Lincoln's Inauguration Journey - Cleveland to Buffalo February 16, 1861

Abraham Lincoln wasn't feeling well 150 years ago today, on February 16, 1861. He had been traveling on a cold train for five days and attempting to speak to countless thousands of people along the way, without really saying anything important. He found the ordeal exhausting, as he told his private secretary, John Nicolay. His voice was still hoarse and he no doubt simply wanted to get to Washington City. But he still had a long journey ahead.

Lincoln had traveled the previous day from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to Cleveland, Ohio, at least part of that way in a snowstorm. Before he arrived in Cleveland, he had spoken in Ravenna, Ohio once more not saying much of substance. He did thank the people of Ohio for their strong support of the Union, and told them that it was important to keep the ship afloat. The people of Hudson, Ohio merely got to hear him state flatly that he could not say much, thanks to his extreme hoarseness. The people must have been thrilled to see Lincoln, but disappointed in his lack of a speech.

The Lincoln Inaugural Train left Cleveland that morning 150 years ago today at around 9:00 a.m. for the final stop that day scheduled for the growing industrial city of Buffalo, New York, then the 10th largest city in the United States.

The first stop that day we have a record of was in the town of Painesville, Ohio not far east of Cleveland. He briefly greeted the crowd waiting for him, made polite remarks about the "good-looking" ladies and asked to have music from the assembled music band.

Further along the track, the train stopped in Ashtabula, Ohio, in the far northeastern corner of the state. After the crowd there asked to see Mrs. Lincoln, he replied that he learned long ago that he could not compel her to do what she did not want to do. Mary Todd Lincoln made very few appearances along the entire journey.

At the last stop in Ohio, in the village of Conneaut, someone shouted to Lincoln "Don't give up the ship!". Lincoln replied, "with your aid I never will as long as life lasts."

The train then entered Erie, Pennsylvania, on the shores of Lake Erie. He once more declined to give a speech, but promised he would speak later, in accordance with the Constitution and the manifest interests of the whole country. He urged adherence to the Union.

The most interesting part of the leg of the Inaugural Journey that day was the stop in the town of Westfield, New York where lived a young girl of 11 named Grace Bedell. It was she who wrote Abraham Lincoln a letter in October 1860, suggesting that he grow a beard because his "face was so thin." Lincoln took her advice and had a full beard during his journey. He asked if she might be present in the crowd, and surely enough, she was. The child was beautiful, with black eyes and hair, being pointed out by the crowd. Lincoln left the train car, walked through the crowd to the girl and gave her several kisses on her cheek. Young Grace blushed, but didn't run away.

The next stop at Dunkirk, New York was less eventful than the one before. Although a crowd of around 15,000 were waiting to greet Lincoln, he again declined to make a speech. He instead stood with his hand on a flag staff, and asked the crowd to stand by him as long as he stood by it. The crowd roared its approval.

Lincoln's train finally pulled into Buffalo that afternoon at around 4:00 p.m. According to the New York Times report of the event, at least 75,000 people were awaiting his arrival. An impressive number to be sure, considering that the population of the city that day was slightly over 80,000. It was a crowd about to lose control.

Waiting for Mr. Lincoln when he left the train car was the man who had been the 13th President Of The United States, Millard Fillmore. Fillmore and Lincoln shook hands, then as they began walking away from the train, the crowd surged towards the two men, as if a tsunami itself was about to strike. Policeman and soldiers charged with guarding Mr. Lincoln were quickly "swept away like weeds before an angry current." Finally, what soldiers remained quickly lowered their weapons so the bayonets were facing the mob. Amazingly, no one was seriously injured. A repeat of this chaos would occur again barely four years later as Buffalo hosted one of Lincoln's funerals.

(The image included in this post is a print of the crowd waiting for Lincoln that day in Buffalo, courtesy of the Library of Congress).

Lincoln did make some remarks that day in Buffalo, once he had been safely secured from the sea of humanity. At the American Hotel, Lincoln yet again said not much, other than the platitudes he had said already in other cities. He said that he was still absorbing the current events then sweeping across the country and urged the crowd to "maintain their composure," standing up for their rights and obligations under the U.S. Constitution.

Abraham Lincoln was the "rock star" of his time. Everywhere he went, masses of people tried to catch at least a glimpse of him. The crowds had been dangerous in Columbus, Pittsburgh, and now Buffalo. There was a growing concern for his safety and it was struggle to keep him from being killed by the very people who hoped he could save the country.

