Clinton County Historical Museum

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The museum is housed in the 1866 home of Judge Sidney Breese. Breese was a U.S. Senator and an Illinois Supreme Court Judge. He secured the Illinois Central Railroad and lobbied Congress to extend the railroad to the Pacific Ocean. He wrote the first published books in Illinois. He had a twenty-five year friendship with Abraham Lincoln. In 1841, the first slave freed by then attorney Lincoln was the result of an Illinois Supreme Court decision handed down by Breese. 

The museum houses collections and exhibits featuring:

• Vintage clothing, funiture, kitchen & housewares, and toys.
• Military items.
• Genealogical files.
• The original bench from the 1849 Clinton County Courthouse.