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STS Lincolnite · 09-26-2016, 11:04 AM

(09-25-2016 05:27 AM)RJNorton Wrote: Work has begun on the Lincoln-Herndon Law Office:

http://www.sj-r.com/news/20160920/exteri...aw-offices

Roger,

Thanks for posting the article. I was glad to read that the federal grant would not only allow some work to be done but allow the site to re-open at some point. Too bad the full restoration hasn't been funded by the State of Illinois as it was supposed to have been. The whole thing would have done by now! This is one Springfield site that I have not been able to visit (the interior anyway) since the 1980s, so I am really anxious for it to re-open.

Eva Elisabeth · 09-30-2016, 09:29 AM

Have a very good time, and please think of us who cannot participate, i e. please post photos + report about your adventures. I also hope the weather is cooperative (writing this in lovely sunny 85℉...)

RJNorton · 09-30-2016, 10:42 AM

I second all that Eva said!

Anita · 09-30-2016, 01:14 PM

Gene,
As you know I had so wanted to join you in Springfield. I had shoulder surgery in July and due to new complications I am back in an arm sling. I've been to Springfield once and did get to see the Lincoln-Hherndon law office. But what I will so miss is not being able to meet and learn from the shared expertise you and other forum members bring to these tours. So I too will be looking for your updates and photos. Thanks for doing these tours. I hope this won't be the last. Have a great time.
Anita

Gene C · 09-30-2016, 11:22 PM

Having a wonderful time, wish you were here.

Gene C · (This post was last modified: 10-03-2016 10:00 AM by Gene C.)

We started our day on Friday with a visit to several small cemeteries near New Salem. We found everyone we were looking for, which can be a real challenge as some of these older grave markers can be hard to read due to the effects of time. John MacNamar's was a bit difficult to find as it was broken in half, very weathered, and hard to read. Tried washing off several headstones with some water and scrubbing the carvings with my fingers which helped a little bit. For some reason my fingers turned green. Next year I may just borrow my wife's toothbrush for that. (old toothbrush) Big Grin

We were unable to visit the burial site of Ann Rutledge. It is located in a small cemetery in the middle of a farm field that could not be seen from the road, and the tractor path was a bit muddy. We had a very light misty rain a good part of the morning. Personally, I think Joe's new car could have made it up the hill, I've heard you can take the floor mats out and place them on top of the mud under the tires to get traction if you get stuck. Dave, Scott and I could have pushed, but it's probably for the best as I had on white tennis shoes which would have been hard to clean. Smile

However, we did visit her second grave site, but she wasn't there.

Dave had to leave us after the cemetery tour, Joe had a visit scheduled at the Lincoln Library, so Scott and I had a nice lunch at the Feed Store, where I can recommend the Wisconsin Cheddar Cheese soup and the pumpkin cheesecake. Then a quick tour of the Lincoln Museum, where on for a temporary exhibit titled "Rare and Rarely Seen" was a black dress of Marilyn Monroe's. Evidently she was very petite, or the dress has shrunk over time. It took a little stretch of the imagination, and a whole lot of stretch in the dress, for her to have slipped that on. Evidently, Abe was a big fan of Marilyn's, or perhaps it's the other way around. Maybe Dave can fill us in on that.

This from the blog of Lincolnman (Bill Nash)
http://abesblogcabin.org/the-abraham-lin...connection

Then a trip to the Prairie Archives book store. I was quite restrained where I only purchased one book on a follow up visit the next day.
We all (Dave and Janice, Joe, Scott, Gene & Joy) gathered back for a nice dinner where the food was almost as good as the time and conversations we shared. What a great group of people to be with.

More (including photo's) later.

RJNorton · 10-03-2016, 05:03 AM

Thanks for sharing, Gene. I am sorry to hear you couldn't see Ann Rutledge in her second grave site.

I found this Marilyn Monroe quote about Abraham Lincoln:

"The only other political figure I'd ever admired was Abraham Lincoln. I used to read everything I could find about him. He was the only famous American who seemed most like me, at least in his childhood."

davg2000 · 10-03-2016, 10:42 AM

What a great day! The on-off drizzle didn't matter. It was fun to find the graves (I like old cemeteries, anyway), but the best part of the experience was the conversation on the trip. I didn't know where John McNamar was buried, ditto William Berry. With regard to Ann Rutledge, it is true that she just wasn't all there at her second grave site. Smile

I have been surprised, too, at how small Marilyn's dress is. I'm sure that the dress was designed to accentuate Marilyn's assets, so it's small on purpose. The dress was part of the Louise Tabor collection that ALPLM purchased a few years ago. I don't remember why Ms. Tabor had the dress, but Marilyn was a friend of Carl Sandburg's. And she did revere Lincoln.

Thanks to Joe D., Scott, and Gene for a great Friday!

Gene, here is the link to John Y. Simon's article on Ann Rutledge: http://quod.lib.umich.edu/j/jala/2629860...=fulltext.

Simon, by the way, was the only historian I have found who panned ALPM when it appeared in the spring of 2005. He drew a comparison to Disneyland.

RJNorton · 10-03-2016, 10:47 AM

(10-03-2016 10:42 AM)davg2000 Wrote: With regard to Ann Rutledge, it is true that she just wasn't all there at her second grave site.

