Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library & Museum

Letters from Home: Permilia Gordon to her husband Samuel.

On this Valentine’s Day we present a handwritten Civil War era valentine written by Permilia Gordon to her husband Samuel who fought in the 118^th Illinois Infantry Company C. Below, you will find a transcription of the valentine:

Your Valentine

your steps are so light your movements so rare

Wouldn’t wonder a bit if you lived in the air

Remember me When this you see

Roses red and Violets blue

Sugars sweet and so are you

If this paper should chance to roam

Box its ears and send it home

Samuel Gordon appears to have had a very loving family. You can read a letter written to him from his daughter, Ella, here.

Abraham Lincoln and his Emancipation Proclamation

Copyrighted and designed by Mrs. M. M. Pabor in 1888 this commemorative lithograph of the Emancipation Proclamation was printed in Cincinnati, Ohio and features the allegorical ladies, Justice and Liberty. Other symbols of peace and justice, the laurel leaves and grapes are featured on the print. Because not all slaves were freed immediately with the issuance of the Proclamation in 1863, Mrs. Pabor added a note to this copy: “The rest of the slaves were freed by legislation, and Constitutional amendments.” This statement refers to the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution.

This lithograph is currently on display as part of our most recent version of our “Boys in Blue” exhibit currently on display at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library until March, 2014.

Vintage Christmas: This 1866 Christmas Day menu from the St. Nicholas Hotel here in Springfield, IL offers a plethora of choices including: Rollette of Mutton with Spanish Olives, Lamb Tongue, and Union Cake.

Vintage Christmas Greetings: This 19th century Christmas and New Year’s card was given out by Frank Simmons a prominent bookseller here in Springfield, IL at the time.

Boys In Blue: Diary entry from Sgt. Ashford H Magee of the 77^th Illinois Infantry Company E

In Memory

Dr. C.M. Colquet of leo “A” 1^st Ala Arty. Ft. Morgan age 40 years, Departed this life 4^th July 1864. If a man dies Shall he live again.

All the days of my appointed time will I wait till my chance comes

Rest, rest, rest in peace.

Dirty Socks: Trash or Treasure? Newly Accessioned Artifacts Highlighting Illinois History

When it comes to museum collections, ideally no one artifact receives better care, or more special attention, than any other artifact. Our copy of the Gettysburg Address, for example, written in Abraham Lincoln’s own hand, is a marvel and a treasure. But so is the dirty pair of anonymous stockings dated to the early nineteenth century.

Like the famously flashy artifacts that attract visitors from around the world, one lowly pair of socks teaches us just as much about American history. By studying Lincoln’s handwriting, experts can conclude something about the man’s character. By studying an unnamed young woman’s bridal hosiery, we can also conclude something about her character. Are the socks well cared for? Are there rips, or holes, and if so, were they mended? If they were mended, perhaps the owner couldn’t afford new ones. Perhaps there is a lesson in conscious consumer responsibility here. Alternatively, what kinds of materials were used in making socks in 1835? Are the socks plain, or do they have embroidered patterns? What does this tell us about fashion trends of the day?

Above is a photo of a pair of bridal hosiery, dated to 1835, and now in our Illinois Artifacts Collection. The stockings were donated to the Illinois Historical Society by Agnes P. Reynolds in 1928. The stockings have one long seam up the backside, with a pink-striped hem at top. The ankle area and tops of both feet are intricately embroidered with diamond and stripe patterns. The heel to toe area is plain.

Boys In Blue: Col. Daniel Brown Bush, 2nd Illinois Cavalry Regiment

Before Colonel Daniel Brown Bush, Jr. enlisted in the Union Army, he was the owner and editor of the “Pike County Journal” in Pittsfield, IL and was one of the first newspaper editors to endorse Abraham Lincoln as a candidate for President. On February 9, 1860 Daniel Bush published an editorial written by John Nicolay, who would go on to become one of Abraham Lincoln’s private secretaries. A section of the editorial read:

Give us Lincoln as the candidate and we can promise the electoral vote of Illinois for the Republicans as a sure result…He maintains the faith of the Fathers of the Republic, he believes in the Declaration of Independence, he yields obedience to the Constitution and laws of his country. He has the radicalism of Jefferson and of Clay and the conservatism of Washington and Jackson. In his hands the Union would be safe.

