Clockwise from upper left: Tinsley Block Building, Old State Capitol, Union Square Park, Lincoln home (Photos by Don Knebel)
Today, we take a respite from our international travels and spend two days in Springfield, Illinois, visiting sites related to the life and death of Abraham Lincoln, the 16th President of the United States.
In 1836, Lincoln, then 27 years old, was admitted to the Illinois bar and moved from New Salem, Illinois, to Springfield, where he established a law practice with John Stuart. Stuart was a cousin of Mary Todd, who had moved from her home in Lexington, Kentucky, at about the same time. In 1839, the Illinois capital was moved from Vandalia to Springfield. In 1843, Lincoln established a law office on the third floor of the then new Tinsley Block building, located just south of the then new state capitol building, where he argued often before the Illinois Supreme Court. In 1842, Lincoln married Mary Todd in Springfield, almost two years after he had reneged on his promise to marry her. In 1844, Lincoln purchased a house near his law office, which he enlarged as his family grew.
Springfield, 213 miles west of Indianapolis, has a population of about 115,000. Much of the downtown remembers Lincoln’s time in the city. The law office he shared with William Herndon until 1852 is re-created on the ground floor of what remains of the Tinsley Block building, which has been restored to its 1840s look. The now Old State Capitol, where Lincoln said in 1858, “A house divided against itself cannot stand,” is closed for renovations. Statues of Lincoln and his family are nearby and in Union Square Park, adjacent to the Romanesque-style Union Station. The Lincoln Home National Historic Site includes the only house Lincoln ever owned, restored to its condition when he and his family lived there. The site also includes the four-block area around the house, with other homes restored to their original conditions.