The Abraham Lincoln Hearse is at the Illinois State Fair Museum

I know Norm Claussen because of our shared love of old iron. Norm and Mike Hall head up the antique tractor display at the Illinois State Fair and this year, Norm also took on another job, he is the President/C.E.O. of the Illinois State Fair Museum foundation. This year they brought a very special treat to the fair.

“Fair officials approached us in March about exhibiting Abraham Lincoln’s hearse at the state fair museum,” Claussen said.

The board was quite excited about this, P.J. Staab of Staab’s Funeral Home made a replica of the hearse that carried Lincoln to his final resting place at Oak Ridge Cemetery, Springfield, Illinois. The replicated hearse was created for the 2015 Lincoln Funeral Re-enactment that took place in Springfield this past May. On the Staab website they state, “President Lincoln had the largest funeral to date with an estimated eight million people participating in or witnessing the procession as it traveled across the country to its final stop in Springfield, Illinois.”

“This is such a magnificent piece of history we were honored to have it here at the museum,” Claussen added.

The hearse is quite amazing and for anyone that has not had a chance to see it, take the time to stop by the museum during the fair!