" God Bless America and Mr. Lincoln Too!"

"Those who deny freedom to others, deserve it not for themselves; and, under a just God, can not long retain it." The Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln edited by Roy P. Basler, Volume III, "Letter To Henry L. Pierce and Others" (April 6, 1859), p. 376.

I thought that I would begin my one hundredth post with a quote from my very favorite historical figure, Mr. Abraham Lincoln. I became fascinated with Mr. Lincoln a few years ago when my daughter Ginny received her Masters Degree from The University of Illinois at Springfield. We went there for her graduation and while we were there visited a few of the many historical site's that are devoted to President Lincoln and his wife Mary. Unfortunately this was before Springfield's latest addition of the Lincoln Library. But I do hope to some day return there as I was completely fascinated and in awe of all of the history there.





Lincoln's home is amazing. It has been meticulously renovated over the years. Each time great care has gone into removing and storing all of our former presidents belongings while the home's structure has been maintained.






I took many, many photos of the interior of the Lincoln's home. The furnishings I found to be extremely fascinating.Unfortunately my scanner is not hooked up so these photos I got off of the web. The above photo is of Mary's tiny kitchen. I had to laugh about this as my kitchen is about the same size! However, I am fortunate enough to have a few more modern conveniences then Mary had!





Mary Todd Lincoln was quite a character in her own right. After reading her biography I came to the conclusion that she was a very complicated woman. Very devoted to her husband and family. Yet she seemed to suffer a number of maladies that today we know are common among us women. Not discussed back in her day however. She suffered great loses in her life. Also her uncontrollable spending left her the target of much ridicule. I always felt that her over spending was filling a void for her loneliness.


This next photo is of the Appellate Courthouse in our town. It is just three blocks from my home.




In 1854 , $6000.00 was appropriated for the erection of one of three grand divisions of the supreme court of Illinois to be built in Mt. Vernon, Illinois.
On August 27, 1840, before the erection of the court house, Abraham Lincoln, then 31 years old, came to Mt.Vernon to debate John A. McClernand. This was only one of several visits that Mr. Lincoln made to Mt.Vernon.
Nineteen years later on November 18, 1859, Mr. Lincoln again visited Mt. Vernon. Only this time it was at the above court house to argue a case involving The State of Illinois vs. Illinois Central Railroad. It was a tax case in which Mr. Lincoln argued for the railroad. The railroad won.
This court house is quite beautiful inside and out. You can really feel history as you walk through it. The staircase in the front of the building took three weeks by ox cart from St. Louis to arrive.
One other interesting note about this court house. In 1888 there was a great tornado that created quite a bit of destruction in Mt. Vernon. So much so that Clara Barton, founder of the American Red Cross, set up a make shift hospital in this very same court house to help tend to the injured.



This fine statue is the latest addition to the court house's grounds. I remember the day that it was being unveiled. I drove right by it as I was taking my daughter home from school. I was so excited! My Katie was so embarrassed! But I didn't care because I love old Abe. Somewhere there are photos of my daughter Ginny and I playing around this statue. I will have to find out what happened to them. At least I have one daughter that enjoys being silly with her mom!

Well I could go on and on about Mr. Lincoln. His life, his politics, his homes, his family, his wife and his death. But it would take hours so I am going to end my thoughts about Abraham Lincoln by saying that I find him a fascinating historical character and it's a shame that politicians today do not emulate Mr. Lincoln. What a better place we would live in if they did. Certainly not perfect, but better.

"What I Did on my Fourth of July Vacation"

Well I went to see the fireworks of coarse! I did not want to go. Not only have I been feeling horrible but I have seen enough fireworks to last me a lifetime. My stepfather was a pyrotechnic. Every year we would go to several shows. The families would go along, from sun up to sun down to each and every show. These guys would work for hours on end digging holes and setting up. We would go along to spend the day with them and also to cook. We would get to where ever the show would be at about 6:00 a.m. and didn't end up leaving until after midnight. It was fun for awhile and then it got old. So now I don't care about them at all. As you can clearly see from this photo. Please keep in mind that I was also feeling yucky!



My husband, so excited!




I will say that these guys work very hard to put the shows on. It takes many hours of work and lots money to put on a great show. And there are occasional injuries. Being on the ground where the bombs are being lit is like being in a war zone and much caution and care goes into it. So I do appreciate what they do despite my boredom with the fireworks anymore.

Jake and I were tricked, finagled, and guilted into going to the fireworks display. Katie had her friend over for the weekend and they wanted to see the fireworks. Or so we thought. It rained all day and stopped for awhile before show time. It was so wet out that Jake and thought it might be better to go to my mom's town the following night to watch the show with her. Well the girls through a fit because they were supposed to meet all of their friends at the airport where the show was being held. They really could care less if they saw the show itself or not! Can't disappoint the girls now can we?




As things turned out, Jake and I spent the whole evening alone. Which was alright. There was a band playing by us, they weren't bad at all. We, Jake and I, were nothing more than a taxi service. The next day my oldest daughter, Ginny reminded me that it would only be a year and a half before Katie would be her own taxi. My but time flies when your having fun!
I will leave you now with some pretty darn cool photos of the fireworks that I took myself. Not too bad, I must say!












Good Night and God Bless!