COUNCIL BLUFFS — A replica of President Abraham Lincoln's casket is on display in an exhibit that celebrates the president's life and connection to Council Bluffs.
One of four authentic replicas from Batesville Casket Company of Indiana will be at Hoy-Kilnoski Funeral Home through Sunday.
Covered with black broadcloth and lined with linen and silk, the coffin was 6½ feet long, to accommodate Lincoln's 6-foot-4 frame. Batesville loans three of its four replicas and keeps one on display at its headquarters, according to Mary Trabel, who coordinates the project for the coffin maker.
"There's always been an appeal about Lincoln," she said. "Including about his death and what they used for burial back then."
The custom-made caskets are handmade, she said. The replica differs from Lincoln's actual casket in two ways: the original was lined with lead; and the handles and trim were real silver.
At the local funeral home, the coffin sits at the center of the south chapel, not unlike a funeral setting. A teacup, candleholder, plate and planter are on loan from the Dodge House, while the Union Pacific Museum loaned a portrait of Lincoln and a picture of his funeral train car. Audio of Lincoln's biography plays over a speaker in the chapel.
Roger Williams of Hoy-Kilnoski Funeral Home said the exhibit focuses on Lincoln's connection to Council Bluffs.
As a lawyer, Lincoln represented several railroads, including the Illinois Central and Rock Island lines. In 1859, he visited Council Bluffs to evaluate land that friend and fellow railroad lawyer Norman Judd had offered as collateral for a $3,000 loan.
"Keep in mind (Lincoln) already had his eye on a presidential bid, so I suspect a little travel and politicking might have been in the plan," said Dick Warner of the Historical Society of Pottawattamie County. "Some have speculated since he had the transcontinental railroad on his mind, he may have wanted to get a look at Council Bluffs as a possible location."
While in town, a common acquaintance introduced Lincoln to Grenville Dodge, who did a hard sell on the Platte Valley route out of Council Bluffs for the transcontinental rail line.
In 1862, as president, Lincoln signed the Pacific Railroad Act and decided that building a transcontinental railroad west would commence in the Omaha-Council Bluffs area.
Admission to the exhibit is free, and the exhibit is open during funeral home hours, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily. The funeral home is at 1221 N. 16th St. For more information, call 712-256 9988.
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