Showing posts with label Abraham Lincoln. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Abraham Lincoln. Show all posts

Friday, May 1, 2015

Lincoln's Funeral - 150 Years Later


One hundred fifty years ago this week, President Lincoln’s funeral train was making stops across the country as it bore the slain president’s body back to the city he loved: Springfield Illinois.

The “Lincoln Special” traveled 1,654 miles across the country from April 21, 1865 when the President’s body left Washington D.C. until its final arrival in Springfield, Illinois on May 4th.


Original Route
The original train stopped in 180 cities and towns throughout seven states in order to give the country a chance to mourn Lincoln’s passing. At each stop, his coffin was removed from the train and lay in state for public viewing. The train traveled the reverse route Lincoln had taken when he left Springfield to take his place as President of the United States in 1861.

A Nation Mourns
Lincoln’s train pulled in to the Springfield depot on Wednesday, May 3rd. The next day, Lincoln, along with the remains of his son Willie, who had died of typhoid fever in 1862, were interred in Oak Ridge Cemetery.


To commemorate this historic event, this week, a replica of the funeral train has recreated the journey from Washington D.C. to stops in 15 cities and town before arriving in Springfield today, May 1st.

Original Hearse Procession
This weekend, several events are planned. Tomorrow, May 2nd, a re-enactment of the hearse procession will travel from the depot to the old Illinois State House for the opening ceremonies. The day will conclude with civil war-era band concerts and a candlelight vigil to be held throughout the night at the State House grounds.

The historic procession to the cemetery will be held on Sunday, May 3rd accompanied by re-enactors from around the country. The same eulogy, speeches and salutes will be given once again in Oak Ridge Cemetery, along with the original music played at the ceremony in 1865.
 
What fitting tributes for a President whose death had the effect of pulling the nation back together after a bitter war that had ripped the nation apart.

~ Joy

Friday, April 18, 2014

Plans On Track for Lincoln Train and Funeral Re-Enactments




The Funeral Train
Abraham Lincoln
On  April 21, 1865, the train carrying the body of President Abraham Lincoln left Washington in-route to Springfield, Illinois where the president was to be interred. Over 180 stops were made along the way and over 3-million people paid their respects.


 Crowds
The Lincoln Special, as the train was called, took 12 days to reach Illinois’ capitol city covering over 1,600 miles before reaching the end of its journey.

Lincoln's Hat
Next year marks the 150th Anniversary of Lincoln’s death and the running of the Funeral Train. To commemorate the event, a devoted group of Lincolnites from Illinois are planning to re-enactment the train trip, along with a re-enactment of his funeral in the city of Springfield.


Train Plans
The 2015 Lincoln Funeral Train group plans to travel the original train route as part of this tribute tour, in replicas of the steam engine and the Lincoln funeral car. Both are being built from scratch to look just as they did in 1865, complete with accurate car body, interior and exterior finishes and trims, and furniture. (The original car was destroyed by fire in 1911.)

David Klole
David Kloke, a master mechanic and owner of Locomotive Works, LLC in Elgin, Illinois, has built an operating 19th century steam locomotive, which will make the journey from Washington D.C. to Springfield, Illinois.

Building Train
Kloke sees this as a labor of love and has been inspired by Lincoln since he was a child. About 10 years ago, Kloke came up with the idea to reconstruct the funeral route and the funeral train for the 150th Anniversary. Kloke has built the train using his own money.

The first official ride on the reconstructed steam engine, the Leviathan 63, will be in Wellington, Ohio this weekend - April 18 -20, 2014. This fundraiser is the first of several to secure donations for the completion of the Lincoln Funeral Car by next April. If you can't ride the rails but would still like to help, donations may be made to The Historic Railroad Equipment Association and are tax deductible. Visit http://www.the2015lincolnfuneraltrain.com/donate or mail contributions to:

The Historic Railroad Equipment Association
1325 Spaulding Road
Elgin, IL  60120

Funeral Train Arrives
But the re-enactment is not over once the train pulls into the station on May 2, 2015. Far from it! From there, members of the 2015 Lincoln Funeral Coalition lincolnfuneraltrain.org will began a re-enactment of the funeral procession held in that city.


Funeral Hearse
It was May 4, 1865 when Lincoln’s body was taken to Oak Ridge Cemetery and placed in the reception vault to await the construction of his cemetery monument.



Next year, there will be a 3-week event to commemorate the 150th Anniversary of Lincoln’s final arrival back home in Springfield. Beginning on April 14, the day Lincoln was shot while attending the play, “Our American Cousin,”  the program will once again be performed, this time at the Hoogland Center for the Arts in Springfield.


The Lincoln Home
Rees Carillon
A scholarly symposium will begin April 15 with talks being held at the Lincoln Home National Historic Site, the Executive Mansion, and the University of Illinois at Springfield.

On Wednesday, April 29, a special concert will be performed on the Thomas Rees Memorial Carillon in Washington Park. And on Friday, May 1st, Civil War military and civilian re-enactors will open their encampments to the pubic.


Lincoln's Funeral
Then on Saturday the 2nd  the funeral train will arrive in town. Once the replicated coffin is unloaded from the train, a hearse procession will travel the same route to 6th and Washington Streets for the opening ceremonies. The day will conclude with civil war-era band concerts and a candlelight vigil to be held throughout the night at Washington and 6th Streets.

The historic procession to the cemetery will be held on Sunday, May 3
Lincoln's Interment
accompanied by re-enactors from around the country. The same eulogy, speeches and salutes will be given once again in Oak Ridge Cemetery, along with the original music played at the ceremony in 1865.

