February 2009 Archives

February 2009

by Jerry A. McCoy

This month communities all over the United States as well as the world will be honoring the 200th anniversary of the birth of Abraham Lincoln.  Born in a log cabin on February 12, 1809 near present-day Hodgenville, KY, Lincoln went on to become this nation's 16th president in 1861.  Four years later, when an assassin's bullet ended his life in Washington, DC, Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton is reported to have uttered, "Now he belongs to the ages."

Lincoln Stamps.jpg
These four 42-cent U.S. postage stamps commemorating the 200th anniversary of the birth of Abraham Lincoln will be available at a post office near you on February 10, 2009.  Courtesy United States Postal Service.

 
And that he certainly has for it has been estimated that over 20,000 books have been written about Lincoln - falling in fourth place behind works published about the Virgin Mary, Shakespeare, and Jesus Christ.  While documentation of the latter three visiting Silver Spring is lacking, the same cannot be said about Lincoln.

 

Jerry McCoy is founder and president of the Silver Spring Historical Society, a nonprofit organization whose mission is to create and promote awareness and appreciation of downtown Silver Spring's heritage through sponsorship of educational activities and the preservation and protection of historical sites, structures, artifacts and archives.

Jerry may be reached at sshistory@yahoo.com or 301-537-1253. The society's web site is sshistory.org

Recent Assets

  • Blair Mansion Footprint.jpg
  • Lincoln Town Ball.jpg
  • Lincoln CDV.jpg
  • Blair Mansion.jpg
  • Lincoln Stamps.jpg
  • Lincoln Stamps.jpg

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