Lincoln's 203rd Birthday celebrations in the state of Oregon include commemorations and a lecture

Feb. 11, 2012 - PRLog -- The Oregon Civil War Sesquicentennial Commission is commemorating  President Lincoln's 203rd birthday in Portland  with two separate events taking place on Sunday, February 12, 2012. The events are free and open to the public.

The first event is a morning wreath-laying ceremony at the Lincoln Statue in the South Park Blocks honoring the nation's 16th President and  starting at 10:00 am. It will also include a short memorial for the Lincoln's third son, William "Willie" Wallace Lincoln, who died from typhoid fever a week after his fatheri's birthday. Lincoln's 51st birthday was the first birthday for Abraham Lincoln that the family celebrated in the White House but it was a somber and subdued event.

According to Lincoln's private secretary. John Nicholay,the President spent a few days during the week of his birthday at the bedside of his two sons, who were  recovering from typhoid, most likely contracted from contaminated drinking water. Nicholay wrote to Bates on February 11 that Lincoln gives "pretty much all his attention" to Willie and Tad who are ill." Nine year old Tad improves, and his 11-year-old brother Willie appears to be on the mend two days later, but then relapsed and passed away on Februarty 20. The Lincoln family never fully recovered from the tragic death of their third born son, who was buried in Oak Hill Cemetery in Georgetown

There will also be an afternoon  lecture on the Legacy of Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation and the lifestory of two of Portland's Black Pioneers. The free lecture will take place in the Kenton Branch of the Multnomah County Library starting at 12:30pm. 8226 North Denver Ave, Portland, Oregon 12:30pm.

The Oregon Civil War Sesquicentennial Commission are volunteers dedicated to researching and educating Oregonians as to the many Civil War Connections that exist in Oregon. We are the people behind the Edward Dickinson Baker Day Celebration taking place at the Oregon State Capitol in Salem on Friday, February 24, 2012. For more information please call (503)303-8426.

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A partner of the American Civil War Sesquicentennial, the Oregon Civil War Sesquicentennial Commission is dedicated to researching, publishing and educating Oregonians as to the role Oregonians played in the American Civil War, the many connections of Oregon to the Civil War, and the Civil War's ongoing legacy to Oregonians.