General James G. Wilson, of New York, who was in the Union Army, spoke fitting words in behalf of the Union, while General Luke E. Wright, who was in the Confederate Army, now Secretary of War, spoke fitting words in behalf of the Confederacy.
President Roosevelt laid the corner-stone of the Lincoln Museum, which is to be built of limestone and white marble. He spread white cement with a silver trowel where the stone was to set. The stone, weighing three thousand pounds, was placed in position with a derrick. A number of articles were deposited in a leaden box placed in the stone before it was set, among which was the life of Lincoln written by President Roosevelt and the speeches delivered on the occasion.
In connection with the depository of articles, an aged negro, Isaac T. Montgomery, of Mississippi, said to have been at one time a slave of Jefferson Davis, President of the Southern Confederacy, was assigned the appropriate honor of depositing in the box a copy of President Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation. In doing this he made a brief speech, in which he referred to himself "as one of the former millions of slaves to whom Lincoln gave freedom, and the representative of 10,000,000 grateful negro citizens."
The cabin in which it is alleged Abraham Lincoln was born will be kept in the memorial building. It is expected that the building will be dedicated in April, by William H. Taft, who will be inaugurated President of the United States, March 4, 1909.
The spot where Abraham Lincoln was born will, for coming ages, be the most sacred shrine in all this great country, whose government he died to save.
At Lincoln City, Spencer County, Indiana, where the Lincolns lived fourteen years after moving from Kentucky, and before moving to Illinois, and where Abraham's mother lies buried, exercises were held. The school children of Evansville, Indiana, raised money to purchase a flag, and the school children of Indianapolis sent a wreath of flowers, both of which were placed on Mrs. Lincoln's grave. A procession of one hundred school children of Lincoln City, headed by Principal Curtis Cox and the other teachers, marched to the grave, where the exercises were held.
At Springfield, Illinois, Lincoln's old home, and where his body rests in the great monument erected to his memory, imposing exercises were held in various places well worthy of the man. Mr. Lincoln was instrumental in having the State capital moved from Vandalia to Springfield. Ambassador Jusserand of France, Senator Dolliver of Iowa, Ambassador Bryce of England, and William J. Bryan were among the distinguished visitors, and who delivered addresses. A most impressive feature of the occasion was the scene at Lincoln's tomb, when Robert T. Lincoln, son of the martyred President, stood beside the sarcophagus in which the body of his great father rests. Here his mother, brothers, and a son named Abraham Lincoln are also entombed. He stood in silent meditation with tear-dimmed eyes, with Ambassadors Jusserand, Bryce, Senator Dolliver, W. J. Bryan, and many other distinguished persons gathered about. In his speech, Ambassador Bryce said, in part: