today we're looking at Abraham Lincoln's tomb
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questions down in the description on April 15 1865 President Abraham Lincoln died at the age
of 56 after being shot by assassin John Wilkes Booth the evening before while attending a play
at Ford's Theater in Washington D.C barely a week before Robert E Lee had surrendered his
Confederate Army to Ulysses S Grant effectively ending the American Civil War Lincoln was at
the peak of a success as he had just led the nation through its most trying time when he
was shot down the nation entered into a period of mourning with Lincoln being the first president
in U.S history to be assassinated Lincoln's body now embarked on an almost 1700 mile trip back to
his hometown of Springfield Illinois on April 21st 1865 Lincoln's funeral train departed Washington
D.C carrying the president's body and his 11 year old son Willie who had died in 1862 of
typhoid fever on the trip to Springfield the train never traveled faster than 20 miles per hour and
made stops in 11 different cities from Washington to Springfield thousands of Americans filed past
the president's coffin as Lincoln lied in state and cities such as New York Buffalo Cleveland
Indianapolis and Chicago on May 4th 1865 Lincoln's body was interred here at Oak Ridge Cemetery in
Springfield Illinois in a temporary receiving vault as already upon Lincoln's death there were
plans to build a large Grand tomb for the 16th president in 1871 construction began on Lincoln's
tomb and in that same year President Lincoln along with his three youngest sons Eddie Willey and Tad
who had all passed away were placed in the Tomb the tomb was officially completed in 1874. then
eight years later in 1882 Lincoln's wife Mary Todd passed away and was placed in the Tomb
the only member of the Lincoln family not buried within is Lincoln's oldest son Robert who died in
1926 and is buried at Arlington National Cemetery in Washington D.C Lincoln's body was originally
placed in an above ground sarcophagus but after an 1876 attempt by tomb robbers to steal his body
and hold it for ransom the president's body was buried beneath the ground within the tomb the tomb
itself is constructed of granite and the entire tomb and grounds for the tomb cover 12 and a half
acres at the center of the Tomb is an obelisk that reaches 117 feet into the air at the base of the
Obelisk is a statue of Lincoln and four statues surrounding him that represent the Infantry Navy
artillery and Cavalry during the Civil War each of these were completed by sculptor Larkin Mead
and were made from melted down cannons used during the Civil War on the exterior walls beneath the
statues are 37 Shields representing the 37 States at the time the tomb was completed there is a band
running along the shields connecting them to represent the union of all the states the tomb
itself has gone through several into interior Renovations over the years with the last taking
place in 1930 and 1931. upon entering the tomb you enter an entrance rotunda with 16 marble pillars
along the wall representing Lincoln being the 16th president at the center of the entrance rotunda is
a scaled down prototype of Lincoln's setting from the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C
sculpted by Daniel Chester French moving through the tomb's corridors towards the rear of the tomb
where the Lincoln family is buried you will find eight smaller sculptures of Lincoln depicting him
at various stages of his life from living on the frontier to being an attorney to becoming
president of the United States also along the walls of the Tomb there are four bronze tablets
that are engraved with a brief biography of Lincoln Lincoln's Farewell Address the
Gettysburg address and an excerpt from his second inaugural address in the burial room there is a
seven ton block red marble Stone inscribed with the president's name and the years of his life
Lincoln's final resting place is not immediately under the stone it is a little over two feet
behind the stone and ten feet down in the room are nine flags with seven of them being the flags of
states where Lincoln and his ancestors lived one being the presidential flag and lastly the U.S
flag above the room is an inscription reading now he belongs to the Ages which is reportedly
what Secretary of War Edwin Stanton said upon Lincoln's death although that cannot be confirmed
in front of the Tomb is a sculpture of Lincoln done by sculptor gutson Borglum who sculpted
Mount Rushmore it has become a tradition to rub Lincoln's nose for good luck after Sailors leaving
for War II did so and all returned safely in 1966 Abraham Lincoln's tomb was placed on the national
register of historic places as to this day it is a lasting Memorial to one of America's greatest
presidents in our nation's history so with that you learned something and thanks for watching