Lincoln returns to Hamilton after 150-year absence

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By Richard O Jones, Staff Writer 2:44 AM Saturday, August 29, 2009

HAMILTON — President Abraham Lincoln, or someone who looks very much like him, will return to Hamilton next month to re-create his first historic visit here.

“With the recent 200th anniversary of his birth, Lincoln has been getting a lot of attention lately,” said event organizer Carla Fiehrer. “So we thought it would be appropriate to recognize his visit and his little part in Hamilton history.”

The occasion will be the unveiling of an Ohio Historic Marker commemorating that visit on Sept. 17, 1859.

On that day, Lincoln traveled from Dayton to Cincinnati on a train, making five stops along the way, according to local historian Jim Blount. About 1,000 people heard him speak from the back of the train near the corner of Fourth and Ludlow streets.

For this occasion, however, he will speak in the foyer of the Government Services Center, 5:15 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 17, the 150th anniversary of the train visit. Prior to the unveiling of the marker, which will be located in One Renaissance Plaza, Cincinnati-based Lincoln presenter Stan Wernz will deliver a portion of Lincoln’s original speech from a train set created by Mary Slocum, the designer of many local theatrical productions.

“We’ll probably hang some balloons or something at the original site of his speech so that people will know where it is,” Fiehrer said. As part of the celebration, Lincoln-era exhibits will be on display from 2 to 5 p.m. and for 30 minutes after the program in the Hamilton City Council chambers. The day’s celebration concludes 7:30 p.m. at Miami University Hamilton, University Boulevard, when Martin P. Johnson, assistant professor of history, will speak on “Lincoln at Hamilton and the New Birth of Freedom.”

The events are being funded through private donations and the Hamilton Community Foundation, said committee secretary James Irwin.

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This event is well worth your time. I have had the honor & priviledge of working with Stan Wernz on many Civil War Re-enactments over my years as a Civil War Re-enactor. I believe there are 73 Lincoln Presenters in the United States and if I am not mistaken, Stan is the current president of that organization.

Thomas D. Porter
10:52 AM, 8/29/2009

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