Associated Press - October 6, 2009 8:44 AM ET

MOWEAQUA, Ill. (AP) - If Army Private Ephraim Adamson and the president's other bodyguards had been on duty on April 14, 1865, things might have turned out differently for Abraham Lincoln and John Wilkes Booth.

Adamson and the other guards were dismissed that night by Lincoln, who didn't believe he was in any danger from his fellow Americans while enjoying a play at Ford's Theatre in Washington.

Today, the what-ifs surrounding Lincoln's decision are part of the draw of a new exhibit in Oasis Park in Moweaqua (moh-EEK'-wuh).

The exhibit takes the form of a storyboard outlining Adamson's life. He grew up in Ohio, volunteered for the Union Army, was assigned to protect Lincoln and eventually found himself farming in Moweaqua.

Adamson died in 1928, but his descendants remain in the village about 35 miles southeast of Springfield.

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