Earlier this year, I wrote a series of articles detailing my travels to Washington, D.C. to participate in the official ceremonies surrounding the 150th anniversary of the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln. I spent 36 straight hours at Ford’s Theatre where I met General Colin Powell, took a backstage tour of the theatre on the Sesquicentennial day of Lincoln’s death and retraced the escape route of assassin John Wilkes Booth to its bitter end. The trip was capped off with a visit to all of the Lincoln conspirator’s gravesites in D.C. and Maryland. So I feel I can speak with some authority when I say that nobody in Indiana observed the passing of Abraham Lincoln with more depth of feeling than Cambridge City.
The Wayne County town of less than 2,000 citizens is located just west of Richmond on the Historic National Road. Local lore claims that Lincoln visited the town a couple of times in his lifetime, allegedly to campaign for Whig presidential candidate Henry Clay and to visit famed Gettysburg Iron Brigade Commander (and Cambridge City favorite son) General Solomon Meredith. While those visits are speculative at best, one Lincoln visit cannot be denied.
At 4:15 a.m. on April 30, 1865, the Lincoln funeral train steamed slowly through Cambridge City. Although no official stops were scheduled, the train halted briefly three times there. Once outside the home of General Meredith, it stopped for a full 5 seconds to sound it’s whistle in salute. The second was a 15 second stop under a grand arch in the town center in gratitude to the 3,000 townsfolk gathered there. The third and final stop was at the railroad crossing in the far western edge of the town. The April 26, 1928 issue of the Cambridge City Tribune reflected on the journey 63 years later with a headline proclaiming, “When Lincoln’s Funeral Train passed through Cambridge City, artillery salutes marked its arrival at dawn.” The guns were placed on the town’s highest point, Capitol Hill Park and cemetery. It must have been a glorious sight.
In commemoration of that passing, for the month of April 2015 the entire town was decked out in mourning just as it may have appeared a century and a half ago. The event was organized by the Cambridge City Main Street group under the guidance of President J.P. Hall and assisted by business owner Beth Leisure. J.P. is Eastern Director for Indiana Landmarks whose regional office is located in the historic Huddleston Farmhouse on the Historic National Road. Beth is owner of the National Road Antique Mall in the center of town. As an extension of that April Mourning celebration, Cambridge City Main Street raised funds to create a larger-than-life mural of Abraham Lincoln’s Funeral Train on the eastern wall of the Vinton House Hotel block.
“I am really excited about how this project has all come together,” says J.P. Hall. “It shows the great pride and potential that Cambridge has. It really was our (Cambridge City Main Street) inaugural project. The mural really is part of a larger project we dubbed, ‘Lincoln’s Passing,’ (double entendre — as in him dying and the passing of the funeral train through Cambridge). We encouraged downtown businesses to decorate their buildings in mourning, in conjunction with the Blue and Grey Civil War Round Table. We sold mourning badges as a fund raiser, and then we commissioned the mural as a more permanent reminder of the funeral train. We have had great sponsors. The town has been really supportive — even financially. Sponsors will be highlighted in a painted plaque toward the lower left hand of the mural.”
The artist is none other than accomplished muralist Pamela Bliss, a former Lincoln high school student whose parents still reside in Cambridge City. Ms. Bliss is the artist who created the Kurt Vonnegut mural on Mass Ave. for the Super Bowl a few years ago as well as the jazz murals at Capitol and Vermont. Pamela also created the murals that grace the old Gennett records building in Richmond (including Hoagy Charmichael and Louis Armstrong) and the mural in Cambridge City that depicts legendary racehorse Single G. Pam estimates that she has painted over 50 murals. When asked which is her favorite, she replies, “All murals are different. It would be hard to choose. I just love to paint faces.”
And paint faces she does. When I visited her on the job, she was just coming down off the lift required to reach the towering painting. Lincoln’s face is easily over one story tall and the massive train covers the full two story brick mural. What makes Pam’s mural so romantic (aside from subject matter) is that her canvas consists of bricks that predate the event. The Vinton House was built in 1847 and surely stood mute witness as the sad train passed through the town. No doubt those hand thrown bricks were made of clay harvested from local creek beds which bonds the building to the land it came from even further.
The mural is a masterpiece with detail so intricately perfect that it can be described as flawless to the most minute detail. Pam starts out each mural by drawing it by hand. She states proudly, “I never use a projector. It’s all freehand.” She then fleshes out each mural section by section, adding more detail to each parcel by paintbrush, the old fashioned way. She was first contacted about the mural in 2014 and originally figured that it would take her six to seven weeks to complete. “The rain threw me behind on this one though,” Pam says, “It rained for two solid weeks in Cambridge, so this one will stretch out to a couple months.”
Most of her murals are historic themes centered around towns or famous personalities. Pam states, “Conceptual murals for large cities are easier for me, but history fits better in small towns.” She was recently asked to paint a mural with a Rebel flag in it but she was conflicted and not sure the timing was right. She reached out to her Facebook fans for advice and found them evenly split for and against. “I want to do a project on symbolism for a big city,” Pam states. “I would like to do something to help change the image of the Rebel flag and other symbols to try and help dispel their labels.” You can check out Pam’s work on her Facebook page “Pamela Bliss Art FX”. You can also visit Pam’s recent mural of Hoosier GOP presidential nominee for 1940, Wendell Willkie in Rushville. Willkie lost in a landslide to Franklin D. Roosevelt but even FDR himself admitted that he liked the guy. The 35-foot tall painting is set to be dedicated in September and rumor has it that a few of the biggest names in Indiana Republican politics will be on hand to help officially unveil it.
But first, come see the Lincoln Funeral Train mural in Cambridge City. You will be amazed. “The response to the mural has been great from the community and visitors alike,” explains J.P. Hall. “It is located at the eastern gateway to downtown, and really will be the calling card to the many visitors who come here. It’s a gateway project, a beautification project, and an economic development project.”
Beth Leisure explains, “the mural will be dedicated with a ribbon cutting this weekend (September 12th and 13th) at Cambridge City’s Annual Canal Days celebration.” The popular townwide celebration includes vendor booths featuring food, local crafts and antiques lining both sides of the Historic National Road. “This year’s Canal Days theme is ‘Honoring Abraham Lincoln,’” says Beth. Pamela Bliss has furnished the perfect exclamation mark to the Lincoln street fair celebration — a mark that is sure to resonate for future generations.
Al Hunter is the author of the “Haunted Indianapolis” and co-author of the “Haunted Irvington” and “Indiana National Road” book series. His newest book is “Bumps in the Night. Stories from the Weekly View.” Contact Al directly at Huntvault@aol.com or become a friend on Facebook.
