…our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.

Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.

But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate — we can not consecrate — we can not hallow — this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us — that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion — that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain — that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom — and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.

Abraham Lincoln
November 19, 1863

Everywhere Sharon and I have gone on this trip, we have been amazed with the history we have learned.

We all know a little about Abraham Lincoln. Things such as he was our 16th President and that he was tragically killed by John Wilkes Boothe.

How many of us know much about his early years in Springfield, IL, or his relationship and marriage to Mary or his kids or how much the Civil War cost our Nation in both human lives and economic impact?

The Lincoln Museum, The Lincoln Library and The small 19 structure “neighborhood” where Abraham worked as a lawyer and where he and Mary raised their family before heading to the White House in 1860 are invaluable to the understanding of the man that lead our Nation through the Civil War.

As we toured The Museum we learned about his childhood, how he taught himself to read and do math and with limited formal education taught himself law. As we moved through the displays we could follow not only his life, but the culture and mood of the Country as whole. There were displays of all types; some very simple, some interactive. We learned so much about how the war affected him and how it affected our Nation.

LITTLE KNOWN LINCOLN FACTS:
The Things You Didn’t Know About Abraham Lincoln…
1. At 6 foot, 4 inches, Abraham Lincoln was the tallest president.
2. Lincoln was the first president to be born outside of the original thirteen colonies.
3. Lincoln was the first president to be photographed at his inauguration. John
Wilkes Booth (his assassin) can be seen standing close to Lincoln in the picture.
4. There are no direct descendants of Abraham Lincoln even though he had 4 sons.
5. During the Civil War, telegraph wires were strung to follow the action on the
battlefield. But there was no telegraph office in the White House, so Lincoln went
across the street to the War Department to get the news.
6. Lincoln was the only president to receive a patent, for a device for lifting boats
over shoals.
7. Lincoln’s son, Robert, who was in Washington when his father was killed, was
also on the scene when President Garfield was shot in 1881, and when President
McKinley was assassinated in 1901.
8. Lincoln was the first president to wear a beard.
9. Lincoln had the largest shoe-size documented. He wore a size 14!

We are better off for having visited this space. Below is a link to the Museum’s website. Please take some time to check it out.
https://presidentlincoln.illinois.gov/