In fact, I lived in Springfield, the capital of Illinois, for 11 years and worked a only a few blocks away from the historic Abraham Lincoln Home, in which he and his family lived prior to his election as president and the family’s eventually fateful trek to Washington, D.C.
Since my move to Pennsylvania nearly 10 years ago, The Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum has been built, along with a presidential library, in Springfield. Until a recent visit to Illinois to see family and friends, I had not had the opportunity to see the museum.

And it is indeed a world class museum. My favorite parts included displays on the dresses worn by Mary Todd Lincoln, and of course, the exhibit displaying one of Lincoln’s stovepipe hats — complete with two worn finger marks on the brim which were said to be caused by Lincoln frequently tipping the hat to those he passed on the street.

The museum also displays a pair of ivory gloves that Lincoln had in his pocket on that night at Ford’s Theater where John Wilkes Booth walked up behind Lincoln in the presidential box and placed a small-caliber pistol behind the president’s ear. Although it has faded over time, the gloves are still visibly stained with Lincoln’s blood.

We also visited the Lincoln Home, of which I hadn’t been inside in many years, and the tomb, which is befitting a president.

It was a pivotal time in our country’s history and we all know that Lincoln was a pivotal president for that time period.

If you find yourself in Illinois, you should see everything there is to see and learn about Abraham Lincoln.