Lincoln portrayer featured in National Geographic

PENFIELD, Ill. — “Abraham Lincoln” can add something else to his résumé.

Randy Duncan, who will once again portray the 16th president at Historic Farm Days, was among the “Abes Across America” featured in a story in the April 2022 National Geographic.

The photo essay by Greta Pratt and written by Hicks Wogan, focused on the annual conference of the Association of Lincoln Presenters, held last year in Decatur.

The association membership includes 95 Lincoln portrayers from 32 states.

Duncan was among the 30 Lincolns in a group photo snapped during the conference, all in their 16th president attire. He was also one of eight featured individually in Pratt’s photos.

Pratt asked the portrayers, “Why Lincoln?”

“Lincoln brings out the best in me. He probes the patriotism of each of us,” Duncan said in the National Geographic story.

A Carlinville resident, Duncan has been portraying Lincoln for over 20 years.

During the Historic Farm Days, Duncan’s Lincoln will be at the log cabin on the I&I Antique Tractor and Gas Engine Club showgrounds.

Log Cabin

The restored cabin was recovered during the demolition of a house that had been built around it and the site of an early Champaign County post office. It took several years to recreate missing pieces and reassemble the cabin to its original appearance.

During the summer 2005 show, the club’s sawmill supplied the rough lumber to complete the installation of the cabin’s floor. A little “window dressing” around the cabin gave a good feel of how the post office probably looked in its day.

The log cabin is adjacent to a restored one-room schoolhouse that was relocated to the showgrounds in 2016 from the Rantoul area.

As for the upcoming Historic Farm Days, Duncan said, “Tell the folks to stop by the log cabin and say, hi.”