Stephen A. Douglas in Quincy
CITY:
Quincy
COUNTY:
Adams
DEDICATED BY:
Adams County Bar Association, City of Quincy, Historical Society of Quincy and Adams County, and The Illinois State Historical Society
DEDICATION DATE:
October 1, 2003 at 5:00:00 AM
The marker is located in Quincy on the south side of Maine Street, between 4th & 5th streets, across the street from Washington Park.
Statesman and politician Stephen A. Douglas began his distinguished national career in Quincy. A resident of the city from 1841-1847, he served as Associate Justice of the Illinois Supreme Court from 1841-1843, then in the U.S. House until he was elevated to the Senate in 1847. Douglas maintained a residence at the Quincy house located on this site. On October 13, 1858, Judge Douglas returned here, visiting old friends before crossing the street to share the lecture platform with Lincoln for the sixth debate in the statewide series that helped determine the outcome of the Senate race and shape the future of the nation. Douglas later referred to his years in Quincy as when “I was first placed upon a national career where I was ever after kept.”