Lincoln!

Blog to Alaska: Day 3 & 4, Mile 912

June 20 - 21, 2012

Tonight is our second night in Springfield, IL, capitol of Illinois and in the center of the Land of Lincoln.  Our drive from Richmond, IN was uneventful – straight and flat on beautiful roads.  Our environs were islands of beautiful farms with giant silver silos surrounded by flat, green fields spreading as far as the eye could see full of waving corn and neat rows of soybeans.  We arrived here about 4:30 PM and spent the evening catching up on emails (internet access is a challenge) and reading.

Lincoln Home, Springfield, Ill

Today, we journeyed into Springfield and our first challenge was finding a parking place for a large truck that exceeds the 7 ‘ height restriction. We finally found a parking lot very near to the historic center. ($3 for 5 hrs – amazing! Definitely not NJ!)   We walked to the neighborhood where Abraham & Mary Lincoln lived from 1842 - 1861 and raised 4 children.   Sadly, three of the sons preceded Mary Lincoln in death, only Robert surviving until 1926.  The Park Service has taken over a 4-block area and is returning it to the era of 1860.  The tour of the Lincoln home was very interesting; they have attempted to maintain the house as it was when Lincoln left to become President in 1861.  Unfortunately, when they left for Washington, DC, they sold most of their furniture.  Much has been reclaimed but not entirely.  The interiors do reflect the tastes of Mary Todd Lincoln in the 1850s with wallpapers from Paris.  It’s a very comfortable home with three bedrooms and a maid qtrs.  His bedroom contains a very tiny desk where he spent many hours working on his legal practice at night and where he wrote his first inaugural address.  He read his writings out loud as he worked at night so Mary had her own spacious bedroom so she could get some sleep!  

Lincoln's Bedroom Desk

Afterwards, we visited the Lincoln Museum, which is not what I expected.  It’s more of a quasi Disney pavilion with wax figures, dioramas, and even the complete funeral bier of the President as it was in the state capitol building.  There were interesting artifacts and numerous political cartoons about him, his presidency and the cabinet issues around his release of the Proclamation of Emancipation.  There was also an interesting exhibit on field medicine during the Civil War and a very short descriptive film of the war as it proceeded with the battles  by date, and listing simultaneously the number of casualties for each side.  This was particularly interesting with the geographical boundaries of the North Vs the Confederacy changing as battles were won or lost. It was a great educational museum that would hold the interest of many ages.Driving later, I thought, if Lincoln were to come back to life today, he would be shocked at his city of Springfield and the US, but not the politics.  They are as bad now as they were at his time based on the political cartoons about him in 1860. 

Lincoln's Tomb, Oak Ridge Cemetery

We then visited the Lincoln Library and saw an exhibit on correspondence from Illinois soldiers and officers during the war.  Afterwards, we drove to the Oak Ridge Cemetery to see Lincoln’s tomb.  The tomb is under a giant obelisk with a statue of Lincoln surrounded by soldiers, all formed from melted cannons.  Inside, one walks a very long circular passage underground to a large gravestone marking his grave.  He is buried 15 feet below the gravestone and above is inscribed the saying from Sec of War Stanton “Now He Belongs to the Ages”.  Mary and his sons Willie & Tad are buried across from him.  

Personally, I think the best way to grasp Lincoln is in his writings and by reading the many wonderful books written about him.  In the bookstore at the museum, it was overwhelming to see the numerous books available about him.  I still hold to my two favorites: Team of Rivals by DK Goodwin and Lincoln, a Biography by RC White.  Maybe next summer, we will visit the Smithsonian to see what they have about Lincoln-I still haven’t seen his stovepipe hat.   Maybe, I’ll even watch Lincoln, the Vampire Hunter on Netflix!

Finally, we were able to tour the Dana-Thomas home that was built by Frank Lloyd Wright in 1902-04.  The house, now owned by the State of Illinois, consists of ~12,000 sq feet and 36 rooms and was owned by Susan Lawrence Dana.  She asked FLW to redesign her father’s Italianate house from the early 1880’s.  The design of the house reflects his original architectural concepts with low entranceways, beautiful stain windows with his sumac design, ornate wood moldings, curved ceilings and beautiful FLW-designed furniture – the largest number of pieces available in any of his houses.  The house was quite modern for 1904, but totally different from his design for Fallingwater that he designed 25 yrs later. 

Front Entrance, Dana-Thomas House

LR & Master BR 

Tomorrow, we head to Chicago.  

See you down the road,

David & Judy