The Murphey Building at the corner of Main and Broad streets in downtown New Castle was built by Col. Miles Murphey for his dry goods store. Local historians have said that Murphey and his wife, Elizabeth, were guests of the Lincolns at their home in Springfield on “several occasions.” The building is home to the New Castle-Henry County Chamber of Commerce and economic development offices.

By DARREL RADFORD

Historically Speaking

With the recent success of Stephen Speilberg’s movie “Lincoln,” it’s interesting to consider Henry County’s connections to the 16th president. Here are a couple some may not realize:

Miles Murphey

Whether they realize it or not, anyone stopped at the intersection of Broad and Main streets in New Castle — the intersection where the Murphey Building resides — is in historic Lincoln territory. The man who had that building constructed in the 1840s (where the Chamber and EDC offices are located today) was a personal friend of Abraham Lincoln’s.

Col. Miles Murphey was a legislator and businessman in New Castle. Built in the 1850s to house his store, the structure is the oldest in the downtown business district and one of the oldest in Henry County.

In his “Historic Henry County” series, Herbert Heller reveals the relationship between Murphey and Lincoln through the writing of well-known New Castle artist Helen Magner.

“Although they were from the south, the family hated slavery and took part in the heated politics of the decades before the Civil War,” Magner wrote. “Miles Murphey was elected from Henry County as a member of the (Indiana) House of Representatives in 1837. He heard the Lincoln and Douglas debates, and when Lincoln was nominated, he was a delegate to the convention in Chicago. That same year, he was one of the Electoral College that voted for Lincoln.

“He came to know Lincoln personally and on several occasions, he and his wife, Elizabeth, were guests of the Lincolns at their home in Springfield. It was there that Lincoln gave him a book in which he autographed using the initial ‘A’ instead of ‘Abraham’ as he could do only among friends.”

Letter to Spiceland Woman

On Oct. 26, 1863, Spiceland resident Caroline Edgerton received a letter from President Lincoln and a copy of the Emancipation Proclamation. She had requested it on behalf of the local Ladies Aid Society, a relief organization for Civil War soldiers.

“According to the request made in your behalf, the original draft of the Emancipation Proclamation is herewith inclosed. The formal word at the top and the conclusion, except the signature, you perceive, are not in my handwriting. They were written at the state department, by whom I know not. The printed part was cut from the preliminary proceedings and pasted on merely to save writing.

“I had some desire to retain the paper, but if it shall contribute to the relief or comfort of the soldiers, that will be better.”

Your Obt, Serv’t

A. Lincoln.