On 150th anniversary, Lincoln's hometown re-enacts funeral.

Byline: John O'Connor

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. -- At Abraham Lincoln's death, Secretary of War Edwin Stanton declared, ''Now he belongs to the ages,'' but the meticulous, 150th anniversary funeral procession his hometown presented Saturday proved how profoundly the prairie city still considers the slain president its own.

Thousands of people, including many in period costume, gathered at the Old State Capitol, where the 16th president lay in state, to pay tribute to the simple, country lawyer who saved the Union and thrust the nation toward abolishing slavery.

Ranks of soldiers in Union blues and pallbearers, including several direct descendants of those who accompanied Lincoln's casket in 1865, retraced the route from a downtown train station in a replica hearse to the old capitol square, where it rested on a catafalque during opening ceremonies.

Drums pounded out a funeral march and many of the 1,250 Civil War re-enactors strode by while a costumed chorus sang the ''Star-Spangled Banner,'' and a man in a top hat...