In politics and often helped her husband makes decisions. Margaret taylor was opposed to her husbands nomination for president. As a teacher, Abigail Fillmore was the first president ial wife to have a profession and began efforts to establish the First White House library. Sarah polk, margaret taylor, and Abigail Fillmore, this sunday night on first ladies, influence and image, examining the public and private lives of women who fulfilled the position of first lady. From Martha Washington to michelle obama, sundays at 8 00 p. M. Eastern on cspan3. As a complement to the series, cspans new book first ladies. Its available as a hard cover or an ebook through your Favorite Book store or online book seller. Well take you now to Oak Ridge Cemetery in springfield illinois, for the 150th commemoration ceremony of president ab ham lincolns funeral. Then author and historian Michael Burlingame talks about the reg lassie of abe ham lincoln and reflects on the ceremony in springfield. This is three hours and 20 minutes. Youre watching American History tv on cspan3. What youre looking at now, a live picture from Oak Ridge Cemetery in springfield illinois, for the 150th anniversary of president abe ham lincolns funeral. Richard hart on the screen, joining us from the cemetery a springfield resident and an author. Your book is lincolns springfield the funeral of abe ham lincoln, tell us what well see today. Whats going to happen there behind you and all around you this afternoon . Well thank you. Well today youre going to see a reenactment of the funeral of Abraham Lincoln in springfield 150 years ago. And it started on the square downtown, and it will take probably a half an hour for the procession to reach Oak Ridge Cemetery which is on the north side of springfield, and that procession will be a reconstruction or reenactment of lincolns actual funeral. So there will be a number of divisions with reenactors in those divisions. Youll actually see a replication of the funeral hearse that was put together by a local funeral home. I believe youre going to see a horse, which would have been Abraham Lincolns horse bob, led by an african american, henry brown, coming into the cemetery. And then in back of me is the receiving vault at Oak Ridge Cemetery. And it is there that lincolns body, as well as his son willie, were placed at the time of the lincoln funeral. Mr. Hart why was president lincoln buried in sprild, illinois . There was his home for 20 years before he went to washington, d. C. And only a short time before he left springfield, Oak Ridge Cemetery was created. And mary and Abraham Lincoln were present on the day the cemetery was dedicated and all of the speeches were made. The story is that on the way home Abraham Lincoln said to mary, this is where id like to be buried. You mentioned Mary Todd Lincoln and yet she didnt attend the funeral in springfield. He didnt leave washington, d. C. And travel with the train up to springfield. Why is that . Well, Mary Todd Lincolns life was one that she had to face many, many tragedies. And this was perhaps the greatest of all. Her husband being assassinated next to her. And she was rightfully devastated by that. And was just not emotionally capable of making that trip back to springfield. Her son Robert Todd Lincoln was there with her and he did come to springfield for the funeral. We see, if you look on your screen there, some of the reenactors. Might have seen a moment ago some of the tents. Who are the folks in the tents and how long have they been out there camped out . Well i think some of them had been here since last wednesday and perhaps thats when they first came. But thursday night when i was out here, we came out after dinner and it was just a lot of the tents were up at that time. And as i say, it was a beautiful scene, there was a full moon that night or partial, i dont know if it was full, but it was beautiful. And the Oak Ridge Cemetery gate which was the original gate into the cemetery, was lit up. And then across the road in lincoln park were the tents with the fires that they had lit for the evening. So were talking with Richard Hart A Springfield resident and expert on the subject of Abraham Lincolns funeral. Tell me Abraham Lincoln president lincoln died here in washington on april 15th. His funeral, may 4th in springfield, illinois. What happened in that intervening period of time . What was going on in that couple of week period back in 1865 . Well, those days between the time of his assassination and his return and burial here in springfield, are somewhat the subject of this book that i have here. But it was filled with a lot of distress in the nation as to what was occurring, of course. But as far as lincolns body, it was taken to the white house there was an autopsy. It was embalmed. It was placed in a coffin, and there were viewings there. Eventually it was taken to the train station and it was placed in a car that was owned by one of the railroads as a car for the directors of that railroad and the funeral train then left washington, d. C. , and it had a number of people on that train. Some of them had actually taken the train with lincoln from springfield to washington, d. C. In 1861. And the train made a very long, long journey from washington, d. C. To springfield and went through some of the major cities in the east. There were large tributes to lincoln in new york city, and the story is that Teddy Roosevelt watched the procession in new york city from one of the windows on i believe it was fifth avenue. The train then supposedly wouldnt exceed 30 miles an hour. And all of the tracks were cleared for this train. And there was a lead train that went before it to