Although the civil war had come to a sudden close, there was still great need of funds to care for the disabled of the Union Army.

[1] An executive committee was convened consisting of Mrs. Hoge, Mrs. Livermore, and Mrs. Blatchford, for the USSC; and Mrs. Hosmer, Mrs. Dickenson, and Mr. Bryan, for the Soldiers' Home.

At the first meeting of the combined association, the executive committee was expanded to include: President, Hon.

Then came a speech by Governor Oglesby and some music by the 8th Reserve Corps brought the ceremony to a close.

[1] The day exhibition closed on June 20, and the fair was only open in the evening after that date; but it continued to be well attended to the end.

[1] It was intended to lay the corner-stone with appropriate ceremonies, but on the day appointed for that purpose, news arrived that President Abraham Lincoln had been assassinated, therefore, erection of the main building commenced quietly.

It was formed into three distinct halls, connected at either end and in the centre by passages 43 feet (13 m) in width, all being under one roof.

The center building was further lit through 48 windows, 24 on each side, in the arched roof, at a height of 30 feet (9.1 m) from the ground.

Surmounting the center of the gothic arch, between the centre towers, was an eagle 6 feet (1.8 m) in height, supported by a large shield bearing the national device.

[2] The fact that the fair was divided into different sections, in various parts of the city, rendered it a difficult matter to visit the whole of it one day.

[2] Contributions were received from all over the world: from England, France, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, China, Japan.

General Grant presented “Jack,” the horse he rode while Colonel of the Twenty-first Illinois Infantry.

Lincoln's log cabin was imported, and erected in all its primitive uniqueness, Harriet Hosmer sent her statue of Zenobia, Carpenter his painting of “The Signing of the Emancipation Proclamation"; Bierstadt his “Rocky Mountains”; Professor Goldwin Smith presented a valuable painting; and famous literary men sent the manuscripts of their inspirations.

Bryant, Whittier, Longfellow, Holmes, Lowell, H. W. Beecher, Artemus Ward—and even President Johnson, and Mr. Stanton, Secretary Welles, and Generals Grant, Sherman, and Sheridan, were under pledges to contribute something.

Among the women writers there were Mrs. Stowe, Grace Greenwood, Gail Hamilton, and Anna Dickinson; and among the Governors were their Excellencies Oglesby, of Illinois, and Stone, of Iowa.