In the early morning of May 3, 1865, several thousand Bloomington-area residents gathered in the predawn gloom to pay final respects to the martyred president.
The funeral train carrying the earthly remains of Abraham Lincoln had traveled nearly 1,700 meandering miles from the nation's capital, and in Bloomington it stopped briefly at the Chicago & Alton Railroad station to take on wood and water.
It was somehow fitting that Bloomington was the train's last full stop before reaching Springfield, Lincoln's hometown and final resting place. From the late 1830s until heading off to Washington, D.C., in 1861, Lincoln was a frequent visitor to the city, where he practiced law, delivered campaign speeches, helped organize the Republican Party and even owned property.
The assassination took place on Good Friday, April 14. Lincoln's body then lay in state for seven days in the Capitol.
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The funeral train - or cortege, as it was called - left Washington on April 21, taking a circuitous route through 15 states and some 180 towns and cities, including New York, Cleveland and Indianapolis. With the exception of the president's car, which carried Lincoln's body, the others changed frequently as the train moved from one railroad line to the other. The president's car was built at the Military Railroad System shop in Alexandria, Va., and not - as a stubborn local legend goes - at the C&A maintenance shops in Bloomington.
The funeral train finally reached Chicago on May 1, and Lincoln's coffin was again lifted off the train to lay in state, this time at the Cook County Courthouse.
The following evening, at 9:30 p.m., the funeral train, now led by C&A engine No. 57, pulled out of downtown Chicago for Springfield. The C&A was the main rail line between Chicago and St. Louis (today, the same rail bed is used by Amtrak and Union Pacific) and it served as the final leg of the president's poignant return home.
One of the best accounts of the Chicago-to-Springfield journey comes from C&A brakeman William S. Porter, who was part of conductor George Hewitt's crew. "As I remember the funeral train," Porter wrote in 1917, "it consisted of one baggage car, several ordinary coaches and the catafalque car (the one carrying Lincoln's body), which was the second car from the rear end of the train."
C&A officials - well aware that any mishap would irreparably damage the railroad's reputation -meticulously organized the expected 10½-hour journey. A pilot engine ran five to 10 minutes ahead of the funeral train to make sure all was well. Bridges were inspected and guards were posted both at bridges and crossings. Some switches were "spiked down" to prevent errant trains from gaining the main line, and those trains on the main line were ordered off 30 minutes before the approach of southbound cortege.
The train reached Lockport about 11:30 p.m. "Many persons line the track holding torches, and in the background is an immense bonfire," reported The New York Times. "Many of the houses are draped in mourning, and some are illuminated. One of the mottoes is: 'Come Home.'"
As the train passed through each successive community - Joliet, Dwight, Pontiac, Chenoa, Normal, Atlanta, Elkhart and others - hundreds and sometimes thousands gathered to say goodbye to their president.
Communities also erected funeral arches that spanned the C&A tracks. The Bloomington arch carried the message, "Go to thy rest," while the town of Lincoln's read, "With malice to none, with charity for all," and the one in Williamsville, "He has fulfilled his mission."
About 3 a.m., bells tolled throughout Bloomington as a signal to residents that the funeral train was on its way. Soon after, people of all ages began streaming toward the C&A station on the west side. The funeral train reached the city about 5 a.m., and for the first and only time from Chicago to Springfield it came to a halt, if only briefly.
The Pantagraph estimated the number of Bloomington mourners at 3,000 to 4,000. Though impressive, the paper expressed disappointment. "After having seen such striking manifestations all along the route, those who accompanied the train, must have been surprised that a town which almost claimed Mr. Lincoln as a citizen, should not have made more demonstrations of sorrow," it said.
Yet other observers were not as harsh, noting that many area residents viewed Lincoln's body in Chicago and were still up north, while others were already in, or heading to, Springfield for the funeral.
The morning's first light greeted the train as it passed through Atlanta. "We have a clear day," noted The New York Times reporter. "The sun lights the beautiful prairie country through which we pass. … Portraits of Abraham Lincoln are prominent in every direction. Thousands of people are assembled. … We noticed among the mottoes, 'Mournfully and tenderly bear him to his grave.'"
The train reached Springfield about 9 a.m., an hour behind schedule. Abraham Lincoln was home at last.
