I have been fortunate enough to visit President Lincoln's Tomb about 4 times in my lifetime. I do intend on returning soon to visit the final resting place of our 16th President once more. Every time I am able to visit the Battleground Cemetery in Stillman Valley, Illinois......it makes me proud to know that a young Captain Abraham Lincoln stood at that site, and helped to bury those 12 men that were slain there that day in 1832. The spirit of President Lincoln is alive and well even to this day in the State of Illinois. The President was a people person, and would always tip his hat with a smile as he would stroll home from his Law Office in Springfield, Illinois. One thing that I find disturbing is the trip that the President's mortal remains had to take until he was laid to his final rest. The President was slain in 1865. The tomb that is pictured above had to be torn down, and rebuilt because of the ground that it was built on. The tomb closely resembles the original structure. In the original structure, the President's body was placed into a marble sarcophagus and placed into the tomb. Grave robbers later tried to steal the President's body and were stopped. The Gentleman that was charged with overseeing the tomb later removed the coffin containing the President and placed it in the basement of the tomb and covered the coffin with boards and other rubbish in the basement to make it appear as a pile of dirt. Not a very fitting way for Springfield's favorite son to be resting....The President's body was later joined in the basement of the tomb by his wife Mary Todd and both the President and Mrs. Lincoln laid there in shallow graves with 6 inches of dirt over them. Nobody but a select few people knew that the President and Mrs. Lincoln were even there. Later when the tomb was being repaired, the man responsible for hiding the bodies in the basement could not take it anymore........knowing that the construction workers were trampling over the bodies of the President and Mrs. Lincoln. The President's son Robert was contacted and it was decided to rebuild the tomb. The President and Mrs. Lincoln - including other members of the President's family were placed in a 10 foot deep hole and covered with cement slabs with 24 guard on duty to ensure that nobody would try to steal the President's body yet again. After the new tomb was completed, the President was laid into a cement hole that was 10 feet deep and covered with concrete at the direct request of his son Robert. It was said that Robert was tired of his father being moved and he was also appalled to hear rumors that the coffin of the President had been opened several times. Robert Lincoln knew that tons of concrete would ensure that nobody would ever open his father's coffin again, and nobody would ever be able to steal the body either. In 1901 - 36 years after his death - The President was finally laid to his final rest and still is there to the present. It is said that shadows resembling the President's long and lanky stature have been seen in the tomb at night, and that coughing can sometimes be heard coming from the tomb as well. For me.....my interests are not in going here for an investigation. My interest is that our slain president is finally at rest, and my sincere hope is that his rest has been peaceful......he sure waited long enough for it.
Ghosthunter Dan
Ghosthunter Dan
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