Tag: Abraham Lincoln

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Lincoln’s Rocking Chair – The Ford Museum and Greenfield Village

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Abraham Lincoln rocking chairMy Chasing Abraham Lincoln tour took me to Dearborn, Michigan to see the chair. “The Chair.” The rocking chair that Abraham Lincoln was sitting in the moment he was assassinated. The chair is in the Henry Ford Museum of American Innovation, which along with its outdoor venue, Greenfield Village, is a treasure trove for Abraham Lincoln aficionados.

After spending the previous day in the bowels of the Allen County Public Library in Fort Wayne, Indiana, where Emily Rapoza helped me research their incredible Lincoln collection, I drove from Fort Wayne up to Dearborn to see the original rocking chair. After it had languished for decades in storage at the Smithsonian Institution, the aging widow of Ford’s Theatre co-owner Harry Ford reclaimed it in 1929, and it was soon auctioned for $2,400. The buyer? An agent for automobile pioneer Henry Ford (no relation to the Ford’s Theatre Fords). Henry Ford had revered Lincoln, the “humble, self-made man, the ordinary man who seized opportunity and raised himself up.” The Lincoln rocking chair now sits in a temperature and humidity controlled glass enclosure in the Henry Ford Museum.

But there was more Lincoln to the visit. Prior to the protected spot in which it now sits, the chair was held in the Logan County Courthouse in the adjoining Greenfield Village. This is the actual courthouse from Postville, Illinois (since renamed Lincoln, Illinois) in which Lincoln practiced in during his long months on the 8th Judicial Circuit. Ford had it transported to Michigan and restored to depict Lincoln’s visits between 1840 and 1847.

The chilly, rainy day I visited made the warm and dry courthouse a welcome retreat. A somewhat bored docent was happy to see someone he could entertain. Finding a knowledgeable patron, his love for talking about Lincoln cascading out like the water Lincoln saw flowing over the lip of Niagara Falls. I decided not to tell him about my own book about Lincoln and let him run on with an incredible font of information about the courthouse, Lincoln, and legal circuit. He also told me the wardrobe sitting in the corner of the courthouse was believed to have been built by Lincoln’s father, Thomas. The knowledge and enthusiasm the docent exhibited was exhilarating. He was so enthralling I didn’t even tell him I had written a book on Lincoln.

One of my previous books was about Thomas Edison and Greenfield Village also has a replica of Thomas Edison’s Menlo Park lab, including some original outbuildings and even soil carted in by train from the New Jersey site. I had visited the current Menlo Park site museum and its towering lightbulb, as well as his West Orange (NJ) and Fort Myers (FL) laboratories, so it was a great treat to see one of his first labs as it was. Even more exciting, I fortuitously was there during one of the periodic visits by Edison himself, an actor who came into the lab in character and told us all about his current work. Afterwards I toured some old saw and grist mills important for my research.

Lincoln furniture, Ford Museum

Back inside the Ford Museum I found a small center table and side chair once owned by Abraham and Mary Lincoln in their Springfield, Illinois home. Furniture owned by other writers like Mark Twain and Edgar Allan Poe were a thrill to see. I also spent some time in the Agriculture section of the museum where I could see some of the technological improvements (e.g., a McCormick reaper) that I’m researching for my next Lincoln book. For the science geek in me they had a Mathematica section with all sorts of cool exhibits.

Both the Museum and the Village have much more worth seeing and I highly encourage everyone to make the trip. There truly is something for everyone here and one can’t help but learn some history and science while being entertained.

My Chasing Abraham Lincoln tours continue! Much more to come.

David J. Kent is an avid science traveler and the author of Lincoln: The Man Who Saved America, in Barnes and Noble stores now. His previous books include Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity and Edison: The Inventor of the Modern World and two specialty e-books: Nikola Tesla: Renewable Energy Ahead of Its Time and Abraham Lincoln and Nikola Tesla: Connected by Fate.

Check out my Goodreads author page. While you’re at it, “Like” my Facebook author page for more updates!

