There are six statues of Abraham Lincoln in Chicago, representing the enormous pride that the city expressed for the great man who built his political career in Illinois.

The best of the monuments is the statue of Lincoln standing – which was completed by the celebrated Irish sculptor, Auguste Saint-Gaudens, in 1887.

Funds for the commemorative sculpture were provided in the Will of Eli Bates, a lumber merchant who died in 1881.

The 12-foot statue stands in Lincoln Park.

This postcard photograph was made in Germany circa 1906 and published by P. Schmidt of Chicago.

Elsie Fredericks mailed the postcard from Chicago in May of 1908.

The postcard is addressed to Mr. Chas. Ritchie of Watertown, a city in east-central South Dakota.

(Watertown was founded in 1879 as a rail terminus for the “Chicago & Northwestern Railroad”.

Although it sits of the Big Sioux River between two lakes, Lake Kampeska and Pelican Lake, Watertown was named for the city in upstate New York.)

On the reverse, Elsie shares all the information that she has learned about Lincoln – including the report that Robert Todd Lincoln, President of the Pullman Company, lives near Lincoln Park.

This postcard photograph does not do justice to the sculpture.

I am adding a contemporary photograph from the website of the Lincoln Park Conservancy.

One hopes that Elsie enjoyed many adventures in Chicago and that Charles was delighted to receive the memorial to Lincoln.