Station in springfield illinois, where the trains run to chicago. Originally from chicago to st. Louis through springfield. Trains that were frequent reviews by lincoln as he grew his practice in chicago, illinois. And his political appearances in chicago. Springfield was his hometown. He came here and 1837. He was in new salem, a Little Village outside of springfield. He tried a bunch of professions. A surveyor, storekeeper. He finally decided to become a lawyer and came to springfield to practice law. He spent his entire career as a lawyer in springfield. This was the state capital because of lincoln. He got the state capital moved to springfield. Typical of lincoln he gets the state capital moved to where he is going to practice law, which did not hurt his law practice at all, but that is why springfield was so special to him. This is also the place to which his body came back after the assassination on the 14th of april, 1865. As you know, John Wilkes Booth shot him at 10 30, he live in he lived until 7 22 the next morning, when he passed. Edward stanton, the secretary of war under the immortal words, now he belongs to the ages. This was a National Event of great horror. It was the first president ial assassination. It came on the heels of the triumph of the war. People could not adjust from the ecstasy of victory to the horror of the assassination. He laid in state in washington on till april 21 until april 20 one. Then the long journey home began. The journey retraced the steps or the stops he had made on his way out from springfield for his inauguration some four years earlier. The first stop was baltimore. When he came out, he had to sneak through there in disguise to avoid possible assassination. His son robert was on the train. His best friend from bloomington, illinois, the judge that he practiced before David Davidson who he put on the Supreme Court was also on the train. One of the really poignant things his beloved sun son willie had died in 1862 and had temporarily been held in d. C. Until the return to springfield. So lincolns body was not the only body on that train. Wlii willie, his 13yearold sons body was on the train. Mary stank mary stayed behind. She was in such an emotional state. Robert, his son, road as far as baltimore with roberts. His two secretaries got off and returned to washington. The train reach haste of it went to philadelphia. First the harrisburg pennsylvania, the state capital. All of these were stops on the way out. Then to philadelphia. When he was in philadelphia on the way out, which would be four years and two months to the day he went to independence hall, and he said, that he was coming to defend the principle that all men are created equal. He said if that principle cannot be saved and had to be surrendered, i would rather be assassinated and see it surrendered. Four years and two months later to the day, that he was back in independence hall, his body laid in state in the shadow of the liberty bell. From there, they went through new jersey i will keep repeating this, but there were hundreds of thousands of people who saw these processions. They would take his body off the train and take it too like, independence hall. Hundreds of thousands of people lined the streets. In new york, that was the largest procession. The procession with the casket going to city hall was 60,000 people in the procession. 750,000 viewed him as he took that trip from the train station. There was no rage across the hudson river, so the train car had to be taken across on a ferry to new york. From new york up of the hudson river to albany, where he had stopped before. In a scene that is just overwhelming to signify the grief of the nation it was a cold, rainy time. Thousands, they had no idea how many people lined the tracks from albany to buffalo, because it traveled all night. It was an allnight vigil. There were thousands with on fire is lining the tracks to mourn the loss. It was from buffalo and from there he went to Cleveland Erie pennsylvania then to cleveland. These are retracing his steps. Hundreds of thousands of people. Thousands passing the caskets at each stops. All the towns were draped in black. From there to Columbus Ohio where he laid in state and the state capital. From there, indianapolis. From that point, that duplicated and reversed lincoln the trip lincoln took out when he went to be inaugurated in 1861. From there it went to chicago, because that was, by now, a large city. He laid in state in chicago for three days until he left ahead back down through illinois. In illinois, this was all night, too. The train was supposed to leave at 9 00 in the evening and left at 10 00. All of these towns had thousands of people with on fires as the train passed through illinois, his home state. Fol jolliet, 15,000 people there, all these towns draped in black, there were portraits of him. The train itself had a portrait of him in the front. They came to the town where i live in bloomington at 5 00 in the morning, having gone through north bloomington first and that is where it started. The people would put arches over the tracks. The train would pass under these arches. Go to thy rest, was normally on the arch. Bloomington did nothing. The town was 8000 people and there were 5000 people at the tracks as they went past, down to what is mclean county, and then to the town of lincoln, named for him in 1853. Thousands of people there. With malice towards nonand Charity Towards all, was on the arch over the tracks. There would be choirs singing dirges and