Lincoln’s Trial and Tribulations, a presentation put on at The Independence Pioneer Village Central in Oakland, will reenact the famous Matson Slave Trial from 2:30 to 8:30 p.m. on Saturday.

In 1847, after slave owner Robert Matson bought Jane Bryant and her four children and sent them to work on his farm in the Coles County area, Matson’s mistress, Mary Corbin, threatened to sell her children after one of her usual tantrums, according to the website.

Bryant retaliated and a lawsuit over her and her children’s freedom ensued.

Renee Henry, the project coordinator, said it is a unique and interactive look at the trial.

Actors will be decked out in costumes from the mid-1800s, and there will be live music from that era, Henry said.

This is the fourth year the event has been put on.

Henry said the reenactment started when three historical societies in Oakland Foundation expressed interest in “bringing the trial to life.”

When the trial was finished, Jane Bryant and her kids were declared free because the Illinois Constitution said no one in the state could have slaves unless they were simply passing through.

Abraham Lincoln attended the hearing.

This year the event will be a little different, with new additions.

They will be reenacting Dr. Hiram Rutherford’s wedding, a doctor and outspoken abolitionist who helped provide guidance and financial assistance to Gideon Ashmore, the lawyer who defended the Bryants.

Johnson said the reenactment will be simulated like a ball, and characters, as well as visitors will get a chance to dance.

She also said there will be a salt creek band playing at the wedding.

Johnson said the trial greatly affected the community of African American who lived in the area. They were known as the Bushy Fork community.

Tickets can be purchased online, and there are three different types of tickets, all including different packages for different events.

Jaime Lopez can be reached at 581-2812 or jlopez2@eiu.edu.