Saturday, September 16, 2006

The final burial of Abraham Lincoln 1901



Lincoln's coffin ready to be moved the last time.





Lincoln lying in state in New York's City Hall. The only photograph of him in death and in his coffin. He would be moved into several new coffins in his 36 years of being a corpse waiting for a steady grave.





Abraham Lincoln is buried in his tomb at Oak Ridge cemetery in Illinois. But how he finally got there was a long and difficult process.

 Lincoln was shot on the evening of April 14th 1865. By the crazed actor John Wilkes Booth. Lincoln was carried across the street to the Petersen house, where he lingered till 7:22 am on the 15th.

His body was brought back to the white house and embalmed. The embalming was very effective, as his body was going to travel a great distance and be seen often during his long funeral procession by well over 500,000 people.

In fact Lincoln would travel with an embalmer who could help keep his body looking view-able for close to 20 days

The question was at first where do we bury him?

 In her mental state, Mary Lincoln was not able to do much. But, she stated she wanted her husband to be buried at Oak Ridge cemetery. She battled with everyone. There were talks about burying him in Chicago, Springfield town center and still Mrs Lincoln said no. Washington DC was offered and Mrs Lincoln said no. Oak Ridge Cemetery in Springfield, Illinois it would be.

His body was displayed all over to large crowds. One time he was even photographed in his mahogany lead lined coffin in New York City Hall. There were several photographs taken and all were destroyed including the negatives. The order to destroy them was through Sec. of War Stanton. It is ironic on a side note that the only existent photo of Lincoln in death was in his papers.

 Finally the body was brought to Springfield and it was time to say good by. He was first buried in the cemeteries receiving vault there while work was to start on a vault for the fallen leader. He was entombed next to his son Willie. Lincoln was finally gone and would never been seen again.

At least that is what one would think.

He was entombed there till December 21, 1865 when another receiving vault for Lincoln was prepared. Lincoln's coffin was opened by Leon P. Hopkins and 5 friends to check on him and see if he was there.

 Work went on for a final burial place and finally on Sept 19, 1871, the coffins of Lincoln and his son was moved from the receiving vault.

His coffin was opened again by Leon and friends and carried to the half finished tomb. The area he was kept was just a holding area in the massive tomb but he was closer to where he should be.

 It was found that his mahogany coffin was falling apart and he was transferred to an iron coffin. Finally his marble sarcophagus was ready and he was moved again on October 9, 1874. However, the iron coffin was by inches to large for its new home. So once again a red cedar coffin was brought and Lincoln's body was transferred into this. He was finally buried in his tomb and it was dedicated on October 15, 1874.

In 1876 trouble was brewing in Illinois. In Springfield to be correct. A group of counterfeiters were in the area and having some trouble. They were planning to take Lincoln's remains and hold them hostage to have one of their members removed from jail. This information was discovered a detective named W.D. Longnecker.

The head of this gang was a fellow named "Big Jim" Kneally, he was in charge of all the "coneymen" which was the name given to counterfeiters in the 1870's. The master engraver of the group Ben Boyd, had been caught by officials and put into prison in Joliet with a 10 year sentence. Kneally worked out a plot to have his men steal Lincoln's body, the most precious possession of Illinois.

He figured such a sacred corpse in his hand he would would have a great deal of power and could push for Boyd's release from prison. So he felt a corpse for a good engraver a good deal.

 He opened a saloon in with his men and prepared but they all got drunk and the bar maids talked and soon everyone knew of the plot, so it was cancelled for the moment. One gets the idea they were not the most organized group.

After 2 years Kneally started again he found 2 fellows to do the dastardly deed. Terrence Mullen and Jack Hughes. The police and the Secret Service were aware something was a foot. So a plant was added Lewis C Swegles who called himself the "boss body snatcher of Chicago". They took them into confidence and followed what they were doing.
 They finally announced that they were going to steal the body of Lincoln and Swegles said he would be happy to be involved and mentioned a person they should have with them a certain Billy Brown. It was decided that Brown would handle the wagon while the other 3 removed the body from the tomb.

