Elizabethtown – Cannonballs and Lincolns
Civil War cannonballs turn up in the darndest places.
People have found them lodged in bedroom doors (see the blog on Perryville), washed up on beaches, and have even uncovered them while digging in their garden. In Pittsburgh, a large stockpile of the old ordnance was found not too long ago during construction work – for the second time.
Less common, I’m guessing, would be to find a cannonball that’s been removed from the spot where it landed then put back in place years later, especially when that place is the outside of a two-story brick building in the middle of town. But that’s what you will find on the public square in Elizabethtown, where we resume our adventure this week . . .
The cannonball
The black nub on the side of the building at the corner of 40 Public Square and N. Dixie looks like a security camera until you read the plaque below. From there, you realize it’s not a camera at all but part of a Civil War cannonball.
How did it get in the wall? The answer isn’t as clear-cut as you might think.
An unlikely scenario
The probability that the same cannonball could hit the same spot twice in battle is pretty low. Even less likely would be for said cannonball to hit a wall, fall out of that wall, and be put back in the same general spot when that wall is rebuilt.
But that’s exactly what happened to this cannonball, which became stuck in the wall of the old Depp Building on the square on Dec. 27, 1862 after it was fired by rebel forces during a Confederate raid.
Back to the start
The ball would remain in the wall until 1887 when a fire burned the building and sent the projectile crashing down and into the possession of a woman named Annie Nourse.
Nourse, who paid 50 cents to have the artifact recovered from the fire and delivered to her, would keep the cannonball for many years. When she eventually gave it up, it went back to where its local story began — encased in a brick wall downtown for all the world to see after the corner building was rebuilt.
To quote Nourse: “I restored it to the bank and they had it placed in the same spot, as near as possible (in the new building), where it is seen today…”
Now that is a good story, and a true one at that!
The Lincolns
President Abraham Lincoln may have never seen the famous downtown cannonball, but he was certainly familiar with Elizabethtown. He was born 13 or so miles away in Hodgenville, Ky. and lived for five years as a boy at nearby Knob Creek Farm where he made lasting memories with his siblings, mother Nancy Hanks Lincoln, and father Thomas Lincoln.
Thomas Lincoln
Thomas Lincoln was a Virginian by birth who first settled in the Elizabethtown area in 1802. It was here that the elder Lincoln learned farming and carpentry, welcomed the birth of his children, and proposed to his second wife, Sarah Bush Johnston Lincoln, after wife Nancy Lincoln’s early death.
President Lincoln reportedly became quite close to his stepmother throughout his lifetime. Some credit Sarah Lincoln with shaping his legendary sense of humor and serving as a source of needed encouragement. A lasting tribute to her and her role as “the Country’s Most Famous Stepmother” can be found in Elizabethtown at Freeman Lake Park.
Sarah Bush Johnston Lincoln Memorial Cabin
The 14’x14’ Sarah Bush Johnston Lincoln Memorial Cabin was built in Kentucky’s bicentennial year of 1992 from 122-year-old hand-hewn logs. Recently restored, the cabin has been called “a close replica of the (cabin) Sarah Bush Johnston was living in, here in Elizabethtown, at the time she married Thomas Lincoln on Dec. 2, 1819.”
The memorial is reportedly open for tours, although I would recommend calling ahead if you’d like to go inside the building.
Lincoln Heritage House
A short walk from the memorial cabin is another Lincoln site, the Lincoln Heritage House. Actually two log homes, or a “double cabin,” the house was built for the Hardin Thomas family of pioneers. The smaller cabin was built circa 1789; the larger cabin was built circa 1805 with carpentry and cabinetry crafted by none other than Thomas Lincoln.
Restoration has been done here: the house was rebuilt from historical materials, including salvaged timbers, after fire gutted the site in 2009. Although work is ongoing, the house stands today as a tribute to the 16th President’s father and one of Hardin County’s most famous residents. Just be sure to call ahead if you plan to take a tour.
Elizabethtown Nature Park
Around the bend from Freeman Lake Park, its memorials, and well-maintained grounds is the entrance to another lovely space well worth visiting called Elizabethtown Nature Park.
Open dawn to dusk, this 104-acre park is home to a permanent 80-percent scale replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall and the Elizabethtown Veterans Tribute. A pavilion and walking trails that connect with the Freeman Lake Park trail system make the park a place for both remembrance and relaxation.
Still curious? Contact the Elizabethtown Tourism & Convention Bureau for more information, or visit E-town’s visitor center in person at 1030 N. Mulberry Street in Elizabethtown.
