Travel: In Quincy, where the past still speaks

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Few places along the Mississippi River tell America’s story of belief as vividly as Quincy, the river city perched on the bluffs in the westernmost point of Illinois.

Founded in 1825 and named for President John Quincy Adams, Quincy , the county seat of Adams County, was carved from the prairies of Illinois by Yankees who migrated westward from New England and upstate New York. The early settlers carried with them Whig politics, abolitionist convictions and the Protestant work ethic. Their imprint is still visible. Even the name of the local newspaper, the Herald-Whig, recalls the old-stock Yankees.

This city of 39,463 souls has repeatedly found itself at the center of religious and moral conflicts. In 1838 and 1839, Mormons crossed the Mississippi from Missouri to escape p