 The date was set for election night 1876. No one would be around that night. They met that evening and they were caught but not till the coffin had been dragged somewhat out of the marble enclosure.

What is interesting was the political battle that ensued...it was suggested by Democrats that Republicans had disrupted Lincoln's grave to show how much the Democrats hated Lincoln.

On May 28 1877 Mullen and Hughes were convicted,  but not for much. It seems that there were no laws to protect the dead, so they were charged with trying to steal Lincoln's coffin, valued at $75.00.

Shortly after Lincoln's very moved body was taken to the monuments basement and buried partly under the damp wet dirt and covered over with old boxes and boards.
Hundreds of thousands of pilgrims came to honor Lincoln and were visiting an empty grave. He was not there. He was in the basement under a pile of junk. In a while he was joined by his wife. It is amazing when you think of this and the hide the bait game with a body of a dead ex president.

In April 1887 a new place was made to hold the body of Lincoln and family made of brick. Once again his coffin was opened and 18 people filed past, all said it was him.

In 1899 Lincoln's tomb that was to last the ages was starting to fall apart. So the whole place was going to have to be torn down and rebuilt.It seems that they built it over a wet and damp piece of ground and the foundations were giving way.
 Lincoln, his wife and children all had to be moved again. The original tomb was replaced by a much better one. The wife and children were put back in the new tomb..and finally on September 26th 1901 Lincoln's coffin was opened again and 30 some odd people filed past his very well preserved body.

 Leon P. Hopkins who had opened and closed Lincoln's coffin for years opened it for the last time..and people passed by.

I find that for the last 36 years ending in1901. It had become a ghoulish ritual to look at the body of Lincoln time and time again. I really am not sure they did it all the time to check on him, but to quench this rather bizarre desire that they had repeated so many times before.

J.C. Thompson who was in that group recalled what Lincoln looked like in 1928 when he was asked about it. "As I came up I saw that top knot of Mr. Lincoln's-his hair was course and thick..like a horses he used to say. It stood up high in front. When I saw that I knew it was Lincoln. Any one who had ever seen his pictures would have known it was him. His features had not decayed. His face was very dark, just dark and brown. His skin was swarthy in life. He looked just like a statue of himself lying there."

One thing that had occurred was that Lincoln lost his eyebrows and his suit in which he had been buried had turned yellow with mold.
Also his face was not as dark as it had been before as seen in 1887, as a fine covering of mold had covered it. In a sense it did what the makeup and powder tried to do. The reason for the darkening of Lincoln's face was due to the gunshot wound and the fracture of the bones in the skull.

There is something rather macabre about this. How many times did they have to look at the body? As well preserved and recognizable Lincoln was, I find it a little odd.  However, other Presidents have been looked at long after death. The names Washington, James Madison, John Q. Adams and Zachary Taylor come to mind.

Robert Lincoln said he wanted his father buried in such a way that no one could ever bother him again. He followed what George Pullman had done ..had himself buried in a large amount of cement. Robert Lincoln provided the $700.00 to bury his father in 10 feet of cement. The casket was put in a steel cage and it was covered with 10 feet of cement. Lincoln would never move again! He was finally buried. It only took 36 years. Today when you come to the grave of Lincoln, you will see his wife and son's all buried in vaults along the wall. Lincoln is separate. Somewhere some 10 to 15 feet down is what remains of Lincoln.

Rest in peace Mr Lincoln. No one will look at you anymore.


No President after death was ever so mobile........

58 comments:

Anonymous said...

Henry B. McVeigh, my grandfather, claimed in a Readers Digest First Person Award story that he was the last man to have seen the face of Lincoln.. He assisted in the preparation of Lincolns tomb. He and two other contractors were the last three men in the crypt prior to filling it with cement. The secretly opened the casket, viewed the body and resealed it prior to comencing the pouring of cement.