As fate would have it, another man who would someday become President Of The United States was in the throngs of people as Lincoln spoke: young Stephen Grover Cleveland, who was the 22nd and 24th President.

Lincoln and his family stayed in Buffalo that night and the entire day and night of February 17, 1861 for rest after what had already been a grueling journey. He was scheduled to speak in Albany and New York City, throughout New Jersey, and in Philadelphia. He had many more miles to go before he would at last reach Washington.

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Lincoln's Inauguration Journey Pittsburgh to Cleveland February 15, 1861

The morning of February 15, 1861 found Abraham Lincoln speaking to a crowd of about 5,000 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He had spent the night in the grandest hotel in the city, the Monongahela House, after a dreary, long ride the day before from Columbus, Ohio.

Lincoln, for some unknown reason, chose to speak mainly about the issue of a protective tariff, thought to help American manufacturers and workers. (compare this with today's belief in completely open markets) The speech was one of the longer ones Lincoln had given during his journey at this point, and it more or less flopped. Even reporters who were with Lincoln criticized the speech and its delivery. The people were most concerned about the state of disunion going on in the country and to date, Lincoln had not offered anything of substance during his journey to Washington. It was Lincoln's only speech in Pittsburgh, and it's unfortunate his effort wasn't better.

After this disappointing speech, the Lincolns and accompanying passengers departed Pittsburgh and headed northwest toward the growing industrial city of Cleveland, Ohio. It is unclear why the schedule had Lincoln going back into the Buckeye State, but this was the route his planners had made.

Along the way to Cleveland, there was another meal stop, this time in the town of Alliance, Ohio located in Stark County, which is where I make my home. It was Mr. Lincoln's only visit to the county and it was not uneventful. Although his speech was of the same type as he'd given numerous times already ("I need to get to Washington, so farewell), there was a grand crowd waiting for him. An overzealous "gun salute" went off near where the Lincoln's were eating, and the explosion shattered windows, even covering Mrs. Lincoln in pieces of glass. According to the New York Times report of the incident, Mrs. Lincoln remained calm (for once).

After the meal was over, the train continued on to Cleveland, where it was snowing heavily, which is very typical for a February day. The trip from the depot to the hotel where Lincoln and his family were staying that night was a distance of two miles and thousands were along the streets to see him.

Lincoln delivered a speech later in the day from his hotel (The Weddell House, no longer standing) to approximately 10,000 people. He touched on the same themes: the national crisis was "artificial," the states still had all their rights under the Constitution. He did ask "Why all this excitement? Why all these complaints?", referring to the South's outrage over his election and their desire to expand slavery. The print above, courtesy of the Library of Congress, is a sketch of Lincoln speaking that day 150 years ago in Cleveland.

By now, Lincoln had been traveling by train for four days and the fatigue had already begun affecting his health. He had a bad cold and was very hoarse when speaking. Still, he was able to project his voice, a high-pitched one with a pronounced frontier accent, and everyone in the crowd could hear.

Once the speech was finished, Lincoln attended receptions in his honor at the hotel. Reporters wrote that the crowds were far more orderly in Cleveland than they had been in Pittsburgh.

This was Abraham Lincoln's only appearance in the city of Cleveland while living Not much more than four years later, it was the site of one of his 13 majestic funerals as the citizens of paid their respects for a final time.

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Lincoln Visited Here 150 Years Ago Today

150 years ago today on February 14, 1861, Abraham Lincoln stopped for a meal at the tiny village of Cadiz Junction, Ohio during his Inauguration Journey from Springfield to Washington.

This meal stop for Lincoln, his family, and the rest of the party certainly wasn't an important event in Lincoln's legacy, nor was it noteworthy in his Inauguration Journey, except to the local people. Nonetheless, I want to make sure the anniversary of this small event was not overlooked.

Lincoln and his family ate at a local boarding house or hotel which is long gone. While the local papers of the day claim he had dinner there, this marker claims he had breakfast there. I would tend to believe the papers. Mr. Lincoln didn't give a speech or much talk to the crowd waiting for him, claiming he was "too full for utterance" after the meal. But he did thank the people of Harrison County for their hospitality.

