Those visiting the Lincoln Log Cabin in Lerna can expect nothing less than an authentic early 1800s experience.

On the way to the cabin, nature is all around. Branches break as deers run through the forrest. The smell of burning wood from a nearby campfire and the stench of manure from a the surrounding farmland burn the senses. If it weren’t for the occasional plane flying overhead, one might forget they were in the 21st century.

The re-enactors were committed to providing an experience that reflected the 1845 time period in Coles County.

They are given their characters after research was done to find who was in the county at the time from birth and marriage records, then according to the age of the re-enactor roles are appointed.

Eastern Illinois alumna Jean Rinefort steps into the role of Catherine Chenowith, the visiting spinster sister of Nancy Sargent.

“It’s fun to pretend your in 1845, everything else goes away,” Jean Rinefort said.

Jean Rineforts husband, Foster Rinefort, is also a volunteer and former Eastern professor in business.

The home was owned by Abraham Lincoln’s father, Thomas, and step-mother, Sarah Lincoln Bush.

Although Abraham Lincoln never lived in the home, he would visit occasionally from his home in Springfield.

Visitors to the Lincoln Log Cabin will be able to see a short video on the history of the farm.

They will also get a chance to interact with the re-enactors and learn interesting facts about that time period.

The gift shop memorabilia gives visitors the chance to remember their visit.

In 1893 the Lincoln’s cabin was brought to the Columbia exposition and fair in Chicago where it was lost.

The Civilian Conservation Corps, proposed by Franklin D. Roosevelt put people back to work rebuilding the cabin in the 1930’s.

The historical site offers a 5th grade live in program in which the children are dressed in typical 1840’s attire. Girls learn to cook, sew, and make candles, while the boys clean out manure stalls, split rails from logs, and cut firewood.

Lincoln Log Cabin will be putting on a fall festival this weekend. Admission is free and there will be vendors selling root beer and kettle corn. For lunch they will be serving ham, beans and cornbread.

“It’s a good family place, and it’s a working farm that portrays the 1840s,” said Winette Noll who was portraying Rebecca Furry.

Nicole Conness can be reached at 581-7944 or denverge@gmail.com.

Jean Rinefort, whose cabin name is Catherine Chenowith, puts a case on a pillow at the Sargent home in Coles County. (Nicole Conness

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