Exploring Thomas Lincoln Cemetery and Grave – Coles County, Illinois

here in Eastern Illinois in the village of lerna is a quiet churchyard that for nearly two centuries has been the final resting place for humble farmers and pioneers who work the land that borders it to see it from the narrow two-lane highway that runs along its southern flank you wouldn't guess that the father of a national icon lies beneath its tufted sod or that the moss draped headstone stand as silent witnesses to a bittersweet moment in American history come walk with me along the Lincoln Trail as it passes through old Gordon and Shiloh Cemetery in late January 1861 a buggy stopped here and two figures a man and an elderly woman emerged there was nothing remarkable about the pair except perhaps for the height of the man six feet four inches which was unusual for the day taking careful steps upon the frozen ground they walked to a spot where was standing a rough-cut plank of wood carved with the initials TL history does not record what was said between them at this meeting nor does it offer any insights into the thoughts that ran through the mind of the tall man who is he stood at the grave of his father bade a final farewell to his past after a few moments the pair returned to the buggy and rode away within two months time that same man would be the 16th President of the United States [Music] recounting that last visit years later his stepmother Sara said she knew as they stood huddled together in the icy winds blowing through the graveyard that day it would be the last time she would ever see her beloved Abraham alive for most of his life Thomas Lincoln was a wonder lust before settling in Coles County where he spent the last 20 years of his life he always seemed to be on the move from Virginia where he was born he moved to Kentucky where he married his first wife Nancy Hanks and his two children Sarah and Abraham were born then to Indiana where he became a widower in 1818 he then traveled back to Kentucky to Wed his second wife Sarah Bush Johnston finally in 1830 he moved to Illinois Thomas was a carpenter and farmer by trade and the only life he knew was one of hard work where a day spent idle could mean watching your family go hungry life on the frontier stripped him of any sentiment and kindness even for his children he was especially hard on young Abraham who he considered an idler because he liked to pass his time reading Thomas who was illiterate often scolded and beat young Abraham when he caught him with a book it would forever strain the relationship between father and son Sarah Bush Johnston was born in Hardin County Kentucky and by all accounts had an appreciation for the latest fashions and keeping up her appearance she was also said to be hardworking proud and in possession of sound judgment in 1806 she married Daniel Johnston the town jailer and had three children the marriage ended in 1816 when Daniel died in a cholera epidemic Sarah managed to get by raising her children and paying off her late husband's debts for three years until an old beau came back into her life with an offer she couldn't refuse according to Lincoln's cousin Dennis Hanks Thomas Lincoln's proposal of marriage to Sarah went something like this I have no wife and you no husband I came a proposed to marry you I knowed you from a gal and you knowed me from a boy I have no time to lose and if you're willing let it be done straight off although Lincoln's proposal was short on sweetness Sarah agreed and it would turn out to be a pivotal moment in American history for Sarah immediately took to young Abraham whom she said never gave me a crossword or look and never refused in fact or an appearance to do anything I requested his mind and mine what little I had she said later seemed to run together move in the same direction Sarah loved him as much as her own children and although illiterate herself she encouraged him to expand his intellect by giving him books Abraham returned her affection by calling her mother and once confided that she was his best friend in this world and that no son could love a mother more than he loved her it's impossible to know whether Abraham Lincoln would have become the great man we know today without her nurturing and influence [Music] in January 1851 a letter from Coles County arrived at Lincoln's Springfield home it informed him that his father was in failing health and not expected to survive and that if he desired to see him before the end he should make all haste in coming when the news arrived Mary Lincoln was still recovering from the birth of son William Wallace less than a month earlier and the one-year anniversary of the death of their second son Edward Baker was rapidly approaching on the 12th Lincoln wrote the following to his stepbrother my business is such that I could hardly leave home now if it were not that my own wife is sick of bed I sincerely hope father may yet recover his health but at all events tell him to remember to call upon and confide in our maker who will not turn away from him in any extremity say to him that if we could meet now it is doubtful whether it would not be more painful than Pleasant but that if it be his lot to go now he will soon have a joyous meeting with many loved ones gone before Thomas Lincoln died on January 15th 1851 his only son and last surviving child did not attend the funeral Sarah Lincoln's little cabin in Farmington Illinois seemed worlds away from the carnage of the civil war being waged in the East but the years that passed since she last stood with her stepson in Shiloh Cemetery came with an ever increasing sense of foreboding and