Cadiz Junction is located in the rugged foothills of the Appalachian Mountains in rural southeastern Ohio. It's located in Harrison County, just a few miles outside the county seat of Cadiz. Cadiz Junction was at the intersection or "junction" between the Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, and St. Louis Railroad (later the Pennsylvania Railroad system) and a branch line which ran from Cadiz to Cadiz Junction. It was important enough of a stop that General George A. Custer, General Ulysses S. Grant, Lincoln's successor President Andrew Johnson, and Admiral David Farragut also stopped on various train trips for a meal at the local hotel.

Today the hamlet of Cadiz Junction has all but vanished. While trains certainly still pass through, the best times for the settlement have been over for at least a century. Today there is a house, an abandoned railroad "house" (similar to a depot, probably where workers could spend the night), and a small township garage. That, plus the historical marker I've shown above. The photos I've included below are how this hamlet appears today:



The image at the beginning of this post is a photograph I took earlier today of the historical marker commemorating Lincoln's visit. The marker was placed there many years ago not by the Federal Government, not by the state of Ohio, but simply by the Harrison County Historical Society.

There are no signs on the main Ohio state route leading to the township road where Cadiz Junction is located. There are certainly no signs telling people about this historical marker, and many county residents probably don't even know it's there. I only know about it because both sides of my family hail from this rural Ohio county. It was one of the first sites associated with Abraham Lincoln I ever visited as a young boy.

I chose to commemorate Lincoln's visit to this remote area of Ohio because I didn't want it to be overlooked in the hoopla associated with the sesquicentennial of Lincoln's Inaugural Journey. Re-enactments are happening in major cities across the original route, including this past Saturday in Cincinnati, Ohio and yesterday in the state capital of Columbus.

I've purposely avoided the National Park Service ceremonies and re-creations of Lincoln's Inauguration Journey. There have been thousands of people attending them already. I have no desire to see even a fantastic Lincoln portrayer give portions of the speeches Lincoln gave in the various major cities.

Instead, I chose to travel to Cadiz Junction. I wanted to spend some time quietly reflecting on Lincoln's legacy as I tried to imagine what the scene might have looked like when he visited, the weight of the nation riding on his shoulders.

There were no ceremonies today in Cadiz Junction to commemorate Mr. Lincoln's visit. No speakers, no speeches, not even a write-up about his visit in the local weekly paper. It's a pity.

Even so, at least one person was there, remembering the day when 150 years ago, February 14, 1861, Mr. Lincoln and his family paid a visit.

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Lincoln's Inauguration Journey - February 14, 1861 to Pittsburgh

Abraham Lincoln and his family left the city of Columbus, Ohio early on the morning of February 14, 1861. The destination for the end of that day was the industrial city of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The image I've included with this post is a stained glass window which depicts Mr. Lincoln speaking from the rear of his Inaugural train. It is located in the Smithfield United Church Of Christ in downtown Pittsburgh.

The weather in Columbus was cold with a chilling rain that day as the train left at 7:00 a.m. The crowd of people that morning, while not quite as large as the ones the previous day, still led to general confusion that morning and Mary Lincoln and her two younger sons nearly missed the train. But they caught it at last and the train went on to its destination. To help ease the boredom, some members of the party broke into song, singing popular tunes of the day.

The first stop at which Lincoln's words were recorded that day are from Newark, Ohio. The train actually went too far past the depot for him to easily address the crowd there. He limited his remarks to that fact, saying that there wasn't enough time to make a speech, and the "many fair ladies" had been "deprived...of observing" his "very interesting countenance." His simply bade the town farewell.

Lincoln's next stop of which we have records that day was in the small hamlet of Cadiz Junction, Ohio. This small place was the location of two railroads of the time, thus the name of the village, located a few miles from the Harrison County seat of Cadiz. This was a dinner stop for the party, and they were fed at the Park's House, a hotel long since vanished. After dinner, Lincoln pronounced to the assembled crowd that he was "too full for utterance" but if they had time, they would organize the train and pass a vote of thanks to the people of the county.

