But something happened to Rubin on that visit to the Civil War exhibit at the Crossroads Mall. Even before he reached the encampment, friends approached him and said they had just been talking to his twin brother. Upon arrival in camp, he saw what they were talking about.

      A man named Ralph Borg was walking around in a dark suit and a stovepipe hat. Borg is a spitting image of the 16th U.S. president, Abraham Lincoln, and Borg and Rubin looked close enough alike to be brothers.

      "At the time, I didn't know Lincoln that well," Rubin said. "I could recite the first line of the Gettysburg Address, but that was about all. Ralph (Borg) introduced me to many things about Lincoln. That was in June (of 1997). A few weeks later, I went to Hodgenville, Kentucky, for my first Lincoln look-alike competition."

      Since he had never done anything like that before, Rubin had no idea what to expect. He had some friends with Theatre West Virginia who helped him create a costume and he borrowed a stovepipe top hat from the prop department. There were 14 competitors in Kentucky. They drew numbers to see who would go first. Although he wanted to see how it was done, Rubin drew number one.

      "I knew Lincoln was a humorist, so I told a humorous story as I thought he might do it," Rubin said.

      "I got third place. Third out of 14."

      Rubin has some striking physical similarities to the "Great Emancipator." Lincoln was "near 6 foot, 4 inches," and Rubin is a little taller than 6 foot 3 inches. Lincoln tipped the scales at about 185 pounds and Rubin is about 180.

      From an educational standpoint, the similarities vanish. Lincoln was born on February 12, 1809, near Hodgenville, but when he was eight years old, his family moved to Indiana. He had little formal schooling, but had a passion for self-guided education. He eventually studied for the law and was licensed to practice in 1836.

      Rubin earned an associate's degree from Beckley College (now the College of West Virginia), his undergraduate degree from Morris Harvey College (now the University of Charleston) and his master's degree from West Virginia University. He retired as a clinical psychologist and counselor at the Princeton Veteran's Center.

      Rubin is one of about 110 members in the National Association of Lincoln Presenters. Since becoming active in the organization, he has worked to make the competitions more accessible to everyone. While the previous bylaws called for the annual meeting only to be held at a place where Lincoln actually walked, Rubin was instrumental in passing rule changes that alternate the annual meeting between the East Coast and the West Coast.

      "Last year, I visited Springfield, Illinois, and my wife and I went to the Lincoln museum there," Rubin said. "There was a school group there, and someone spotted me and said: ÔThere's President Lincoln!' They asked if they could get their pictures made with me. I didn't have my top hat on, but they still wanted me to pose with the students."

      On the following day, Mike Leonard of NBC News interviewed Rubin and others at the event. A picture of him and the students at the museum was on the front page of the local newspaper.

      For years, Rubin's friends had pointed out the physical similarity between him and the "Great Rail-splitter," but it wasn't until he attended Governor Cecil Underwood's Inaugural Ball in January 1997 that he paid much attention to the comments.

      "I was all dressed up in a tuxedo," Rubin said. "All evening long, people came up to me and made comments and wanted their picture made with me. It wasn't just two or three times. It was more like 24 or 25 times."

      Rubin has successfully networked with other West Virginians who present key personalities from the American Civil War. At the most recent competition he attended in October, he placed second among Lincoln presenters, but Joyce Browning of Logan earned first place for her presentation of Mary Todd Lincoln. There were 14 states represented in Hodgenville this year, and Browning was first among eight Mary Todd Lincoln presenters.

      "Al Stone from Hinton is the best General Robert E. Lee in the country," Rubin said. "And John Carl Baldwin from Beckley does a great presentation of General U.S. Grant."

      All four presenters appeared in Beckley's Veterans Day Parade, November 11, and Rubin is beginning to have a full slate of public appearances statewide at events as well as hospitals.

      "A friend of mine said, ÔJim, you're retired now. Why don't you go for it.' So I've been traveling around ever since."

       When he presents in competition these days, Rubin recites the entire Gettysburg Address. As a result of his participation as a presenter in Burbank, California, he lobbied successfully to have the national meeting held in Beckley in the year 2001.

       "You'll see 50 or 55 top hats walking around on the brick sidewalks of Beckley," Rubin said. "That will be exciting."

       Rubin maintains his connections with the College of West Virginia and can be reached via e-mail at "jimrubin@cwv.net". And when he meets with youngsters, he always leaves them with a memento of the occasion a shiny new Lincoln penny.