I just completed my trip to
Springfield, Illinois. I spent three
days exploring many historical sites, monuments and memorials. Rather then give a chronological account of my
trip I will attempt to outline what I saw and experienced following a
historical timeline.
On June 10th I visited
the New Salem State Historic Site. New Salem is located in Illinois about 2
miles south of Petersburg and about 20 miles northwest of Springfield. In 1831 a young Abraham Lincoln was
navigating a flatboat that he and a friend built down the Sangamon River. The boat was loaded with barrels of bacon,
wheat and corn. The boat became lodged
on a dam built by residents of New Salem and many of the townsfolk turned out
to see the young men work to dislodge the boat. Lincoln attracted their
attention as worked with his “boots off, hat, coat and vest off”. Lincoln bored a hole in the bow of the boat
and unloaded enough of the rear of the boat that water poured out the hole and
the boat lifted and cleared the dam.
Thus was Lincolns introduction to New Salem. A few months later Lincoln returned to New Salem having been
offered a job to manage a new store.
The store was not ready and Lincoln had to pass the summer doing odd
jobs. New Salem at the time was only
two years old and there was no shortage of jobs for a strong young laborer like
Lincoln.
The New Salem State Historic Site
has been restored as closely as possible to the way it was when Lincoln was
there. Based on land records and
archeological digs the original buildings have been rebuilt on the original
foundations.
Lincoln lived in New Salem for six
years. In those six years Lincoln held a variety of jobs. Rail-splitter, store clerk, storeowner,
militiaman and postmaster to name a few.
Lincoln never owned a home in New Salem but two of the log cabins in New
Salem are stores that he operated with his partner William Berry. Lincolns New Salem years were a definite
turning point in his life and career.
In 1832 he decided to run for the state legislature. In his own words just a year earlier he had
been a “friendless, uneducated, penniless boy, working on a flatboat – at ten
dollars a month”. Now at the age of
twenty-three he had plenty of friends and was running for political office.
Lincoln lost the election but in his own New Salem district he received 277 out
of 300 votes. When the black hawk wars
broke out Lincoln volunteered and spent a few months in the militia. Lincoln was elected to be the leader of the
local unit. In later years after
serving 4 terms in the state legislature and being elected to Congress he said
that being elected by his fellow militiamen was ”a success which gave me more
pleasure than any I have had since”. In
1834 Lincoln succeeded in being elected to the state legislature. While living
in New Salem twice served on jury duty after observing in court and in the legislature
many self taught lawyers he decided to study law and become a lawyer.
In New Salem Lincoln fell in love
with Ann Rutledge the daughter of the owner of the local tavern. According to some accounts Lincoln was
planning to marry Ann after passing the Bar and becoming a lawyer. However in 1835 Ann became ill with “brain
fever” (probably Typhoid) and on August 25th Ann Rutledge died.
For three days I visited
Springfield Illinois. As a state
Legislator from New Salem Lincoln was both active and vocal in getting the
capital of Illinois moved from Vandalia to Springfield. In April of 1837 Lincoln moved to
Springfield. Lincoln lived in
Springfield for 27 years until he was elected president and moved to the White
House. Lincoln was born in Kentucky but
he considered Springfield, Illinois his home.
The first place I visited was The
Lincoln Home. In May of 1844 Abraham
and Mary Lincoln decided to buy a home.
They bought a Greek Revival-style cottage that was built six years earlier
by the Reverend Charles Dresser who had married the Lincolns in 1842. They paid $1500 for the home and lived in it
for the next seventeen years. Twice as
Lincoln’s law practice prospered and the family grew the Lincolns did a major
remodeling and addition. The house as
it is today is double the size of the original house. Robert Lincoln donated the house to the state of Illinois in
1867. In 1972 Illinois donated the home
to the Unites States of America. The US
Park service has turned the 4-block area surrounding the house into a national
park. It is the only national park in the
state of Illinois. The surrounding
houses that still exist have been restored to the way they were in 1860.
I next visited The Tinsley
Building. Seth M. Tinsley erected a
building in 1840. The building was
across the street from the Old State Capitol building that was under
construction at the same time. In 1843
Lincoln entered into a law partnership with Stephen Logan and they rented an
office on the third floor of the Tinsley building. On the ground floor was the Springfield post office and on the
second floor was US District Court. The
building was originally designed to be a store. There is a trap door in the floor of the third floor. This was originally to be used to move
merchandise stored on the third floor to the second floor. It is rumored that Lincoln liked to crack
the trap door open a little so he could listen to cases being tried in the
courtroom below.
Across the street from the Tinsley
building is the Old State Capitol building.
As a state legislator Lincoln voted for funding and building the Old
State Capitol building. This building served as the statehouse until 1876 when
the partially completed new State Capitol building became the statehouse. The Old State Capitol building has been restored
to the way it was in 1865. On April 15th
1865 Lincoln died. The city of
Springfield appealed to Mary Lincoln to bring Lincoln home to Springfield. Seventeen days later Lincolns casket was put
on display in the Hall of Representatives for 24 hours. More than 75,000 people lined up to pay respect
to the dead president. Most of them
were turned away.
On the evening of June 9th,
2001 I attended “Walt Whitman Live” performed by Dr. Bill Koch of Waterloo Iowa
followed by candlelight reception in the Old Capitol Building. Walt Whitman was a contemporary of Lincoln
and the day after Lincoln died he wrote “The tragic splendor of his death,
purging, illuminating all, throws round his form, his head, an aureole that
will remain and will grow brighter through time, while history lives, and love of
country lasts. “ Whitman wrote "When
Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom'd," the great elegy
for President Abraham
Lincoln, and one of Whitman's most popular works, "O Captain! My
Captain!" was also a tribute to Lincoln.
“Walt Whitman Live” was performed
in the same Hall of Representatives where with all the windows draped in black
Lincoln’s body lay in state on May 3rd in 1865. This was a moving performance in a very momentous setting. Viewing this performance in the candlelit
Old State Capitol was one of the highlights of this trip.
The next day I visited Oak Ridge
Cemetery. On May 4th 1865
Lincoln’s casket was placed in the public receiving vault in Oak Ridge
Cemetery. The following December
Lincoln’s remains were moved to a temporary tomb. In 1871 he was moved to the partially completed permanent
tomb. At Lincoln’s Tomb in Oak Ridge
cemetery are the remains of Lincoln, Mary Todd Lincoln and three of the
presidents four children. Robert
Lincoln the only Lincoln child to survive to adulthood is buried in Arlington
National Cemetery.
In the center of Oak Ridge Cemetery is a hill at the base of the hill in the rear is the receiving tomb where Lincoln was first placed. Half way up the hill is a granite marker showing where the temporary tomb was and at the top of the hill is Lincoln’s Tomb which is a state historic site. Inside the tomb are several statues and plaques commemorating the 16th president.
Stephen Van Lydegraf
Tuesday, June 12, 2001