The 83rd Illinois, Wyatt Earp, John Wayne, and the Unique Historical Connections of the Civil War
Schedule
Sun Nov 09 2025 at 01:00 pm to 04:00 pm
UTC-06:00Location
125 N Pine St, Decatur, IL, United States, Illinois 62522 | Decatur, IL
Advertisement
Dr. Eugene Watkins will present from 1-2 pm and then from 2-4 pm there will be a public open house. $5 admission per person. Those who attend the presentation do not need to pay for the open house. For this special, one-day event, a number of Civil War artifacts will be on display in our History Room, on loan from the Macon County History Museum!ABOUT DR. WATKINS
Dr. Watkins holds a PhD in United States history, focusing on the Early Republic, from the University of Toledo, a MA in Civil War and Reconstruction from the University of Richmond and a BA in United States History from Millikin University. He worked for the Ohio Historical Society at its Fort Meigs site for about five years and then became director of Old Fort Madison in Fort Madison, IA, where he worked for about fifteen years. Dr. Watkins has been the Pattee Executive Director of the Warren County History Museum in Monmouth, IL for the past two years.
The 83rd Illinois, Wyatt Earp, John Wayne and the Unique Historical Connections of the Civil War in Western Illinois.
Dr. Watkins’ lecture will use the experiences of the 83rd Illinois, an infantry regiment recruited heavily from Warren County, as a window to highlight unique people and events in the Civil War associated with Illinois, that many times go unnoticed in the larger picture of that great conflict’s story.
Advertisement
Where is it happening?
125 N Pine St, Decatur, IL, United States, Illinois 62522Event Location & Nearby Stays:
Know what’s Happening Next — before everyone else does.
