EXCURSIONS | Grace Sweatt

No one currently working in the Lincoln- Herndon Law Office smokes a pipe. So, what could possibly explain the aroma of pipe tobacco that employees at the historic site claim to notice from time to time? Is the aroma embedded in the walls and woodwork? Or is it the ghost of Abraham Lincoln’s long deceased law partner, lighting up in the spirit world?

Garret Moffett, proprietor of Springfield Walks Tour and Guide Services, asks these questions and many more on the highly successful Lincoln’s Ghost Walk: Legends and Lore.

The ghost walk, which leads visitors on an evening walk from the Old State Capitol to the Great Western Railroad Station, with a few stops in between, explores the professional and social life of Abraham and Mary Todd Lincoln with a special emphasis on the Lincolns’ interest in spiritualism, a particularly popular pastime in mid-19th century America.

As Moffett, dressed in the style of Lincoln’s Danville law partner and self-appointed bodyguard Ward Hill Lamon, leads the tour to its final destination, the stories become ever more ghostly, until finally the coincidental passing of a freight train at the Great Western Railroad Station underscores the tale of a funereal ghost train riding the rails from Washington, D.C. to Springfield, where Lincoln is buried. Or is he? After all, questions about Lincoln’s burial and tales of ghostly sightings persisted well into the 20th century. On Lincoln’s Ghost Walk, you’ll learn the lore surrounding Lincoln’s burial at Oak Ridge Cemetery. In the end, you must decide where you believe Lincoln is buried.

Are the spirits of a friendly hostess or a young boy still able to converse with us in this world? For those hardy souls who would rather meet ghosts in person, so to speak, Springfield Walks offers the Haunted Springfield Tour. Stepping off at St. Paul’s Cathedral, the tour allows participants to enter sites and participate in their own “investigations” into the paranormal world of ghost hunting. Although sites vary from one tour to another, several of the sites on a recent tour are part of what is called a “triangle” of locations that seem to attract a particularly high level of ghost activity.

Melissa Herbert, a veteran of ghost walks in New Orleans, took the Springfield walk on a recent Saturday night. Herbert says she appre-ciated the fact that her tour guide, Monica, made it clear that participants didn’t have to believe in ghosts to enjoy the history of the sites. However, Herbert also enjoyed having an opportunity to communicate with the spirit world. “I’ve never been on a ghost walk where you could go off on your own to get a feel for what you thought,” she says. “Other ghost tours focus on the historical experience rather than the personal experience.”