Lincoln had time for a longer speech of more substance at the next town, Steubenville, Ohio. This city was the birthplace and early home of Lincoln's eventual Secretary Of War, Edwin M. Stanton, but of course that was not foreseen at the time. Steubenville is on the banks of the Ohio River. At that time, the state of Virginia (now West Virginia) was across the river. Much like in Cincinnati two days earlier, Lincoln addressed Ohioans with points about the U.S. Constitution and the then-current troubles in the country. He stated that the people "on the other side of this majestic stream" wanted their rights under the Constitution. He pointedly asked just what their rights were under that document. He said that to decide that, the only was for a vote of the people across the country. If the majority did not want the expansion of slavery, then how could the minority still determine the outcome of the issue? He reiterated that if they (the Virginians) didn't like the outcome of the vote (i.e. the presidential vote), then they had another chance in four years to elect a better man.

At Wellsville, Ohio the train halted for under two minutes, and Lincoln simply greeted the crowd and said farewell. But then a drunken man pushed his way through the crowd to shake Lincoln's hand, admitting that he had voted for Stephen A. Douglas. Lincoln shook the man's hand anyway, saying that the man and his friends should work to keep the ship of state afloat, and perhaps Mr. Douglas would have a chance next time of winning.

The Inauguration train finally left the Buckeye state and crossed into Pennsylvania, where he next spoke at the village of Rochester, just west of Pittsburgh. He intended on greeting the people, but as he was leaving a person asked what Lincoln would do with the secessionists. Lincoln replied "My friend, that is a matter which I have under very grave consideration."

Then the Lincoln train was delayed for almost four hours after learning that a freight train had broken down ahead of them on the tracks. The party tried to make the best of it, but by then it was nearly dark and everyone was very tired and cold. Finally, a few hours later, the Lincoln train reached the city of Pittsburgh.

Lincoln spoke at the Monongahela House, Pittsburgh's most luxurious hotel. He told the crowd that as he rode through the streets to the hotel, he thought that if "all the people were in favor of the Union, it can certainly be in no great danger - it will be preserved." After a few more remarks of the same type, he told the crowd that he would make a longer, better speech the next morning. It had been a very long day and the weather was supposed to be better then.

Thus ended Lincoln's day, February 14, 1861 - 150 years ago today.

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Lincoln's Inauguration Journey - Columbus February 13, 1861

Abraham Lincoln arrived in the state capital of Ohio, Columbus, on February 13, 1861 during his Inaugural Journey to Washington. More accurately, it could be said that he barely arrived in the capital city.

According to the New York Times report of the date, a bomb was found on Lincoln's train car earlier that day as it left Cincinnati, where he had spoken the day before to tens of thousands. Fortunately, the bomb was either defused or disposed of and Lincoln, his family, and the rest of the passengers made it safely to Columbus. Lincoln was already under death threats and now an attempt on his life had already been made.

The Buckeye State (my home state) went wild for Abraham Lincoln. In Xenia, Ohio earlier in the day, a mob estimated at 5,000 people was waiting for Lincoln's arrival at the depot. The crowd jumped on the roof of his train car, stormed the depot, and even ate the President-Elect's lunch which had been waiting for him. Though they demanded a speech, Lincoln gave them none, generally fearing for his and his family's safety in such a tumult.

Lincoln spoke very briefly at another whistle stop along the way to Columbus, in the small village of London, Ohio while the train took on fresh water. Lincoln declined to give a speech and instead asked an assembled band to play a musical interlude. He was already tired and hoarse from speaking and he was only three days into his journey.

A huge sea of people awaited Lincoln in Columbus, then a town of not even 20,000. Yet the Times estimated that at least 50,000 people were in the town in order to glimpse the future president.

Lincoln was taken by carriage to the Ohio Statehouse where the combined houses of the state's legislature (called "General Assembly") waited to hear him speak. From the print showed above (courtesy Library of Congress), the building was jammed with people. Abraham Lincoln spoke to the Assembly, but the speech was unmemorable and included a strange statement when he claimed that "nothing was going wrong" in the country and that "there is nothing that really hurts anybody." Even close friends were disappointed by his speech in Columbus and for that matter, in Cincinnati and Indianapolis as well.

(Abraham Lincoln was not a good extemporaneous or "off-the-cuff" speaker and these speeches thus far had revealed that weakness of his. The speeches which have come through the ages to us as brilliant and moving were those which he worked on carefully for weeks, constantly editing and marking them until he felt they were just right. This more than anything puts to bed the myth that Lincoln wrote his Gettysburg Address on the back of an envelope while traveling to Gettysburg.)