 

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Chasing Lincoln’s Almanac Murder Trial in Beardstown

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On my most recent Chasing Abraham Lincoln trip I stopped in Beardstown, Illinois to visit the site of one of Lincoln’s most famous cases – the Almanac Murder Trial. Beardstown has the only active courthouse that Lincoln practiced in, and the 1858 trial was both sensational and controversial.

Almanac trial

I arrived at the Beardstown Courthouse Museum around 3:50 pm. The sign said it was open only until 4 pm, so I rushed in to find a nearly empty foyer and some locked doors. As my hopes began to fade I encountered a resident volunteer guide named Paula Woods. I felt intrusive as I told her I would like to see the museum, as she fumbled for an old-fashioned keychain reminiscent of a jailhouse. Before we were finished, I actual did see the jailhouse cell that had held Duff Armstrong, the man charged with murder.

Even before she opened up the first door leading to a small room filled with Lincoln and trial-related artifacts, the visit turned into something special. In the foyer Paula pointed out a tall sign highlighting the Abraham Lincoln National Heritage Area and the Looking for Lincoln campaign. I had indeed heard of it, I said, and had in fact just participated in the LEAD: Spirit of Lincoln Leadership Academy program (hence my late arrival to Beardstown). It turns out Paula isn’t just a volunteer, she is the Chair of the Commission that runs the courthouse museum and other historical locations in Cass County. She is also on the LEAD program Board!

The 4 pm closing time quickly sped away as Paula showed me the exhibits and then unlocked the door to the stairs leading to the second floor courtroom. The court is still in session, she explains, with cases heard about once a month. Entering the doorway I was standing in the very court where Lincoln defended Duff Armstrong. The key witness in the trial claimed he clearly saw the fight by “the light of a high moon” around 10 or 11 pm that night. Aha, thought the scientifically minded Lincoln and produced an almanac showing the moon “runs low” that night and was already setting by the time of the incident. Having shown the witness lying, Duff Armstrong was acquitted. On the wall is a large painting depicting the moment Lincoln pointed out the discrepancy to the jury, the almanac clear on this point.

The almanac most often depicted was the Old Farmer’s Almanac for that date, although no one actually knows if it was that one or another of the several available at the time. There is even a suggestion that the almanac was forged, but modern recalculations show the moon would indeed have been unusually low that night, part of an 18.6-year lunar cycle that affects lunar declination.

As people started to show up for a pre-arranged community meeting in the courtroom, Paula took me around other parts of the courthouse, including the jailhouse. It was here that Duff Armstrong spent his days and nights waiting for his trial to start. Lincoln had been friends with the Armstrong family for many years and wrote Hannah Armstrong as soon as he heard about her son Duff’s predicament. Lincoln refused payment, citing his work as thanks for all the favors done by the Jack and Hannah over the many years of Lincoln’s life.

Long after the official closing time I thanked Paula for staying late on my behalf. We discussed the work of the LEAD program and Heritage Area, as well as how my book has successfully brought Lincoln to a broad swath of the American public. Having started the day with the LEAD students, it was time to head north for more adventures Chasing Abraham Lincoln.

David J. Kent is an avid science traveler and the author of Lincoln: The Man Who Saved America, in Barnes and Noble stores now. His previous books include Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity and Edison: The Inventor of the Modern World and two specialty e-books: Nikola Tesla: Renewable Energy Ahead of Its Time and Abraham Lincoln and Nikola Tesla: Connected by Fate.

Check out my Goodreads author page. While you’re at it, “Like” my Facebook author page for more updates!

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Abraham Lincoln LEADing Emerging Leaders

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LEAD sweatshirtLast week I had the privilege of visiting with the LEAD: Spirit of Lincoln Youth Leadership Academy in Jacksonville, Illinois. Led by Sarah Watson and George Buss, I discovered an amazing group of emerging leaders and their equally amazing mentors. I came away thoroughly impressed.

