An act of Congress July 9, 1790, established the District of Columbia
as the National Capital, and provided that prior to the first Monday
of December, 1800, the Commissioners should have finished a suitable
building for the sessions of Congress. The site of the Capitol was
included in L'Enfant's plan for the city. The cornerstone was laid
September 18, 1793, with Masonic rites, George Washington officiating.
The wings of the central building were completed in 1811, and were
partially burned by the British, in 1814. The entire central building
was finished in 1827. The cornerstone of the extension was laid by
President Fillmore, July 4, 1851. The extensions were first occupied
by Congress 1857 and 1859. Up to that time the Senate Chamber was the
present Supreme Court Room, and the Hall of Representatives was the
present National Statuary Hall. The dome was finished during the
administration of President Lincoln. The total cost of the Capitol
building and grounds was about thirty million dollars. The remains of
President Lincoln were escorted from the White House to the Capitol at
three o'clock P.M., on the 19th of April, 1865. The number in the
procession was estimated at forty thousand, and that many more were
spectators along the route. The burial service was conducted by Dr.
Gurley. The special train bearing the remains left at 8 A.M., Friday,
April 21, for Springfield, Illinois, stopping at Baltimore, Maryland;
Harrisburg and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Albany and Buffalo, New
York; Cleveland and Columbus, Ohio; Indianapolis, Indiana; Chicago,
Illinois, reaching Springfield, Illinois, the 3d of May, and was
buried the following day. The body lay in state in all of the above
cities.
[Illustration: THE CAPITOL
The Second Inauguration of Abraham Lincoln as President of the
United States, in front of the Capitol, Washington, March 4, 1865]
Edwin Markham, born at Oregon City, Oregon, April 23, 1852; settled in
California in 1857, and worked there during his boyhood, principally
as a blacksmith. Worked his way through the San Jose Normal School and
Santa Rosa College. Became a writer of stories and verse for papers
and magazines, and principal and superintendent of California schools.
Was the author of _The Man With the Hoe, and Other Poems_ (1899); _The
Man With the Hoe, with Notes by the Author_ (1900); _The End of the
Century_ (1899); _Lincoln, the Great Commoner_ (1900); _The Mighty
Hundred Years; Lincoln and Other Poems_ (1901); _The Shoes of
Happiness_ (1915). His _Man With the Hoe_ was extensively republished
and gave him wide fame.