I am curious as to whether or not anyone else has ever heard of this story.

Anonymous said...

There is a 2 hour documentary on Lincoln's burial(s). I don't recall if any names were mentioned, but it was very interesting to watch. Apparently, one of the men in the crypt summond his son to "come see something he would never forget". I aired on the History Channel, the night before last. Fascinating!

Anonymous said...

I just found the name of the son of one of the contractors that were the last people to lay eyes on Lincoln. His name was Fleetwood Lindley, and he died in 1963. I found this info on the following website: http://wesclark.com/jw/reburials_lincoln.html

Anonymous said...

lindley wasnt a contractor but a boy who skipped school to see the opening/reburial ,i belive his dad worked fro the cemetasry inm springfeild /lindley was the last to die of the people presnt on that fianl burial day in 1901
mcviegh was the last person to see the body as he closed the casket ,as a plumbing contractor
my dad who grew up in saluda nc remberes
henry mcviegh who retired to saluda nc and died in tryon nc in 1962 at the age of 98 according to polk county nc deathrecords
an interview in 1961 from the hendersonville times news (hendersonville nc )mcviegh belived he was the last alive that had seen lincolns body at the time of the interview,
however lindley was still alive
the ironic thing about mcviegh ,he viewed lincolns body on his dads shoulders in 1865 during the funeral in springfeild ,his parenst were freinds with the lincolns
mcviegh was abel to testify the body and clothing was indeed the same as he saw as a boy
--james metcalf saluda nc

Anonymous said...

i was told that there is a song about lincoln by johnny cash. said to be about the train ride. i have yet to hear this song. wondered if anyone knows anything about it. there r tons of songs about trains by the way.

zorana said...

i love abe linclon i even chose him to study in school. and everytime i get to chose im gonna chose him :) R.I.P ABE LINCLON!!!!!! WE MISS YOU!!!!

Anonymous said...

Dear Sirs,
I think it was horrible that Lincoln's body was looked at so many times...Shame on those people that did it.

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ebb9911 said...

Actually lindley teacher sent him there from school...he is buried here n the same cemetery as Lincoln. ..look him up on Wikipedia. ..

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"The American civil war journalist Carl Sandburg accompanied President Abraham Lincoln's body on it's long funeral sojourn from Washington D. C. to his burial in Illinois and documented it in a twelve thousand paged book entitled The Death Of Lincoln. Mr. Sandburg states clearly that the murdered President's body was not able to be embalmed. President Lincoln's corpse sat on ice when it could be procured which was impossible throughout the major portion of the train ride which was slow and arduous because of the mourners on the train tracks. Secretary of War Mr. Stanton had the decency to keep the public far enough away from being viewed closely and conficated and destroyed photographic plates from the ghouls who took them. By the time of its' arrival at the cemetery Mr. Lincoln's corpse was putrid and make-caked. The appearance of maggots in the sweltering heat of this tragedy drove the grief stricken First Lady insane. [Read all about it]".

Anonymous said...

Abe was a good man, well loved, my wish is to kill no one untill i also die, either by accident or being forced to do it, unless that particular person wanted to destroy me or my loved ones or innocent people especially children

ivetret said...

Some inaccuracies above post. See: https://ia801009.us.archive.org/1/items/historyattempt00powerj/historyattempt00powerj.pdf

Randalljackson said...

