Tour Information Docent guided
tours, which include information about the Louis Comfort Tiffany
Windows and the Lincoln Family relationship to First Church,
are offered Mondays through Fridays between 10:00 am and
4:00 pm from June 4th through September. Tours are not available
on the Fourth of July or Labor Day. During the regular tour season,
enter through the two arched red doors on 7th Street. Links to Springfield tourist sites: Abraham
Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum "is a 200,000
square foot complex situated in downtown Springfield, Illinois,
and is complemented by a meticulously restored Union Station
Visitors Center (completion scheduled 2006) .
.."
-- from the home page of the
website. Downtown Springfield Calendar of Events What is going on downtown this week? find out here. |
Looking Back In Time
First
Presbyterian Church has called three buildings home during her long
history. Pictured at left is the second of these; it was our worship
home from 1843 to 1876. Located at the corner of Third and Washington
Streets, facing Washington, this was the First Presbyterian Church
that the Lincoln family knew well. (Sadly, this building was sold and
later torn down.)
In 1876 First Presbyterian Church purchased the present building from Third Presbyterian Church. Pictured far left, the original steeples can be seen.The first Tiffany Window, Angel of Resurrection (angel detail shown next to red door in the banner above), was installed in 1895. Six more Tiffany windows followed. Later, other styles of memorial glass were added, all of which share stories of courage and of faith.
For $36.00 annually, the Lincoln's rented pew number 20 in the Washington and Third Street church sanctuary. Mr. Lincoln paid by check; the treasurer's documentation is replicated on this page. Mrs. Lincoln's attachment to this particular pew is indicated by a letter she wrote to a Springfield friend, Mrs. Samuel Melvin, two months after reaching Washington.
I had intended requesting Mr. Melvin to have given me a promise that on our return to S— we would be able to secure our particular pew to which I was very much attached and which we occupied some ten years. May I hope he will be able to do so.
The pew number is visibly stamped on the left side under the armrest. This pew, pictured below, was purchased in 1912 and placed in our current building by Mr. John W. Bunn; it holds a cherished place in our oral and written history. More about the Lincoln Family and First Church. .
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©
2007 First Presbyterian Church of Springfield, Illinois .
321 South 7th Street . Springfield, IL 62701 .
tele: 217.528.4311 . fax: 217.528.0768
photos by Chris Young and Pamela Hayes | some images© 2007 JupiterImages
Corporation | some images© 2007 iStock photo
Updated August 3, 2007