make certain that the tracks were clear. Eventually ended up in chicago and there was an enormous funeral in chicago lasting a couple of days with viewing of the body, the courthouse and then the train made an overnight journey from chicago to springfield, arriving on the morning of may 4th. And from chicago to springfield, at every crossing, in the middle of the night, there would be people gathered often with bonfires and in many instances, there were large arches that had been built over the train tracks. And they were decorated with evergreens, flowers, and even in the middle of the night, there would be hundreds and hundreds of people that would come out to view the train. For our viewers a bit later in our coverage today, we do have a couple of more things we will show folks about the train. Well take a look at the train station there in springfield and have a bit more about president lincolns train. How many people came to springfield back in 1865 for the funeral and the events surrounding it . Thats an amazing question and the number is not certain, but springfield at that time had a population of about 15000 people. And the estimate is that between 75 and 100,000 people came to springfield for the funeral. There were trains special trains from many of the mid western cities that came into springfield. And the people would stay on those trains for sleeping purposes. And remarkably it was the first time that a pullman train had been used and it was a sleeping car. And because of that use during the lincoln funeral it gained acceptance by the railroads as a another aspect of a passenger train. So that was one of the things that came out of the lincoln funeral. And again looking at live pictures of springfield illinois, a reenactment of the funeral of Abraham Lincoln. Talking with richard hart, resident of springfield. You see some folks dressed up in uniform and costume. Are these local reenactors or people come from all over the country to participate in this event today . Well thats a wonderful question. Because i was out here two days ago. And a couple from orlando, florida, were here, and they were dressed in period costumes that were absolutely spectacular. And they were taking each others pictures. So i offered to take their pictures together. And then thats where i got to have this conversation with them. And they had come for this event from orlando, florida. In fact, she gave me this funeral badge. I dont know if you can see that or not, that she had made to hand out to people in springfield. Since then, ive met a number of the reenactors who are from many of the mid western states. I met a gentleman from lancaster, pennsylvania, and his reen actment group had come out. I met a gentleman who came with his military gun on a trailer and he was from wisconsin. And so i think its theres really a kind of sub culture of reenactors in the United States and so they have been here and are many of the people that you see in costume i think are from out of town. Many of them are from springfield, but its hard to tell where all of them how to divide where theyre from, but its pretty broad spectrum. My understanding is that youve lived in springfield for 47 years. Most of your life anyway. And what is the most of the springfield area the Springfield Community about this reenactment . Are people excited to host this event . A lot of participation from everybody in the area . Oh yeah. Its just remarkable. If you look at the schedule of events over the last several days and perhaps you can hear in the background, theres a band playing. There have been, i would say, at least ten different band concerts in the last two days at the churches around springfield and these band concerts, reenactors, and the band come again, from all over the United States and they want to exhibit their abilities. So theyve had band concerts. There was a symphony last evening here, the illinois Symphony Orchestra played a special program of lincoln music. There have been a number of lectures. This morning i spoke in the st. Pauls Cathedral Church and it was packed. And there are at the edwards home, theyre having people theyre having a reenactment tea. And its just a phenomenal participation by the entire community for this event. I think that everyone recognizes the importance of lincoln in our National Life and they just want to be a part of that to honor him, and to commemorate his death 150 years ago. There at the cemetery, you can see Richard Hart A Springfield resident and author and were going to let you have a chance to ask some questions or weigh in a little bit on your thoughts on this event. Our phone lines, 2027488900 for those of you on the east or central time zone. 2027488901 for the mountain and pacific time zones. Mr. Hart im going to ask one now. The procession that were waiting to make its way up to the cemetery, and the reenactment of the actual speeches and the funeral ceremony itself, are those historically accurate . Will they be accurate representations of what took place 150 years ago . I believe so. Ive seen the program and compared it to the program 150 years ago. And i think very much exactly the same. And so that will be very exciting to see that. And who were some of the notable figures that attended Abraham Lincolns funeral there in springfield 150 years ago, and will those persons be portrayed today . Who were the whos who at Abraham Lincolns funeral . Oh my. There were many. Many of the generals of the civil war were in attendance for the funeral. In addition, there were people who had come here to participate in the funeral. Reverend simpson had come. He was the predominant, or the prominent minister in the United