19/1/97
By: Roberta Hagood and
J. Hurley Hagood

Any story about Abraham Lincoln, our 16th president, is of lasting interest. Several incidents in the life of this great man are specifically related to Hannibal and its history.

Lincoln Visits a Hannibal Friend
Lincoln visited his old friend, J. B. Helm, in Hannibal. Lincoln was en route to Washington D.C., from a campaign trip to Kansas when he stopped overnight in Hannibal. Lincoln and Helm had been friends in Elizabethtown, Ky., when Lincoln was a young boy. Mr. Helm had operated a grocery store in which Lincoln's mother and young Abe traded. As a boy, Lincoln admired J.B. Helm, who was one of the few men he knew who "wore his store-bought clothes every day to work."

Lincoln's family moved from Kentucky to Indiana, and Helm moved to Hannibal. Helm became a successful lawyer and judge. Currently, he is remembered chiefly for the houses he built near the downtown area. Many still stand and are used as residences.

The day Lincoln called on him, a few citizens gathered in front of his office at 106 N. Main St. (This location in the present is the drive-through of the Hannibal National Bank).) A few years later, on the original building, Helm's descendants placed a brass plaque relating the story of the Lincoln visit.

When the building was razed, a family of Helm lineage preserved the plaque in their home.

A Hannibalian Disliked Lincoln's Political Views
With the passing of years, the memory of the good deeds of famous people is sustained. Thus, many of us today know of the exemplary life of Lincoln. During his lifetime not everyone liked him. The bitterness and hate attributed to the causes of the pending Civil War, caused many citizens to feel hostile toward him.

One man who held these opposing views was A.C. Appler, editor of the Hannibal Daily Evening News. After the presidential election of 1860, Appler published a list of the Hannibal men who had voted Republican, thus, as he stated, for Lincoln. Appler considered a vote for Lincoln to be a disreputable act. He classified each of the 60 Republican voters into degrees of disreputabily.

Elections, in the early days, differed from those of today. The Australian, or secret ballot, was not adopted by all states until 1893, although some localities used it earlier. Originally, some states practiced voting by declamation. The voter would face the judge, or judges, and declare his choice vocally.

Another early method was by tickets or ballots handed to the voter at the polls by representatives of the candidates for each of the various positions. To vote, the ticket or ballot of the chosen candidate was dropped into the ballot box. Each ballot was a different color and thus the voter's choice was revealed to curious members of the crowd.

This was prohibited when white ballots only were allowed. Later the ballots were made smaller like a ticket, and could be concealed in a pocket until dropped in the ballot box. These ballots were known as shirt pocket ballots. The word "ticket" also came into use.

Regardless of voting method, in Appler's day, no privacy or secrecy was practiced. In his printed column, Appler classified the 60 Republican voters, marking with a cross "abolitionist in every sense of the word." A double cross indicated an abolitionist to a lesser degree. An asterisk denoted "a law-abiding citizen as far as actions, but views questionable."

About 1,100 votes were cast in Hannibal in that election. Only male voters who met requirements of age, race and land ownership had voting rights.

As the reader scans the list of 60 men who voted for Lincoln, many were railroaders, or tradesmen. None were descendants of the original Hannibal settlers from Kentucky or Virginia. Many names are recognized as later Union Military men. A few surnames are still found in Hannibal today.

Hannibal Has A Lincoln "Funeral"
During the Civil War, feelings for and against the Union or the Confederacy became bitter. Hatred against neighbors arose. Some friendships ceased. Union soldiers were stationed in Hannibal. Citizens of "Southern leanings" became uncomfortable or harassed. Northerners and Southerners alike, fearful of incidents which might arise due to the presence of soldiers, sent their young daughters to stay with relatives in Ohio, Indiana, or eastern states.

Mr. and Mrs. Dumas Ward, natives of Eastern states, had moved to Hannibal for business reasons. They sent their daughter, Katie, to Ohio to stay.

The Wards, loyal to the Union, were devastated by the news of the assassination of Lincoln on April 14, 1865, and his death the next day, April 15.

On April 19, a memorial service was held at Brittingham Hall in Hannibal, preceded by a funeral march or procession of city officials, fire departments, police officers, lodges, clubs and the citizens who would be taking part in the memorial service.

That evening, Mrs. Ward wrote to Katie to narrate the events of the day. In the letter, she declared her bitterness about the Southern sympathizers in Hannibal, calling them "Secesh," "Copperheads," and "Rebels." She felt filled with shame for former friends who did not heartily respect "such a country and government as ours." She wrote, "I feel I can never love them again."