Certainly Daniel Bush believed in the cause of the Union because a year and a half later he enlisted as a Major in the Second Illinois Cavalry Regiment, taking part in the battles at Forts Henry and Donelson as well as Shiloh. As a Lieutenant Colonel, Bush commanded the Second Illinois at the Battle of Vicksburg. He was discharged as Colonel of the Second Cavalry on July 24, 1865 and would eventually find his way to Portland, OR where we would live until his death in 1913. Upon his death, the “Sunday Oregonian” wrote in his obituary:

For the past three months he has been almost helpless and, like our old friend, Colonel Newcomb, he has been living over again the stirring scenes of his early manhood, frequently imagining himself at the head of his loved regiment, and when the time came for him to answer the last roll call he answered is as placidly as did our old English Colonel, and slipped away from the troublous things of this lower life. He had fought the good fight, like the brave true soldier he was, and could well afford to go where alarums are never heard and conflicts never come.

Boys In Blue: Pvt. William Alphonso McLain

At the age of 15, William Alphonso McLain joined the Union Army for a one hundred day stint in the 9^th Illinois Infantry. The age listed on his papers? Twenty-two. Three years later, William mustered into the Army for another one hundred day tour, this time with the 135^th Illinois Infantry. The age listed on his papers? A more accurate eighteen.

From our Abraham Lincoln Collection: The Programme of Reception

Six days after his death, on April 21, 1865, Abraham Lincoln’s funeral train left Washington, D.C., to begin the more than 1,600 mile journey back to Springfield, Illinois where he was to be buried. Preparations had begun in Springfield for, the late President’s arrival, and the above Programme of Reception detailed the order in which dignitaries and other notable representatives were to receive the President’s train and transport his body to the State House. There are a few differences between what is printed in the Programme and the actual events of May 3 when Mr. Lincoln’s body arrived in Springfield.

The most notable difference is the train station that received Abraham Lincoln’s funeral train. The Programme lists the original arrival point as the Great Western Depot, the same Depot from which the President left Springfield in February 1861. Instead, the funeral train arrived at the Chicago and Alton Depot a few blocks away. All indications are that the reasons for the change were logistical. According to a 1941 article in Baltimore and Ohio Magazine which quotes James Wilkerson of Kansas City, Missouri, the funeral coach, “was constructed with four trucks instead of two, and this resulted in a great deal of difficulty during the trip to Springfield. Car ran awkwardly and great care had to exercised in passing over switch points.” This simple detail would have made it more difficult for the train to be switched over to the tracks that would have carried the funeral train to the Great Western Depot. In addition, the switchover to the Great Western Depot was south of Springfield, meaning that the train would have passed through the Chicago and Alton stop, and the masses of observers there, before coming back to the Great Western Depot. So, it appears the decision was made to simplify the process and have the funeral train come to rest at the Chicago and Alton Depot.

The other differences are relatively minor. Instead of 8 a.m., the train arrived an hour later at 9 a.m. William T. Coggeshall wrote in his 1865 book The Journeys of Abraham Lincoln: from Springfield to Washington, 1861 and from Washington to Springfield, 1865, “The Funeral Train was announced by the firing of cannon at nine o’clock. It passed into the depot through a dense crowd of expectant people, composed not only of the citizens of Sangamon County, but representing all the States touching Illinois.” The last difference is in the route of the procession. The May 4, 1865, edition of the Illinois State Journal tells us the route taken: east on Jefferson Street to Fifth Street; then south on Fifth Street to Monroe Street; east on Monroe to Sixth Street; and then north to the State House. There the procession entered through the east gate and into the Hall of Representatives via the North entrance.

Boys In Blue: 1st Lt. Michael F Swartzcope, 31st Illinois Infantry, Company A

Michael F. Swartzcope of Illinois stood six-foot-five and a half and at 41 years of age he mustered into the 31^st Illinois Infantry as a Private. Census records tell us that Michael worked as both a cooper and a surveyor before the war began. Over six foot tall and a surveyor…sound familiar? By the end of the war, Michael was promoted to 1st Lieutenant and Quartermaster. Michael’s Lincolnesque life continued after the war; Lincoln was a lawyer, and Swartzcope followed a law career as well, serving as a judge in Jackson County, IL from 1865 to 1869. Judge Swartzcope passed away on March 22, 1901 at the age of 80 at the Home for Disabled Veterans in Danville, IL.