Lincoln’s Funeral Car is featured in Robert Reed’s upcoming book. Photo provided by Robert Reed

“It would have been impressive to witness. I got to thinking, here I live in Knightstown, and that train passed through here. It’s not that Knightstown residents went to Washington, D.C., to see it. That Lincoln funeral train came to them.”— Knightstown author Robert Reed

By DARREL RADFORD

Historically Speaking

Knightstown author Robert Reed said it may have been “the most impressive single event in this country’s history.”

And part of it happened along the U.S. 40 area in Henry County.

Places like Straughn, Lewisville, Dunreith and Knightstown were among the 440 small towns that Abraham Lincoln’s funeral train traveled through after his death in 1865.

Reed, a longtime journalist and author, has always been fascinated with the story of the train and how people everywhere lined the tracks, some in the midst of cold rain and dark of night, to pay their respects.

Soon that fascination will become his 18th book, appropriately titled “Lincoln’s Funeral Train.” Three years in the making, the book is expected to be released by Schiffer Publishing early in 2014.

It is a dramatic piece of national history that has many local ties.

It was obviously a time before cellphones, the Internet and 24-hour cable news. But the news of Lincoln’s train still traveled fast enough to create a massive crowd of people.

The Henry County Historical Society once printed a handbill in one of its publications written by local legislator, editor and poet Benjamin Parker, for whom Parker Elementary School is named. The handbill, carrying the location name of Lewisville and the date of April 30, 1865, said:

“We Mingle Our Tears With Yours!

“Lincoln!

“The Savior of This Country; the Emancipator of a Race and the Friend of All Mankind!!

“Triumphs over Death and mounts Victoriously upward with his old familiar tread!”

The handbills and word of mouth created a huge crowd on a cold, rainy night.

“Seven million people witnessed that train,” Reed said. “That was a major portion of the U.S. population at that time. It was said along the train route that you don’t count people by the thousands, you count them by the acre.”

Reed, whose work on the book began long before the movie “Lincoln” landed on the big screen, has chronicled the trip both geographically and emotionally. He traces the route Lincoln’s train took in its 20-day journey from Washington, D.C., to his final resting place in Springfield, Ill. He also shares the notes and comments made by journalists and people who witnessed the train.

“They expected large crowds in the 11 major cities the train traveled through, but they didn’t anticipate the large crowds in the rural areas,” Reed said. “People came by horseback and carriage, some traveling long distances. They held their lanterns, built bonfires and sang hymns. It’s probably the most impressive single event in this country’s history. It would have been impressive to witness. I got to thinking, here I live in Knightstown, and that train passed through here. It’s not that Knightstown residents went to Washington, D.C., to see it. That Lincoln funeral train came to them.”

Reed notes the times Lincoln’s train rolled through the different Henry County communities in his book. The train arrived in Knightstown about 5 a.m. One of the more poignant moments came shortly before that, when it arrived in Dublin, just outside of Henry County, between 3 and 4 a.m. Reed points out that in the presidential election just weeks prior, the town had voted 289 to 0 in favor of Lincoln.

Plans are under way at the Henry County Historical Society Museum to have Reed come and speak about his upcoming book sometime in April. Watch The Courier-Times for more details.

(Darrel Radford is executive director of The Henry County Historical Society. The museum is open by appointment in January and February. Call 529-4028 for more information.)