Monday, September 3, 2007
Old State Capitol
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Old State Capitol ...
The Old state was the fifth statehouse in Illinois history. The building served as capitol from 1839-1876.
Abraham Lincoln frequented this building from 1839, until he departed Springfield in 1861 to assume The Presidency. He delivered several important speeches here ... including the very famous 1858 "House Divided" speech.
On November 6, 1860, Abraham Lincoln was elected to be the 16th President of the United States of America.
Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln [Feb 12, 1809 - Apr 15, 1865].
The 16th President of the United States of America ...
He served from March 4, 1861 until his death on April 15, 1865.
He was a Republican. He won the Republican Party nomination in 1860 and was elected president later that year.
He led the defeat of the secessionist Confederate States of America in the American Civil War. He introduced measures that resulted in the abolition of slavery, issuing his Emancipation Proclamation in 1863 and promoting the passage of the Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution in 1865.
Ref: Abraham Lincoln, click here ...
Abraham Lincoln birthplace, a National Historic Site, click here ...
The 16th President of the United States of America ...
He served from March 4, 1861 until his death on April 15, 1865.
He was a Republican. He won the Republican Party nomination in 1860 and was elected president later that year.
He led the defeat of the secessionist Confederate States of America in the American Civil War. He introduced measures that resulted in the abolition of slavery, issuing his Emancipation Proclamation in 1863 and promoting the passage of the Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution in 1865.
Ref: Abraham Lincoln, click here ...
Abraham Lincoln birthplace, a National Historic Site, click here ...
Former Union Station, Springfield
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The former Springfield Union Station, renovated in 2006, and serves as the Lincoln Presidential Library Visitor Center.
It is part of the complex of buildings that together form the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The new clock tower was constructed in 2006 to replicate tower removed in 1946 from Springfield Union Station.
Below the statue of Abraham lincoln is inscribed ...
"A Greater Task"
Why should there not be a patient confidence in the ultimate justice of the people? Is there any better or equal hope in the world?
- Abraham Lincoln
[First Inaugural Address - March 4, 1861]
Former Union Station, Springfield
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" Here I have lived a quarter of a century, and have passed from a young to an old man".
- A Lincoln. [Feb 11, 1861]
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The former Springfield Union Station, renovated in 2006 and now serves as the Lincoln Presidential Library Visitor Center.
Lincoln House
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In May of 1844, Abraham and Mary, and their son Robert moved into this house. Then it was a one-and-a-half-story cottage. They eventually expanded this into two stories. This is the home where they raised their family for seventeen years [1844-1861] ... till Lincoln left Springfield to assume his responsibility as the 16th President of the United States.
Abraham Lincoln and his wife had four children, all boys ... Robert, Edward [Eddie], William [Willie] and Thomas [Tad]. When Abraham Lincoln moved to this house, Robert was already born ... The other three children were born here. Sadly, Eddie, their second child died in this house, in 1850.
Lincoln home - The entrance
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"Since Springfield homes were not numbered until 1873, the Lincolns, like many of their Springfield neighbors, used a front door nameplate to identify their home to visitors ... the nameplate read A Lincoln."
Reference: Lincoln Home Tour, click here ...
Lincoln home - formal parlor
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"The formal parlor, where the Lincolns entertained important guests, was considered the nicest room in the house.
It was also here, on May 19, 1860, that men from the Republican National Convention officially asked Lincoln to run for the Presidency. Several days later, Lincoln accepted the nomination."
Reference: Lincoln Home Tour, click here ...
Lincoln Home - back parlor
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"The back parlor originally served as a bedroom for Mary and Abraham. Here Mary gave birth to three of their children - Eddie, Willie, and Tad. It was also in this room that Eddie, their second child, after a prolonged illness, passed away just before his fourth birthday."
Reference: Lincoln Home Tour, click here ...
Lincoln home - dining room
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The table would allow the family to dine together. Mary usually prepared the evening meals and served them in the dining room.
Reference: Lincoln Home Tour, click here ...
Lincoln home - sitting room
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"The sitting room is similar to a modern family room, a place where the family held informal receptions and where they relaxed. Here the parents held several parties for Willie and Tad including one for which they invited fifty children. This is also where the family dog - Fido - and the Lincolns' numerous cats spent time. When Lincoln spent time here though, he was more likely to spend it on the floor, since most of the furniture was not comfortable for his six-foot-four-inch frame."
Reference: Lincoln Home Tour, click here ...
Lincoln home - stereoscope
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"One of the boys' toys is also in the sitting room: a stereoscope. Robert, Willie, and Tad would open the top to allow light into the box, would insert into the stereoscope a card which had two nearly identical photographs side-by-side, and then would peer through the two holes in front. This arrangement would make the images in the photographs appear three dimensional."
Reference: Lincoln Home Tour, click here ...
Lincoln home - guest room
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"Family and friends of the Lincolns stayed in the guest room, including Robert. In 1859, Robert failed the Harvard College entrance exams, so his parents enrolled him at Phillips Exeter Academy. Here he spent one year preparing for the exams which he passed the following year, allowing him to enter Harvard, from which he was graduated in 1864."
Reference: Lincoln Home Tour, click here ...
Lincoln home - Lincoln bedroom
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"This was Lincoln's bedroom from 1855 to 1861. When the Lincolns moved their sleeping quarters from the first floor to the second, they moved into separate bedrooms. Following the custom of the day, if the family's finances allowed, the husband and wife were given their own bedrooms. In fact, throughout the 1900s, most Presidents and First Ladies have had separate bedrooms in the White House - a tradition established in the 1800s."
Reference: Lincoln Home Tour, click here ...
Lincoln home - Lincoln desk
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Lincoln's [original] desk and chair ... in his bedroom.
Lincoln home - Mary's bedroom
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"For a time, Mary shared her room with her two youngest children, Willie and Tad. When Mary and Abraham shared a bedroom, they would have also shared it with Bobbie and Eddie as well. This was a common sleeping arrangement during this time. When the children were considered old enough, they received their own room. In Willie's and Tad's case, this meant moving across the hallway."
Reference: Lincoln Home Tour, click here ...
Lincoln home - Boys' bedroom
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"For a time, Mary shared her room with her two youngest children, Willie and Tad. When Mary and Abraham shared a bedroom, they would have also shared it with Bobbie and Eddie as well. This was a common sleeping arrangement during this time. When the children were considered old enough, they received their own room. In Willie's and Tad's case, this meant moving across the hallway."
Reference: Lincoln Home Tour, click here ...
Lincoln home - Hired girl's room
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"The back bedroom was used by a hired girl. While the Lincolns' laundress and cook returned to their homes at night, the hired girl would sleep here. Hired girls, often immigrants, were usually about fourteen or fifteen years old. The average wage was about a dollar fifty per week, plus room and board. Hired girls' chores included making fires, emptying chamber pots, cleaning lamps, and carrying water from the well and cistern."
Reference: Lincoln Home Tour, click here ...
Lincoln home - the kitchen
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The kitchen was the center of activity. The stove is original. The Lincoln family often gave parties and mary would cook with the help of maid while Lincoln would milk the cow and fetch woods.
Reference: Lincoln Home Tour, click here ...
Sunday, September 2, 2007
The First Presbyterian Church
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The first Presbyterian Church
This was the church of Abraham Lincoln ...
The Family Pew is on display inside.
In the bottom image, in the background on the left side, the New State Capitol building can be seen.
Lincoln-Herndon Law offices
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The Lincoln Herdon Law Offices is right opposite the Old State Capitol building.
Grace Lutheran Church
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Walking through the city, we saw this beautiful church.
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