Springfield, IL and all things Lincoln

Lincoln home in Springfield, Illinois

On Sunday, September 16th, we packed up and drove to Springfield, Illinois, the hometown of Abraham Lincoln for most of his adult life. We set up camp at Jim Edgar Panther Creek State Park, about 30 miles northwest of Springfield and just shy of absolutely nowhere else. We drove into Springfield for groceries, dinner and a couple of Redbox movies. With only the paltry few other campers and the millions of stars to keep us company, we settled in for the rest of the evening with some drinks and watched our movies.

On Monday, we headed back into town to begin our tour of all things Lincoln. While it can't be ignored that the volume of books written about Lincoln surpasses everyone in history except Jesus, Springfield takes the Lincoln-mania to a whole new level. Either his likeness or his name or both can be found on businesses, schools, streets, parks, squares, and everything else around town.

Family's parlor where Lincoln sat on the floor
reading or playing with his boys

We began, as many tourists do, with his home. Our free tour was courtesy of Robert Todd Lincoln, whose donation of his parents' home in 1887 to the State of Illinois came only with the condition that Americans be given free access to it forever. (As our guide duly noted, however, Robert made no such conditions on parking, which is available for a fee akin to DC prices. Yikes.) The National Park Service, in an effort to restore the Lincoln home to its former glory (and original colors), took over the management of it from the State of Illinois in the 1972. Since then, the NPS purchased the surrounding four blocks of homes and has begun or completed restoration efforts on many of those similarly beautiful historic houses.

Lincoln's bedroom,
though not his bed

Lincoln boys' bedroom

Our tour guide, Jerry, took us through the home, considered at the time rather large and finely appointed. Lincoln, after years of accumulated success as an attorney, added the second story and substantially increased the living space for his growing family. We toured the first floor, including the two parlors and a small dining area before heading upstairs to see the bedrooms.

Kitchen in the Lincoln home

Abraham and Mary slept in separate, but adjoining, bedrooms, common during the mid-1800s. With the busy pattern on the carpeting and a similarly loud, but completely different, pattern on the wallpaper, we wondered how anyone could sleep in either of the two rooms. In any case, despite all the furniture decorating the rooms of the house, only a few pieces actually belonged to the Lincolns. When he was elected president in 1860 they sold, gave away or stored many of the belongings they didn't take with them to the White House, and subsequently rented out the house. As such, the NPS has re-acquired Lincoln's personal desk, Mary's dresser, and a table and set of horsehair chairs.

A neighbor of the Lincoln home

We saw the boys' room, as well as the hired girl's room before we descended the servant staircase into the kitchen. Lincoln bought Mary the old cast iron stove we saw, reportedly the finest and most technologically advanced for its time. Out in the small backyard, we saw the outhouse and barn, as well as where the kitchen garden had been.

Along the cobblestone street we strolled past the homes of Lincoln's neighbors, including one who occasionally watched his children, another who vehemently opposed his politics and another who lobbied on his behalf. As we wandered the streets of Springfield, we came across various plaques mentioning the history of Lincoln's time there and saw that many people were critical of him as a politician, president and even father. His shocking assassination changed that instantaneously and the country rallied around him. History has burnished his legacy even further, ensuring that every subsequent president, despite their own significant achievements, never quite lives up to his.

We ate lunch at the forgettable Cafe Brio in downtown, a glacially paced and sloppily run establishment with decent though small portions. After lunch, we walked under overcast skies and through brisk winds to tour the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum. The museum, broken up into sections of Lincoln's life, began with a couple of films. The first was a holographic introduction to the library and its secrets. It was an entertaining, though child-focused, pitch for the vast collection of Lincolnia. The second film centered on an artist's description of Lincoln as a subject of his painting, though he delved into depths about Lincoln's character that I strongly suspected were not gathered firsthand. In any case, it was also entertaining.

We began our tour with a re-creation of Lincoln's boyhood home, a simple cabin in Kentucky he shared with his father, stepmother and siblings. We learned about his early experiences with the ugliness of slavery and the impression it would have on his later years. Walking through his life from one area to another, we saw how the political forces at the time worked out so that he became president...a hodgepodge of events that conspired to his benefit.

