Show buildings associated with abraham lincoln by waldon fawcett HE continuous growing interest in the personality and career of abraham lincoln il has baa had bad its result projects of 0 comparatively recent inception for tho preservation of 0 the various buildings which have boon been most significantly identified with the martyr president and his public activities the lincoln bon honna alstead tead ol of springfield ill III has been carefully preserved in the past and Is to receive oven even greater care in the future and latterly there has been inaugurated augu rated the movement to make a great national park of the historic old farm in kentucky where lincoln was vas bora and where his bin boyhood was spent this involves the preservation of the log cabin in which lincoln was wag born and which Is in a sense tho the most interesting of all the buildings associated with lincoln however these landmarks of lin coans career are few indeed compared to the similar mementoes of our other groat great hero president houses which george georga washington used as m military headquarters headquarter a or in which he lived tarried over night danced or visited are to bo be found in a number 0 of f different states but only illinois kentucky and the district of columbia have notable buildings associated with the personality and life of the civil war president the explanation la Is found ij 8 ak I 1 I 1 at V 71 now new york avenue church washington no doubt in the fact that lincoln was wan neither a soldier who campaigned over a wide range of territory nor a wealthy man who could afford the luxury of several homes although the mississippi valley ralley holds the two most important cures curea identified with the early life of lincoln it Is at the national capital that we find the most interesting group of buildings associated with his bla notable career as president of the united states the white house has been changed very materially since the days of the lincoln administration but must most of the other buildings around which cluster memories of this man remain today to day jat as they were in the stormy days daya of the early GOS several of these structures are well known to the public every visitor to washington has pointed out to him fords theater A P 0 P TO 1 1 it k 1 r J by faull fc ull of lincoln line ins church where lincoln wits was struck down by the be hand of the assassin and tho the plain brick house opposite to which the wounded man was removed and where he died however there are other buildings yet more interesting la in some which are almost unknown tu to sight bight seem beers prominent among theme Is Lincol ns church A k large portion of tho the public has always bad the impression that lincoln fiur was not hot much of 0 a church goer boer and indeed the edifice known as the new york avenue presbyterian hurch church c in washington la Is the only place 0 of worship wo iship intimately associated with lincoln this stately old church which atan less than three blocks iron the white house pres present catz today to day an appearance unaltered from that of the period when lincoln was a regular attendant there the picturesque red brick church which might fittingly be called the church of presidents had bad important historical associations ere lincoln became a member but it was the war president who supplied abet deeper significance to its traditions the church was waa founded in 1803 and in the early days john quincy adams saved it from bankruptcy by advancing to the congregation the sum of 2000 other presidents who attended this church were andrew jackson james ic pout franklin pierce james duch anan arid and andrew johnson president jackson however sever severed 43 d relations with ahe be congregation in a huff buff as the result of a controversy re relative dative to the famous peggy oneal who upset things generally at the national nat lonar capital about that time the dashing peggy was a member of the church at the time but the pastor was antagonistic to her and refused to nize her whereat her champion old hickory left the church and never went back the pew occupied by abraham lincoln and ills his family during the years year he served as president Is still reverently preserved at the now york avene aven ue lie church it Is located on the middle aisle and well toward the front of the alle church and bears a stiver silver plate plat inscribed with tho the name of abraham lincoln and the years yeara ot of his occupancy tho church has haa been V fished since Lincol ns time but this historic pew was left undisturbed and la Is distinctively old fashioned and conspicuous amid the modern appointments of the churchs churche stately interior the pew Is readily recognizable from all parts of the large edifices byres by res son of the fact that it has a black walnut finish suggestive of mourning whereas all the other pews have the contrasting golden oak finish As has been mentioned above above fords theater yet stands a fitting monument to the last tragic chapter of abraham Lincol ns life the building Is no longer used as a playhouse and the interior hap has undergone extensive alterations but the exterior presents practically the same appearance that it did on the night of that fateful of april after the assassination of lincoln fords theater was closed by order of the federal authorities and in 1866 the government purchased ahr th building it was remodeled and adap adapted ted to the uses of the record and pension division of the war department while serving such purpose it was on june 9 1893 the scene of a second memorable tragedy A collapse of the floors occurred and many government clerks were killed out right or seriously injured Ilo however wever the catastrophe did not carry down to ruin that most significant memento tha proscenium pillar next to which president lincoln sat when he was waa killed this support has been preserved in fit place properly marked all these 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