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.

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.


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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