PEORIA MAGAZINE May 2022

arrived in the 1830s, when the area was still largely forest. They included land speculators fromHanover, N.H. In 1836, while clearing trees tomake room for farms and roads, the newcomers founded a village they dubbed Hanover. However, to avoid confusion with other Illinois towns of the same name, they switched in 1845 to Metamora, after a character in a popular play at the time, “Metamora; or, The Last of the Wampanoggs.” More settlers arrived to farm the fertile soil, so many of them that the village served as the Woodford County seat from 1843 to 1896. At the courthouse overlooking the Town Square, Abraham Lincoln often tried cases, with his wit and charm regularly drawing big audiences. In 1857, theyflocked to the courthouse to see him represent Melissa Goings, 70, accused of killing her 77-year-old husband, Roswell. She claimed that her husband, publicly known as a heavy drinker and wife beater, had tried to strangle her, so she struck him in the head with chunk of firewood. When he died days later, she was charged with murder, despite public sympathy for her plight. Lincoln, who regularly roadhorseback to tend to cases in the circuit, arrived to defend her. The future American president told the court that he needed a brief recess to discuss the case with his client, and the judge obliged. After the two conferred privately, Lincoln returned to the courtroom – alone. Melissa Goings was nowhere to be found. Commotion ensued, including accusations that Lincoln had aided her escape. Lincoln – according to themost popular version of what happened –

wryly told the judge, “Your honor, I did not chase her off. She simply asked me where she could get a good drink of water, and I said, ‘Tennessee has mighty fine drinkin’ water.’” The courtroom exploded with laughter. Lincoln was never sanctioned. In fact, a year later, the lanky lawyer returned to court, where authorities – doubtlessly aware of public support for the defendant – dropped the case. Goings, said to have relocated to California, never returned toMetamora. Lincoln and Goings arememorialized in a statue in the Town Square – what Cummings calls “the cornerstone of Metamora” — across the brick street from what is today the Metamora Courthouse State Historic Site. “How Americana is that?” the mayor asks. Perhaps that is part of the appeal of a community that boasted double-digit population increases between 1940 and 1980. Since 2000, the population has climbed by nearly 45 percent, which qualifies as something of a boom. A modern draw debuted in 2011 with Metamora Fields Golf Club. The course is rankedNo. 12 among IllinoisGolf.com’s 2022 Best Illinois Golf Courses and at

tracts golfers from far beyond central Illinois – Chicago, Wisconsin, and lately from St. Louis and Indiana — said Gen eral Manager Matt Rogers. Three years ago, hotel developers reached out to the Fields. COVID-19 shelved those plans. But Metamora Fields, which hosts wedding receptions and other events, could pursue such a venture in the near future, Rogers said. Meanwhi le, just outside town, Evergreen Farms Brewing opened late

‘NAMES ARE FAMILIAR, AND PEOPLE HELP EACH OTHER OUT’

Mayor, John Cummings

last year. Its rural charm and tasty beers have brought steady crowds. “Everybody has been raving about what they’ve done out there,” Cummings said. “It fits the motif of Metamora.” Old Mill Vineyard also does business just west of town, not far from popular Black Partridge Park. Perhaps thei r success might encourage other entrepreneurs to give Metamora a try. Beyond any commercial improve ments, Cummings says the heart of Metamora remains its people. “We are quintessentially a small town,” he says. “Names are familiar, and people help each other out.” Phil Luciano is a senior writer/ columnist for Peoria Magazine and content contributor to public television station WTVP.

Snyder Village, Metamora’s largest employer

Metamora Fields Golf Club

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