Wayne County Civil War Roundtable Program

Lincoln Scholar Norman Schmidt will speak with slides on President Elect Abraham Lincoln’s interesting trip to Washington City in Feb. of 1861. This talk is timely as we just had an election and the inauguration of a new president in our country. Such was the case in 1861 with Lincoln. It was an eleven day trip over many railroad lines which were all independently owned, had different gauges, and did not connect physically with each other in the cities. Walking to the next depot or taking a buggy were the options. Baltimore was going to be a trouble spot for Lincoln. Some changes were made so he would not be injured or killed there. He finally arrived in Washington City unscathed.

We can say that Schmidt grew up with Abraham Lincoln. He was born 30 miles north of Springfield in a town called Lincoln, which was christened in 1853 by a young attorney from Springfield whose name was Abraham Lincoln (eight years before he became President). The town was surveyed by Lincoln. He was with several developers who suggested they name the town Lincoln. He said that wouldn’t be a good idea as he never knew anything named Lincoln that amounted to anything. They persisted and named it Lincoln. Being a teetotaler Lincoln christened the town with juice from a watermelon. There are now 24 cities in the United States named Lincoln.

Schmidt just finished writing a historical novel entitled They Took Our President and is about to send it to friends with PhD’s in history for them to critique and offer their suggestions. He has been giving talks on Lincoln for 30 years. Lincoln and basketball are his two passions in life.