And the program is indeed impressive. When I arrived the group of 40 seventh grade students were watching Steven Spielberg’s movie, Lincoln. After the movie, and after they asked questions to George Buss about it, the students all moved back to the classroom where they split into their color-coded groups (Red, Gold, Silver, etc.) to do a verbal and written debriefing. Each student was encouraged to offer their views of the movie and wrote comments on large poster sheets of paper. The goal was to help them think about what they just saw or experienced. The Academy participants did this for each event they participated in, which included visits to the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum (where they saw the original Gettysburg Address), New Salem (where they experienced Lincoln’s early life in Illinois), the old State House (where Lincoln practiced law), and several other venues.

Beyond the emerging leader students themselves, I was struck by the high level of leadership shown by the group of eight mentors. These college age men and women each were responsible for a group of approximately six students and worked with some autonomy from Sarah and George’s overall guidance. I was truly impressed with their ability to encourage, guide, and inspire the students. Without these amazing mentors, the program wouldn’t work. Congratulations and thank you to all of you.

I played only a tiny part in the program but it’s an experience I’ll remember for the rest of my life. On the first evening I watched the groups debrief after the Lincoln movie and then joined them for dinner in the Illinois College cafeteria. The next morning I gave them some background on my own leadership experience and lessons I had learned about how to lead. I then answered some incredibly insightful questions from both students and mentors.

Why me? In part because my book, Lincoln: The Man Who Saved America, was given to each student and mentor for the second year in a row. But also because I’ve somehow risen from being the quiet, non-participant (i.e., “the shy kid”) in my younger years to a series of leadership roles in my life and career. I told them how I accidentally became President of my college Biology Society, then President of a regional chapter of an international scientific organization (twice!), President of a second scientific organization, Chair of the scientist group at my former employer, Chair of the Program Committee organizing a North American conference with 2500 attendees, and a variety of other leadership positions.

I’m currently Vice President of Education and Outreach for the Lincoln Group of DC, the most active Abraham Lincoln group in the nation. From the LEAD program I learned a lot that can benefit the outreach and education activities of the Lincoln Group of DC. So I learned as much from the students and mentors as they did from me.

After my session I was happy to sign copies of my book to each and every student and mentor. Each one also had a photo taken with me (or I had my photo taken with them), along with a group photo for each of the color-coded groups with their mentors.

My fondest memory is watching the students become engrossed in my book after the signings. One student, upon flipping through the graphics-heavy pages, told George Buss that “This is so cool.”

This is so cool.

That absolutely made my day. This is why I wrote the book. I wanted to reach the public that might not be reading – or reading yet – the big Lincoln tomes that dominate the market. I wanted the graphics to both grab the reader’s attention and provide another means of educating them. I wanted people, both students and adults, to read my book and think, “This is so cool.”

So thank you Sarah and George and all the mentors and students for allowing me to learn from all of you. I’ll never forget the experience.

[And thanks to Sarah, George, Heather, and the LEAD staff for all the great photos!]

David J. Kent is an avid science traveler and the author of Lincoln: The Man Who Saved America, in Barnes and Noble stores now. His previous books include Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity and Edison: The Inventor of the Modern World and two specialty e-books: Nikola Tesla: Renewable Energy Ahead of Its Time and Abraham Lincoln and Nikola Tesla: Connected by Fate.

Check out my Goodreads author page. While you’re at it, “Like” my Facebook author page for more updates!

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The Belly Ache Abraham Lincoln

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In Manchester, England there stands a statue of Abraham Lincoln. The statue was supposed to be given to London, but no one there wanted it. Robert Lincoln was aghast. “No, no, no,” he mightily exclaimed. “No way. It looks like Lincoln has a belly ache.” So it was sent to Manchester and a copy of the more acceptable statue of Lincoln standing in front of a chair found its way to London instead.

Today I saw the original “belly ache” statue in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Abraham Lincoln, Cincinnati, OhioTo be honest, it does look like Lincoln is feeling some distress (and not just because I was dodging rain drops to take the photo). The sculptor, George Grey Barnard, intended a frontier Lincoln, dressed his usual frumpy, with his arms clasped in front of him. At 11 feet tall, plus a pedestal, the statue is rather impressive.

But apparently not dignified enough for the Brits.

So a copy of the Barnard statue is in Manchester (with another in Louisville, KY) and a copy of the more famous statue by Augustus Saint-Gaudens sits in Parliament Square, London.

