Illinois marks anniversary of Lincoln funeral train

CHICAGO (WLS) -- It mattered not the time of day. The route of the Lincoln funeral train was lined with tens of thousands during its long journey home. Tens of thousands more would come to view the body at each stop. The speeches, the poems, the music helped to ease a profound sadness.

"I don't know how many millions of people participated in this but it was probably the largest number of Americans that ever participated in a single event until that time," Russell Lewis, chief historian at Chicago History Museum, said.

The Chicago Symphony Orchestra brass quintet played music of the time as the Chicago History Museum marked 150 years since the Lincoln funeral train arrived in Chicago. The train came in on a trestle along the Lake Michigan shoreline six years before the debris from the Great Fire would expand Chicago's footprint. The president's body was moved beneath a gothic arch that read, "Rest in peace noble soul."

"The street is lined with people, people have climbed up in trees. Everybody wants to see. There's a huge procession that lasts for hours," Lewis said.

Lincoln laid in state at the old country courthouse. Ten thousand school children were allowed to witness history before the train left the next day.

It was a long journey home for Lincoln, so long that he was twice embalmed and surrounded by as many flowers as possible. But to see the man was critical to all who lined the route.

"People felt that Abraham Lincoln delivered this country from oblivion and he did. And they were very grateful. Very, very grateful," Lewis said.

On Saturday, the state capitol will mark the day Lincoln's body arrived in Springfield.