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In the Land of Lincoln: Visitors get hometown view of our 16th president

Thursday, 17 September 2009

By DEBRA GASKILL As 2009, the bicentennial of our 16th president’s birth, winds down there’s still plenty of time to take a weekend to submerge yourself in all things Abraham Lincoln. By DEBRA GASKILL As 2009, the bicentennial of our 16th president’s birth, winds down there’s still plenty of time to take a weekend to submerge yourself in all things Abraham Lincoln.    In Springfield, Ill., the town where a scrawny young lawyer in a tall hat came to begin his political career and left as president, visitors can walk the town as Lincoln saw it and see the city through his eyes.    The city of Springfield, along with the National Park District have preserved an area of more than 10 city blocks of historic Lincoln buildings. Besides museums, there is the old Illinois Capitol where Lincoln served as a state senator, his law office where he practiced with partner William Herndon, the Great Western Railroad Depot where he boarded the train to Washington, along with a four square block surrounding the home where Abraham and Mary Lincoln lived.    As you walk around downtown Springfield, watch for the 49 ‘Looking for Lincoln’ wayside exhibits that recreate the city as Lincoln would have known it.    Start your visit on Saturday morning at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum, at the corner of Jefferson and Sixth streets, where, in the museum’s rotunda, visitors can stand among life-size mannequins of the Lincoln family, Frederick Douglass, Sojourner Truth, Ulysses S. Grant and others. (This is the only place in the museum where photographs are allowed, so be sure to get a picture.)    Hint: The best parking for your visit to historic downtown Springfield is at the parking garage across from museum. From here you can walk to most sites within the historic area or purchase a $3 day pass on one of Springfield’s city buses which circle historic sites every 30 minutes.    The museum takes visitors through Lincoln’s life, his presidency, his death, his massive funeral, burial and legacy, including a unique look at the viciousness of 1860 politics.    The museum includes a replica of The Blue Room in the White House, Ford’s Theater and the cabinet room, showing Lincoln talking with his Cabinet members about the Emancipation Proclamation.    In the Whispering Gallery, the late MSNBC newsman Tim Russert ‘broadcasts’ (if TV would have existed back then) a series of political ‘commercials’ for and against Lincoln on election night. The collection of political cartoons make today’s editorial cartoons seem tame.    In a replica of what is now known as the Lincoln Bedroom, the Lincoln’s son Willie lays dying as his parents stand beside his bed while a White House ball goes on in the next room.    In the Treasure Gallery, there are priceless family mementos which change by the season, and a recreation of Lincoln’s casket as it lay in state in the old Illinois state house following his 1865 assassination. From the museum, walk a few blocks to the corner of Sixth and Adams to see the Lincoln-Herndon Law office overlooking the Old Capitol Building where most recently Barack Obama announced his candidacy for president.    The Lincoln-Herndon Law Office, built in 1841 and located at the corner of Sixth and Adams streets, has been the subject of recent research. While for many years, it was believed that the front office was where Lincoln practiced law, recent scholarship has found that his offices actually were in offices facing not the capitol, but the office buildings to the east.    The Lincoln-Herndon Law office was also at one time the only federal court in Illinois.    The old capitol building, which was built in 1837, is where Lincoln delivered his famous ‘House Divided’ speech and here he lay in state prior to his burial.    If you’re hungry, there are a number of small sandwich shops and restaurants that will fit any taste or lunch budget.    A few block south of the law office is the first home that Abraham and Mary Lincoln owned, managed by the National Park Service. (On your way there, you’ll pass the First Presbyterian Church at 321. S. Seventh St., where the Lincolns attended church.) Enter at the visitors center at 426 S. Seventh St. for your free tickets, and take your guided tour of the middle class home that Mary and Abraham would leave behind for the White House. Following Lincoln’s assassination, Mary would never return to the home.    The tour of Lincoln’s home isn’t long, but it is fascinating and includes about 50 of the original furnishings.    Take some time to thoroughly explore the four block area, which has been restored to reflect the post-1860’s Springfield, complete with gaslights and a wooden sidewalk.    Looking to dig a little deeper? Personal guide Garret Moffett is also available for walks highlighting the Lincoln Bicentennial, the ghosts and bizarre lore associated with the 16th president, and, for adults only, a 90-minute walk called R-Rated Springfield, which examines stories of the city’s crimes, brothels, Prohibition, mobsters, race riots and more.    Following the tour of his home and surrounding historic district, hop on a Springfield Mass Transit District historic route bus for a ride out to Oak Ridge Cemetery and the Lincoln Tomb to finish your first day. Here, beneath several feet of concrete, lies the 16th president, Mary Todd Lincoln, Willie and Tad Lincoln. The only surviving son, Robert Todd Lincoln, is not buried there — he lies in Arlington Cemetery in Washington.    (Be sure to rub Lincoln’s nose at the tomb for good luck, the one light-hearted thing you can do at the somber location.)    The next day, hop in the car and head out to Petersburg and the New Salem State Historic Site. Lincoln lived in this collection of small rough buildings from 1831-1837 and is considered the source of his ‘rail-splitter’ image so used in his 1860 campaign.    At New Salem, you can visit the store Lincoln ran with his partner, William Berry, an alcoholic who reportedly drank up the profits. Saddled with the store’s debts, Lincoln would move to Springfield and, after he became a lawyer, he was finally able to pay off those debts.    One of the more enduring Lincoln legends is the supposed romance he had with a woman named Ann Rutledge. Lincoln reportedly roomed at an inn owned by Ann’s father, James. When she died in 1935 at age 19, Lincoln reportedly nearly went crazy from grief, although historians now doubt this story.    The 635-acre site also includes a museum, gift shop and outdoor theater, which operates in summer months. Other special events occur throughout the year. The site is largely rural; two small restaurants operate on a season basis and camping and picnic grounds are available here.    New Salem’s allure is its historic accuracy. Although many of the buildings were rebuilt in the 1930s, volunteers in period costume take the time to adhere to painstaking attention to authentic detail. There are numerous log cabins, a carding mill, a grist mill, doctors houses, a tavern and several stores.    After just one weekend you’ll come away feeling like your search for the real Lincoln has been fruitful indeed.

 

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