I’ve seen several other statues on this trip…and will see more before I’m done. I’ll be posting more about them as I sort through thousands of photos, most of them better than this phone shot.

Check back soon.

David J. Kent is an avid science traveler and the author of Lincoln: The Man Who Saved America, in Barnes and Noble stores now. His previous books include Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity and Edison: The Inventor of the Modern World and two specialty e-books: Nikola Tesla: Renewable Energy Ahead of Its Time and Abraham Lincoln and Nikola Tesla: Connected by Fate.

Check out my Goodreads author page. While you’re at it, “Like” my Facebook author page for more updates!

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Chasing Abraham Lincoln – The Tour Continues

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Lincoln bust in Havana, CubaAbraham Lincoln is everywhere. I just saw his bust in a park in Havana, Cuba. I even saw an art exhibit in the Fine Arts Museum of Cuba that included a figure of Lincoln (and missed the other three busts/statues of him there). He’s been seen in Singapore, Edinburgh, Oslo, Mexico City, and other far reaching places. And, of course, impressions of Lincoln are in many places in the United States, especially, and not surprisingly, in Illinois, the Land of Lincoln. As my Chasing Abraham Lincoln tour(s) continue, Part 3 takes me back to Illinois and points coming and going.

For those who followed my Chasing Abraham Lincoln tours (Parts 1 and 2) last year, the first trip took me through Lincoln’s early life in Kentucky and Indiana, along with a stop to see the assassination chair at the Ford Museum in Dearborn, Michigan. Part 2 took me into the heart of Illinois, following in Lincoln’s footsteps through all seven Lincoln-Douglas debate sites, the Illinois & Michigan Canal, and a multitude of other towns and cities with statues, gravestones, and log cabins.

There have been other tours not officially designated with a Part Number, including trips to Charleston, South Carolina where the Civil War started, to Hampton Roads where the “Battle of the Ironclads” took place, and to Gettysburg for the annual Lincoln Forum. On a separate trip a few years ago I explored Lincoln’s Springfield and the Eighth Judicial Circuit. I’ve also made frequent visits to DC-area landmarks.

This official “Part 3” takes me back to Illinois. Details are still being worked out but on the way there I plan to stop in key places in Ohio and Indiana, plus the place where the Lincoln’s crossed into Illinois. After participating in the LEAD: Lincoln’s Path to Leadership program in Jacksonville, I’ll continue north to visit places I missed on my previous Illinois trip, plus forays into Wisconsin and Michigan to see statues in Milwaukee, Kenosha, and Kalamazoo. On the way back I plan to visit a new national park in Indiana and the Flight 93 Memorial in Pennsylvania.

As with last year, the exact timing and locations will likely change on the fly. I’ll do my best to emulate the late Tony Horwitz (Confederates in the Attic; Spying on the South) and talk to as many local people as I can to get their views on Lincoln.

Until then, feel free to check out some of my previous Chasing Abraham Lincoln trips (click and scroll for stories, or simply type “Chasing Abraham Lincoln” into the Search box above).

David J. Kent is an avid science traveler and the author of Lincoln: The Man Who Saved America, in Barnes and Noble stores now. His previous books include Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity and Edison: The Inventor of the Modern World and two specialty e-books: Nikola Tesla: Renewable Energy Ahead of Its Time and Abraham Lincoln and Nikola Tesla: Connected by Fate.

Check out my Goodreads author page. While you’re at it, “Like” my Facebook author page for more updates!

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LEAD Me to Abraham Lincoln – Lessons to be Learned

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Looking for LincolnIn June I’ll have the privilege of participating in the annual LEAD: Lincoln’s Path to Leadership program in Illinois. For the past two years LEAD has provided my book, Lincoln: The Man Who Saved America, to each of the students in the program; this year I’ll be there too.

