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NATIONAL UNION
State of Illinois
Executive Department.
Springfield d 1865
To His Excellency
Thos E Bramlette
Governor of Kentucky,
A resolution of the Board of Directors of the National Lincoln Monument Association, adopted at the last meeting requires the President and Secretary of the Association, to make an appeal to the Governors of the several states and Territories of the Union and through them to the Legislatures and People of their respective states and Territories, in behalf of the objects of the Association.
The purpose of this appeal is to bring Officially to your notice and to the no-
tice of the People of your state, the organization of this Association and the object we have in view; viz= to erect over the remains of Abraham Lincoln, late President of the United States, in Oak Ridge Cemetery near the city of Springfield Ills a suitable and enduring Monument to his memory and to request that you will in some way bring the subject generally to the notice of the People of your state, and if consistent with your views, and you shall believe its importance and character will justify it to especially call the attention of the Legislature of your state to the subject,
We de not deem it necessary to suggest any plan, by which subscriptions may be raised prefering to leave this matter to your own direction and control,
We will be pleased to correspond with you at any time upon the subject and to give you any information or explanation that may be required,
We have obtained from the city of Springfield a Deed to about six acres of
most beautiful grounds adjoining Oak Ridge Cemetery, accessible at all seasons of the year, with such a location and such advantages at to make it in time one of the most lovely and enchanting spots upon earth,
The remains of Mr Lincoln are already temporarily entombed upon the grounds, from which they will never be removed except by the consent of the Association,
It is our intention at the proper time to consult the very best taste and talent of the country, before selecting the design for the Monument,
Since its organization the Association has been chiefly controlled by the idea that voluntary Donations would in a reasonable time secure the necessary funds to build the Monument,
In this way we have chiefly from soldiers and Sailors and from Sabbath Schools and other similiar benev-
olent and educational societies and from private sources received about fifty three thousand dollars,
We are now impressed with the opinion that a solemn duty devolves upon us, the necessity of
As time passes on other plans to do like honor to him will fail and be forgotten, having been supplanted by the engrossing requirements of passing events -- under these peculiar circumstances, this association, near his last resting place, in the city of his home, with his sacred remains in its keeping, feels that its relations to this sacred trust require us to
Spare no effort to give to this great work a national character and certain and complete success,
As the object is a National one to honor the memory of a National man, endeared to the whole country, by his sacrifice to preserve the National Union; we do not hesitate to appeal to the nation to aid us by reasonable subscriptions to build this Monument, We dislike to begin it with the sum now at our disposal -- at least two hundred and fifty thousand dollars will be necessary to build the Monument in the proper spirit and consistent with the great character to be represented by it,
In this spirit, with these views and with this honorable purpose, we appeal to you Governor, and to the generous people of your state, to assist us to honor this good man -- to assist his old friends and neighbors about this old home -- where, for so many years
he was the joy and pride of all who knew him, now that he is dead, to build over his resting place this lasting memorial to his great and acknowledged virtues -- known by none better than they but loved by all who knew him, the friend of freedom and the firm friend of his country through all the days and years of a long and laborious life -- here his virtues show brightest -- here his character was moulded -- here he was first known to the world -- here he received the brightest earthly honors given to mortal man, and here in the midst of those old friends, beneath the soil of that country he served so well, he sleeps his last sleep, in this quiet city, in the very heart of his own state let him rest forever. It was his living and last wish, Here too, let that monument be erected, which cannot honor him, but which will serve, in the long years of the future, to mark the spot and hold the ashes of this noble man
of nature, sacred,
Again we appeal to the nation to aid us, and to your own noble state especially, to give the subject considerate attention and to this association such encouragement as shall assure us us that we may go forward with the great work before us, never dispairing until the last stone is laid,
R J Oglesby
Pres't
Clinton L Conkling
Sec'y