Once the speech was over that day in Columbus, Lincoln had to escape to another room to avoid the crush of people who rushed toward him, determined to touch the man who would soon be President.

Lincoln then went to the outside steps of the Ohio Statehouse in order to speak to the thousands who were not politicians or VIP's and who had missed hearing him in the building. Lincoln acknowledged that not everyone in the crowd had voted for him, but that he appreciated their attendance, saying that had any of his opponents had won, he would think that such a crowd would have come to see the other men, too. He also admitted that the State General Assembly had just heard a few "broken" remarks from him, so it's quite possible that Lincoln realized that his speech had not been a good one.

While in Columbus, Lincoln was notified by telegram that with the presidential vote officially counted in Washington that day, he was now certified to be the next President Of The United States. There is an interesting account from yesterday's (February 12, 2011) New York Times about this vote. Someone asked General Winfield Scott on February 13, 1861 what would happen should someone try to disrupt the official vote counting in Washington that day, especially if it was a U.S. Senator from a southern state. The person was unbelieving that Scott would have him arrested. Scott replied: "I would blow him to hell!"

Lincoln spent the night in Columbus, Ohio 150 years ago today, February 13, 1861. He resumed the Inauguration Journey, the next day as he traveled through small villages and towns in eastern Ohio, on his way to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. That leg will be described in my next post. Stay tuned.

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Lincoln's Inauguration Journey - February 12, 1861

The second day of Abraham Lincoln's Inauguration Journey was his 52nd birthday, February 12, 1861. The next leg of this journey continued from Indianapolis through the eastern half of Indiana then traveled southward to the Ohio River city of Cincinnati, Ohio.

Lincoln had spoken fairly frequently the first day of the trip and was already experiencing some minor hoarseness as the train pulled out of Indianapolis. Nonetheless, he still would meet the crowds and even offer brief remarks at the stops along the route to Cincinnati that day.

The train passed through small Indiana towns that day, and made a brief two-minute stop in Shelbyville, where Lincoln shook as many hands as he could before the train departed. It was his second visit to that town, the first being in 1859 during his return trip from a speech he gave in Cincinnati. On that occasion, Lincoln had spoken in Shelbyville for a short time, pointing his differences with Stephen A. Douglas and the Democrats over the issues of slavery.

At the longer stop in Lawrenceburg, Indiana this day, though, Lincoln had a longer time period in which to offer a few remarks to the crowd. He stated that "If the politicians and leaders of parties were as true as the PEOPLE (original source capitalization, not mine), there would be little fear that the peace of the country would be disturbed."

Upon arrival in Cincinnati that afternoon, Lincoln spoke a few lines upon a rousing welcome from the crowd at the depot. He told the people gathered that he would give his main speech later that day from the Burnet House (a hotel), a print of which is shown in the image I've included with this post.

At the Burnet House, Lincoln thanked the multitudes of people who had come to see him, a crowd estimated at approximately 10,000. He admitted that the people had not come to see him, but the President-Elect of The United States, a statement which caused much cheering and applause. He said it was as it should be, no matter if his other opponents had been elected instead of him. He was quick to point out that well that in his opinion no other country on Earth would've seen so many gather to welcome its new leader, and that the country owed this to the free institutions which had guaranteed freedom of assembly. He said that he hoped that the country would continue on such a path for centuries to come.

He then turned his attention to any Kentuckians who might be in the crowd. Yet again, Lincoln assured those who might be present that he had no intention to interfere with their "institution" (i.e., slavery) where it already existed. He said that other than their differing opinions on the issue of expansion of slavery, there was no difference between them. He reminded them again, that he was a fellow Kentuckian and had no personal intentions of bad against them. He closed his directed speech to the Kentuckians by saying he would treat them as the Founding Fathers had treated them.

Then speaking to the Ohioans again, Lincoln asked them to harbor no ill will towards their "friends" and "brethren" across the Ohio River in Kentucky. He expressed his hope that the country would yet again come together as one nation.

In those days (and even today), there was a large population of Germans in Cincinnati. Later after his main speech that day, Lincoln went to another location in the city to address a crowd of people of German heritage which included numerous recent immigrants from that country. Lincoln again declined to announce what course of action he would take once he assumed the presidency in the following month. But he did state to them that he would treat the Germans (who were facing much discrimination then) no better and no worse than Americans. He stated his support for a Homestead Law (passed in 1862) which would provide free Federal land (in return for working it for at least five years) to anyone who would want it. This was wildly popular among the German and other European immigrants at the time, who were fleeing famine, cramped conditions, and oppression in their native countries.

