Butler National Cemetery, Springfield, Illinois

My brother told us some of our family history. Of particular interest were three brothers of my great grandmother Sarah Butler. They had enlisted in the 26th Iowa Infantry Regiment, which mustered in Dubuque, (two enlisted at the start of the war and one toward the end at age fifteen). The 26th was a hard luck regiment, (ravaged by disease as three hundred died from disease for each one killed in battle,) at the battle of Vicksburg, they were on the northwest side of the city. They were posted in a swamp where mosquito borne disease ravaged them. One of them died on the way to a hospital in New Orleans and another died in the last Federal assault of Vicksburg on the Confederate lines. The remaining brother was allowed to enlist even though he was too young. He died in the second to last Battle of the War, (Malvern Hill), and was buried at Appomattox.

At the Cemetery, open but closed due to the shutdown, a worker told us how to tell the difference between Union and Confederate graves. The Union gravestones had rounded tops, and the Confederate had a triangular top with a point. Some of the graves, all of Illinois Regiments, who fought had their names engraved, but the other Union Graves were simply marked Unknown. The Illinois Regiments had shipped the bodies home with names after the Battle of Fort Donelson. The Iowa Regiments had been buried at Donelson were marked as Unknowns and were later disinterred before being reburied at the Butler National Cemetery. The Confederates had died in the prisoner of War Camp located on the south-west side. Not prepared for the cold winter they suffered terrible losses as pneumonia ravaged the camp, (although many did escape or were exchanged until a wooden wall was built to enclose them). The National Cemetery had graves from soldiers and sailors who died in all the Nations Wars. The Spanish American War. First and Second World War, Korea, and Vietnam were all marked with the servicemen’s names. Visiting the National Cemetery. There were so many graves. The Cemetery was a sobering experience. Later we talked of our plans for our own burials, (an important topic as we are in our seventies and eighties).

A Family reunion with my Siblings

It had been nine years since we had last seen my brother Mike, at our Daughters wedding,, so when we decided to visit my sister in Illinois, she called Mike and asked if he could visit while we were there. I then called him, and we both were surprised as it had been nine years, and we were long overdue for a reunion. The plan was to meet him on the 20th of September. We of course drove from Wyoming, and he would fly from his home near Raleigh, North Carolina. We arrived on time, but the government’s idiotic shutdown was so screwed up that the air traffic was either delayed or cancelled across the country. He was lucky that he made it only eleven hours late on the 21st. We were all staying at Connie and Gary’s house and so the next morning we started to catch up. Of course, we do call each other often but so much is missed. The first few days were almost nonstop visiting as we shared memories of our parents and of growing up in Iowa. I, being the youngest, learned the most as Connie and Mike told me of things before I was born and talked of relatives I would never meet. Neither one had anything good to say of my Great Uncle George. I didn’t even know he existed. Mike told about having a paper route and having his papers stolen by another paper boy. My dad took Mike to the boys house, knocked on the door and when the father asked what the hell he wanted, grabbed him, thrashing him against the door. The man then apologized, and Mike got the money for the papers. I knew Dad was a fighter, after all he had seven brothers….

I made some of the breakfasts, and Renita and I also did the dishes. One of Connies favorites are my crepes and so I made several days’ supply. She, and Gary, then made Monkey Bread. It’s made from bread dough, sugar, cinnamon, and butter, in a bunt pan. She next allowed it to rise in the fridge and baked it the next day. It was great and I ate the most! On another day my nephew Danny and his wife Janelle drove us to a smokehouse in Springfield, it was perfect! We also ate lunch at a Maderite, an old Iowa favorite. Its a name for a loose meat hamburger. The days went by too fast but before we left, we went to a National Cemetery looking for gravestones of great uncles and members of the Iowa Second infantry who had fought and died in the civil war. But that’s another story. Thank you, Connie and Gary, for the reunion. Every day is a blessing, and these days were the greatest! Love and of course clear skies

A Nation Divided, Cannot Stand....Visiting Springfield, Illinois

"A nation divided cannot stand!"  How true were Lincolns words then and how true those words still are, especially in these divisive times.

We have toured many of the great battlefields of the Civil War, but we had never gone to Lincolns Tomb or the Lincoln Museum. Gary suggested we might want to travel to Springfield, Illinois and that would also allow us to visit with our nephew Danny and his wife, Janelle. It was a great suggestion!

So, we left Grand Isle and drove north. We had wanted to take the Natchez Trace, we had already done that, but because of our crowded schedule we instead drove to Canton Mississippi and then on to Sikeston, Missouri.

After resting there for a couple of nights, we continued to Springfield, Illinois. There we set up camp at the Illinois State Fairgrounds. Janelle, Danny’s wife suggested we should tour Lincoln House, The Lincoln Museum, and then Lincolns Tomb.

The next morning, we drove to the visitor center where we got free tickets to tour his house. It was really a nice house, with a garden space and stable and it was obvious that he had come a long way from the one room cabin he grew up in.

The National Park Service has done an excellent job, restoring the inside and outside so that the house is exactly the way it was when the Lincolns lived there.

Much of the furniture is the original furniture and the parlor has chairs and a sofa, what we would call a sofa, that has been upholstered with a black horsehair and rayon material the same color as the original.

As we toured the house our guide, an extremely knowledgeable park service interpreter, (they are no longer called park rangers), took us room by room. The kitchen had a beautiful wood stove, quite elaborate for the time, and each room was filled with the latest technology of the time.

One of my favorites was the stereo viewer used to view three dimensional photos, which are still used today! We had to laugh when we viewed the privy, as the seats where constructed from barrels allowing the females to use the bathroom while wearing a hoop skirt.

After walking around and viewing the neighborhood we next walked the short distance to the Lincoln Museum. The museum was divided into three principal areas, theaters, a log house, and the White house. Each area contained many original materials. One of the placards talked of how Lincoln grew up in a one room cabin and we had to laugh as we live full time n a fifth wheel trailer that is about the same square footage.

The Theaters had two distinctly different movies and both where excellent and moving. The first gave a view of the discord that tore our nation apart, and discussed the slavery issue, (it was really a war about saving rich people’s money/slaves, the only state rights that couldn’t have been settled peacefully were the slaves). It further gave a litany of the battles and the numbers of casualties, over one million two hundred thousand. I wish all the fools that today talk of succession would watch this movie.

The second movie used holograms to talk of the material contained and the work being done in the presidential library, again I wish everyone could see it. Finally, we walked through the White House where two of our favorite rooms were a display showing the discord of Lincoln’s Cabinet, while discussing the Emancipation Proclamation, and a display of his wife, Mary and others original ballroom gowns and jewelry.

After lunch we drove to the Lincoln Tomb. He had been interred in a temporary tomb first, while his final resting place was constructed.  The outside of the actual tomb is one of the largest obelisks we have seen and the bedsides a statue of Lincoln with additional statures of soldiers and sailors cast from actual civil war cannons.

Inside, lies the final resting place of both Lincoln and his family. Lincolns remains are in tomb ten feet behind the huge marble monument.

Back outside is a small bronze bust of Lincoln. We were surprised to see people rubbing the nose, which was shiny, and we were told it was for luck. It is a smart way to keep peoples hands off the other exhibits.

We enjoyed our visit to Springfield and highly recommend it to all, thank you Gary (during our visit one of the park interpreters told us that over two thousand students were visiting, and we had to laugh as each teacher had their students wearing colored coded tee shirts, a wonderful way to keep an eye on the little cherubs)! Clear skies