LEAD is an initiative of the Looking for Lincoln program of the Abraham Lincoln National Heritage Area, which covers the 8th Judicial District represented by Abraham Lincoln in his single term in the U.S. House of Representatives (where I recently participated in the dedication of the new Lincoln Room). Led by the Heritage Area’s Executive Director Sarah Watson and long-time Lincoln presenter George Buss, and in partnership with many other Lincoln and youth groups in Illinois, the LEAD program:

“provides an opportunity for youth to learn about the character qualities of a leader by examining Abraham Lincoln’s life, his ideals, his character and his character capabilities.”

Each year the participants – about 40 seventh graders selected from around the state – spend a week visiting historic sites related to Abraham Lincoln and discussing how Lincoln became the great leader we know him as today. Students walk away with a greater appreciation of leadership qualities and how they can apply them to their own lives.

In my portion we’ll talk about my own leadership experiences (I have been president of organizations four times and am currently vice-president of the Lincoln Group of DC), which will segue into how Lincoln went from frontier farm boy to leader of the nation.

If you haven’t yet taken advantage of it, check out the other Looking for Lincoln and Heritage Area programs, as well as their tour itineraries. They provide tons of information to help you visit and appreciate the Land of Lincoln. [BTW, the Abraham Lincoln National Heritage Area just expanded to include the most southern (Jonesboro) and most northern (Freeport) debate sites.]

For those who followed my Chasing Abraham Lincoln tours (Parts 1 and 2) last year, I’ll be combining my LEAD participation with Part 3. Previous tours took me to Lincoln’s early life in Kentucky and Indiana (plus stops in Tennessee and Michigan) and the Lincoln-Douglas debate sites (and many others) in Illinois.  For Part 3 I’ll be visiting many stops in Illinois I missed previously, plus some Lincoln-related sites in Wisconsin and Michigan.

I’m looking forward to both the LEAD: Lincoln’s Path to Leadership program and my Chasing Abraham Lincoln tour. Before that I’ll be on another adventure, but that’s a topic for a later post.

David J. Kent is an avid science traveler and the author of Lincoln: The Man Who Saved America, in Barnes and Noble stores now. His previous books include Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity (2013) and Edison: The Inventor of the Modern World (2016) and two e-books: Nikola Tesla: Renewable Energy Ahead of Its Time and Abraham Lincoln and Nikola Tesla: Connected by Fate.

Check out my Goodreads author page. While you’re at it, “Like” my Facebook author page for more updates!

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Introducing the Abraham Lincoln Bibliography Project

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Lincoln book towerThey say there are over 15,000 books and pamphlets published about Abraham Lincoln. The truth is, no one actually knows. As a way to find out, I’ve started the Abraham Lincoln Bibliography Project. As I note in my introduction to the page:

The goal of the Abraham Lincoln Bibliography Project is to compile all of those books, then organize them into a usable resource for researchers, aficionados, and anyone interested in reading more about our 16th president.

The project is still in its infancy and limited by the amount of time I have to devote to it. It’s a big project, so as it develops I’ll be looking for additional help. Visitors are welcome to offer their thoughts, suggestions, books to be included, and whatever else seems appropriate in the comments.

So far the site has focused on book reviews, but since one of the goals of the Abraham Lincoln Bibliography Project is to offer broader guidance on books about Abraham Lincoln, ultimately the plan is to include three types of posts:

  1. Compilations of books within categories (e.g., assassination, presidency, etc.)
  2. Reviews of books written about Lincoln
  3. News

The first type, compilations, will eventually include two subtypes: summary discussions on a topic, and lists. The lists are what they sound like; simply lists of books within a subtopic, e.g., books about the assassination. The summary discussions will be longer syntheses of a group of books in that subcategory, essentially white papers discussing the topic and including references. Since these will take longer to prepare, they will be posted less frequently than lists.

The second type is also self-explanatory. I’ll post reviews of books about Lincoln. Initially, these will be reviews written by myself on books I have read. I anticipate also including relevant reviews written by others, either specifically for this site or in accordance with accepted copyright limitations if published elsewhere.

The third type is News. Any news items posted on the internet pertaining to particular books or Lincoln-related topics may be included on this site as encountered. Selection of items will be based on relevance and applicability to the overall goals of this project. So far I haven’t added any news to the site, but feel free to offer suggestions or thoughts.

