F 549 
 , .S7 R3 
 
 Copy 1 
 
 r 
 
I^aisii}? tl?e Stars ai^d Stripes 
 
 OVER THE 
 
 Lincoln Homestead, 
 
 SPRINGFIELD, ILLINOIS. 
 
 OOTOBER 16. 1553. 
 
 >r-KiN(;Kii:Li): 
 . ) II. () I . n R n A' I ) 
 
V-. 
 
 k^ 
 
 s'^ 
 
 %-i> 
 
 ^4 ^^^ 
 
IJNCOLN. 
 
 f'lprnVhtod hj 
 ^> ■ " . O L n R <> V 
 

 rt 
 
 ^iOGolQ ^omestead trustees: 
 
 Auditor. Ciiaki.i:.s W. Pax . 
 Trcasuixi ■ ChAKLES BecK i 
 
 icndent Public Instruction, Richard Edwards. 
 
 C. \V. I secretary. 
 
1'' Till'. 
 
 GRAND ARMY 
 
 OF 
 N(JBLE MEN ANl' 
 
 ' pon land and sea, in battle's strife, hospital's walls. 
 
 prison cells or lonely homes, gave life, 
 
 limb, heart's blood, time, 
 
 toil and money 
 
 TO 
 
 Perpetuate universal freedom, extend the Brother 
 hood of men, to keep the Union intact 
 and our glorious flag" unstained, 
 this little Souveni' 
 
 \:i •pi.i • I I \' I »i.' I 
 
prefa 
 
 ce 
 
 THE homestead of Abraham Liiicohi was presented to 
 the State of lUinois by Robert T. Lincohi, July S, 
 1887. The Thhtj^-Sixth General x\ssembly created a 
 Board of Trustees, consisting of the Governor, Secretary 
 of State, Auditor, Treasurer and Superintendent of Pub- 
 lic Instruction, and their successors in office, who shall 
 • ave power to keep in good repair and free of access to 
 ae public, imder such regulations as they may deem 
 v\ ise for the proper preservation of the property. I was 
 -^^lected by the Board of Trustees as Custodian, August 
 ...♦, 1887. The present Trustees have been very liberal 
 the judicious expenditiue of monej' in beautifjang the 
 irroundings of this old historic home, until it is a place 
 ^ beauty. The house is in good condition and exactly 
 -< Mr. Lincoln left it in 1861, with the exception of 
 'cti:)ering and painting. It was my desire to have the 
 -tars and stripes floating over the home on all public 
 ■evasions, and when the wish was made public. Comrade 
 W ni. H. Sammons, a member of Mendell Post, No. 150, 
 (t. a. R., of this city, and who served in Co. I, 17th 111. 
 Cav., proffered a pole, which was accepted. It is a Ijeau- 
 ful staff, seventy -two feet high. George A. Sand^n-s, 
 ivsq., of this city, presented the flag, which is sixtceMi 
 ■et in length and bears forty-two stars. The occasion 
 a[K>ii which this flag was raised was the 15th Annual 
 Reunion of the Illinois Ass(jciation of Ex-Prisoners < \' 
 
18 s(>rvj::Mi;. 
 
 War, of whic'li (ieii. C. W. Pavey i> rivsKicnt. on ihr 
 16th of October, 1889. It seems to me to have been a 
 very appropriate time for the old soldiers to raise tliis 
 flag over the home of their former Commander-in-Chief. 
 At 2 p. M., on the 16th, J. L. Crane, Camp No. 4, Sons of 
 Veterans, followed by Stevenson Post, No. 30, and Men- 
 dell Post. No. t-)(>. (i. A. R., preceded by a brass band, 
 marched from the Gr. A. R. Hall to the Leland Hotel, 
 where about two hundred Ex-Prisoners of War joined 
 the procession and marched to the lawn in the rear of 
 the homestead, where the ex-prisoners formed a hollow 
 square around the flag-staff. Mr. George A. Sanders 
 made the ijresentation speech, and Governor Fifer accept- 
 ing the flag in l^ehalf of the Trustees of the homestead. 
 At|the close of the remarks. Miss Daisy Oldroyd and 
 Miss Effie Sanders drew the flag slowly to the head of 
 its staff, while the band played the "Star Spangled 
 Banner." As the flag reached the top, three rousing 
 cheers were given by the bo3'S who had fought to make 
 that flag free. The band then played " America," while 
 the ladies of Stephenson Relief Corps, No. 17, and Men- 
 dell W^ Oman's Relief Corps, No. 89, pinned button-hole 
 boquets on the Ex-Prisoners, meml^ers of the G. A. R. and 
 Sons of Veterans. This closing the exercises at the 
 Home, the procession re-formed, marched around the 
 public square to the State House. 
 
