What’s up everybody?
Ever since we moved to the Chicagoland area we knew that there was one place that we had to visit. Since we are living in the Land of Lincoln, we knew that we had to go see Lincoln’s Home in Springfield. As my brother always reminded me whenever we talked, “You are there, you have to go see it”. Its been a trip we’ve been planning for sometime now, but kept putting it off as the timing never felt right. In the middle of the previous week, we decided to heck with it. On a whim and very little planning, we decide that on the coming Saturday we would drive down to Springfield for the day and see as much as we could. Now Springfield is only a two and a half hour drive from where I live, so to me that was a doable task. I’ve driven longer for less on several occasions. So early Saturday morning, a lot earlier than I like to get up on the weekend, we jumped in the car and headed out.
The Lincoln Home is one of two site that are run by the National Park Service in the state of Illinois. The other being Pullman National Monument. This historical site is made up of Lincoln’s Home, the surrounding four blocks of his former neighborhood and the visitor center. Along with Lincoln’s Home there are two other homes that you are allowed to enter, the Dean and Arnold houses. Each one has been restored back to the way it was back in Lincolns time and has there own exhibits relating back to Lincoln. The rest of the neighborhood was also restored, but you can only admire them from the outside.
Springfield was not the first place that Lincoln lived, but when he came rolling into town upon a borrowed horse and everything he owned in two saddle bags, he knew this was the place that he would start his new life. It was true, this would be the place were he would start his family, a successful law career and it was also were he started to develop many of his political and social views.
Abraham Lincoln married Mary Todd in 1842. Two years later he would purchase the only home that he would ever own. Lincoln purchased the then Dresser residence for $1500 dollars. It was a cozy one and a half story home with five total rooms. Over the next 17 years, the house would be remodel and go through several changes. Eventually the home would expand to two stories, 12 rooms and nearly 3,000 square feet. The halls were usually filled by the rambunctious play of the Lincolns children. Unfortunately, even with all the joy that filled the house, tragedy found its way in to spoil it. In December of 1849 Edward, the Lincolns second child, fell ill with what is believe to be tuberculosis. He would eventually pass away the follow February. His funeral was held within the home. They continued to live here until Lincoln was elected President of the United States in 1860. Sadly, the Lincolns would never return to live back in the home. In 1887 Robert Lincoln, the oldest and last surviving Lincoln child, deeded the home to the State of Illinois. But he did have two provision that had to be met before signing it over. They were “that said homestead shall be, forever, kept in good repair and free of access to the public”. On October 9 1972 the Lincoln Home official became a National Historical Site.
The NPS offers multiple tours of the home throughout the day. Guided, of course, as many of the artifact in the home belong to the Lincoln. We don't want to lose or damage an of the history that is associated with the home or the Lincoln Legacy. We had a very nice guide, Ranger Kelly, a happy-go-lucky young lady that was very knowledgable of the home and history of the area. She was very excited to show us around and happy to answer any questions our group had. As I mention most of the artifacts in the home belong to the Lincolns, with a few exceptions. There was one artifact that we were able to touch, the hand railing leading to the upper floor of the home. Of course we had to use it for safety, but it was really cool to think that we were touch an actual piece of history. The original hand rail that the Lincolns used on a daily basis. As Ranger Kelly pointed out it was almost like shaking hands with Abe himself. I would have much rather shook his actual hand, but I can live with shaking his metaphoric hand instead.
The tour gave us just a hint of what it was like when the Lincolns lived there. At the time both Abraham and Mary Todd had there own separate rooms. I don’t know if that was common at the time, but interesting either way. To me, each rooms seemed to represented the occupants that slept there. The other thing that really stuck out to me was, what I’m going to call the Maid’s Room for I can’t recall what they actually called it. It was located just down the hall from the Lincoln family bedrooms. It was small and very simple, but what it represented is what stuck out to me the most. The maid, usually a black girl, was not a indentured servant or a slave but a paid worker. They were hired by the Lincolns to help with the house and the children and were well compensated for their services. This showed that Lincoln did believe that everyone should be treated as equals and have the same rights.
The Lincoln Home gave us just a glimpse into the life of the Lincolns Family. There are many stories about them from their time in Springfield. Truly if the walks could talk we could learn so much more about their daily lives. They were probably more of a normal family then we give them credit for. The home was filled with joy and tragedy, much like our own homes. Lincoln was a great man and there is still plenty of things that we can learn from him and his example. Visiting his home brought an already iconic man into a new light.
We still have plenty to explore in the Land of Lincoln and are excited to bring it to you. So until next time, Thanks for stopping by.
Josh
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