As this site develops I’ll add organization to make it easier to find particular compilations, lists, books reviewed, and news items by topic.

As I said earlier in this post, the Abraham Lincoln Bibliography Project is still a work in progress, with much more work to be done. Please be patient as it develops, and feel free to offer any ideas for books to be reviewed or added to category lists. Constructive thoughts on how to develop the page are welcome (spamming or trolling are not).

To keep up with future items, please consider following the page.

[Text above adapted from two posts on the Abraham Lincoln Bibliography Project website. David J. Kent photo of Lincoln book tower in the Ford’s Theatre Center for Education and Leadership]

David J. Kent is an avid science traveler and the author of Lincoln: The Man Who Saved America, in Barnes and Noble stores now. His previous books include Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity (2013) and Edison: The Inventor of the Modern World (2016) and two e-books: Nikola Tesla: Renewable Energy Ahead of Its Time and Abraham Lincoln and Nikola Tesla: Connected by Fate.

Check out my Goodreads author page. While you’re at it, “Like” my Facebook author page for more updates!

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Lincoln Room Dedicated in U.S. Capitol

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Lincoln RoomIt’s official. The room once used by Abraham Lincoln has been designated the Lincoln Room by House Resolution 1063. It’s a fitting tribute both to the 16th President of the United States and to Past-President of the Lincoln Group of DC, John Elliff. I was privileged to attend the dedication ceremony on May 1, 2019 in Statuary Hall of the U.S. Capitol Building in Washington, D.C.

The road to the dedication is a long one, from one former president to another. Currently Room H-226 in the U.S. Capitol, the space was the House post office during the time that Abraham Lincoln served his single term as a U.S. Congressman from Illinois. The House chambers then are now Statuary Hall, where visitors can see the statues from each of the 50 states (two for each state). A small metal plate in the floor designates where Lincoln’s desk was as a Congressman, way in the back of the hall. Behind it is a door that led to the post office. Today that room is in the rear of the suite designated for the House Majority Whip, currently Representative James Clyburn of South Carolina.

Lincoln would spend many hours between votes and debates in the post office. Representatives didn’t have offices or staffs then, so the post office was a good place to discuss issues of the day and trade stories and jokes.

Flash forward to the present. In 2014 I attended a special ceremony in Statuary Hall celebrating the 150th anniversary of Lincoln’s second inaugural. Congressman Rodney Davis, who serves in part of what had been Lincoln’s district, took me into the room then occupied by Steve Scalise, who had set aside the old post office room as an unofficial tribute to Abraham Lincoln.

John Elliff also was at that ceremony. As President of the Lincoln Group of DC he recognized that Rep. Scalise’s unofficial designation might not hold after the results of the 2016 election changed party leadership of the House (much like Lincoln pushing for the 13th Amendment to codify the gains made in the Emancipation Proclamation). After finishing his presidential term in spring 2018, John began working in earnest to convince Congress to officially designate the room as the Lincoln Room.

In August 2018, John Elliff suddenly and tragically passed away. By then he had received commitments from several members of Congress to pass a resolution. The Lincoln Group of DC, the Illinois State Society, and the Abraham Lincoln Association of Springfield, Illinois (and its president, former Lincoln Group of DC officer Bob Willard) all engaged with Congress to support the permanent designation of the Lincoln Room.

Near the end of the 115th Congress, Representatives Darin LaHood and Raja Krishnamoorthi co-sponsored a bipartisan resolution to officially designate the Lincoln Room. It passed and the room was formally dedicated this week. Representatives LaHood and Krishnamoorthi, Lincoln Group of DC President John O’Brien, Illinois State Society President Jerry Weller, and John Elliff’s wife Linda all spoke at the dedication. About 50 proud members of the three organizations attended the event in Statuary Hall and toured the Lincoln Room.

As Representative LaHood noted during the dedication, this resolution and designation would not have been possible without the tireless work of John Elliff and the support of these Lincoln and Illinois organizations.