 " 'Neath this flag was our liljerty ])orn. 
 And our nation to greatness has grown : 
 
 For our Ijaiiner on land and at sea 
 Is the Star Spangled Banner alone." 
 
 L3^'COL^- HcntEsTF.AD. O. H. OldROYI'. 
 
f 
 
 I- 
 
 #Q TDAISE over the home ' ln. 
 
 -^^ To bathe in the siifisbuic's flood , 
 The flag, made sacred for rvcnnore 
 By baptism in his blooj ' 
 ive to the wind's caressing, 
 To grandly and prondly wave. 
 The flag he cleansed from the stigma foul 
 Of floating o'er land of the 
 
 Lift high over the home of Lin(:oln 
 
 The blue as summer's sky bright. 
 The stripe as crimson as morning's blii^h 
 
 The stars rivaling those of night : 
 Lift high over home of the martyr 
 
 The banner— his hope and pride - 
 The flag of a Union unbroken,. 
 
 Of his prayers and for which he died. 
 
Give to the nation's worship 
 
 The red, thewhfte and the blue— 
 The emblem that tells of Freedom, 
 
 Ever guarded by hearts tried and '^"^ 
 That drooped over Liberty s altar 
 
 When the red sea of blood thundered loud; 
 That wrapped him- an offering pri(''l''« - 
 
 IVith its starry folds for a shron 
 
 Up! up! with the banner stainless! 
 
 No better place could be found, 
 For the home of the slain, the sainted, 
 
 Has now become holy ground ; 
 And looking down on it from Heaven-^ j 
 
 Lilies of Peace hiding battle scars— \ 
 
 His blessing will halo with glory J 
 
 Each flashing of stripes and stars! 
 Vyashingtou. D. C. — Wm. H. BusHNELL. (^% 
 
HON. aEORGE A. SANDERS, 
 
 \\ Presenting a Flag to the Lincoln Homestead, 
 October 16th, 1889. 
 
 P?^0 his Excellency, the Governor, Meni- 
 V£y bers of the Association of the surviving 
 prisoners of the last war. Ladies and 
 Gentlemen : 
 
 We have met this afternoon, to perform a 
 very simple act, that of raising the banner 
 of our country on this staff, which has been 
 prepared for that purpose, and ; presented by 
 a noble soldier of the last war, over the home 
 
 of Ahrnlinni Lnu^oln where ht^ 1ivpr! Viefcrp 
 
the comiiieiiceiiieut of the last war. A name 
 that all will revere and honor; a statesman, 
 a legislator and a President of the United 
 States, the greatest that the Republic has 
 known. 
 The flag itself is always beautiful to look 
 upon, and especially so to those who have 
 given ^ their services and part of their life in 
 its defense. We all honor it for the princi- 
 ples it signifies, and while this act is so 
 simple, yet it is not insignificant. There is 
 not a patriotic heart in the Republic that 
 will not be touched b}^ the fact of the raising 
 oi this flag ov^er the home of Abraham Lin- 
 coln. I may say further, that there is not a 
 heart that 4>oes not love the principles that 
 flag signifies ; there is not a citizen in the 
 republics of the w^orld who is in favor of 
 free conscience, of individual expression of 
 thought; of a government in favor of the 
 people, by the people and for the people, who 
 
\vill not be touched by this act that we are 
 now performing this afternoon, of raising the 
 
 tars arid stripes over the home formerly 
 occupied by Abraham Lincoln. 
 
