THE LAND OF LINCOLN

When I got up this morning there was a strange orange ball in the eastern sky. It took me a few minutes but I finally remembered that this thing was called the sun and it had been pretty much a stranger for the last few days. When I checked out of the motel, I quickly found that this sun thing hadn't done much to warms things up as it was a crisp 24 degrees and a biting wind was blowing out of the west.  I was going to be a cold day to walk around Mr. Lincoln's home town.

It was a quick drive downtown and once again the parking gods smiled on me and I was able to park in a paid lot at the Lincoln Home National Historic Site.  One thing about Springfield, there is absolutely no such thing as free parking.  After looking at the visitors map, I decided to just pony up the $8.00 for 4-hours worth of parking and despite the biting cold walk to all of the downtown site which were within a 5-block radius.

My first stop was the Lincoln Home. I love it when I am lucky enough to get a ranger who talks too you rather than just reciting a script.  I was lucky today as the ranger was knowledgeable and his interaction with our group was outstanding.  One thing that I found strange about this National Park Service Site is that photos were not only allowed inside the house but encouraged.



Lincoln Home

This was the only house that President Lincoln ever owned. He an Mary Todd Lincoln bought the house in 1844 and live here until he left for Washington in 1861.  Lincoln's son Eddie died in this house in 1850 of tuberculosis.

The Lincolns left this house in 1861 and moved into The White House, never to return. Following the assassination, Mary Lincoln moved first to Chicago and later back to Springfield. While in Springfield she lived with he sister Elizabeth Edwards, just a couple of block from this home.  Despite the short distance, Mrs. Lincoln never set foot in the house after she left with the President in 1861.  Mary Todd Lincoln died at her sister home on July 16,1882 and is entombed with President Lincoln in Oak Ridge Cemetery.

As I toured the home, a number of original artifacts that belonged to the Lincoln's were pointed out by our Ranger.  During the tour he pointed out a number of times that the Lincoln Children, especially Willie and Tad were unruly and spoiled.  In today's terms they would be called brats. There antics around Springfield were notorious.

During Lincoln's day it was only a short 3-block walk to the Law Office that he shared with his partner Stephen Herndon.  Back in Lincoln's day the future President was a circuit lawyer. Traveling around the countryside trying cases in more than one dozen county courthouses.

OLD STATE HOUSE

The Lincoln-Herndon Law offices was located on what was then the "Capitol Square." It was in the old capitol that Lincoln gave his famous "House Divided" speech on June 17, 1858. When the assassinated presidents body was returned to Springfield in May 1865, President Lincoln lay in State in the Old House Chamber prior to burial at Oak Ridge Cemetery.

On thing that I did not realize was that the ill fated Donner Party departed from the old capitol square on April 15, 1846. Many of those in the party would perish several months later in the Sierra Nevada Mountain.

From the old capitol it is a 4-block walk to the current state house. Many people thinks that everything in Illinois revolves around Chicago, but the politics of Illinois is centered here in Springfield.


Illinois Capitol

Ground was first broken for the new capitol on March 11, 1869, and it was completed twenty years later for a total cost of $4,500,000. The capitol dome is covered in zinc to provide a Silvery  appearance which does not weather. The Governors office is located on the Second Floor. During my visit both houses of the legislature were in session which limited access to certain areas. There are statues to both Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas on the Capitol Grounds and in the rotunda.

My final stop in downtown Springfield was at the Abraham Lincoln President Library and Museum. This is one of the newer Presidential Museums, being dedicated in 2005.  I really enjoyed my visit largely because it is quite different from the other presidential Museums.  It is really more like a wax museum with a number of wax figures scattered throughout the build giving life like detail to the historical events. 

One of the exhibits takes place in the cabinet room of the White House. A number of Wax figures are seated or standing around a table. As visitors enter the cabinet room many (including me) are surprised when one of the figures turns out to be a real person who begins talking and setting the stage of the Emancipation Proclamation. The Lady in front of me about jumped out of her skin when the gentleman moved and began talking. I don't know what scared me more, him talking or her screaming.

The only place that you can take photos is at the entrance to the Museum. Once inside the exhibit area photo are prohibited.

My last stop in Springfield was at Oak Ridge Cemetery and the Lincoln Tomb. When President Lincoln was assassinated in April 1865, it was determined that his body should be returned to Springfield for Burial. On the morning of April 21, 1865 the coffin containing the remains of the President was place in the funeral car and the train left Washington. During the next 15-days, the train carrying the assassinated Presidents made stops in a number of cities, including Baltimore, New York, Buffalo, Cleveland, Indianapolis and Chicago.  During each stop there were scheduled public viewings and various funeral services. 

