Lincoln Heritage Museum

Located on the campus of the only college named for Lincoln in his lifetime, the Lincoln Heritage Museum exhibits a rare and valuable collection of artifacts that tell the story of the life and times of Abraham Lincoln.

[lhm1865]

This day in 1848, the Seneca Falls Convention convened. Heralded as the first American women’s rights convention, the two day event was held in the Wesleyan Chapel External in Seneca Falls, New York. 

[lhm1865]

This day in 1851, Abraham Lincoln's father Thomas Lincoln passes away at the age 73 in Coles County, Illinois.

[lhm1865]

This day in 1851...

Abraham Lincoln writes to his step-brother John D. Johnston, of Charleston, Illinois, about Lincoln's father Thomas, who is gravely ill. Lincoln explains that his work and his wife's "baby-sickness" prevent him from being with his father. Lincoln "is doubtful whether it would not be more painful than pleasant" for him and Thomas to "meet now." Lincoln reminds Johnston to "use my name, if necessary, to procure a doctor, or any thing else for Father." He asks Johnston to remind Thomas to "confide in, our...merciful Maker; who will...not forget the dying man, who puts his trust in Him."

[lhm1865]

Happy 198th Birthday to Mary Ann Todd Lincoln!

Mary Lincoln was born December 13th, 1818. Daughter of Eliza Parker and Robert Smith Todd, pioneer settlers of Kentucky. She was the wife of the 16th President of the United States, Abraham Lincoln and served as First Lady from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. #FLOTUS

[lhm1865]

The museum will host a remembrance ceremony at 12:30 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 7 inside the atrium at the entrance of the Lincoln Heritage Museum.

"Yesterday, December 7th, 1941 -- a date which will live in infamy..." -President Roosevelt, "Pearl Harbor Address to the Nation" delivered December 8th, 1941, Washington, D.C.

[lhm1865]

[lhm1865]

Thank you to the 100 plus visitors who came to Trick or Treat with Abe!

[lhm1865]

#OnThisDay President Lincoln President Abraham Lincoln issues a preliminary Emancipation Proclamation, which sets a date for the freedom of more than 3 million black slaves in the United States and recasts the Civil War as a fight against slavery.

[lhm1865]

For the first time in the Lincoln Heritage Museum's Grand Soiree history we are sold out. We want to thank everyone for all their support of the museum. If you were not able to attend this year we hope to see you next year!

[lhm1865]

#FunFactFriday Today our fun fact focuses on the eldest son of Abraham and Mary Lincoln, Robert Todd Lincoln. What did the Son of Rails do for fun to unwind though out his life? Well, Robert indulged in the working out of algebraic equations. He also was an amateur astronomer and when he gave up his Chicago residence in 1910, he had a thoroughly equipped observatory in his home in Manchester, Vt. He also was a devotee of golf and told his friends the game had saved his life when his health started failing.

(Born on August 1, 1843, in Springfield, Illinois, Robert Todd Lincoln was the first-born son of President Abraham Lincoln, and the only one of Lincoln’s four children to live to adulthood. Following his father’s assassination, Lincoln worked as a lawyer, secretary of war and minister to Great Britain.)

[lhm1865]

Fun Fact Friday: President Lincoln used the telegraph like email to communicate with generals.One telegraph operator, Homer Bates, later recorded Mr. Lincoln’s routine:

"When in the telegraph office, Lincoln was most easy of access. He often talked with the cipher-operators, asking questions regarding the dispatches which we were translating from or into cipher, or which were filed in the order of receipt in the little drawer in our cipher-desk.

Lincoln’s habit was to go immediately to the drawer each time he came into our room, and read over the telegrams, beginning at the top, until he came to the one he had seen at his last previous visit. When this point was reached he almost always said, “Well, boys, I am down to raisins.” After we had heard this curious remark a number of times, one of us ventured to ask him what it meant. He thereupon told us the story of the little girl who celebrated her birthday by eating very freely of many good things, topping off with raisins for desert. During the night she was taken violently ill, and when the doctor arrived she was busy casting up her accounts. The genial doctor, scrutinizing the contents of the vessel, noticed some small black objects that had just appeared, and remarked to the anxious parent that all danger was past, as the child was ‘down to raisins.’ ‘So,’ Lincoln said, ‘when I reach the message in this pile which I saw on my last visit, I know that I need go no further.”

[lhm1865]

Lincoln Heritage Museum Acquires The Abraham Lincoln Center for Character Development

The Lincoln Heritage Museum is pleased to announce Lincoln College will acquire the name, resources, and organization of The Abraham Lincoln Center for Character Development. 

The Abraham Lincoln Center for Character Development is a not-for-profit organization whose mission is “to provide character development training, measurement and evaluation services, and community coalition-building support to schools, businesses, families, communities and other organizations throughout the state of Illinois and beyond." 

With similar missions and goals, it is a natural fit for the Lincoln Heritage Museum to acquire the Center.

Ron Keller, former Lincoln Heritage Museum Director and current Professor of History and Political Science at Lincoln College will be overseeing the transition of the Center to the museum as well as all activities for the Center.

“We need more Abraham Lincolns today.  For the past 13 years, The Abraham Lincoln Center for Character Development has sought to instill Lincoln’s values into the everyday life of students, communities and the public at large,” said Ken Fisher, executive director of the Center and a driving force behind its work. “After carefully considering our options we are confident that this will be the best way to not only continue, but to expand the mission and activities of the Center. We are excited to have Lincoln College and the Lincoln Heritage Museum take the reins.”

