Harold Holzer is one of the country’s leading authorities on Abraham Lincoln and the political culture of the Civil War era. In his new book Brought Forth on This Continent: Abraham Lincoln and American Immigration, Holzer charts Lincoln’s political career through the lens of immigration. Lincoln visited Farmington in the summer of 1841 for three weeks to spend time with his best friend Joshua Speed. His stay influenced his views of slavery and emancipation. In fact, Joshua’s brother James became Lincoln’s Attorney General and the Speed’s became trusted advisors that helped keep Kentucky in the Union during the Civil War.