Passed Presidents - # 16 - Abraham Lincoln

Just returned from Las Vegas…there ought to be a story there.  Instead, I considered the next State Capitol to offer up and drafted it on the flight.  Then I realized Presidents’ Day is coming and I really should use the occasion to present the last resting place of our greatest president.  The 9/21/11 post was about George Washington.  It’s only fitting that we do the other February-born president for which this holiday was named. 

(Note –When I wrote about GW, I said that subsequent posts will be in the order of the presidents’ terms…unless they’re not.  What can I say?  This date calls for an exception)

Thinking back on the slanted, selective history we were taught in the middle of the last century, I recall that Abraham Lincoln was lauded in the classroom…at least that was the case in New York.  He won the Civil War, saved the Union, freed the slaves…yada, yada.  However, the more I have learned in the years since, about those awful times and the War Between the States, the more I appreciate how good he was.

Lincoln Home, Springfield, IL (16 June 2009)

Without any formal education beyond grammar school, 
Lincoln became a successful lawyer and lived in this house on 
a street that has been nicely restored by the National Park Service.

In 2006, I was retired only a year and enjoying life.  I could now plan road trips and hunt down presidents’ graves.  No more wishing for a business trip to a place where I might snatch a site, if the schedule allowed.  In what The Archives call ‘Road Trip III’, I drove to Wisconsin for a great week with the in-laws, Beck’s high school reunion and my first Wisconsin Badger and Green Bay Packer home games.  I drove alone, along a circuitous route that allowed me to visit five (count ‘em – 5!) presidents’ graves in three days.  The highlight for me was getting to savor Lincoln’s environment and understand his era.  During this pursuit of grave sites, I have learned a lot about our presidents and for me, Lincoln was the most admirable.

He is laid to rest in Oak Ridge Cemetery, not far from the state capitol in Springfield, Illinois.  It was always President Lincoln’s wish to return to his home town.  A special train carried his remains on a 12-day, 1700-mile journey from Washington.  The train stopped in ten cities where public viewings and services were held.  I can only imagine how the nation felt.  This was our first president to be assassinated.

Abraham Lincoln’s Monument in Springfield, IL (23 October 2006)

After a design was chosen and public funds were raised, 
construction began in 1869. The monument was dedicated in 1874.

 One of the four statues that flank the Lincoln Tomb (23 October 2006)

The copper sword shown here was stolen by metal 
thieves in 2011.  Ironically, the sword replaced the 
original bronze version that was stolen in 1890.

Don’t Look at the Nose (23 October 2006)

Bronze bust of the president was created by Gutson Borglum 
and stands near the entrance to the tomb. Visitors have this 
compunction to rub Abe’s nose for luck. The unfortunate 
result is a shine that only invites more attention.

Visitors can enter the tomb and walk a corridor close to the president’s final resting place.  Opposite him are vaults that hold Mary Todd and three of their sons, ‘Eddie’, ‘Willie’ and ‘Tad’…all of whom died in their youth.  The animosity many Confederate sympathizers had for this man prompted officials to encase Lincoln’s coffin in tons of Portland cement, lest his body be snatched for ransom or desecration.

 Abraham Lincoln

16^th President; Served 1861-1865

Born: February 12, 1809, Hodgenville, KY

Died: April 15, 1865, Washington, D.C.

Grave Location: Oak Ridge Cemetery, Springfield, IL

Date Visited: 10/23/2006

Visiting Lincoln’s grave was a highlight of the Dead Presidents Quest.  He was not just another president.  It is hard to imagine what 21^st century American life would be like if the Confederate States of America had won the war or continued to exist to this day.  With no pithy thoughts to follow that, I prefer to close with Lincoln’s words.

“A house divided against itself cannot stand”

                                Speech in Springfield, Illinois June 16, 1858

”It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us – that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion – that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain – that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom – and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.”

                                Gettysburg Address, November 19, 1863

Merry Presidents’ Day.