Springfield, Illinois - 14 June 2018
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| The Abe and Mary Lincoln home. The State of Illinois gained control of the home for $1 from the last surviving child of Abe and Mary. Robert Todd Lincoln had been renting out the home but discovered the renters were charging people for tours of the home. He sold the home to the State with the stipulation that tours were to be given, in perpetuity, without any fee. The State has turned the home over to the National Park Service with the same stipulation. |
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| Most of the items in the home are actual Lincoln possessions. The black and white photo in the lower left corner shows this living room during the Lincolns' residence. |
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| The back living room. |
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| The front bedroom was Abe Lincoln's with a connecting door to Mary's room at the back of the house. The bed does not look long enough for his 6'4" frame but the Park Service guide said it is an optical illusion with the height of the room. The mattress is actual 6'9". I commented on the wild wallpaper and carpeting but the guide said this was intentional. At the time, the contrast somehow was considered harmonizing. |
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| This is the kitchen where Mary did all the cooking for her family until Abe had become very popular in Illinois politics and additional help was needed for the increased number of visitors and entertaining. She hired one teenage girl who lived above the kitchen and a neighbor woman who came in several days per week for cleaning and laundry. |
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| After several years of marriage and the birth of their first child, Robert, the Lincolns purchased this home which was only a one and one-half story. They expanded the upper story and moved all the bedrooms upstairs. The lower rooms were now available for entertaining, including a formal dining room. The rear of the house was also expanded on the second floor for the live-in servant. Even with all these changes and modernization, at the back of the yard is a 3 stool outhouse. The only water available was outside the kitchen off the back porch. |
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| The First Presbyterian Church were the Lincoln family attended services, 1850-1861. Technically, this is the second church they attended. This newer church replaced the original building (razed in 1912) but the pew the Lincolns purchased was saved and is still in this church's narthex (though set aside and not used by the congregation). Our visit was well rewarded by seeing the seven Louis Comfort Tiffany stained glass windows which were given as family memorials for other parishioners, 1893-1925. |
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| One of the buildings where Lincoln practiced law on the third floor with his partner, William H. Herndon. The only remaining building which housed his law office. Unfortunately, it was closed to visitors for renovations. |
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| In the background is the Old Capital Building. Behind me is statues of the Lincolns and their two younger sons saying their good-byes to the statue of Robert Lincoln on the sidewalk as he prepares to go away for school. |
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| The Old Capital Building has been refurbished back to represent how it looked during the 1860 before Lincoln left for Washington. He used this building for meetings during the transition from State Legislator to President. |
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| The Chamber for the House of Representatives. |
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| The Senate Chamber. |
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| As we were leaving there was period baseball game being played on the grounds of the Old Capital Building. |
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| Attended one of the local Farmers' Markets and found some good blueberries, raspberries and cherries. |
Double J Campground, Chatham, Illinois - 15 June 2018
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| We arrived the previous Tuesday and only had about a 20 minute drive into downtown Springfield for our touring on Wednesday and Thursday. Today it is too hot to go out with temperatures all weekend in the mid 90s and humidity in the 80 percent range. The photo is our view of the neighbor's corn field which seems to have grown a foot since we arrived. |
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| Sunday, 17 June 2018 - Still too hot and Tori is bored. |
"Abe and Mary Quite Contrary Walking Tour" - Tuesday, 19 June 2018.
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| Thankfully, we were able to find some shade at each of the stops on our walking tour through downtown. Behind us across the street is the Lincoln Museum and the Lincoln Presidential Library. |
There is nothing left of the Globe Tavern, only a parking lot and a plaque. After their wedding, Abe and Mary spent their first night at the Globe Tavern which was more like a boarding house. The room was the first place Abe was able to call his own since previously he had either lived with his father or work partners. The size of the rented room was barely more than 10' x 6' which is smaller than our RV home. They lived in this tiny room for a little over one year when Robert was born and they purchased their first home.
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| Tuesday evening we attended the Flag Lowering Ceremony at the Lincoln Monument in Oak Ridge Cemetery. Rubbing the nose of his bust is suppose to bring good luck. Shortly after Carol rubbed Lincoln's nose the rain stopped so I guess it works. |
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| Attending the Lincoln Tomb these ladies and the soldiers of the Illinois 114 Infantry who perform the ceremony wear period costumes, including the "morning pin" on her right shoulder. |
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| Initially, those coming to the Tomb to pay their respects were only permitted to look through a window at the back of the tomb. While the tomb was being built, the bodies of Abraham and his three deceased sons, Edward, Willie and Tad, were temporarily buried under a small hill close by. |
Inside the tomb are statues of Lincoln during different stages of his life, as a rail splitter, farmer, store clerk, legislator and President. Carol had to use her phone to light up the tomb as the storm outside caused a power outage. It was dark and spooky in the Tomb.
In 1876, a group of Chicago counterfeiters plotted to steal Lincoln's remains and hold it for a ransom of $200,000. A paid informant told the newly formed Secret Service about the plot, foiling the scheme. The remains were being housed in an above floor, marble sarcophagus which the bandits had broken into and damaged. A new plan to secure the remains was needed. The final resting place for him is ten feet below the visible marble tombstone. Mary and the three younger boys are buried in the interior wall across from Abe's tomb.
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| The Honor Guard performs the "Flag Lowering Ceremony". Trumpets and an 18 gun salute. I assume it was suppose to be 21 guns but someone was absent. |
New Salem, Illinois - 21 June 2018
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| Our drive with the dogs out to New Salem was a challenge with a severe downpour for many miles on a two lane road. We weren't sure how long it was going to last. But shortly after our arrival, the rain stopped. Thank goodness Carol rubbed Lincoln's nose, it brought us more good luck. |
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| Can we get out NOW! |
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| Several of the homes/businesses New Salem including the cooper shop, the first and second stores that Lincoln worked in, blacksmith, schoolhouse, tavern, saw and grist mill and a carding mill and wool house. The latter building is where local sheep herders bring their sheared wool. It is "card milled" or combed by a machine that disentangles, cleans and intermingles fibers for subsequent processing. The whole community was a commercial settlement designed for outlying farmers to purchase necessary goods and services. |
Nick and Nino's Penthouse Steakhouse - 21 June 2018
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| Thirty stories on top of the Wyndham Hotel. Cheers. |
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| Our view of downtown Springfield...before the rain moved in. |
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| Bob had the rack of lamb while I had the filet mignon. |
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| Waiting for desert and coffee. A wonderful birthday meal with my favorite dinner companion. |