With these remarks, Lincoln was done appearing in public for that day. He and his family overnighted in Cincinnati. He would leave the next day for the state capital of Ohio, Columbus. That brief leg of the trip will be discussed tomorrow, the 150th anniversary.

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Lincoln's Inauguration Journey - February 11, 1861

The first day of Abraham Lincoln's Inaugural Journey to Washington City (as it was called in those days) began with his famous Farewell Address he gave that morning to his friends and neighbors in Springfield. That was the subject of my previous post. This post will cover the rest of that first day's journey.

Lincoln appeared to the crowd that day as the photo above depicts. The pose was taken in photographer C.S. German's Springfield gallery only two days prior to departure, February 9, 1861. It shows the President-Elect with a full beard and somewhat shaggy hair. His wife Mary thought it made him look almost "saintly."

After Lincoln and his family departed Springfield, he briefly wrote some of the lines of his Farewell Address down on paper for posterity, then his personal secretary John Nicolay wrote out some more of the Address. Lincoln finished it, so the original manuscript of the Address is in both of their handwriting.

Train travel being what it was in the 1860's, meant frequent stops along the way for more water or wood or coal for the locomotives. This journey would be no different. At most of the stops, Lincoln would at least appear very briefly at the rear of the train and say a few appropriate remarks to the gathered villagers or townspeople. He saved his more important speeches along the journey for the large cities or state capitals of each state he traveled through.

The first stop that day was in the small town of Tolono, Illinois. He spoke only a couple of lines to the crowd, telling it that he hoped that "Behind the cloud the sun is still shining."

In Danville, Illinois, Lincoln no doubt was greeted at least briefly by some old friends. Lincoln often participated in court cases in that small town, and he had become quite close with two men there. Oliver Davis was Lincoln's floor manager at the Republican Convention in 1860 which nominated Lincoln. They had served on several cases together. Another friend in that town was Oscar Harmon, also a fellow lawyer and former Illinois state representative. Harmon was killed in the Battle of Kennesaw Mountain during the Civil War. When Lincoln himself was later killed, a lock of his hair was given to Harmon's widow. You can read more about Lincoln's friends in Danville here.

Soon after, Lincoln's train reached the Indiana state line, where he spoke about having lived in that state from 1816 to 1830. He promised a bigger and better speech in Indianapolis at the state capitol. The next stop was in Lafayette, Indiana where he marveled at the speed he had traveled that day, remarking that in his youth, it was good if a person had been able to travel 30 miles. He went on to talk about the Union and how he felt that it would yet remain whole.

In Thorntown and Lebanon, Indiana, Lincoln tried to tell a humorous story about a slow horse to the crowds, but the train departed before he could finish the story. The point was basically that he wanted to make it to Washington prior to the Inauguration on March 4. This was a theme he repeated frequently on the journey.

He finally arrived in Indianapolis, the state capital later in the day. In response to a hearty welcome from the governor, Lincoln addressed a large assembly of people as he stood on the rear platform of the train. He told the crowd that the preservation of the Union was as much as their responsibility, if not more, than it was his own responsibility. That everyone who loved the Union must struggle to preserve it.

Later that day from the Bates House (a hotel) also in Indianapolis, Lincoln addressed another large crowd. In this speech, Lincoln spoke strongly against the southern states' claims that the northern states were trying to "invade" their territory. Lincoln replied or asked that if the Federal Government was simply trying to hold onto its property (i.e., forts being seized by the southern states), how could that, then, be invading? He also asked how could the "sacredness" of a given state be more important than that of the Union?

Thus ended a long first day of Abraham Lincoln's Inauguration Journey to Washington, February 11, 1861. He had said farewell to his beloved Springfield, and spoken at small towns and large ones as well, in both Illinois and Indiana. The next day was his 52nd birthday.

Won't you join the Abraham Lincoln Blog as I commemorate each day of his journey, on the 150th anniversary of each particular day? It will be a memorable trip.

I should mention that my source for this series of posts is primarily The Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln, published in 1953, Roy Blaser, editor. It is an indispensable resource for researching the life of Abraham Lincoln.

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