Her letter described the procession which moved slowly along Broadway to Fourth Street, entered Brittingham Hall, and ascended the wide stairway which led to the "full to overflowing" Brittingham Ball room.

The service was "appropriate and solemn," but she was offended because "Secesh" men were allowed to take part along with the Union participants. She described the service in detail in her letter.

Opening and closing prayers were given by Rev. J.M. Sturtevart, Congregational church minister, a loyal citizen.

Hymns sung by the entire assemblage were led by Rev. Charles Fuller of the Second Presbyterian Church. As to the long prayer by the Rev. John Vincil of the Methodist Church, Mrs. Ward commented, "it sounded like a good Union prayer, but I wonder if his heart was not union."

The Monitor Club sang mournful dirges. The funeral discourse was delivered by Rev. John Leighton, First Presbyterian minister.

Mrs. Ward told Katie she felt that "Secesh" should not have dared to show their faces that day and added that "they were not seen downtown on last Saturday."

"Two women," she wrote, "are in custody for openly rejoicing in public about Lincoln's death and there should be more." "They will receive justice ­ a justice not tempered by mercy as if our noble president were living." Fortunately, Katie preserved the Civil Wartime letters of her mother, and also the letters of her future husband, John Meredith which were written from army encampments.

The Lincoln Funeral Train
Like Hannibal, on April 19, many towns held memorial "funeral" services. However, the most dramatic presentations were held in the towns in which the train bearing Lincoln's body, and the body of his son, Tad, paused for people to pay homage.

The funeral car was a special railroad coach, built while Lincoln was living. It was built in Alexandria, Va. The materials in it were the finest quality of the day. The woodwork was crafted from carefully selected lumber and the walls were upholstered with heavy brocaded silk cloth. The windows were etched with artistic designs and the carpet was thick and luxurious.

The presidential car had three rooms designed for sitting rooms and an office but had no provisions for cooking, eating or sleeping. It was heated by stoves. At each end of the car there was a curved observation platform enclosed by a railing. Lincoln never used the car. He preferred to travel by means less grand.

To prepare the presidential car for the funeral trip, the railing was removed from one end to provide for moving the casket in and out of the car. The car, inside and out, was draped with bunting, further ornamented with silk cords, tassels, fringe, stars and rosettes of ribbon.

The train wound its way on a 1,666-mile route from Washington D.C., to Springfield, Ill., stopping in a dozen cities.

In each location, a different engine was used. Local artists decorated them profusely with wreaths, flowers, leaves, flags, stars and portraits of Lincoln.

Towns built colorful arches under which the casket would be placed for the services. The train consisted of nine cars, with the Lincoln car next to the last. At each stop, the governor, mayor and other dignitaries would board and ride to the next stop.

The train left Washington D.C. April 21, 1865. It made funeral stops at Baltimore, Harrisburg, Philadelphia, New York City, Albany, Buffalo, Cleveland, Columbus, Indianapolis, Chicago and Springfield. Reaching the final stop at Springfield, May 4, the casket was borne to the burial place in a hearse especially built for the occasion.

A definite schedule was published so that people in towns between the funeral stops could go to the railroad crossings and see the coach bearing Lincoln's body pass. The casket was not removed except at the 12 stops, but in some villages, the train paused and guards permitted representatives of the town to board the car and bring flowers into the coach and place them on the coffin. At all towns, the coming of the car was announced by an engine on the track which arrived 10 minutes ahead of the funeral train. Thousands of people paid tribute to the dead president.

An Important National Relic Comes to An Accidental End.
After the burial, the funeral car was returned to Alexandria, Va. It stood in the military railroad yards a year. Then, in 1866, in spite of opposition by the former Secretary of State, it was sold to the Union Pacific Railroad to be used as a special car for the railroad executives to use. Thus, it passed through Missouri on the Hannibal and St. Joseph Railroad en route to St. Joseph. From there it was shipped by boat to Omaha.

In 1874, it was sold to the Colorado Central Railroad. It was stripped of its finery and used as a day coach for travelers. After a few years it was degraded to a work car in the railroad yards.

In 1890, the Union Pacific retrieved it and refurbished the car. It was displayed in Omaha at the Trans-Mississippi Centennial. About 1900, an entrepreneur in Illinois restored it to a state similar to its original splendor and displayed it in the Lincoln museum at the 1904 Worlds Fair in St. Louis.

It changed hands again and the new owner moved it to Columbia Heights, Minn., near Minneapolis with the intention of exhibiting it. He restored it again and prepared a fenced area for it. Two boys were burning weeds as a part of preparation of the park to be used as a display area. A windstorm came up and the fire spread to grass which surrounded the old Lincoln Funeral car. The car was completely destroyed in the flames.