, Clean up…
• Gift Shop – Nova & Rebecca Coon Oversee setup, consignment where needed, sale of items, information…
• Costumes - Contact area resources to oversee costumes needed in all areas of event, both performance andadditional sites.
• Technical Director: Assist Dr. Jorns in the technical issues regarding preparation of performance…stage construction, lighting, adaptations of Columbian Building, etc…
• Assistant Director - Assist Dr. Jorns with note taking, props, auditions, possess love of theatre
• Lighting – Tom Hawk & Mike Rowley - Run lighting board with dimmers, work with Dr. Jorns concerning all lighting materials needed.
• Housing and meals for actors - Need to accommodate approximately 4 folks from Freetown Village (Wednesday evening through perhaps Sunday morning.)
• Town beautification - Includes signage, area business window displays etc…
• Tour guide/Hostess - Guide tour buses and school groups to proper locations, inform guests of restroom locations, show times etc…, must be friendly and enjoy working with public.
• Ticket Sales/Ushers - Handling advance orders, bus tours and seating audience for performances.
• Publicity -Work with Program Director to distribute publicity. Develop a database of area organizations, committees, school, churches etc… to promote the event.
• Musicians – Susan Humphries - Contacted to play period music intermittently and as performance requires.
• Rutherford House – Renee & Landmarks, Inc. - Recruiting volunteers for site preparation, and house tours. Includes working with Ashmore and Rutherford interpreters.
• Pioneer Village – Rev. Bob & Rob Lee - Recruiting volunteers for site preparation, and guides. Includes working with actors from Freetown Village and maybe guest lecturer.
• Museum Display- Renee & Oakland Historical Foundation - Historical Foundation museum display, set up/show documentary film, train hostess/film operators.
• Facility Maintenance - Tents, Tables, Chairs, Portable restrooms where needed, make sure facility on square is presentable and available.
• Performance Director – Dr. David Jorns - Writes script, directs theatre in the round, conducts auditions, works with lighting director etc…
• Photographer - Oversees photo shoot of entire event recruiting help as needed.

We’ve scheduled a Meeting for Volunteers on Monday, March 9^th, 6 pm in the Columbian Building to set up committees, get a visual effect of the performance, review event schedule and share the vision for the overall outcome intended for the event. Please mark your calendar today and plan to join this community endeavor.

School Groups

School classes of youth in 5th grade through 12th grade are invited to either of two presentations of the program on Friday, Sept. 18 from 9:00-11:15 a.m. or 11:45 a.m. -2:00 p.m. We can accommodate 250 students at each performance. Reservations are required and can be made by calling 217-508-9113 or e-mailing the project at trial.tribulations1847@gmail.com. Cost is $4 per student, up to two adults are free. Students will:

• Visit two historic sites & meet the people involved,
• Watch a performance about the trial,
• Address Illinois social science goals for grades 5-12,
• Challenge your preconceived notions of history.

Educational Goals:
1. Lincoln represented the master-enslaver, Matson, the only time he represented an enslaver.

2. African American’s history in Illinois includes enslaved and freedmen. Those who gained freedom chose between living here within the restrictions of the Black Laws like at Brushy Fork or colonizing to Liberia.

3. National and state laws existed about slavery that were often in conflict and the court system played a critical role in the resolution of those dilemmas.

4. Abolitionists existed in Illinois and Coles County, though their positions were very unpopular with the public.

Moral/Ethical Goals:
1. Lincoln’s role and possible motivations for participating in the trial and how that reflects on his beliefs and our perception of him.

2. The courage of the Bryant family to take action to gain their freedom and to trust the legal system to work.

3. The moral dilemma of taking public action on your beliefs for social justice despite the consequences.


Classes will move on their own bus from town to village. Schools will be divided into roughly three equal groups of 70-90 students. Volunteers will meet each bus and accompany them on each stop of their visit. Pre & Post visit materials will be provided to each registered class. Below is an outline of their visit.

Group Tours

Motor coach tours are welcome at the public programs on September 18 and 19, 2009 (4-8:30 p.m. each day or 10:30 a.m.-3:00 p.m. on Saturday). Discounted price for groups is $20/person. Ample parking is available. Tour groups will participate in the following components in small groups:
Groups may choose one of the following schedules (each tour accommodates 65 people):

Freetown Village Joins Project As Interpreters

The project partners are pleased to announce that the well-respected living history group, Freetown Village of Indianapolis, will interpret three of the main characters in the Matson/Bryant story: Jane and Anthony Bryant and Lucy Dupee.

Freetown Village's mission is to educate the public about African American lives and culture in Indiana through living history performances, the collection and preservation of artifacts, exhibits and allied programs. Freetown Village, Inc. is a living history museum without walls. The trials, triumphs, and daily life of African Americans are presented through theater, storytelling, folk crafts, heritage workshops, music, day camp, and special events. Since 1982, Freetown Village has presented programs throughout the state of Indiana and to the contiguous Midwestern states reaching well over 1,000,000 children and adults in small and large communities. Programs have been presented in schools, churches, libraries, museums, theaters, centers, parks, hotels, offices, gymnasiums, parades, homes, and for almost every time of event or occasion. For more information about Freetown you can visit their website at: http://www.freetown.org/Freetown/Welcome.html.

Trial & Tribulations participants will meet Freetown interpreters at Independence Pioneer Village as they portray Jane and Anthony Bryant and Lucy Dupee among the historic log buildings in a picturesque setting. Jane will be found in a log house preparing for the family's upcoming journey to Liberia. She will discuss her history, how she and the children were jailed, what happened during the trial and why they made the decision to emigrate to Liberia.

Anthony will be in the church/school building reading his quarto bible and preparing to leave the local African-American religious community he had served. He will talk with visitors about his role as a Methodist "exhorter," his experience in asking for help from the local Methodists, and the actions he took to protect his family.

Lucy Dupee will also be in a log home, helping to make some of the supplies that the Bryant's will need on their trip. She will be able to speak about the local Brushy Fork community, the impact that the Matson Slave Trial had on it, and how Illinois' Black Laws may have influenced the Bryant's decision to leave the country.