If u do the math on mcveigh, that means at the very most, he was 1 when Lincoln was assassinated. Him remembering Lincoln’s clothing 36 years later seems doubtful. How much do 1 year olds comprehend?? That story seems to be a little bs

Anonymous said...

topic of abe & Booth. Anthony Pitch doesn't mention the note left at vp Johnson -his hotelroom in box for Room 68,Booth’s Calling Card was left at kirkwood house,(dont wish to disturb you,are you at home, JwilkesBooth)&George Atzerodt booked room 126 at the Kirkwood House(coat JWB bank account Montreal bank )2 blocks Ford theatre across peterson house..Anthony Pitch doesn't mention that the war dept bought the ford theatre building served as the home of the WarDept and soJohn T. Ford sold the building to the War Dept in1866., hang coSpirators bodies of Lewis Powell, David Herold, andGeorge Atzerodt and MarySurratt.Anthony Pitch doesn't that LouisWeichmann, clerk in the war dept lived Surratt board house met John Wilkes Booth played cards with booth,john Surratt ,and group conspirators Louis Weichmann(friend John Surratt) should of known a lot he shouldreport it to the war dept (authorities)prevent the event from happening inthe first place.(John Surratt escape Canada off Europe)Anthony Pitch,doesn't mention - Lucy Lambert Hale,daughter of John Parker Hale,(that was never brought intothe Lincoln Trial thatSenator went to Abe the day he died ask to have position so that he can be out of the U.S.)Senator, John Wilkes Booth Wallet pockets were found compass, candle, pictures five women (actresses Alice Grey, HelenWestern, Effie Germon,Fannie Brown,&Booth's fiancée Lucy Hale), and his diary,where he written Lincoln's death, ".Anthony Pitch doesn't mention that after Booth's death, brother Edwin wrote to his sister Asia,"Think no more of him as your brother; he isdead to us now, as he soon must be to all the world, but imagine the boy you loved to be in that better part of his spirit, in another world.That Edwin Booth saved RTL(abe son) life from moving.train .Anthony Pitch,doesn't mention Rumors of John Wilkes Booth escaped with help of Cospirators that wanted Lincoln out of the way ,for political or Personal reasons help Booth escape the gallows Booth, said Bates, assumed the pseudonym "John St. Helen"and settled on the Paluxy River near Glen Rose,Texas, andlater moved to Granbury, Texas. He fell gravely ill and made deathbed confession that he was the fugitive assassin,but he then recovered and fled eventually committing suicide in 1903 in Enid, Oklahoma under the alias "David E.George". By 1913, more than 70,000 copies of the book had been sold, and Bates exhibitedSt. Helen's mummified body carnival sideshows.Last not least Anthony Pitch, doesn't mentionJohnWilkes Booth diary, assassin’s diary was found on his bodywhen he was killed twelve days after Lincoln’s murder.Mystery surrounds Booth’s diary because appeared to bemissing 54 pages from the front of the book and additional 32 pages from the back, The little book was taken off Booth’s body by Colonel Everton Conger. He took it Washington and gave it to Lafayette C. Baker, chief War DeptNational Detective Police. Baker in turn gave it to Secretary of War Edwin Stanton.In 1867 the diary was re-discovered forgotten War Department file with more than dozen pages missing. Conspiracy theorists became convinced missing pages contained key really was behind Lincoln’s assassination,&fingers pointed toward Stanton. Supporttheory came about 1975 when Joseph Lynch,books dealer, claimed have found missing pages through Stanton’s descendants.EdwinStanton born Steubenville, Ohio, .Lawyer, Cyrus McCormick/JohnManny Wife Mary Manny Tinker reaper case Cincinatti Ohio made fun of abe in which Stanton took over case.political feud between Andrew Johnson. Hon. E. M. Stanton, serve under President Andrew Johnson from 1865 to 1868 Johnson tried suspended Stanton and House of Representatives try impeached a sitting president.Power makes people do strange things.Do End justify means?

Anonymous said...

I think it's very disturbing that so many people have looked at Abraham Lincoln's body so many times. The correct amount of people that should have looked at his dead body should be next to 0.

Ryan McGuinn said...

Small world sir this is Ryan McGuinn....imagine my shock reading and seeing saluda NC on here

Ryan McGuinn said...

Ghost train maybe?

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