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Mt. Pulaski celebrates Lincoln's
birthday as Tim Meehan read "House Divided" speech
[February 17, 2026]
On Sunday, February 15th, a
celebration for Abraham Lincoln’s birthday was held at the Mt
Pulaski Courthouse. Tim Meehan, a Lincoln interpreter, read the
speech in the upstairs courtroom. Guests were offered various snacks
and drinks, including coffee, punch, and a variety of baked goods.
The upstairs courtroom was pretty well filled with guests waiting to
listen to Meehan speak. Just after 2:00, history interpreter Steve
Martin got the event kicked off, giving Meehan the floor. Meehan,
who was sitting on a stool at the front of the room, preceded the
speech reading with some historical context.
Meehan shared that this speech was
largely inspired by Lincoln’s views on slavery at the time and how
it was being handled. As the issue of slavery really started ramping
up in the mid-to-late 1850’s the Supreme Court started weighing in
on the issue of slavery. In short, Lincoln feared that, if nothing
was done, free states would be forced to allow slavery.
Lincoln gave the speech in 1858 to
a small group before giving the speech to the wider public. Meehan
shared that the group who heard did not think he would be able to
give the speech due to the content and what Lincoln said within.
Another remarked that, should Lincoln give that speech, it would one
day make him president.
Meehan proved extremely knowledgeable about the context around the
speech, sharing at least ten minutes of historical background with
no notes, entirely from his personal knowledge on the subject.
After Meehan’s background, he got into the speech. It lasted about
20 minutes, with Meehan delivering it with great personality,
modifying his pitch and tone as if he were the one who wrote the
speech himself. The audience was enamored, as no one spoke and all
listened to Meehan. As they say, you could hear a pin drop, at least
between Meehan’s sentences.
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At the end of the speech, Meehan
answered questions that the audience had regarding the speech and
Lincoln. There were several questions, and once more Meehan shared
his deep knowledge of Lincoln and that time in history. He also
shared that he was going to also perform the seventh and final
debate Lincoln had with Steven Douglas, a personal favorite of his.
Seeing as how that speech takes nearly an hour, he and Martin were
not sure that people would be up for two speeches back-to-back.
Martin did share later, however, that they are planning on having
Meehan return in March to perform that speech.
Once all questions were answered,
Martin welcomed everyone to go downstairs and partake in the
refreshments they had available. He also encouraged people to look
around the downstairs offices before leaving. Many people took
Martin up on his offer, hanging around for a while before departing.
[Matt Boutcher]
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