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Matt Jordan as Abraham Lincoln,

U.S. President, 1861

      As a young boy growing up on Park Avenue in Vineland during WWII, Matthew Jordan was often stirred by the patriotism alive in the             

nation at the time.  As an active teen, he found himself onstage in the speaking parts of many school and community theatricals.  

       As a young man, Matt joined the United States Marine Corps, serving with distinction and honor, the President of the United States – 

his military Commander-in-Chief.

  One wonders if, in those formative years, he might have recognized a foreshadowing of the patriotic speaking part he would come to play for over a decade in Vineland history as the man who looks like Abraham Lincoln – the man who is Lincoln – every year at the annual Founder’s Day event, sponsored by the Friends of Historic Vineland in cooperation with the Vineland Downtown Improvement District/Main Street.   Eleven years ago, when Founder’s Day was just forming, then director of the VDID, Linda Schimmel, was tasked with finding someone to portray Abraham Lincoln for the event to tie in with the fact that Vineland was founded in 1861 during his presidency and the start of the Civil War.  Linda knew just the guy – Matt Jordan.  Jordan, a city employee, had always been interested in history and remained very active with Veterans organizations at the city, county, and state level – and was, oddly enough – a dead-ringer for Lincoln .

       The opportunity to portray such a respected historical personage was quite an honor that Jordan took very seriously.  He accepted the role and immersed himself in the singular study of one of the most influential presidents in our nation’s history.  Each year his presentations on the details of Lincoln ’s life and legacy have deepened.  With the help of a professional hairstylist and the rental of authentic period attire, Jordan has appeared in local classrooms and public ceremonial events as Lincoln , in addition to his central role at Founder’s Day.  His presentation has expanded through interaction with other Civil War re-enactors portraying Lincoln’s wife, Mary Todd Lincoln, Union and Confederate troops, and re-enactors of the Pinkerton Secret Service, which originated during the Civil War and always accompany Mr. Lincoln at his personal appearances.

  Jordan feels privileged to be able to address children on the subjects of American history, Abraham Lincoln, and the many aspects of Vineland history as they relate to the founding era in the 1860’s – and beyond.  Making history come alive for young people is his way of passing onto the next generation the noblest of our collective American character.

Mary Loder-Post as Mary Todd Lincoln

PHOTO AVAILABLE SUMMER 2007

     Mary Loder-Post shares more than just a first name, two surnames, and an uncanny physical resemblance with her alter ego, Mary Todd Lincoln.  Together they share a connection to an era in American history.  Mary Todd Lincoln actually lived in the time of the Civil War, while Mary Loder-Post boasts an ancestor second cousin who served the medical corps on the field of Civil War battles.   Loder-Post, along with her twin sister, Viola Smithcors have been active as Civil War historians and re-enactors for many years, celebrating the proud legacy of their family.  Donning period attire, with her dainty fan at the ready, Loder-Post can be seen accompanying Matt Jordan as Abraham Lincoln to community events, most notably, Founder’s Day in May each year. 

  Mary Todd Lincoln, born December 13, 1818, was the wife of President Abraham Lincoln.  She was sitting next to her husband on that fateful night when John Wilkes Booth entered their box at the Ford Theatre and mortally wounded him with a gunshot to the head.  The loss of her husband followed the loss of three sons before him and led to what she is most remembered for, being a high-strung, often irrational, grief-stricken woman of depression.   However, even though her marriage was often marred by many troubles – both private and public – the Lincolns did share a great love for one another.  In her youth she was born into a privileged society, was well educated, and enjoyed the courtship of many prominent young men of the day – most especially an up and coming young lawyer, Abraham Lincoln.

        As a young wife she shared her husband’s interests in public affairs and appeared to possess an ambitious drive.  She earned a reputation as an eccentric individual with spendthrift habits and was not a popular first lady.  In her later years, she struggled with poor health and cataracts which may have contributed to a number of accidental falls which further debilitated her physically.    Mary Todd Lincoln died on July 16, 1882 in her sister’s home in Springfield , Illinois where she had met and married her husband so many years before.  

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