Sharon and I have just finished our stay in Springfield, Illinois.  For those that don't know, Springfield was Abraham Lincoln's home when he was elected as the 16th president of the United States.  Lincoln had lived in the area from the time he was a very young man until he moved to Washington, D.C., never to return.

When he was about 17 he moved to a small village on the Sangamon River where he got his first real job.  He started his career by unloading and loading river barges, and move up from there.  The village, New Salem, now a state historic site, has been recreated with many buildings from the time period.  Some are reconstructions, some are original from the time but have been moved to New Salem from other locations.

The day we visited there was a bluegrass festival going on.  A pleasant surprise, nice bluegrass sounds everywhere we walked.

Let me show you some of New Salem.

This is one of the many small groups of bluegrass bands.  I don't thinks any of them were organized bands, just a bunch of musicians that sat down together to jam some good bluegrass.

There were many re-enactors of the time period throughout the village.  This man is showing a young girl how to spin wool.

Another house with musicians on the front porch.

Sharon couldn't resist petting this little pony.

Abe as a young man.  He is holding a book and axe.  Symbols of his quest for knowledge and hard work.

Abe was a noted surveyer.  He surveyed many of the roads in the Springfield area.  He was trusted by many for his survey work due to his well know honesty in his work.

We also had the priviledge of visiting the Lincoln Tomb.  The day we were there there was a small emcampment of Union Soldiers giving a presentation on life during the Civil War.  One of the presentations was given by two men that are descendants of slaves.  Both men's ancestors had been soldiers in the Union army after gaining thier freedom.  One had become a doctor, a very hard thing for a black man at that time, and reached the rank of major while serving in the army.  The other was a color guard seargent.  He had served with great distinction and earned the Congressional Medal of Honor for his heroic service.  It was very interesting listening to them talk about their ancestors.

We spent some time visiting the tomb, and the cemetary where it is located.  A very solomn place.  I was not aware that all of Lincoln's family was buried in the tomb with him.  That is all but the only son that live, Robert.  When he died his wife had hime buried in Arlington National Cemetary.

Here is our visit to Lincoln's Tomb.

The statues that adorn the tomb structure are made from melted down cannons from the Civil War.

Lincoln is entombed ten feet below this marker.

This statue of Lincoln is the one that was used as a model for the large one in the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C.

Sharon is trying to reach Abe's nose to rub it.  You can see by how shiney his nose is that many have been able to reach it, Sharon just wasn't tall enough.

Our last view of the tomb as we left the cemetary where it is located.

The next day we took a trip downtown to visit the Lincoln museum.  The museum had many displays of articles that belonged to Lincoln, during and prior to his presidency.  There were two very good short films that told of his life prior to and during his presidency.  Both were very well done.

Here are a few pictures from the museum.  There were only a few areas where photos are allowed.  Inside the rooms where all of the articles that belonged to Lincoln were off limits to photos.

Abraham Lincoln and his family.  They are standing in front of the White House.

 This is Abe in front of a model of the home he and his parents lived in when they first moved to Illinois.

We had the opportunity to visit a couple of old court house buildings where Lincoln practiced as a young lawyer.  The life of a lawyer was much different that it is today.  The lawyers during Lincoln's time would travel together, along with a judge, throughout a district.  They would normally travel from June to November to different towns to try cases, and/or settle disputes between individuals over land, cattle, or other matters.  The two that we visited are about twenty miles apart.  In Lincoln's day that would have been about a five hour trip, we made it in twenty minutes.  One of the courthouses is the original building.  The lady that gave us a tour of the courthouse building told us that much of the funiture is from the time of Lincoln, but there is now proof that any of it was there when Lincoln visited that courthouse.  There are a few pieces that they speculate that he did use.

Mt. Pulaski Court House. 

Lincoln actually defended clients in this court room.  Note the number of stars on the flag.

We also had the opportunity to visit the neighbor hood where Lincoln and his family lived before they moved to Washington.  The area is now a National Historic Site.  All of the buildings that I will show you are original.  All of them are still on the same site that they were built on during the 1840's and 50's.

This is the house that Lincoln and his family lived in.  It is the only house that Lincoln owned.  When Lincoln was assinated, Mary Todd would not move back into the house.  She lived with a sister nearby.  We were able to tour the home.  Much of the furniture is orginal to the house.

This was Lincoln's bed.  It was made special for him, it is 6'9" long. 

This wagon was used during the campaign for Lincoln for presidency.

The following pictures are of homes that are in the neighbor hood.  The first one is where the minister lived that married the Lincoln's.

These two homes were used for private residences and boarding houses.

We had a great time visiting all of the places of Lincoln's life in Springfield and the surrounding area.  We saw much more that I have told you about, but will leave some for you to see on your own visit. 

We are on our way to Clarence, Missouri for our next NOMADS project.  We still have about six weeks before we get home.  We go to Lousiana after we leave Missouri.  Looking forward to getting home, but we are also planning our NOMADS travels for next year. 

Hope you have enjoyed our stay in Springfield.  Have a great day.  We will be back with you with our time at Camp Jo-Ota, in Clarence, Missouri sometime next week.

Remember,

God Loves You

Gary