Lincoln and Ann Rutledge

[Joe Di Cola]

Last Friday, I spent an hour or so walking through the Old Concord Cemetery outside of Petersburg, IL, where Ann was originally buried before some greedy undertaker (to promote Oakland Cemetery in Petersburg) dug up a few "remains" and moved them to the new cemetery. It is a lonely and remote spot in the middle of a farm field and, stifling hot as it was that day, I felt it was the type of place that Lincoln visited to grieve over the loss of Ann. Each time I have visited Old Concord I have been moved by Lincoln's loss. Although Herndon may have once used the story of Lincoln's romance with Ann to, perhaps, get a dig in at Mary Lincoln, I believe on testimony from Herdon's "informants" that the romance took place. There is a great monograph by, I believe, John Y. Simon that is a good summary of the Ann Rutledge story. I am still on the road so I can't give you the full source right now. Later, after I get back home, I will post a picture of Ann's original gravesite--although one already appears in Roger's superb Lincoln research site.