States at that time. A very prominent minister. And he came and he delivered the primary yuleuleeulee yule ojy for abraham. There were photographers from philadelphia, from chicago. There were reporters believe it or not, that came from the newspapers. The new york papers the washington papers. And one of the gentlemen that came who was a relatively young reporter at that time, went on to found the associated press. Many of the photographs that these photographers took while here in springfield are still in existence, and theres actually an exhibit in springfield that has all those photographs. So after Abraham Lincolns assassination, Andrew Johnson, correct, became president . Yes. And did he attend the funeral . No, he did not. And why not . Well, i think that you have to remember that in addition to this funeral transpiring at that time, within a period of 90 days in American History you had the Congress Passing the 13th amendment, freeing the slaves had to be approved by the states, and that wasnt done until december of that year. But that occurred. You have lincoln delivering his second inaugural address, which is a masterpiece. And then you have lincoln delivering a speech saying that he believed that certain black men should be allowed to vote. You had general robert e. Lee surrendering to grant and bringing about the closing of the civil war, and the country was euphoric after that. And then within a matter of a week, you have lincoln assassinated. And everybody went into extreme mourning. And so because of that there were there was a lot of uncertainty about the government and what was going to happen. So many of the government people, i think, just stayed in washington. There was also the search for john wilks booth and any of the conspirators that had participated in the murder. And that took front page on many newspapers. So you had a variety of things that were occurring. The people that came to springfield, and they were numerous from out of springfield and were high up but the president the successor to lincoln did not attend. As we approach 3 00 here on the east coast 2 00 your time in illinois, richard lets take our first caller, angela from little rock. Hi there youre on cspan3, go ahead. Hello, i just have a general question. Hello angela. Caller hello. I just have a general question. I dont know if we have angela. While we work on that are you there . Caller hello . All right, no angela. Let me ask im sorry . All right, were going to work on our phone call there. And as we try and get that put together, let me ask you another question, richard hart, while were there. Youve got that procession making its way up. What would be the accuracy of some of the costumes were seeing . Were seeing Union Soldiers theres a woman there in are these accurate period costumes that these reen actors are wearing . Absolutely. They are very, very accurate and the lady is walking toward what i think you had on the screen before, and that is the original gate to Oak Ridge Cemetery. And a year ago, that did not exist. And where we are sitting this afternoon and where that lady is walking was pretty much a field of weeds and bram bell. If you look in the background there, you see the Oak Ridge Cemetery gate, that was recreated this year, based on photographs of the period. And its an absolutely wonderful reconstruction. And it was dedicated in december of last year. And its through those gates that the procession will come. And it was done quite frankly because of this event today. But it will remain and be a part of the cemetery. And it connects to lincoln park which is immediately to the east, and so it will become a part of this total neighborhood and the people in the neighborhood will be able to use it as a way to get into the cemetery. And then what youre looking at now is across the street to the east of that sign, where you actually see the reen actor tents, and the encampment there and they are in absolute accurate costumes. I mean, they are fanatics about this about every aspect of not only their costumes but their tents, the flags the food they eat, the bedding they have, everything is a recreation of the period that they represent. And thats what i was telling the other evening when we came out here. It was absolutely beautiful, the white tents, the moonlight was hitting them. They had fires going. And it was really something. And you see now people walking on the sidewalk from that entrance. All right, well try one more time with the phone calls. See if we can get bob from tulsa, oklahoma, on with us and with your guest in springfield. Bob, go ahead, youre on cspan3. Caller okay, thank you. Mr. Hart my question is regarding the lincoln children. Are they interred in the tomb . And also, i understand that Robert Lincoln was at the final interment of Abraham Lincoln, is he buried there . Okay, thank you for that question. Yes, the children are buried there. Except for robert. And Robert Todd Lincoln, by all accounts, wished to be buried there, but he was survived by his wife, and she thought that he deserved his own separate identity and monument. So hes buried in washington, d. C. And its very interesting. Before he died, his son tom died in england and was brought back to the United States and was actually buried with his grandfather abraham. When robert died, tom was taken out of the cemetery and taken back to washington to be buried with his father. So to answer your question Robert Todd Lincoln is not buried here. All of the other Family Members are. And robert todd is buried in washington, d. C. Lets take another call. Well go to boise idaho, and its casey. Hi there, youre on with richard hart if springfield, illin