 The flag itself is beautiful to look upon 
 hat it symbolizes. As we raise it over 
 
 ur heads ever}^ heart feels grateful for the 
 power, for the beneficent government, for the 
 principles that it symbolizes, under which 
 •.ve live, and especially those men in whose 
 presence I now stand; men who suffered in 
 prison; men who looked anxiously through 
 the bars for long days, long weeks and long 
 years, to see this glorious flag unfold itself. 
 These men, who have fought on hundreds 
 
 f battle fields; men who have^seen the flag 
 .dvance and seen it fall; men who spent the 
 ■ est energies of their lives in the lasj: war 
 
 n its defense, can appreciate the flag in a 
 vay that none other can. It symbolizes and 
 '.leans to them vastly more than to any or- 
 
IS - \KXJk. 
 
 dinary citizen of the Republic, however 
 patriotic that citizen may be. We may 
 have our sentiments and feelings and our 
 emotions with regard to the flag, but you 
 have experienced them on the battle-field, 
 and I cannot say anything that will add 
 one word to your reverence, your affection 
 and your honor for it. No language, gen- 
 tlemen, is sufficient to portray to you what 
 you have experienced in its defense. 
 . I have only one word further to say about 
 this flag, which, perhaps, is personal, and 
 which I trust you will pardon under the 
 circumstances. IM}^ only son, a '' little over 
 twenty years old, was drowned a year ago last 
 July, in the Sangamon river. He became very 
 much interested in the campaign that was 
 then going on and in the questions involved. 
 He joined a club in this city, was present 
 when his Excellency, the Governor, opened 
 the campaign in this State, in our Opera 
 
House. He wanted a flag to place over our 
 home and take into the campaign when he 
 could have occasion to do so, and I com- 
 missioned him to get this flag. It was used 
 once only, and then over the State Union 
 League at one of their meetings at the Le- 
 land Hotel; and when I saw through the 
 papers that the worthy soldier who fought 
 in defense of the Republic had presented 
 this staff for a flag, I thought the best thing 
 I could do with the flag my boy procured 
 was to give it for this occasion. I therefore 
 present it to the Homestead with a feeling 
 of gratitude, which I know you all feel with 
 me, to Almighty God that we are permitted 
 in this great Empire State of Illinois to 
 enjoy all the liberty, all the privileges, all 
 the power and all the benefits that flag can 
 confer upon a free people, as w^ell as all over 
 the united Republic where it now weaves, 
 and in that feeling. I tender it to be used 
 for this purpose over this Homestead. 
 
KDDRESS Oi= 
 
 Goveraof JOSEPH W. FIFER. 
 
 Mr. Chairman, Comrades, LadiEvS and 
 Gentlemen : 
 
 In 1887, the Honorable Robert T. Lincoln, 
 who inherited this property from his honored 
 father, gave it to the State of Illinois, with the 
 understanding that the State should keep it in 
 repair and use it as a memorial hall. The 
 Governor, Secretary of State, Auditor, Treas- 
 urer and Superintendent of Public Instruction, 
 are the Trustees, charged with the proper 
 management and control of the property. 
 
() shorn H. Oldroyd has been in charge here 
 as cnstodian nnder the Trnstees since Angnst, 
 1887, and I realize that it ninst be a sonrce of 
 ^Teat satisfaction, not only to the people of our 
 own great State, but likewise to the people 
 throughout the countr}' generall}^ to know 
 that this hallowed' spot has been, and is being, 
 cared for in a way that is creditable to the 
 people of that State in which the remains of 
 our martyred dead now repose. 
 
 Heretofore it has been difficult for strangers 
 who visit our city to locate this spot, and it is 
 therefore deemed proper at this time and upon 
 this occasion, the annual meeting of the Ex- 
 Prisoners of War, to raise this staff to mark 
 the place that was once the home of Abraham 
 Lincoln. From this staff shall float hereafter 
 this beautiful banner, the flag of our country, 
 whicli in behalf of the Trustees and the people^ 
 I accept from its generous and patriotic donor 
 in the presence of these comrades, veterans 
 
who have been saved to us b}^ an overruling 
 providence from the prison pens of the South, 
 where pestilence and famine stalked abroad at 
 noon-day, and who have been permitted to live 
 long enough to see their country re-united, 
 happy and prosperous. That they may all 
 meet in many more annual re-unions, and live 
 many years to enjoy the blessings of that 
 liberty their valor defended, I know is the 
 prayer of us all. 
 
