Description

This commemorative print features the tavern license for the store in New Salem, Illinois, owned by William F. Berry and Abraham Lincoln in 1833. They obtained a license on March 6, 1833, from the [Sangamon] County Commissioners Court to keep a tavern in the town of New Salem for one year. The license was in Berry's name only. The rates they were allowed to charge were also listed. A note just below the price list reads, "Facsimile of tavern license issued to Berry and Lincoln. Certified by Chas. E. Oppel, Clerk Sangamon County Court, Springfield, Ill. Date April 25, 1908." A second note below the paragraph stating the condition of the $300 bond reads, "Facsimile of Bond given by Abraham Lincoln, William F. Berry and John Bowling Green binding themselves in a penalty of $300 not to sell whiskey to negroes, Indians, or children, i. e. to obey the liquor laws of the State." Below this note is a paragraph of explanatory text about whiskey typically being sold in grocery stores at that time. The License and the bond are each shown printed on an illustrated scroll. The publisher's information is in the left corner of the lower margin. Part of the Lincoln Financial Foundation Collection, courtesy of the Indiana State Museum