Many thanks to Miguel Hernandez (above, holding the top hat) and my new friends at the Ossining Historical Society for inviting me to participate in their Civil War Days event yesterday at the Campwoods Meeting Ground. I had a terrific afternoon talking about Civil War history, discussing my book, and learning about Ossining history. I met some terrifically smart and friendly people. Until yesterday, I did not know that Ossining was called Sing Sing until the 20th century, when 
merchants sought to distinguish their businesses from prison factory-made goods; or that the Sing Sing Tigers was a unit in the Union Army; or that one of the prized possessions of the Historical Society is the bell (above) that was on that train that President-elect Lincoln took out of Illinois, and eventually through Peekskill and Sing Sing and New York City and onto Harrisburg, where he transferred to a train that accomplish the final, clandestine leg of his trip to Washington. I had a blast.