premonition it was not sarah's desire to see abraham elected president even after the surrender at Appomattox Courthouse bringing the war to a close she feared that something terrible would befall him April 15 1865 was a Saturday and the day before Easter when the news arrived that Abraham Lincoln had been murdered by an assassin Sara covered her face with her hands and sobbed I knew it all along they killed him I knew they would I knew they would four years later almost to the day on April 12 1862 in Caen died at age 80 and was laid to rest in the old churchyard beside her second husband Thomas the land were Thomas and Sarah Lincoln now rest once belonged to John Jake's Gordon one of the original settlers in the area in the 1830s he gave one and a half acres to the community for use as a cemetery from Lincoln's day on into the 1880s it was known as Gordon graveyard its benefactor and namesake was buried here when he died in 1866 as you walk the gently sloping grounds you will see names like Harwood and Foote Reed Phipps and Easton you will find Rodgers York's Anderson's and Xi's generation upon generations of families resting side-by-side looking out on the farms they once tended [Music] throughout the 1840s an epidemic known as Asiatic cholera spread through the Midwest claiming countless lives coal County was not spared from this terrible outbreak thirty-three local victims of the disease were buried here in graves marked only by cedar trees a simple memorial was placed here in their memory [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] and in the northernmost section you will find a memorial to the nation's military veterans who served from the American Revolution up to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan [Music] in 1881 the Shiloh Presbyterian Church was built on land next to the graveyard originally it was a wooden structure but was rebuilt with brick in 1921 today it's it's mostly idle and in 2000 it narrowly survived efforts to tear it down in 1935 control of the graveyard passed to the Thomas Lincoln Cemetery Association which oversees it to this day since they took over the cemetery was renamed for its most famous resident which is a bit ironic as we shall see for years the grave of Thomas Lincoln was marked with a plank of wood displaying only his initials that were carved by his famous son sometime after Abraham Lincoln's presidency the marker disappeared locals replaced it with a field stone that bore no inscription by the 1870s a farmer and amateur poet from Lerna named George B Bouch took notice he had known Thomas and Sarah Lincoln personally and given the rise of their martyred sons public stature as a secular Saint bow felt that it was a disgrace that his father's grave should be left unmarked to bring awareness of this he drew on Biblical metaphor when he wrote a poem titled the Amram of America in which he compared Thomas Lincoln to the father of Moses he raised money for a memorial by giving readings of the poem across the state eventually the press got wind of his grassroots effort and a copy of the poem was sent to Robert Todd Lincoln touched by the gesture Robert contributed $100 to the effort the amount not only covered the remaining cost of the monument it also provided for the care and upkeep of the grave when the memorial was erected in 1880 the tag refer preserved the moment by taking this image that shows George Bouch the man whose gift for verse made it possible over the years souvenir hunters chipped away at the Marvel by the 1920s it became apparent that a replacement stone would be necessary and through the efforts of the Illinois Lions Club a new granite monument was unveiled on May 16 1924 the Memorial Committee also saw to it that the resting place of Sarah Lincoln was marked for the first time the original 1880 monument was moved near the entry gate of the cemetery to stand as a reminder of George bouches poem although written with Thomas Lincoln in mind his words speak to all who lived worked and died here and whose efforts were not rewarded with wealth or glory or fame when bouches heirs published a volume of his work the poem was retitled simply the Pioneer and it goes like this in a low sweet veil by a murmuring rill the Pioneers ashes are sleeping where the white marble slabs are so lonely instilled in silence their vigil is keeping on their sad lonely faces our words of Fame but none of them speak of his glory when the Pioneer died is aged and his name no monument whispers the story no muhrtelle nor ivy nor hyacinth blows or the lonely grave where they laid him no cedar nor Holly nor almond tree grows near the plebeians grave to shade him bright evergreens wave over many a grave or some bough the sad weeping willow but no willow trees nor evergreens wave where the Pioneer sleeps on his pillow some are in Hume dwith honors of State and laid beneath temples tomb older the grave of the father of Lincoln the great is known by hillock and Boulder let him take his lone sleep and gently rest with not to disturb or awake him when the Angels shall come to gather the blessed to Abraham's bosom they'll take him thank you for watching and if you like what you saw please give it a thumbs up and if you're interested in updates on future projects you can follow me on Facebook by clicking the link in the description below and if you haven't already subscribe to my channel now for more grave explorations [Music] [Music] you

Channel: Grave Explorations

Views: 21,878

Rating: 4.9714284 out of 5

Keywords: Abraham Lincoln, presidents day, famous grave

Id: LC7reO_5b0I

Length: 16min 51sec (1011 seconds)

Published: Sun Feb 11 2018