Side A: The nine-car funeral train for President Abraham Lincoln departed Washington, D.C. on April 21, 1865. It arrived in Urbana on April 29 at 10:40 p.m. Urbana’s citizens erected an arch of evergreens and flowers near the station west of Main Street. A large crowd of mourners received the train. The arch was hastily removed, too narrow to allow the train’s passage. Other memorial gestures included a large cross, entwined with evergreen wreaths.
Side B: The cross was mounted on the station platform under the direction of the president of Ladies Soldiers Aid Society, Mrs. Milo G. Williams. Forty citizens from different churches sang “Go to Thy Rest.” Ten young ladies entered the funeral car and strewed flowers on Lincoln’s coffin. The train departed, heading west across the Mad River Valley, through Rice, Westville, and up the Blue Hill to St. Paris On May 3, the train reached Springfield, Illinois; the president’s funeral was May 4.
Sponsors: Champaign County Republican Party, Friends Of Urbana Champaign County Bicentennial Historical Marker Committee, The Ultra-Met Company, Ohio Historical Society
614.297.2300
Contact Us