Dave, I am going to write Wilma Minor, and see if she knows why people cannot see her.

davg2000 · 10-03-2016, 11:03 AM

Thanks, Roger. Always good to dig up new stuff. Good ol' Wilma.

BTW, I do know that Edgar Lee Masters was no fan of Lincoln. So why did he write in Spoon River Anthology: "Bloom forever, O Republic,
From the dust of my bosom!"? This line compliments Lincoln, who supposedly threw himself into politics and later statecraft after Ann's death.

RJNorton · 10-03-2016, 01:17 PM

Here is something I've been curious about:

The 8th line of Masters' Ann Rutledge verse reads "Beloved in life of Abraham Lincoln"

But the words on the headstone read: "Beloved of Abraham Lincoln"

The words "in life" were omitted on Ann's headstone when the engraving was done.

I do not know why...

Gene C · 10-03-2016, 02:07 PM

Because Lincoln still loved her even after she had died?
(According to Herndon)

davg2000 · 10-03-2016, 02:24 PM

I think the stone cutter was careless or ignorant of the actual wording.

Montgomery "moved" the body to Oakford Cemetery in Petersburg in 1890. The poem was published in 1915, and the current stone, with the Masters lines, was erected in 1921. I think that Masters was probably happy to get some measure of fame afforded by the monument.

I wonder what he thought as Ann's significance in the Lincoln story fluctuated over the first half of the Twentieth Century.

Masters went on to live until 1950 and had ample time to correct the mistake.

Interestingly, John Y. Simon's article on Ann Rutledge contains the poem as it appears on the stone, without the words "in life."

Gene C · (This post was last modified: 10-03-2016 04:02 PM by Gene C.)

Dave, I couldn't get the link to work, beats me why, because this one is the same as yours - but here is the same thing.

http://quod.lib.umich.edu/j/jala/2629860...w=fulltext

Anita · (This post was last modified: 10-03-2016 06:19 PM by Anita.)

(10-02-2016 08:36 PM)Gene C Wrote: We started our day on Friday with a visit to several small cemeteries near New Salem. We found everyone we were looking for, which can be a real challenge as some of these older grave markers can be hard to read due to the effects of time. John MacNamar's was a bit difficult to find as it was broken in half, very weathered, and hard to read. Tried washing off several headstones with some water and scrubbing the carvings with my fingers which helped a little bit. For some reason my fingers turned green. Next year I may just borrow my wife's toothbrush for that. (old toothbrush)

We were unable to visit the burial site of Ann Rutledge. It is located in a small cemetery in the middle of a farm field that could not be seen from the road, and the tractor path was a bit muddy. We had a very light misty rain a good part of the morning. Personally, I think Joe's new car could have made it up the hill, I've heard you can take the floor mats out and place them on top of the mud under the tires to get traction if you get stuck. Dave, Scott and I could have pushed, but it's probably for the best as I had on white tennis shoes which would have been hard to clean.
However, we did visit her second grave site, but she wasn't there.

Dave had to leave us after the cemetery tour, Joe had a visit scheduled at the Lincoln Library, so Scott and I had a nice lunch at the Feed Store, where I can recommend the Wisconsin Cheddar Cheese soup and the pumpkin cheesecake. Then a quick tour of the Lincoln Museum, where on for a temporary exhibit titled "Rare and Rarely Seen" was a black dress of Marilyn Monroe's. Evidently she was very petite, or the dress has shrunk over time. It took a little stretch of the imagination, and a whole lot of stretch in the dress, for her to have slipped that on. Evidently, Abe was a big fan of Marilyn's, or perhaps it's the other way around. Maybe Dave can fill us in on that.

This from the blog of Lincolnman (Bill Nash)
http://abesblogcabin.org/the-abraham-lin...connection

Then a trip to the Prairie Archives book store. I was quite restrained where I only purchased one book on a follow up visit the next day.
We all (Dave and Janice, Joe, Scott, Gene & Joy) gathered back for a nice dinner where the food was almost as good as the time and conversations we shared. What a great group of people to be with.

More (including photo's) later.

Thanks for the update on the Springfield tour adventure . Are there records anywhere of the burials for these small cemeteries you visit? Sorry about your green fingers!
As for Ann Rutlrdge not being at her second gravesite, maybe she was there in spirit Big Grin

Nice segue from cheesecake to Marilyn's dress! I can just imagine Mary Lincoln's reaction to this exhibit. Yet both Marilyn and Mary appreciated dresses with low necklines and Mary wore a lot of black. Didn't know Marilyn was a a Lincoln fan. Thanks for Bill's link.

Anita

(10-03-2016 02:24 PM)davg2000 Wrote: I think the stone cutter was careless or ignorant of the actual wording.

Montgomery "moved" the body to Oakford Cemetery in Petersburg in 1890. The poem was published in 1915, and the current stone, with the Masters lines, was erected in 1921. I think that Masters was probably happy to get some measure of fame afforded by the monument.

I wonder what he thought as Ann's significance in the Lincoln story fluctuated over the first half of the Twentieth Century.

Masters went on to live until 1950 and had ample time to correct the mistake.

Interestingly, John Y. Simon's article on Ann Rutledge contains the poem as it appears on the stone, without the words "in life."

Do we know who paid for the granite headstone in 1921? Would copy have been submitted to the engraver or at the least who would have final approval? I agree it could just have been an engraving error.