Lincoln's Tomb

The train carrying the body of President Lincoln finally arrived in Springfield on May 3, 1865. Upon arrival coffin was taken to the Old State Capitol Building where the President lay in state in the House Chamber from 10 a.m. until 10 a.m. on May 4, 1865.  Following a final funeral service, the body of the President was taken to Oak Ridge Cemetery arriving shortly after 1:00 p.m.  Following a committal service the 16th President was laid to rest.


But President Lincoln did not rest in peace. In 1876 associates of Irish crime boss James "Big Jim" Kennally hatched a plan to steal the Presidents Body and hold it for ransom but the plot was spoil as informants tipped off the secret service who arrested several of Kennally's associates. 

After the foiled theft, tomb custodian John Carroll Power was concerned at how close the amateurs had come to stealing the body, and worried what would happen if professional graverobbers made a similar attempt to steal Lincoln's body. Thus, Power and a select group of trusted confidants elected to hide Lincoln's coffin in the basement of the tomb, the location known only to them. Initially trying to dig a grave in the basement, they found that water seeped in wherever they dug, so they simply set the coffin on the ground and covered it with bits of lumber left over from the tomb's construction, disguising the coffin as a woodpile. Two years later, they managed to find a dry corner in another part of the tomb basement to bury the coffin under a few inches of dirt.


Lincoln's Tomb

On February 12, 1880, on what would have been Lincoln's 71st birthday, Power and his associates formed the "Lincoln Guard of Honor," to serve as the custodians of Lincoln's body, keeping the President's remains hidden. The only person outside of their inner circle who knew of their efforts was Lincoln's last surviving child, Robert Todd Lincoln. In July 1882, after Mary Todd Lincoln  died, Robert instructed the Guard of Honor to bury his mother's coffin wherever they kept his father's. They remained in the basement until 1887, when they were encased in a brick vault. To ensure Lincoln's remains were still there, the coffin was opened by the Guard of Honor, and saw that indeed it was Lincoln in the coffin.

The original tomb was in constant need of repair and deteriorated significantly due to construction on unsuitable soil. In 1900, a complete reconstruction of Lincoln's tomb was undertaken, and the Lincolns' remains were exhumed, before Lincoln was finally placed back in the white marble sarcophagus that Mullen and Hughes had opened so easily in 1876.  In April 25, 1901, upon completion of the reconstruction, Robert Todd Lincoln visited the tomb. He was unhappy with the disposition of his father's remains and decided that it was necessary to build a permanent crypt for his father. Lincoln's coffin would be placed in a steel cage 10 feet (3.0 m) deep and encased in concrete in the floor of the tomb. On September 26, 1901, Lincoln's body was exhumed so that it could be re-interred in the newly built crypt. However, those present (a total of 23 people) feared that his body might have been stolen in the intervening years, so they decided to open the coffin and check.

Those present during this final viewing said there was a was said that a harsh choking smell when the casket was opened. Lincoln was perfectly recognizable, even more than thirty years after his death. His face was a bronze color as a result of unhealed bruising from the gunshot wound, which shattered the bones in his face and damaged the tissue. His hair, beard and mole were all perfectly preserved although his eyebrows were gone. His suit was covered with a yellow mold and his gloves had rotted on his hands. On his chest, they could see some bits of red fabric — remnants of the American flag with which he was buried, which had by then disintegrated. It was theorized that Lincoln had been embalmed so many times on board his funeral train that he had been practically mummified.

Today the Lincoln's remains rest some 10-feet below the marble monument deep inside the memorial in Oak Ridge Cemetery.

It was late in the day when I departed Oak Ridge and headed south toward St. Louis.  South of Springfield I decided to leave Interstate 55 and hit the Mother Road - Route 66.  For the next 40 miles Route 66 runs adjacent to I-55.  Traveling the Mother Road is a test especially through some of the small town.  Route 66 was decommissioned many years ago and no longer carries that designation. But on the sections that I could find the road was rough and filled with pot holes. About 20 miles north of St. Louis I return to the Interstate and finish my journey to the Comfort Inn in Cahokia, Illinois.

I stayed at this same hotel in 2010 while on my way to Oklahoma City. During that visit provided a cheep and clean accommodation.  This time is no difference. I will be here for the next two night.  Going to Play around St. Louis tomorrow and then it is on to Kansas City on Thursday.