Page 24 - Abraham Lincoln Hearse Narrative

FOURTH PROGRESS UPDATE ~ DECEMBER, 2014 ~ ERIC HOLLENBECK
I am writing this installment of the Lincoln Hearse project with equal amounts of pride
and relief. The pride comes from the accomplishments of the veterans. These men and women
have risen to the formidable challenge of building a true reproduction, down to every detail,
and they’re doing it. I am also relieved that most of my planning, engineering, and guess work
is panning out as the build progresses. I have spent the last six months living this project. Every
waking ~ and even sleeping minute ~ my head has been obsessing the details of it. How Viviana
put up with my distractedness and mood swings throughout this process is a testament to
her Sainthood! She was always there for me in the darkest times telling me I could do this,
reminding me to call on my inner Craftsman and that the answers would come.
Here I feel I have to blow my own horn a little and paint the picture for you. I have
been asked to build THE HEARSE that carried one of the greatest Americans ~ no, one of the
greatest men that ever lived ~ from the only known photograph in existence. There are three
historians working on this project and an architect along with the Staab family. This adds a
lot of help, but it also puts a lot of cooks in the kitchen. As difficult for all of us as this can get
at times, it is the ONLY way a project of this significance can be done. Respect for President
Lincoln demands accuracy and more eyes can see more details. Put on top of that that my crew
is 12 men and women veterans that have never done anything like this before, and the task is
daunting. Oh yeah, there is also a time frame and very little money as my time has all been
donated. And how are we doing? The proof is in the pudding.

Sideviews of the main chamber with skirt.

At the start things were a little ragged, but as we went along, each of the veterans rose to
their chosen task. Anartis, our multi-talented staff person here at The Blue Ox, starts the project
by drawing the patterns. She takes great care scaling each element and getting them “right”.
However, when a detail is spotted that we missed, she is right there with eraser redoing the
drawings with no complaints or ego outbursts…THAT’S HUGE! She then cuts out the initial
flat patterns.

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