Our reunion host, Ric Frank, is a history and Civil War buff, and after breakfast he demonstrated his little carbide cannon.
Abraham Lincoln was born in Kentucky, but in early childhood his family moved to Illinois. As a young lawyer he lived in this house in Springfield.
The National Park Service has restored Lincoln's home with much of the original furniture and even the original wallpaper design (ugh!).
A picture of the young Abraham Lincoln, a frontier lawyer, about the age he was elected to Congress.
For the first eight years they lived in this house, the family cooked in the fireplace like most people. Then finally they were able to afford this stove.
Of the 25 or so of us who were on sabbatical together in Rome, 13 were able to attend this reunion in Missouri.
Before he entered politics, Lincoln was a successful lawyer in the Ninth Circuit Court in Illinois. This was an office he shared with his partner.
A private foundation erected this striking memorial and tomb in Springfield. His wife and two of his three sons are also buried here.
Back home from Springfield, our group gathered for a last time and exchanged some souvenirs.