 My friend who has preceded me has spoken 
 fittingly and feelingl\^ of the virtues of that 
 great man w^hose memory we honor to-day, 
 and, without flattery to him, I do not hope to 
 improve on anything he has said. It is with 
 diffidence that I, in this presence, speak of the 
 life and character of Abraham Lincoln. You, 
 his old neighbors and friends, knew him face 
 to face, knew him better than vv^as ever my 
 pleasure to know him. In my humble judg- 
 ment he was the greatest man of this century. 
 
SOrVEMR. ?S 
 
 and I only wish I had the ability to pay a 
 fitting tribute to his virtues. I know it is 
 often said of this man or the other, he was a 
 great soldier, statesman, lawyer or jurist, but 
 I know of nothing better that can be said over 
 the grave of any man than this which is 
 strictly true of Mr. Lincoln. He lived a long, 
 laborious, a patriotic and a heroic life. He 
 hated wrong and injustice in all seasons and 
 in all places. He fairly loathed the institu- 
 tion of slavery, and it finally became his 
 pleasing task to wipe that foul blot from our 
 nation's honor. Without powerful and influ- 
 ential friends to push him forward or back, 
 into whose arms he could fall in case he proved 
 a failure, he stepped forth when a young man 
 from his father's log cabin, took off his coat, 
 rolled up his sleeves, looked the world 
 squarel}' in the face and began the great 
 battle of life, and let the millions who pro- 
 nonnce his name with reverence to-day answer 
 
M SOUVENIR. 
 
 how well he succeeded. I am glad that he 
 was the product of our free institutions. . I am 
 proud that he was an American citizen, and a 
 citizen of our own beautiful prairie State. His 
 pure, exalted and unselfish life will help teach 
 the world the great lesson that the basis, the 
 indispensable basis, of all true greatness is 
 integrity of character, and that "The onl}^ 
 way to be happy in this life is to make others 
 so." A -statesman, yet one of the people, 
 Lincoln seized the helm of State at the darkest 
 hour that this nation ever saw, and left it in 
 the dawn of a resplendent glory to lie down 
 weary and broken beneath a monument of 
 public gratitude, the greatest and most en- 
 during that marks the grave of mortal man 
 to-day. 
 
 M}^ friends, this is not the time- for any ex- 
 tended remarks. I have said more than I 
 intended, and possibly more than the occasion 
 would justify. I accept this flag, with all its 
 
A///. .'f, 
 
 hallowed memories and associations, in the 
 same generous and patriotic spirit in which it 
 is presented, and hope it may be the means of 
 guiding the footsteps of many toward this 
 sacred shrine, where they will, I trust, receive 
 new inspiration — an inspiration of patriotic 
 devotion to duty that will lead them to do and 
 to die, if need be, for the eternal right. We 
 trust, also, that our friend and comrade, Mr. 
 Oldroyd, will care for this priceless heritage 
 in the future in the same faithful manner 
 that he has in the past. 
 
nnHAT flag is the emblem of a supreme will of a 
 ^ Nation's power. Beneath its folds the weakest 
 must be protected ami the strongest must obey. It 
 shields and canopies alike the loftiest mansion and 
 the rudest hut. The flag was given to the air in the 
 Revolution's darkest days. It represents the sufferings 
 of the past, the glories yet to be, and like the banner 
 of Heaven, it is the child of the Storm Sun. 
 
 Robert G. Ingersoll. 
 
THE yETERANS AT LINCOLN'S HOMESTEAD. 
 
 KATE BROWNLEE SHERWOOD. 
 
 \/^fKINKLED and bronzed, the l)attle heroes stood. 
 There erst, retreating through the open door. 
 The sad apostle of high ])rotherhood 
 
 Paced anguished hours across the humble door ; 
 ^Vith mighty prophecies absorbed, o'er wrought 
 A\'ith deep forebodings and o'er mastering thought, 
 (The pangs of mounting from the conunon clod. 
 To kingship, priesthood, fellowship with God.) 
 O heroes, brothers, in the same high cause 
 Of liolier living and of godlier laws I 
 The form is vanished and the footsteps still. 
 But from the silence Lincoln's answers thrill: 
 "Peace, freedom, love!" In all the worlds best needs. 
 The master stands transfigured in his deeds. 
 
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 
 
 000 214 641 1 9