Abraham Lincoln wins the famous "Almanac Case" in Beardstown, Illinois

Abraham Lincoln won one of his last law cases when he secured the acquittal of William "Duff" Armstrong on charges of manslaughter at the Cass County Courthouse in Beardstown, Illinois.  Lincoln was very close to the Armstrong family, who had taken him in when he first arrived in the state.  Lincoln famously argued that the prosecution's main witness could not have seen the crime by moonlight since there was no full moon that night, producing a 1857 almanac in court to prove his point.  (By John Osborne)   
Source Citation
Josephine Craven Chandler, "The Spoon River Country," Journal of the Illinois State Historical Society 14 (1921-22): 264-268. 
    Date Certainty
    Exact
    Type
    Lawmaking/Litigating
    How to Cite This Page: "Abraham Lincoln wins the famous "Almanac Case" in Beardstown, Illinois," House Divided: The Civil War Research Engine at Dickinson College, https://hd.housedivided.dickinson.edu/node/32431.