Digging for Our Roots, Part 2: Springfield, Illinois

11 September 2013

Traveled southwest about 180 miles to Utica, Illinois to do my last family history research for this trip. This ancestor is an elusive one; he came from County Tipperary, Ireland sometime before 1837 and died in 1850, leaving behind a wife and five small children. I have not been able to find further records of his family until the 1880s and then, only records for three of his children, including my great grandfather. This Irish Purcell farmed in the LaSalle county area and I had hoped to find probate records and land records which might tell me what happened to his family. I did find some land records and some baptism records, but no obituary, will or probate records. So I have a little more data but the puzzle still exists.

The LaSalle area is interesting. Typical farming country in the central part of Illinois, but also some rather significant history. There is a canal that was built in the 1840s which connected the Great Lakes to the Illinois River and opened a new transportation route from the Great Lakes to the Gulf of Mexico. It helped establish Chicago as the transportation hub of the country. The canal is no longer used for commerce, but it has been converted to a recreational area and is a National Historic Site. And the United States branch of the Boy Scouts of America founded by W. D. Boyce started in Ottawa, the county seat.

We continued our southwest journey to Springfield, Illinois where we spent several days in Lincoln land. The presidential museum is almost brand new, it was opened in 2005. And it has lots of technology in it. A very different museum than the Eisenhower and Hoover presidential museums that we have visited. It is the most visited presidential museum but has come under criticism for its use of technology. Personally, I think the technology enabled understanding, it did not detract. We thoroughly enjoyed our day there.

The downtown area of Springfield has many of the buildings from Lincoln’s era, including a four block section of housing which surrounds Lincoln’s home. We took a tour of his home, which is the only home he owned and then walked around the four blocks listening to stories about his neighbors on our cell phones. He lived in a very diverse neighborhood; mixed ethnicities, widows and widowers, blue collar and white collar families, and different political views. The park rangers did a fantastic job interpreting the site for us, giving us an excellent understanding of what life was like for him and his family during the time he lived in Springfield. He was a very successful lawyer and was considered part of the well-to-do part of Springfield’s society. I came away with the feeling that he would have been a good neighbor – easy going, fun loving and very approachable.

We toured the two Capitol buildings. Lincoln served one of his Illinois legislator terms and argued in front of the Illinois Supreme Court in the “Old” Capitol building. The new Capitol building was started in 1868 so he had no connection to it. Both buildings are beautiful – the old one has a classic, utilitarian design; the new one is very ornate. It is undergoing extensive renovation and, apparently, is a political hot potato because of the expenses involved.

Lincoln’s tomb is located in a large, old cemetery called Oak Ridge. Lincoln, his wife Mary and three of his four children are entombed in it. It went through a major renovation and redesign in the 1930s and the interior is decidedly art deco style. Unfortunately, there were several areas where there is significant water damage. A docent at the old Capitol building told us that it is scheduled to be closed soon and will be going through some major repairs.

Other than the Lincoln sites, I didn’t think Springfield had much to offer. We camped at the closest campground we could find, out of town near a large man-made lake, but it was a pain to get to it every day. Especially since some of the road had just recently been oiled with loose asphalt. Tomorrow we will head down to St. Louis for a few days of sightseeing. Slowly, we are making our way home. Hoping for some cooler weather. It has been in the mid-90s for the past 3 days.

This land in LaSalle County, Illinois used to be owned by my great-great grandfather, but I could not find records that he actually farmed on it. He sold it just five months before he died.

The I&M canal was built to connect the Great Lakes to the Illinois river, opening water transportation to the Gulf of Mexico.

The locks on the Illinois river seem to be busy, although this one appeared to be slower than some others we have seen. We watched the boat for over 15 minutes and it didn't raise much at all. However, when we passed by about an hour later, it was gone, so it must have been doing its thing.

Lots of coal barges waiting to go through the lock.

There are several state parks along the river featuring the limestone cliffs.

On the way to our campground outside Springfield. Pretty, but rather inconvenient.

Visited the museum on Sunday and the place was pretty empty. Nice not having to dodge the school groups.

This is the foyer of the museum. John Wilkes Booth is leaning against the column on the left with a distinctly unhappy look on his face. The Lincolns had just arrived at the White House.

The library is located just across the street from the museum. It wasn't open on Sunday, but the museum had a nice video explaining its contents. Anyone can use it for free, though I suspect that asking to see some of the more significant original documents needs some credentials. And the museum displayed a few of the objects, like an original draft of the Gettysburg address.

Lincoln's home. This was owned by the Lincoln family up until the 1880s, when it was turned over to the state with the provision that the public would never be charged to see it and that it would be kept in good repair. It is about 85% original materials.

About 65% of the furniture was owned and used by Abe and his family. This is the parlor, where he received the Republican committee and heard that he had been nominated as their presidential candidate.

This is the equivalent of a family room. The kids were given free rein in the house and were well-documented hellions. Neither Abe or Mary were disciplinarians. They had not had good childhoods and didn't want to be restrictive - sounds like they went too far the other direction though.

Lincoln worked until late in the night in his bedroom at this desk. The wallpaper is an exact replica of paper Mary had ordered from France. In fact, all the rooms were faithful restorations, based on drawings done at the time.

Originally Robert's room, this became Tadd's and Willie's room after Robert went off to Harvard.

Mary became quite an accomplished cook and loved her stove. She wanted to bring it with her to Washington DC, but Abe told her that they already had stoves in the White House.

Some of the original homes on the street where the Lincoln's lived.

Pretty impressive parade! A docent explained that it was traditional to not actively campaign. Part of the reason was that the newspapers were so biased, anything that the candidate said was twisted and distorted with impunity. Sounds not so different from some of the papers today.

This is a replica of a float that was used in the rally parade.

A very pretty garden outside the Union station, which now serves as an information center.

Lincoln practiced law in this building for several years. It is about 5 blocks from where he lived. Mary would sometimes have to send the boys out to find him and get him home to dinner because he would dawdle talking to the neighbors or playing with the kids on the block on his way home.

The Old Capitol Building. Lincoln served one of his terms as a state representative in this building.

This is the lobby where the "lobbyists" waited to get to the government officials.

This is the room where the state representatives met. The spot where the tall hat is sitting is where Lincoln sat.

An original desk. All the other furniture were replicas based on this desk.

The current Capitol building, built in 1868. Actually it took 20 years to finish because of cost overruns and a recession. We conjecture that the dome is not gilded because of the cost issue.

The rotunda is very ornate, full of marble and stone from around the world. The building is undergoing a major renovation. The stained glass was taken apart, cleaned and re-leaded. A before picture showed that the glass was pretty much black from the smoke of the gas jets that used to light the rotunda.

The legislature is in session only from January through May. It seems too bad to have such a beautiful building not in use for half the year.

At some point in the past, the walls had been painted with white paint, now they have restorers taking that paint off and returning the walls to the original paintings.

Lincoln's tomb has been renovated twice - the most recent in the 1930s. The statues surrounding Lincoln represent the four branches of the military that he commanded during the Civil War.