Looking at the figure dressed in black suit and trademark black stovepipe hat leaned back in an old wooden rocking chair on the porch of a log cabin, it wasn’t too hard to imagine being transported back in time 125-plus years ago, and it was actually Abraham Lincoln that you were seeing.
However, Saturday afternoon at the Giles House at Spout Springs, it was actually Jim Sayre sitting in that rocking chair, waiting to begin his portrayal of our 16th President.
Sayre, who has been appearing as Abraham Lincoln for the past 26 years and is recognized as one of the premier portrayers, both in looks and actions, of one of the nation’s greatest presidents, was at the Giles House as a part of the Kentucky Humanities Council’s Kentucky Chautauqua’s program.
Before a small but attentive audience, Sayre gave his presentation of Lincoln, entitled “I,  too, am a Kentuckian.”
The setting for his performance was a “press” conference in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania on Nov. 19, 1863, the night before Lincoln gave his unforgettable “Gettysburg Address.”
As Lincoln, Sayre told about how Daniel Boone had convinced his grandparents to move to Kentucky, his being born on Slate Branch then of his family’s move to the Knob Creek farm in present day Larue County. He spoke of his life on the farm, and attending school there, until his father, Thomas, moved the family to Indiana when he was seven. One of the primary reasons for the move to Indiana was the fact that Indiana did not allow slavery.
He told of their stay in Indiana until he was 21, then of the Lincoln family’s move to Illinois, where he struck out on his own.
He described the various jobs Lincoln tried, and how he decided to become a  lawyer after buying a barrel from a family heading west that contained law books. He read the law books, passed the law exam, and began practicing law. A short time later, he moved to Springfield, the new capital of Illinois.
Sayre told how Lincoln met his wife, Mary Todd, while in Springfield, how he ran for various offices and lost all but one, that being for the U.S. Senate, and how in 1860, he was elected President of the United States.
He spoke of the attack on Fort Sumter, South Carolina on Apr. 12, 1861, that signaled the start of the Civil War. He also spoke of the importance Lincoln placed on keeping Kentucky on the Union side.
“I needed God on my side, but I had to have Kentucky,” he quoted the president.
He then told of the battle at Gettysburg, and his reason for being there at the battle scene – to dedicate the National Soldiers Cemetery in honor of all those that had fallen during the battle.
Sayre ended this portion of his talk with a recitation of the “Gettysburg Address.”
After answering questions from the audience, Sayre ended his presentation by noting several historic comparisons between Abraham Lincoln and John F. Kennedy.

Photo:THE GILES HOUSE seemed to be transported back in time Saturday as Jim Sayre sat on the porch of the log cabin in his Lincoln dress, including the trademark stovepipe hat.