November 06th, 2023

A little look back at 2024's Heritage Music Gathering

Did You visit the Windham Post Office for the exhibit "COMMEMORATING 160TH ANNIVERSARY OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN’S GETTYSBURG ADDRESS” ?

WHEN STANDING ERECT LINCOLN WAS SIX FEET FOUR INCHES TALL. HE WAS BORN IN KENTUCKY, RAISED IN INDIANA, AND LIVED IN ILLINOIS. AND THIS IS WHAT ABE LINCOLN SAID AT THE GETTYSBURG NATIONAL CEMETERY DEDICATION ON NOVEMBER 19,1863:
“THAT THIS NATION UNDER GOD, SHALL HAVE A NEW BIRTH OF FREEDOM; AND THAT GOVERNMENT OF THE PEOPLE, BY THE PEOPLE, AND FOR PEOPLE, SHALL NOT PERISH FROM THE EARTH.”


LINCOLN WAS A QUIET MAN. ABE LINCOLN WAS A QUIET AND MELANCHOLY MAN. ON NOVEMBER 19, 1863 OUR 16TH PRESIDENT GAVE WHAT BECAME HIS MOST FAMOUS SPEECH ON THE BATTLEGROUND AT GETTYSBURG. THIS IS WHAT HE SAID:
“WE CANNOT CONSECRATE, WE CANNOT DEDICATE, WE CANNOT HALLOW THIS GROUND. THE BRAVE MEN LIVING AND DEAD, WHO STRUGGLED HERE, HAVE DEDICATED IT FAR ABOVE OUR POWER TO ADD OR DETRACT - WE CAN NEVER FORGET WHAT THEY DID HERE - THAT FROM THESE HONORED DEAD WE TAKE INCREASED DEVOTION TO THAT CAUSE FOR WHICH THEY GAVE THE LAST FULL MEASURE OF DEVOTION - THAT THESE DEAD SHALL NOT HAVE DIED IN VAIN.”
CIVIL WAR SMOOTHSIDE CANTEEN WITH COMPANY, REGIMENT AND NEW YORK STATE IDENTIFICATION. OVER 413,000 UNION VOLUNTEERS ANSWERED LINCOLN’S CALL DURING THE CIVIL WAR – NEW YORK STATE CONTRIBUTED THE LARGEST NUMBER FROM ANY STATE. OVER 23,000 NYS VOLUNTEERS FOLLOWED THEIR NATIONAL & REGIMENTAL COLORS AT GETTYSBURG AND ALMOST 6,700 WERE KILLED OR WOUNDED IN THE BATTLE AT GETTYSBURG – MORE THAN OTHER STATES EITHER SIDE.

“THE GETTYSBURG ADDRESS”

THE WORDS THAT REMADE AMERICA
PRESIDENT LINCOLN SPOKE FOR ONLY ABOUT TWO-THREE MINUTES. HIS SPEECH HAS NEVER BEEN FORGOTTEN. HISTORIANS SAY THE 272 WORDS THAT WERE EXPRESSED BY THE 16TH PRESIDENT DEFINED AMERICANS AS A PEOPLE WHO BELIEVED IN FREEDOM, DEMOCRACY AND EQUALITY.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN, MAN OF THE PEOPLE, MAN FOR THE AGES. HIS SPIRIT IS STILL WITH US. WE PAY TRIBUTE TO THE MAN AND THE PROPHETIC WORDS HE SPOKE ONE-HUNDRED AND SIXTY YEARS AGO. THE GETTYSBURG ADDRESS IS JUST AS VALID FOR OUR TIME AS THEY WERE FOR HIS.

1861 CARTRIDGE BOX WITH NYS PLATE BY H.A.DINGEE, NY. IN THE SUMMER OF 1863 THE UNION ARMY MET ROBERT E. LEE’S ARMY OF NORTHERN VIRGINIA IN PENNSYLVANIA FROM JULY 1 TO JULY 3. THE BATTLE AT GETTYSBURG WAS THE BLOODIEST OF THE WAR WITH MORE THAN 50,000 DEAD AND WOUNDED.

CIVIL WAR CLAIRON BUGLE IN C OR B FLAT
THE DISTINCTIVE BUGLE MELODY “TAPS” IS PLAYED AT U.S. MILITARY FUNERALS AND MEMORIALS. THE 24 NOTE TUNE DATES BACK TO THE AMERICAN CIVIL WAR.
REPORTERS DESCRIBE LINCOLN’S 1863 “GETTYSBURG ADDRESS”
ON NOVEMBER 19, 1863 VARIOUS NEWSPAPERS, MAGAZINES AND EVEN THE ASSOCIATED PRESS WIRE SERVICE REPORTED ON PRESIDENT LINCOLN’S REMARKS AT THE NATIONAL CEMETERY AT GETTYSBURG. NEWSPAPERS CRITICAL OF THE PRESIDENT SAID THE SPEECH WAS TOO SHORT AND INAPPROPRIATE FOR THE OCCASION. LINCOLN SUPPORTERS, ON THE OTHER HAND, PUBLISHED GLOWING REVIEWS AND NOTED THE HEARTFELT EMOTION OF THE ADDRESS.
These are some excerpts…
CHICAGO TRIBUNE: “THE DEDICATORY REMARKS BY PRESIDENT LINCOLN WILL LIVE AMONG THE ANNALS OF MAN.”
THE PATRIOT-NEWS: “WE PASS OVER THE SILLY REMARKS OF THE PRESIDENT. FOR THE CREDIT OF THE NATION, WE ARE WILLING THAT THE VEIL OF OBLIVION SHALL BE DROPPED OVER THEM.”
(THE PATRIOT-NEWS LATER REGRETTED THE ERROR OF ITS INITIAL REPORTING BEING ON THE WRONG SIDE OF HISTORY)
THE PHILADELPHIA EVENING BULLETIN: “READING OF THE PRESIDENT’S WORDS WILL MOISTEN THE EYE AND SWELL THE HEART.”
SOLDIER’S WAIST BELT WITH OVAL U.S. BRASS PLATE & CAP BOX WITH U.S. STAMP
THE COMMUNITY OF WINDHAM FOUNDATION (COWF) IS PROUD TO OFFER THIS DISPLAY IN TRIBUTE TO THE NATION’S VETERANS OF ALL WARS – WE THANK THEM FOR THEIR SERVICE.