Walking in Lincoln’s Footsteps

I had an incredible time in Springfield, Illinois this past weekend. Thanks to Sam Wheeler, who is the Research Historian for the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library, for inviting me to speak at Friday’s Luncheon. Sam was an incredibly gracious host. My talk on Louis Martin and the Crater went over very well. The audience asked thoughtful questions and I even managed to sell some books. Most of my time, however, was spent walking through the city and touring sites associated with Lincoln. It was such a thrill walking through Lincoln’s home, the Old State House, and his final resting place. I also visited the Abraham Lincoln museum and will write up a short review very soon.

Unfortunately, my plans for yesterday were cut short due to the incident at the FAA facility that led to the cancellation of thousands of flights over the weekend. Sam and Christian McWhirter were going to take me in on a special tour of the city for a behind-the-scenes look at many of the important Lincoln historic sites. They were even going to take me into the Lincoln Library’s “vault” for a close inspection of some of the most valuable Lincoln artifacts as well as the Lincoln-Herndon Law Office museum, which is currently closed for renovation. I can’t tell you how disappointed I am that this didn’t happen. Luckily, I have a reason to return at some point since the library has a nice collection of Gov. John Andrew’s papers.

Waiting for my flight at O’Hare yesterday I couldn’t help but once again acknowledge just how lucky I am.