We learned about his tumultuous marriage to Mary, who suffered with crippling depression and probably other mental illnesses as well. We heard about their four sons, only one of whom lived to be an adult, and the incredible heartache the Lincolns endured as three of them perished. In the Treasures Hall we saw all manner of Lincoln artifacts, including some of Mary's silk fans and Lincoln's iconic stovepipe hat.

The museum covered all the intricacies of Lincoln as a man and president. We really enjoyed it, though security hustled us out at closing time before we had seen everything. Nonetheless, it was very educational and well executed. We returned to the RV, made dinner and watched a movie in between bursts of rain and wind.

Lincoln's grave obelisk

On Tuesday, under gorgeous blue skies, we drove back to Springfield where we first headed to Lincoln's gravesite. The Oak Ridge Cemetery is a stately place with a somber and respectful tone to it. As a counterbalance, however unwelcome, there is a curio shop just outside the cemetery's gates for all your Lincoln graveyard tchotchke needs. Nice.

Lincoln's marble tomb

In any case, we toured the huge tomb built to secure Lincoln from grave- robbers and to provide a monument appropriate for such a popular president. Following his death, his body was entombed in a temporary grave first, then a second temporary grave halfway up the hill where his last and most permanent grave is located. Originally built beginning in 1868, a renovation to the monument in 1899 corrected a foundation issue, while a renovation in 1930-1931 added the interior marble hallways and all of the bronze statuary. We chatted briefly with the tomb attendant about the Lincoln family and learned that all but Robert are buried in Lincoln's tomb. (Robert was buried in Arlington National Cemetery.) We walked down the hillside behind the obelisk and saw where the first two burial sites were.

Lincoln-Herndon Law Office

After the cemetery visit, we continued downtown to see Lincoln's only remaining law office. But first, lunch. We chose Robbie's, a nice restaurant in the same block as the law office, overlooking the beautiful Old State Capitol.

Though he used four different ones over his lawyer years, the office he shared with William Herndon in the Tinsley Building is the only one still standing. Mr. Tinsley operated a grocery from the front room and rented space in the rest of the building for a post office, several lawyers' offices and even the federal court for the Illinois district at one time or another.

Recreation of Lincoln-Herndon Law Office

Our trusty tour guide led us on a tour of the various rooms that Lincoln used with Stephen Logan, an early senior partner with whom he practiced law for several years, as well as the two rooms he rented with William Herndon, his last and longest law partner. She regaled us with tales about Lincoln's antics, like reading the newspaper aloud and allowing his boys free reign in the office, both to Herndon's chagrin. Despite his messiness, Lincoln and Herndon were two of the most prolific lawyers in Springfield at the time, and, curiously, Lincoln became an expert in railroad law along the way. He was cited as an expert in hundreds of cases over the years.

Exhibit about women's roles in the Civil War

 From there, we wandered over to the Old State Capitol, built in 1837 and used as the state capitol from 1839 through 1876. Lincoln delivered a number of speeches in the building, including his famous "House Divided" speech.

The capitol was completely renovated in the late 1960s, returning the structure to its mid-1800s appearance when Lincoln frequented it as a lawyer. We saw an exhibit in a couple of rooms upstairs about the capitol's use during the Civil War. Ladies gathered here to assist the war effort by boxing up the bandage rolls, lint (early gauze), knitted socks, and other items they had made for the soldiers. With the country teetering on the edge of dissolution, the military was ill-equipped to handle the onslaught of wounded from the protracted war.

Senate Chamber where the
Ladies' Soldiers' Aid Society worked

The efforts of the Ladies' Soldiers' Aid Society were essential to supplying the men with small but necessary items the military hadn't, as well as canned foods to supplement the meager rations. We learned that the army supplied each soldier with only two pairs of socks, which, during battles fought largely on foot, wore out quickly. Thousands of pairs of socks were knitted and mended by northern women throughout the war. Likewise, the women made slippers for convalescing troops and assembled sewing kits (euphemistically called 'housewives') for the men.

After our long day of touring, we returned to the RV for happy hour, dinner and to rest our weary legs. What a great city!