Category Archives: Lincoln, Abraham

Lincoln Home neighborhood in 1971 (Nelson Howarth)

Nelson Howarth, with only a week to go in his third and final term as mayor of Springfield, testified in April 1971 before the U.S. House Subcommittee on National Parks and Recreation in support of designating the Lincoln Home neighborhood … Continue reading

Posted in Buildings, Historic Sites, Lincoln Home, Lincoln, Abraham, Local government, Museums, National Register, Parks, Presidents, Prominent figures | Leave a comment

‘Mary Todd Lincoln’ misnomer

In a Jan. 29, 2015, talk introducing her new book, Mary Lincoln: Southern Girl, Northern Woman, Stacy Pratt McDermott, assistant director/associate editor of the Papers of Abraham Lincoln, listed 10 things she wanted her audience to know about Mary. No. … Continue reading

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Abraham Lincoln’s pallbearers

UPDATED with information from Lincoln’s Springfield: The Funeral of Abraham Lincoln, by Richard Hart (2015). Some confusion exists regarding who were the pallbearers for President Abraham Lincoln in May 1865 in Springfield. Springfield newspapers published two slightly different lists preceding … Continue reading

Posted in Lincoln Tomb, Lincoln, Abraham, Prominent figures | Tagged , | 8 Comments

Lincoln Tomb statuary (original)

This entry is a lightly edited version of a presentation given by Mark Johnson, historian for the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency, to the 2014 volunteer dinner hosted by the now-defunct Lincoln Monument Association, a non-profit support group for the Lincoln … Continue reading

Posted in Architecture, Arts and letters, Historic Sites, Lincoln Tomb, Lincoln, Abraham, Military, National Register | 3 Comments

National Lincoln Monument Association directors, 1865

The National Lincoln Monument Association, officially organized on May 11, 1865, oversaw fundraising for and construction of Abraham Lincoln’s tomb. Although members originally planned to build the structure on land that now is the site of the Illinois Statehouse, the … Continue reading

Posted in Historic Sites, Illinois capital, John T. Stuart, Journalism, Lincoln Tomb, Lincoln, Abraham, Local government, Media, Politics, Prominent figures | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Mary Lincoln letters about Lincoln Tomb site

Below is the text of letters written by Mary Lincoln during a dispute in June 1865 with the National Lincoln Monument Association. The NLMA wanted to build Springfield’s monument to President Abraham Lincoln (and his tomb) on what was called the Mather … Continue reading

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Duncan McDonald, labor leader

Duncan McDonald (1873-1965), while not as well-known as John L. Lewis, was almost certainly more principled as both a United Mine Workers leader and a politician. The Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library’s Chronicling Illinois collection characterizes McDonald’s labor career this way: … Continue reading

Posted in Arts and letters, Business, Coal mines and mining, Lincoln, Abraham, Politics, Presidential candidates, Prominent figures, Springfield Survey | Tagged , | 9 Comments

Bettie Stuart Brown

Elizabeth “Bettie” Stuart Brown (1838-69) was the oldest child of John T. Stuart and Mary Nash Stuart. John Stuart was Lincoln’s first law partner and Mary Lincoln’s first cousin. Bettie was born in July of 1838, nine months after her … Continue reading

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Caroline Lamb Black

Caroline “Lina” Lamb Black (1831-1908) was the third child of James Lamb, a prosperous Springfield merchant and pork packer. She was born in Kaskaskia on Feb. 8, 1831, and moved with her parents to Springfield two years later. Mary Lincoln’s sister … Continue reading

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Legh Kimball

Legh Kimball (1826-1865) is an interesting and somewhat mysterious footnote in the story of Abraham and Mary Lincoln. Even his name is mysterious — several 19th-century sources cite it as “Legh,” even though Lincoln’s own phonetic spelling of the name indicates … Continue reading

Posted in Early residents, Lincoln, Abraham | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments