Editing Adlai Stevenson I (section)

==Early life==
[[File:Adlai E. Stevenson I House.jpg|thumb|left|250px|[[Adlai E. Stevenson I House|Stevenson's home]] in Metamora]]

Stevenson was born on the family farm in Christian County. He attended Blue Water School in what is now [[Herndon, Kentucky]].{{citation needed|date=February 2024}} His childhood playmates included [[James A. McKenzie]], a future representative for Kentucky, and Amanda Barkley, the grandmother of future Vice President [[Alben W. Barkley]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Libby|first=James K.|title=Alben Barkley: A Life In Politics|publisher=University Press Of Kentucky|date=2016|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZjDCCwAAQBAJ|isbn=9780813167152|page=9}}</ref> In 1850, when he was 14, frost killed the family's tobacco crop. Two years later, his father set free their few slaves and the family moved to [[Bloomington, Illinois]], where his father then operated a sawmill. Stevenson attended [[Illinois Wesleyan University]] at Bloomington and ultimately graduated from [[Centre College]], in [[Danville, Kentucky]]; at the latter he was a part of [[Phi Delta Theta]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=Adlai Stevenson|url=https://www.phideltatheta.org/famous-phis/adlai-stevenson/|access-date=2021-01-28|website=Phi Delta Theta Fraternity|language=en-US}}</ref>  His father's death prompted Stevenson to return from Kentucky to Illinois to run the sawmill.

Stevenson [[reading law|studied law]] with Bloomington attorney Robert E. Williams.  He was [[Admission to the bar in the United States|admitted to the bar]] in 1858, and commenced practice in [[Metamora, Illinois|Metamora]].  As a young lawyer, Stevenson encountered such celebrated Illinois attorneys as [[Stephen A. Douglas]] and [[Abraham Lincoln]], and he campaigned for Douglas in his 1858 Senate race against Lincoln. Stevenson's dislike of Lincoln might have been prompted by a contentious meeting between the two, at which Lincoln made several witty quips disparaging Stevenson.<ref>{{cite book |title= Abraham Lincoln, a Man of Faith and Courage: Stories of Our Most Admired President |first= Joe |last= Wheeler |year= 2008 |page= 53}}</ref> Stevenson also made speeches against the "[[Know-Nothing]]" movement, a nativist group opposed to immigrants and Catholics. That stand helped cement his support in Illinois' large German and Irish communities. In a predominantly Republican area, the Democratic Stevenson won friends through his storytelling and his warm and engaging personality.