~by Denise O’Brien Van for the Greene County Historical Society
Gerald “Jed” Magee of Jefferson, who has studied Abraham Lincoln since he was in junior high school, will present a program on the president’s Civil War generals Sunday, May 21, at 2 pm at the Greene County Historical Museum, 219 E. Lincoln Way.
The free presentation is part of the Greene County Historical Society’s 2023 program series.
Magee’s presentation will explore the difficulties and successes Lincoln encountered with the North’s military leaders when the Civil War began.
At that time, 80 percent of the graduates of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y., were from the South, according to Magee, “so Lincoln’s stable of generals was limited.”
The men who could lead Union forces ranged from “belligerent to uncooperative to brilliant,” says Magee. “It took a few years, but he finally found the ones who would consult with him on the conduct of the war, which resulted in victory for Union armies.”
Magee’s interest in Lincoln began when he was a boy in Dunkerton, IA. He credits his seventh grade teacher, Mrs. Bean, with getting him started on what became a lifelong passion.
“She encouraged me to study someone I admired, and I found Abraham Lincoln,” Magee says.
Through the years, he amassed a huge collection of photos, papers and artifacts related to Lincoln, which he donated to the museum several years ago. The array of Lincolnia includes 10 shelves of books—totaling about 60 linear feet. The collection is displayed on a rotating basis at the museum.
Magee is a retired attorney who practiced law in Jefferson for 25 years and then spent 17 years as a judge in northeast Iowa.