“I am looking forward to working with Ron to dive deeper into the character of Abraham Lincoln and share the lessons we have learned and can still learn with our local groups, organizations, and schools,” said Tom McLaughlin, Director of the Lincoln Heritage Museum.

Keller notes the museum’s design, mission, and theme were based on feedback from hundreds of people. The common theme noted was the interest in learning more about Lincoln’s character, such as his empathy, loyalty, honesty, and ability to overcome challenges.

Therefore, the Lincoln Heritage Museum’s mission; “learn from Lincoln, live like Lincoln.” is very similar to the Center’s.

The Center’s focus also complements Lincoln College’s mission to empower students’ lives.   The Museum has and will continue to employ character as part of the experience for students when they visit the museum. Through the Abraham Lincoln Center for Character Development, it will be possible to  take that beyond the doors of the Museum to the campus, community, and region.

[lhm1865]

Illinois State University at Normal, IL will be hosting an academic conference called "Ex Parte Milligan at 150: The Constitution & Military Commissions in American Wars on Terror" September 22-24, 2016. Featuring historian Michael Les Benedict from Ohio State University and Louis Fisher from the Constitution Project.

Papers and panels are currently being sought on issues relating to the decision as well as current considerations on civil liberties and the war on terror.

for more information head to their website:http://milliganconference.illinoisstate.edu/

[lhm1865]

This flag day we are highlighting a magnificent piece in our collection, the Middletown Flag.

The Middletown Flag was hand sewn by the ladies of Middletown, IL to show their support for Abraham Lincoln during the Wide Awake Rally in Springfield, August 8th, 1860.

The Middletown Flag is part of a three banner series from the Wide Awake Supporters of Logan County. The Lincoln Heritage Museum proudly houses the entire collection including the Railsplitter Banner, The Nation’s Choice Banner, and the Middletown Flag.

Once the flag is fully restored, the entire collection will be completed. The museum was fortunate to have flag experts Bill Lear, Curator and Alex Dixon, Conservator with the Illinois State Military Museum examine the flag and made recommendations for the full restoration of the flag this past April.

Lear said, “The Middletown flag is truly a gem and has a wonderful story to tell. We are very excited to see it when it is completed.”

“We are honored to have this unique item in our collection that shows a direct tie between Abraham Lincoln and our local community,” said Tom McLaughlin, Director of the Lincoln Heritage Museum. “It is our hope that our efforts to restore this important piece of our local history will encourage those whose family members may have taken part in the creation of this flag to come forward and share their story.”

The museum is accepting donations to help fund the completion of the restoration project in anticipation of publicly displaying the flag in 2020 on its 170th Anniversary.

[lhm1865]

The Lincoln Heritage Museum Director and Assistant Director/ Curator visited the Hoblit Farm in Atlanta today. During this visit they saw the barn John Hoblit and his family stayed in when Mr. Lincoln came to visit, while he was traveling on the 8th Judicial Circuit. Lincoln was a great friend of the Hoblits and their family has passed down their treasured memories of their good friend Mr. Lincoln. ‪#‎IllinoisLincoln‬ ‪#‎circuitrider‬

[lhm1865]

On April 4, 1853 Thomas Lincoln was born. Originally named after Abraham’s father Thomas Lincoln, but Thomas is not how he is remembered. When Thomas was born his father described him as “wiggly as a tadpole” and started calling him Tad. Over the years scholars would recognize Thomas as Abraham’s father, and Tad as his son. This small but fond nickname placed Tad in the history books in regards to Lincoln but his character as an individual created who he was. Not much is record  about Tad’s early life in Springfield. It is known that Tad did not like academics like his brother Willie and did not have a drive like is oldest brother Robert. This was probably in part of Tad’s learning disability and speech impediment. According to Margarita Spalding Gerry, editor, Through Five Administrations: Reminiscences of Colonel William H. Crook she quotes White House guard William Crook as he later recalled: 

"Taddie could never speak very plainly. He had his own language; the names that he gave some of us we like to remember to-day. The President was 'papa-day,' which meant 'papa dear.' Tom Pendel was 'Tom Pen,' and I was "Took.' But for all his baby tongue he had a man's heart, and in some things a man's mind. I believe he was the best companion Mr. Lincoln ever had — one who always understood him, and whom he always understood."

Even though Tad had his distractions and difficulties he did have a knack of using his wild imagination to make life interesting for the Lincoln family and would help his father. This is seen mostly by his mother and the White House staff. Most of the instances with Tad that took place in the White House and Tad is always pared with his supposedly quiet and poetic brother Willie. According to Inside the White House in War Times editor, Dr. Michael Burlingame, quotes William O. Stoddard as he describes Willie and Tad in the White House:

“What a yell! But it comes from the forces belonging to quite another seat of war. Tad has been trying to make another seat of war. Tad has been trying to make a war-map of Willie, and there are rapid movements in consequence on both sides. Peace is obtained by sending them to their mother, at the other end of the building, but the President does not return to his desk. He is studying one of the maps he has pulled down from the spring-roller above the lounge on the eastern side of the room. It is an outline map of West Virginia and the mountain ranges, and it is likely that something important is going on there.”

With Willie and Tad pared together there was always a commotion going on. But this was the parenting Mary and Abraham continued from the day Robert was born  they viewed that children were brought up with the philosophy of letting their children be children, and that is exactly what Willie and Tad did, they were children.

[lhm1865]

Bugle Boy #livinghistory #cwwalk