If you would like more information about the events, to take part, or donate, visit the 2015 Lincoln Funeral Coalition’s web page at lincolnfuneraltrain.org

What fitting tributes for the man who once said “And in the end, it’s not the years in your life that count. It’s the life in your years.”


~ Joy

Friday, March 15, 2013

Embalming World Leaders, Long-Term


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Embalming is the act of preserving a body for a short period of time so that the remains may be placed on display at a viewing or funeral.

Egyptian Embalming
Embalming has been practiced since ancient times. The Egyptians are best known for their embalming (mummification) customs.  The embalming process is similar to pickling food – a way to keep something preserved for a short period of time.

King Tut
King Tutankhamen’s tomb was discovered in 1922, in the Valley of the Kings.  The fact that his body had been preserved by mummification presented an opportunity for governments to consider the same being done for certain world leaders, with the goal of preserving them for thousands of years.


Sister Bernadette Soubirous
Placing a body on long-term display became a tradition with Catholic saints and popes.  But the bodies did not last, and therefore did not remain on display permanently.







Civil War Embalming
Civil War Soldier
The necessity of finding a way to preserve remains for a certain length of time became crucial during the American Civil War.  Families wanted their soldiers returned home for burial.  Dr. Thomas Holmes, a surgeon with the Army Medical Corps began the process of embalming dead Union soldiers so their remains could be sent back to their families.


Lincoln's Funeral Train
Embalmed Lincoln
These embalming methods made it possible for the body of President Abraham Lincoln to be viewed enroute across the country, as it was returned to Springfield, Illinois for interment. When Lincoln’s coffin was opened 36 years later, his features were still recognizable.


19th Century Embalming Fluids
The main ingredients used in embalming during the Civil War were alcohol and arsenic salts.  Then in 1867, a German chemist discovered formaldehyde, and the process of modern embalming began.


Crowds Wait to see Lenin
Vladimir Lenin
Long-term embalming for public display became accepted when Soviet founder Vladimir Lenin died in 1924. Over 3-million showed up to say farewell to their leader.




The exact techniques used by the Russians for long-term embalming have remained secret. However, it is known that the procedure involves removing the organs, dissolving the veins, and extracting blood from the tissues.  The body is then placed in a vat of embalming fluid where the temperature and humidity levels are closely watched and controlled. After six months, the body has soaked up enough of the embalming fluid to preserve it for a longer period of time.  The formaldehyde-based embalming fluid changes the chemical composition of the body and gets rid of bacteria so that mold can’t grow. This helps prevent decomposition from occurring. 

Mortuary Artist at Work
Once the body has been embalmed, mortuary artists are brought in to make the deceased look more lifelike with the use of cosmetics, hair, and clothing.  The products used are in keeping with the local climate, and conditions that the body will be subjected to.


Climate Controlled
Long-term embalming does not stop decomposition; it only slows it down.  The embalming process must be reapplied periodically in order to keep the body maintained, and the remains must be kept in a climate controlled, sterile environment.


Lenin's 'Bath'
Lenin in 1991
Lenin also has his own embalming maintenance team at the Research Institute for Biological Structures in Moscow.  His body is inspected twice a week, and his hands and face are then cleaned with a special solution.  Every 12 to 18 months, Lenin’s body is immersed in an embalming solution bath to soak for 30 days.  It is then placed back on display in a glass sarcophagus that protects it from bacteria.

Since Lenin’s embalming, several Communist and Socialist leaders have been put on public display.  The list includes:


Argentinean Vice President Eva Peron in 1952.






Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin in 1953.



Vietnamese revolutionary leader Ho Chi Ming in 1969.




 

Leader of the People’s Republic of China, Chairman Mao Zedong in 1976.





Exiled Filipino dictator Ferdinand Marcos in 1989.






North Korean leader Kim Il-sung in 1994.






His son, Kim Jong-il in 2011. 







Chavez at Funeral
Hugo Chavez
Now plans are underway to embalm Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, who died on March 5th, 2013.  Once embalmed, Chavez’s remains would lay in a glass case on public display, permanently.


Lenin's Mausoleum
Ho Chi Ming Museum
Most embalmed leaders were laid to rest in a mausoleum or military museum where generations of the faithful could visit.  Only Lenin, Ho Chi Ming, Kim Il-sung, and Kim Jong-il are still in presentable condition and on display.  (Ho Chi Ming is also treated to a special ‘bath’ once a year in Moscow.)



Stalin at Kremllin Wall
Lenin and Stalin
Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin was embalmed and put on display next to Lenin in 1953.  The Soviet government ordered Stalin’s body removed from the mausoleum in 1961 as part of the de-Stalinization of the country.  He was quietly interred in the Kremlin Wall Necropolis, outside the walls of the Kremlin.

Communist Leaders
The decision to embalm Chavez is considered to be an endeavor to elevate him to the ranks of the high communist.  As to who will do the embalming process – no one has yet been officially announced, although a Filipino mortuary artist, Frank Malabed has volunteered. 


Attending Lenin
The Russian specialists who care for Lenin’s body are considered to be the best at this type of long-term preservation, and have also sent word of their interest to help. 

Lenin On Display
Lenin’s embalming process is still one of the best examples of long-term embalming ever done.  But since the fall of Communism in 1991, the government no longer funds the preservation work.  Now the continued maintenance is paid for by private funds and donations. There has even been talk of deconstructing Lenin’s Mausoleum and burying his remains in a tomb. 

As they say, “Nothing lasts forever…”

~ Joy



To view the process of Lenin’s yearly ‘bath’,