Underground American Icon: Presidential

Abraham Lincoln

BORN: February 12, 1809, three miles south of Hodgenville, Kentucky

DIED: April 15, 1865 in Washington, D.C.

BURIED: Oak Ridge Cemetery, Springfield, Illinois


The Grin Reaper with Bust of Lincoln
Outside Lincoln Monument in Springfield, Illinois

I've lived in the "Land of Lincoln," Illinois, all of my life, yet it wasn't until November 1998 when I finally photographed the Lincoln Tomb. Located in the beautiful 300-acre Oak Ridge Cemetery, in Springfield, Illinois, this towering monument is a fitting tribute for our nation's sixteenth president. Oak Ridge Cemetery is the second most visited cemetery in the U.S., behind Arlington National Cemetery near Washington, D.C.

 
Actual House Lincoln Died In (Washington D.C.)

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  Ford's Theatre (Washington D.C.)

President Lincoln was shot at the Ford's Theater, in Washington, D.C., by actor John Wilkes Booth on April 14, 1865. He died the next morning in a building directly across from the Theater. The following information is provided by the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency brochure available at the tomb: News of his death came just six days after General Robert E. Lee surrendered his Confederate army to Union General Ulysses S. Grant. The celebratory atmosphere that had prevailed as the Civil War drew to a close was replaced with one of shock and grief. As the nation mourned its martyred president, the National Lincoln Monument Association dedicated itself to the task of erecting a fitting memorial in Springfield, where Lincoln had lived from 1837 to 1861. Construction of the monument, which holds the remains of the president, his wife and three of their sons, began in 1869; it was dedicated five years later.

Funeral Services and Burial

The first of many funeral services for the fallen president was conducted at the White House on Wednesday, April 19, 1865. A procession then accompanied the horse-drawn hearse as Lincoln was carried to the Capitol, where he lay in state in the Rotunda the following day. On Friday the president's remains were placed on a special train for the 1,700-mile trip to Springfield. The train also carried the remains of the Lincoln's son William "Willie," who had died in Washington, D.C., in 1862.


Lincoln's Tomb (within the monument)

The train stopped during its twelve-day journey for ten services in as many cities before arriving on May 3rd in the Springfield depot. Thousands of mourners paid their last respects as the president lay in state throughout the day and night at the state capitol (now the Old State Capitol State Historic Site). On the morning of the 4th, the long funeral procession journeyed to Oak Ridge Cemetery, where services for the president were conducted. Following the final hymn, Lincoln's casket was placed in the cemetery's public receiving vault next to Willie's.


Holding Vault

The public receiving vault was one of the resting places at Oak Ridge for the president's remains. That vault, at the foot of the hill north of the present tomb, still stands. The following December, Lincoln's remains were moved to a temporary tomb, which was dismantled after he was moved to the partially completed permanent tomb in 1871. The tomb has had two reconstructions, one in 1899 and another in 1930.


Lincoln Memorial (Washington D.C.)

For another Underground American Icon: Presidential, click here.