Day 12: Time Travel

Today we journeyed 20 miles north to New Salem, the village in which Lincoln found his calling to the law and politics after dabbling in many other trades. Arriving at the age of 22, he lived there for six years; it was his first "permanent" stop after leaving his family in Indiana. He stumbled upon the village while piloting a flat-bottomed boat (a small craft, not a paddle-wheeler) full of goods down the Sangamon river. His boat became temporarily stuck on a sandbar next to the village's sawmill. After delivering his load to New Orleans, he returned to New Salem and made a living performing odd jobs (such as rail-splitting, an enduring image that was played up during his various campaigns). Over the six years, he was a worker in the mill, co-owner of a store (it failed), postmaster, deputy surveyor (with no training!) and a stint in the military. In his spare time, he read everything he could get his hands on, often traveling more than 10 miles to pick up an available book. Although formal education over his life barely equaled 12 months, he was known as one of the brightest minds of his time. And as his education developed, so did his pull toward law and politics. He left New Salem to open a law office in Springfield and serve in the state legislature.

New Salem was abandoned just a couple of years following Lincoln's departure; it's believed that a flood changed the course of the Sangamon, making the mill inoperable and depriving the community of its ability to easily transport goods in and out. When its residents moved on, they literally took apart their homes and carted them away...it was easier to do that than to chop down so many trees to rebuild. Because of that action, the town all but vanished...one shop building remained, along with chimneys and foundations. In the early 1930s, a group of Lincoln devotees raised money and rebuilt the town, following notes and other sources about the town. Today, it holds 24 structures, all set up according to the individual businesses that once existed there. A living history site, it's interpretted by village folk dressed as they would have been in the 1850s. The carding mill, in which raw wool was combed into spinning-ready wool, contains one of only three carding machines from 1850, which were special as they were operated by two oxen walking on a tilted wheel (see picture below). The other two such mills are in Poland and Russia!

We stopped on the way home to see Lincoln's grave; it's an imposing and very moving place. The rest of our day involved lots of water, beach towels and sunscreen. Gotta love summer. :-)

The recreated saw mill (minus its wheel) in which Lincoln began his working years in New Salem. There's water around it due to the flood conditions; otherwise, the river is usually 100 yards beyond the building.

Carding mill. The machine (below) is on the first level; the giant wheel on which oxen walked to power the equipment sits in the sheltered space at the back.

Kelsey and Kendall sporting new bonnets. They wore them

the rest of the day!

Lincoln's tomb. Through the central door are large rooms containing statues, bronze plaques with speech highlights, and a large marble marker over his grave. His wife and two of his four sons are buried there, as well. Sidenote: the bronze sculpture of his face, in the foreground, was made by Gutzon Borglum, the creator of Mt. Rushmore.