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.