For me personally this was a fitting tribute to the man who became my Lincoln mentor, John Elliff, as well as to Abraham Lincoln himself. As I wrote in my tribute post last August, John was, as fellow friend and Lincoln scholar Bob Willard noted, “Lincolnian in character – honest, smart, hard-working, empathetic, curious.” Everyone in the Lincoln Group of DC appreciated these characteristics. He was a true leader.

And now he will be forever linked with his own political mentor, Abraham Lincoln. Thank you John, Linda, Bob, Jerry, Representatives LaHood and Krishnamoorthi, and all the members of each of the organizations that made the Lincoln Room happen. See the slideshow below for some photos of the event.

David J. Kent is an avid science traveler and the author of Lincoln: The Man Who Saved America, in Barnes and Noble stores now. His previous books include Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity (2013) and Edison: The Inventor of the Modern World (2016) and two e-books: Nikola Tesla: Renewable Energy Ahead of Its Time and Abraham Lincoln and Nikola Tesla: Connected by Fate.

Check out my Goodreads author page. While you’re at it, “Like” my Facebook author page for more updates!

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Sumter, Hunley, and a Die-Hard Confederate

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What do Fort Sumter, the H.L. Hunley, and a die-hard Confederate all have in common? I saw them all during my whirlwind weekend trip to Charleston, South Carolina – where the Civil War began. It was a quick trip but a hugely impactful one. Charleston has a lot to offer, both today and in history.

Fort Sumter – as I hope everyone already knows – was the site of the shots that began the American Civil War. Union Major Robert Anderson had been garrisoned with this 85-man forces at Fort Moultrie (where I also visited) as the construction of Fort Sumter in the middle of Charleston Harbor had yet to be completed. Fearing the easy access of Moultrie to the belligerence of newly formed Confederate armies, Anderson moved his men over to Sumter under the cover of night. In the early morning hours of April 12, 1861, Confederate General P.G.T. Beauregard began a 34-hour bombardment of the fort. And the war came.

http://www.oldslavemartmuseum.com/

I was honored to be part of a group of volunteers who helped raise the flag over Fort Sumter on Easter Sunday.

Charleston also hosts the H.L. Hunley, the Confederate submarine that sunk the USS Housatonic outside Charleston Harbor in 1864. The Hunley has the distinction of being both the first successful submarine attack in warfare and the only submarine that killed more of its own men than that of its enemy. On its first training cruise, five of the eight crew were drowned due to malfunctioning equipment. On its second, all eight crew members drowned, including its inventor, H.L. Hunley. According to Dave, the volunteer tour guide at the Hunley Center, the aforementioned General Beauregard thought that the underwater ship was a danger more to its crew than to the enemy. He did, however, approve the third mission, crewed by volunteers (a tradition that remains in today’s Naval Submarine corps) and led by Lieutenant George Dixon.

Charleston SC

But here’s where it gets stranger still. Dixon and his crew successfully snuck up close to the Housatonic, struck it with a torpedo (mine) attacked to a forward spar, and sunk the ship to the bottom of Charleston Harbor. The Hunley then mysteriously disappeared, finally located more than a century later by famed writer and explorer Clive Cussler. All eight of the final crewmen on the Hunley died (scientists still today argue about why), but because the Harbor was so shallow, only five of the Housatonic‘s crew died. After viewing the submarine I stopped at Magnolia Cemetery to see the graves of the 21 men who died on the Hunley.

Charleston SCThe Civil War theme didn’t stop there. I also visited an old Slave Mart, where the buying and selling of enslaved people was moved indoors after locals started complaining how the outdoor sales were giving the city a bad name. [It should be noted that Charleston became the fourth largest city in the new United States precisely because of its major role in both the international and domestic slave trades.] I also stumbled upon a man named Braxton (not named after the Confederate General and sugar plantation owner Braxton Bragg, he assured me). Braxton was standing next to the large monument in Battery Park, “Confederate Defenders of Charleston, Fort Sumter, 1861-1865.” He and his two buddies (he was alone this day) have been coming out to guard the statue every weekend for the last four years, that is, when he isn’t playing a Confederate private (or Robert E. Lee) in local reenactments. He had a fascinating story, which I’ll tell in a future post.

To round out the weekend in Charleston I visited Magnolia plantation and gardens, the remnants of a large antebellum rice plantation owned by the Drayton family.

