You are right... As Father Chiniquy was responsible for getting most of my French Canadian ancestors to the St. Anne area, I have collected everything I can on him. I will also copy and paste this for my Chiniquy notebook. Thanks so much for sharing it with us. Blessings, Kathye VCrawf@aol.com wrote: > Hello, listers. I have received a clipping with a slightly new (to me) > slant on the Chiniquy lawsuit, from my cousin Margaret Guertin Bedard of > Kankakee - it has been cut from a newspaper of unknown date (although there > are some date-clues in the context) and photocopied - Margaret did not know > its source and has had it for many years among her papers. > > Since it was Father Charles Chiniquy who essentially settled the village of > St. Anne and gave it its name, the story of his life is an integral part of > the history we trace. He was revered by some and villified by others - > whatever the truth, he must have been an amazing person. His association > with Abraham Lincoln is one more interesting occurrence in a long and > remarkable life. Here's the clipping, verbatim: > > [HEADLINE] LINCOLN WAS ATTORNEY IN CHINIQUY SUIT > > [sub-head] ATTORNEY C. .M CLAY BUNTAIN FINDS INTERESTING BIT OF HISTORY IN > BOOK > > [more caps] ACTION FOR SLANDER [1855-1856] > > [another sub-head] Change Of Venue Is Taken To Champaign County On Account > Of Bitter Feeling Here > > [article begins] The celebrated slander suit of [Peter] Spink vs. Rev. > Charles Chiniquy, a priest of St. Anne, back in 1855, and the part played by > Abraham Lincoln were recalled yesterday when Attorney C. M. Clay Buntain ran > across the story in Jesse Weik's "Life of Lincoln" which he was reading. > > As soon as he came acrossthe story of the incident, Mr. Buntain went to the > office of Circuit Clerk Charles F. Skinner and there, among the oldest > records in the court house, he found the complete records of the suit. > > [sub-head] Lincoln Settles Case > > It developed that while the suit was originally filed here, yet on account of > the bitter feelings which followed, it was taken on a change of venue to > Champaign County. President Lincoln, then an attorney making a citcuit of > various courts in central Illinois, was one of the force of lawyers employed > by Father Chiniquy and his friends and took part in the trial after it > reached Champaign [actually, Urbana]. Following a disagreement of a jury > [i.e., a hung jury], the Great Emancipator brought about a settlement betwthe > parties and was the attorney who wrote the final degree [sic]. > > [sub-head] Bourbonais County Seat > > The entries in the case were made in Kankakee County during the term of > Phillip Worcester as circuit clerk and the handwriting is that of the late > Thomas Benfield, Sr., who was then deputy circuit clerk and afterwards one of > the ablest lawyers at the Kankakee bar. The court at that time was located > in Bourbonnais which was then the county seat. > > It is doubtful if there is now a living person in Kankakee County who > actually recalls the case. The following account of the litigation appears > in the book [?] now in the possession of Mr. Buntain [Weick, "Life of > Lincoln"?]. > > [The case with which] Mr. Lincoln was associated was that of Spink vs. > Chiniquy, begun in Kankakee County, Illinois, a case in which Charles > Chiniquy, a priest, was sued for having falsely charged that Peter Spink, one > of his parishioners, had been guilty of perjury. The parties and most of > the witnesses were French Catholics. Mr. Lincoln and Leonard Swett > represented Father Chiniquy. It was a well known and warmly-contested > case. "Father Chiniquy was plucky," related Henry O. Whitney, who was > present and remembered the trial, "and pled justification." Preparations > were made for a fight to the finish, not only between the two principals but > by the two respective neighborhoods in which they lived, for eventually > almost everybody became involved. A change of venue brought the case to > Champaign County, and when the term came on, the principals, their lawyers, > and an immense retinue of followers, came to Urbana. The hotels were > monopolized and a large number camped out. After a tedious and > long-drawn-out trial the jury disagreed [since the jury could not reach a > verdict, a re-trial was scheduled] . > > Next term the crowd, in no wise diminished, returned, camp outfits, > musicians, parrots, pet dogs, and all. The prospect was that all their > scandal would have to be aired again; but Mr. Lincoln, who abhored that class > of litigation, in which there was no utility, and dreading the outcome, set > to work and finally effected a compromise. > > The formal decree reciting the terms of the settlement of the case which > follows was prepared by Lincoln and is an excellent specimen of his concise > and orderly presentation of a legal proposition: "Peter Spink vs.Charles > Chiniquy. This day came the parties and the defendant [Chiniquy] denies > that he had ever charged or believed the plaintiff [Spink] to be guilty > ofPerjury; that whatever he has said from which such a charge could be > inferred, he said on the information of others, protecting his own disbelief > in the charge; and that he not disclaims any belief in the truth of said > charge against said plaintiff. It is therefore, by agreement of the > parties, ordered that the suit be dismissed, each party paying his own cost - > the defendant to pay his part of the cost heretofore ordered to be paid by > said plaintiff." > > [end of article and clipping] And where did Jesse Weick get his > information, one asks. It seems everyone had an ax to grind in this fact > situation! > > According to Charles Chiniquy in "Fifty Years in the Church of Rome" (pp. 620 > ff.), the lawsuit came about because Chiniquy believed that Spink had told > lies about him to the Roman Catholic Bishop of Chicago (O'Regan) and further > that Spink had been encouraged by the bishop to spread these lies in the St. > Anne area. > > Of course, there is more! The Illinois Historical Society Lincoln project > has recently retrieved and preserved the surviving documents generated by > this action. This list's Audrey NiteOwl received a copy of the case docket > and the text of the agreement signed by Abraham Lincoln from the project > directors from the project director - she kindly gave me a copy for my file - > thanks again, Audrey! I will review it for anything to add to this account > and will send a follow-up note. > > Cheers to all - I hope this has been of interest. > > Ginny > > Virginia Crawford > List Admin - ILSTANNE-L > VCrawf@aol.com > > > > ============================== > Search ALL of RootsWeb's mailing lists in real time. > RootsWeb's Personalized Mailing Lists: > http://pml.rootsweb.com/ -- Kathye Snyder-Knight Carthage, Missouri kathyek@earthlink.net http://home.earthlink.net/~kathyek/index.html