him hymns. They got to a little town where they put up an art says that says ours is the crown yours is thy cross, which was repeated several times. Its the train stopped at that little town where he had friends. From there down to springfield. It got to springfield may be 9 00 in the morning, where he laid in state until the next day. That trip was made 3, by the way. It was an amazingly moving thing. On the 15th of april, Robert Todd Lincoln telegraphed davis and said get out here to handle my fathers affairs. Davis was on the Supreme Court went but was home in bloomington. He rushed out there. Now we are on may 1, when the train gets to Michigan City indiana, coming up from indianapolis. Davis went up there to get on the train. Robert todd lincoln had heard through the grapevine that Robert Todd Lincoln davis wrote him and said you better get out here you will regret it and address of your life when you if you do not come. Lincoln got here the afternoon of the funeral, may 3 the day before the funeral. Robert todd lincoln. He was here for the funeral. It was an immensely sad thing nationwide. The people in illinois particularly. In bloomington where i live, he had spent so much time in bloomington he spent more time in bloomington than anywhere other than springfield. Our newspaper said this is not just a president s, not just the leader of our nation, this was a friend and neighbor of ours that we have lost. We feel in a personal way. That was true up and down the tracks. A tremendous loss to the people of illinois, because he was so popular and spent so much time on all the towns in the circuit. It is called the land of lincoln, that is the motto of our state. Many things to say about lincoln, they are always true. They are too good to be chewed but they are. Because lincoln was a circuit lawyer and practice not just in springfield but in the 14 counties across Central Illinois he was gone half the year and all these towns. He traveled all over the state. He really was a citizen of illinois. I want to mention one thing about the funeral. We cannot quite understand now. We have seen so much tragedy and we are almost used to assassinations, unfortunately. This man was so loved by the people of the country, because of seeing us through this war. But the loss of him under these conditions created a national sense of mourning. The civil war, hundreds of thousands died in that war. In faraway places. Many other the people in this country did not have the ability or the opportunity to mourn their own children that they had lost. Their loved ones. The lincoln funeral became a funeral for all the mourners of the war. That is what made it such an incredible event. The lincoln restingplace there was controversy. The people in springfield wanted to build a monument in the note in the middle of downtown and have that be lincolns tomb. That is where mary lincoln stood up and said no. You do that and i am taking him to chicago and will there him in chicago. And so the city backed off. At the time, Oak Ridge Cemetery was way out in the country in this kind of bucolic wooden siding. That is what they picked and that was fine with her. Lincoln college in lincoln illinois came across a letter written by a 15yearold girl to her brother. She was 15, lived in the town of atlanta. The beauty of atlanta was when this train came through, the sun rose as the train got to atlanta. This little girl was there. I just would take the liberty of reading this letter, because it speaks for the millions certainly hundreds of thousands that saw this train. She said as the train came to atlanta, illinois, the church bell told, the muffled drums played, and everything seemed to say, and mourn with me. Even the angels in heaven must surely shed tears of grief when they look down and see the terrible agony of this beloved nation. I wish you could be here, henry henry was a soldier in atlanta when the train came up then, only then, did our hearts ache. I think that little girl spoke for hundreds of thousands around. There is a certain poetry, if you want to call it that, and closure to lincoln coming down these tracks to this place in his coffin. As he came, he went through the circuit he had ridden on. For 23 years he had ridden on the perrys network cut by these tracks when they were built. He visited these towns. All of these towns were populated with his friends. This was a return for him. He was returned on the same tracks that he had been forever. I bought a book about the lincoln funeral and i was going to start reading it, and i just by chance, these are the same tracks now just passenger trains. I am on an amtrak with this look on a really gray, rainy day in january. With this book about the funeral i was amazed how moved i was to be going down the same tracks that carried lincolns body 150 years earlier. What the funeral represents is the morning mourning of this nation for all the lives are were lost and sacrificed to save the union and and slavery end slavery. American history tv was live in oak ridge, illinois, for the 150th anniversary of president lincolns funeral. Coming up next, all of our programming for earlier, including a after, we hear from historian michael bloom again Michael Burlingame as he reflects on the ceremony in springfield. Youre watching American History tv, on cspan. Youre looking at live picture from Oak Ridge Cemetery from illinois for the 150th anniversary of president lincolns funeral. You see richard hart joining us from
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