Home of Dr. Hiram Rutherford
This was the home of Dr. Hiram Rutherford, who was involved in 1847 in a case in which Abraham Lincoln represented a slaveholder. Rutherford and Gideon Ashmore harbored a family of slaves who had sought their help. The slaves belonged to Robert Matson, a Kentuckian, who had brought them north to work on his farm. While the slaves were being sheltered in Ashmore’s Tavern, Matson obtained a Court Order to have the slaves jailed. Rutherford and Ashmore sued out a Writ of Habeas Corpus for their release. Matson then hired Lincoln. The Circuit Court, after a hearing, freed the slaves.
Marker is on North Pike Street north of Illinois Route 133, on the right when traveling north.
Courtesy hmdb.org
