Ceremonial commemoration of the birth date of Abraham Lincoln
Sunday, February 18, 2007, the public is invited at no charge to witness the ceremonial commemoration of the birth date of Abraham Lincoln, the 16th President of the United States, at 1:30 PM at the Buffalo and Erie County Historical Society. Gather around the bronze statue of Lincoln which overlooks Mirror Lake, outdoors on the portico steps of the museum at 25 Nottingham Court at Elmwood Avenue.
Honoring a long-standing tradition, members of the Buffalo Civil War Round Table will present tributes and a military salute, led by Benedict Maryniak re-enacting Chaplain Philos G. Cook of the 94th New York Volunteers.
Participating will be members of the 140th and the 155th New York Volunteers, Army of the Potomac; 22nd Battalion Virginia Volunteers, Army of Northern Virginia; Philos G. Cook Camp #223, Sons of Union Veterans; John B. Weber Camp, Sons of Union Veterans; The Buffalo Guards Camp #1975, Sons of Confederate Veterans; and the Ladies of the Grand Army of the Republic, Henrietta York Circle #91 and the Ladies Auxiliary, Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War.
There will be a Colors Advance, the Invocation from Chaplain Cook, Tributes from the assembled units, then a Military Salute with rifles fired, and Colors Retire. Represented will be descendants of people who served in the various units during the war. Also present will be individuals wearing Civil War era garb, which includes the voluminously-skirted dresses of the period. Participants welcome questions from visitors after the ceremony.
The national commemoration of President Lincoln's birthday, actual date of February 12, began in Buffalo in 1874. It is the legacy of Julius Francis, owner of a Main Street drug store, who deeply revered the martyred President and undertook the respectful public remembrance of the man as his life's mission. Francis underwrote and organized the first public ceremony, in 1874, and presented it every year for the rest of his life, along with similar programs in the local schools. Two petition appeals to the United States Congress succeeded in establishing the legal holiday of Lincoln's birthday. Congress in more recent times combined the February birthdays of President Lincoln and President George Washington into the national Federal holiday observation known as "President's Day".
Mr. Julius Francis donated his collection of Civil War and Lincoln-related documents and artifacts to the Buffalo and Erie County Historical Society. Funds from the Francis estate were used to commission the bronze seated Lincoln statue by sculptor Charles Niehaus, which was unveiled in 1902. It stands on the south portico of the Buffalo and Erie County Historical Society as a lasting tribute to both the man who would have a nation remember its Civil War President and to President Abraham Lincoln.
For further information, call (716) 873-9644 or consult www.bechs.org.
Parking is free in the museum's lot at Nottingham Court at Elmwood Avenue, near the History Museum exit of the Scajaquada Expressway (Route 198).