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Abraham Lincoln's Funeral Train


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While looking for a map of Lake Erie, I came across the map below. That sent me into a giant internet wormhole where I learned that Abraham Lincoln's Funeral Train went through my hometown on its way from Cleveland to Columbus. According to a newspaper article, about 100 people showed up the pouring rain to pay their respects. 

LFT-Map-96a.jpg

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Interestingly, the first major stop of the train was in Baltimore.  While Maryland - even though a slave state - was solidly pro-union and it's legislature voted 75%-25% to not secede, Baltimore was a hotbed of secessionism. A permanent military installation was created on a hill overlooking Baltimore's Inner Harbor during the war to keep an eye on the important port city and crossroads that could potentially cut-off Washington, D.C. from the rest of the North - there had been a riot there in 1861, the Pratt Street Riots, when union troops marched through the city. To this day, that hill is still known as "Federal Hill" even though it's been a playground/rec area for generations.

Maryland's State Song, to the same tune as "O Christmas Tree," is interesting in terms of the Civil War and there has been interest in changing some of the lyrics. The 2nd verse is not controversial and is often the only verse sung today:

Thou wilt not cower in the dust, Maryland my Maryland.

Thy gleaming sword shall never rust, Maryland my Maryland.

Remember Carroll's sacred trust. Remember Howard's warlike thrust.

And all thy slumbers with the just, Maryland my Maryland.

It is controversial because it was written by a Marylander in Medical School in New Orleans and was a plea for Maryland to secede from the Union!

The first verse makes that clear - with the "streets of Baltimore" line referring to the citizens killed during the Pratt Street Riots:

The despot's heel is on thy shore, Maryland my Maryland,

His torch is at thy temple door, Maryland my Maryland.

Avenge the patriotic gore, that flecked the streets of Baltimore,

And be the battle queen of yore, Maryland my Maryland.

I guess non-seceding Maryland later chose that song as the state anthem because there wasn't any other cool song about Maryland at the time - aside from one called "The Star Spangled Banner," which is sung to the tune of a British early-1800's beer-drinking song.

Too bad the rock band, The Strawberry Alarm Clock, hadn't yet recorded, "Barefoot in Baltimore!"

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