In the middle of all this Civil War theme, I also found time to visit the South Carolina Aquarium on the Charleston waterfront. Along with the Ft. Fisher Aquarium in North Carolina I stopped at on the way back north, this makes something like 57 public aquariums I’ve visited in my life, so far.

I’ll have more on all of these once I sort through photos and notes. 

David J. Kent is an avid science traveler and the author of Lincoln: The Man Who Saved America, in Barnes and Noble stores now. His previous books include Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity (2013) and Edison: The Inventor of the Modern World (2016) and two e-books: Nikola Tesla: Renewable Energy Ahead of Its Time and Abraham Lincoln and Nikola Tesla: Connected by Fate.

Check out my Goodreads author page. While you’re at it, “Like” my Facebook author page for more updates!

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Lincoln and Tesla at the Library of Congress

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Nikola Tesla’s pioneering work with alternating current electricity relies on power generated by a dynamo. Abraham Lincoln had a broad interest in science and technology. And now Lincoln and Tesla are joined in electrical science at the Library of Congress.

While Tesla likely never visited the library, Abraham Lincoln was certainly no stranger to the Library of Congress’s vast holdings. During Lincoln’s two-year term as a U.S. Congressman from 1847 to 1849 he lived at Mrs. Sprigg’s boarding house in a row of such houses from East Capitol Street to A Street SE. Directly behind the Capitol, it was a perfect location for Lincoln and his fellow boarders – mostly other Whigs and abolitionists – to discuss the issues of the day while being close enough to rush over for votes in Congress.

The row of houses was pulled down long after Lincoln’s time to make way for, you guessed it, the Library of Congress. The Jefferson Building of the Library was opened in 1897 and sits right on top of Lincoln’s once home-site. Lincoln as President was a regular borrower of books from the library’s shelves (at that time, the Library of Congress was still housed within the Capitol building). Topics of books loaned to Lincoln ranged from the strategy of war to the plays of Shakespeare, and of course, keeping up on science and technology.

Here’s where it gets interesting.

The Jefferson Building of the Library of Congress has an amazing main reading room, above which looms a beautiful dome hundreds of feet overhead. Around the central oculus is a mural by Edwin Howland Blashfield. Like Nikola Tesla, Blashfield spent much of his early life traveling around Europe. Later, once establishing himself as a widely regarded muralist, Blashfield would paint a mural in the dome of the Manufacturers’ and Liberal Arts building at the World’s Columbian Exposition (the Chicago World’s Fair), the very Fair where Nikola Tesla would become a household name.

Back in the Library of Congress, Blashfield decided on a circular mural designed to represent “Evolution of Civilization.” Various civilizations represent that evolution and the contributions each had made to society. Gazing upward you see this:

Library of Congress Lincoln Main Reading Room
Zooming in to the “one o’clock” position of the above you can see someone very familiar:

Library of Congress Lincoln Main Reading RoomAccording to the Library of Congress’s Abraham Lincoln and Civil War expert Michelle Krowl, and quoting from the book On These Walls: Inscriptions & Quotations in the Library of Congress:

“America is represented by the field of science. The figure, an engineer whose face was modeled on that of Abraham Lincoln, sits pondering a problem. In front of him is an electric dynamo, representing the American contribution to advances in harnessing electricity.”

Well how about that? The visage of Abraham Lincoln is used to epitomize America, and our contribution to society is science, depicted by an electric dynamo harnessing electricity, something that Nikola Tesla was in the forefront of bringing to the American public.

So Tesla and Lincoln are connected in several ways through science. And that’s not the end of the connections between these two men.

For more, check out my e-book on Amazon: Abraham Lincoln and Nikola Tesla: Connected by Fate.

David J. Kent is an avid science traveler and the author of Lincoln: The Man Who Saved America, in Barnes and Noble stores now. His previous books include Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity (2013) and Edison: The Inventor of the Modern World (2016) and two e-books: Nikola Tesla: Renewable Energy Ahead of Its Time and Abraham Lincoln and Nikola Tesla: Connected by Fate.

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