I don't know how many of you even noticed the article in last Thursday's paper about the National Geographic writer and Lincoln's Tomb. Actually, it was an article in response to the Adam Goodheart travelogue as he followed the route taken by the train that carried Abraham Lincoln's body back to Springfield, Illinois, after his assassination. After I read the article from the Courier, I went online and found the original article.
For the most part, the article was all right. Not great -- a lot of personal opinion -- but not really bad either. Goodheart was making comparisons between what happened in each of the stops the funeral train made, and his experiences as he followed that route today. The offending remark came near the end, when he likened Lincoln's Tomb to the lobby of an office building.
This just made me sad. Growing up in Illinois, Lincoln is ensconced in pretty much every part of your life experience. We as a family traveled to Springfield to see the home, law office, tomb and then on to New Salem at least once every two years. The summer before I went to college, and then the summer between my freshman and sophomore years, I worked as a tour guide at that very same tomb. Back then, you were hired by your political party and paid a small salary for the work. Today, budget cuts cause the tomb to depend on volunteer guides.
And the last photo I have of my dad, the last one taken of him while he was alive, was of him rubbing the nose on the statue of Lincoln out on the tomb plaza. That photo is displayed prominently on my desk, a reminder of one last trip to a place we both loved.
So I contacted Charles Hargan at the Lincoln's Tomb office, and he sent me a little information so I could give you all an idea of what a truly wonderful place the tomb is. And believe it or not, Arkansas made a couple of significant contributions to the tomb. The interior of the tomb is lined with marble, and there are 16 marble columns representing the fact that Lincoln was the 16th president of the United States. Some of that marble came from Arkansas, along with marbles from Utah, Missouri, Minnesota and Massachusetts; some came from the countries of Italy, Spain, France and Belgium. But the largest contribution to the tomb from Arkansas is the 7-ton burial stone, the massive stone that sits atop the actual resting place of President Lincoln. The stone is made from a single piece of Red Ark Fossil, a particular type of decorative stone mined in Arkansas.
The exterior of the tomb is constructed of granite. It is circular with an obelisk rising 117 feet from the top. Over the entrance door is a bronze plaque of the Gettysburg Address. There are 40 shields mounted on the exterior, 37 bearing the names of the states that were part of the union when the tomb was dedicated in 1874, and the other three bearing the letter U, the letter S, and the letter A. Four bronze statues stand along a walkway around the top of the exterior of the tomb, representing the infantry, cavalry, artillery and navy, the four branches of service which existed during the Civil War under Lincoln's presidency.
Mounted on a pedestal in front of the obelisk is a statue of Lincoln, holding a copy of the Emancipation Proclamation. On the pedestal is a modified U.S. Coat of Arms representing the Constitution. The broken chain in the mouth of the eagle represents the broken chains of slavery.
As you approach the entrance of the tomb, the first thing you see is the bust of Lincoln with a very shiny nose. The nose of this bust is the only statue visitors are allowed to touch. Actually, when I worked there, no one was allowed to touch that statue, in an effort to keep the nose from being totally eroded away. However, since it has long been believed that rubbing Old Abe's nose was good luck, sort of like kissing the Blarney Stone but a whole lot less dangerous, that rule was almost impossible to enforce. I am very glad to see it has been changed and people are allowed to rub it again.
When you enter the building, you are greeted by the seated statue of Lincoln that is a replica of the one in the front of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. The walls are covered with marble, and lead to the burial rotunda. In addition to the 16 marble columns around the rotunda, there are 36 bronze columns representing the 36 states of the union when Lincoln was president.
The huge burial stone from Arkansas is the centerpiece of the burial room. Lincoln is buried 10 feet under the stone. Above is the American flag, and above the flag the inscription "Now He Belongs to the Ages," the phrase uttered by Secretary of War Edwin Stanton at the moment of Lincoln's death. A number of flags surround the burial stone. From left to right, they are the flags of Massachusetts, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Virginia, the states where Lincoln's ancestors settled when they came over from England. To the right are the flags of Kentucky, Indiana and Illinois, states where Lincoln actually lived. The ceiling of the burial room is gold leaf. The interior ceiling in general is made of palladium. There are gratings representing the corn stalks of Illinois.
Also buried in vaults in the rotunda are Lincoln's wife, Mary Todd Lincoln; his son, Edward Baker Lincoln, who died at the age of 3 from tuberculosis; his son, William Wallace Lincoln, who died at the age of 11 from typhoid fever; and his son, Thomas Tad Lincoln, who died at the age of 18 from pleurisy. His son Robert Lincoln is buried in Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia.
If you ever get the opportunity to go see this wonderful monument to one of the greatest presidents ever to serve this country, please do so. It is a moving experience and one everyone should have at least once in their lives.
plen@rittermail.com