Blog Post

Frank W. Lincoln was born in Tuscola, Illinois on November 17^th, 1938, and spent part of his early life working in his grandfather, Frank A. Warren, auto dealership.  He grew up on the south end of Tuscola during the World War II era.  In 1947 his family moved to the north end of town where he remained throughout his youth.   Lincoln attended DePauw University and the U of I Law School and lived in Urbana, Illinois.  During graduate school he worked the summers and vacations at Tuscola National Bank.  He passed the bar in 1964 and clerked for Harrison J. “Budge” McCown who was State’s Attorney of Douglas County.  He served as assistant for four years to McCown.  Lincoln met his wife Marlene in August of 1966 and they married in 1968.  They went on to have four children.  Lincoln worked in private practice while also conducting the State’s Attorney’s office.  He worked with George E. Nichols for ten years, and with Harrison J. McCown for twenty years.  He was a partner in the Tuscola law firm of Nichols, Jones, McCown & Lincoln.  More of his time as a lawyer will be discussed in the second interview. 

Judge Frank W. Lincoln: An Oral History