I guess I thought today was a good day to plan out all the blog posts for 2025. This is something I usually do when planning blog posts. That I did it all today is poor planning on my part. So, after looking through hundreds of photos of three families, I thought I didn’t want to do the photo I had scheduled. I WAS going to bring to you William and Mary Beutel’s photo. Needing an alternate photo, I chose one that I thought was going to be someone we couldn’t identify. Imagine my surprise when I enlarged the photo to see the name John Wagner written across the top of the photo. I was very excited, but I was now wondering if I should have just researched Mary and WIlliam. So (sighing) both of these were worked into the schedule for next year. But what to bring you today?

Imagine my surprise when looking though the Wenke photos that I have scanned I found this. At first I overlooked it, but then came back to see what it’s all about. It’s about my favorite President, Abraham Lincoln.

From the Illinois History and Lincoln Collections, which can be found at https://publish.illinois.edu/ihlc-blog/2021/09/22/the-lincoln-tomb-and-its-custodial-history/ I discovered what this was all about.

After Lincoln’s death his body was brought to Oak Ridge Cemetery in Springfield, Illinois. He and his son, Willie who had died three years earlier were placed in a receiving vault. Illinois Govenor Richard J Oglesby a monument association was founded to honor the memory of President Lincoln. Funds were raised across the country to support the cost of the memorial. I am sure that this is one way that funds were raised. While it gives the illusion of a photograph, it is indeed a print.

Construction on the memorial began on September 10, 1869 and took 6 years to build. Lincoln’s body was placed in the monument’s crypt on September 19, 1871, along with the bodies of his sons Tad, Eddie, and Willie Lincoln. The body of Mary Todd Lincoln joined those of her husband and sons after her death in July 1882, while Robert Todd Lincoln is buried at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia. That’s an interesting story as he was buried there against his wishes by his wife. He was a veteran of the Civil War and did not wish to be buried there.

This is what the monument looks like today.

Since its opening, the Lincoln tomb at Oak Ridge Cemetery in Springfield, Illinois, has received millions of visitors worldwide. It was designated a National Landmark in 1960 and added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1966. Visitors still arrive at the Cemetery to see this famous monument and hear the programs offered. From June through October, the Illinois Department of Natural Resources presents “porch talks” at the tomb, informing attendees about the lesser-known facts about the monument. This year, from June through August, every Tuesday evening, reenactors of the 114th Illinois Volunteer Infantry performed drills to honor the memory of President Lincoln.

While not part of our family, the death of President Lincoln was brutal for many in our nation. I am sad that I never knew this existed for all the years I lived in Illinois. I hope on my next journey through Illinois to make plans to stop in Springfield and add my name to the list of visitors who have experienced this monument.