Abraham Lincoln's burial and exhumation

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Abraham Lincoln's tomb is located in Oak Ridge Cemetery in Springfield, Illinois. It includes a 117-foot-tall granite obelisk surmounted with several bronze statues of Lincoln, which was constructed by 1874. Lincoln's wife, Mary Todd Lincoln, and three of his four sons are also buried there (Robert Todd Lincoln is buried in Arlington National Cemetery).^[1]

Contents 1 Burial site selection 2 Lincoln Funeral Train 3 Original burial and tomb 4 Attempted theft 5 Tomb reconstruction and exhumation 5.1 Last viewing 6 Second tomb reconstruction 7 Lincoln's body 17 times removed at Oak Ridge Cemetery, Springfield, Illinois 8 See also 9 References

[edit] Burial site selection

Shortly after Lincoln's death, a delegation of Illinois citizens (later forming the National Lincoln Monument Society) asked Mrs. Lincoln to return her husband's remains to Springfield for burial. She agreed, and the group then researched various sites in and around Springfield, selecting a centrally located, hilltop site known as Mather Block. However, Mrs. Lincoln selected Oak Ridge Cemetery for her husband's burial. Despite repeated attempts by the Society to change the location of the burial to Mather Block, she remained firm in her decision.^[2]

[edit] Lincoln Funeral Train

Lincoln's body was borne from Washington, DC, on a funeral train, accompanied by dignitaries and Robert Todd Lincoln, his eldest son. The remains of his son, William Wallace Lincoln, were also placed on the train. The train left Washington, DC, on April 21, 1865, and traveled 1,654 miles, retracing the route Lincoln had traveled to Washington, DC, as the president elect. The train was viewed by millions during its route and several stops were made along the way, during which Lincoln's body was viewed in state. The train's journey ended on May 3, 1865, when it arrived in Springfield, Illinois.^[3]

[edit] Original burial and tomb

A funeral was held in Springfield on May 4, 1865. Subsequent to the funeral, Lincoln's remains, along with those of his son William, were interred in a public receiving vault at Oak Ridge Cemetery. Mary Todd Lincoln remained in Washington, DC, too distraught to accompany her husband's remains on the funeral train or attend the funeral in Springfield.^[4]

Construction of the tomb began in 1868. In 1871, prior to completion of construction, the remains of Lincoln were removed from the temporary vault and placed in crypts within the unfinished tomb, along with the remains of his three deceased sons, Edward, Willie, and Tad. When the tomb was completed in 1874, Lincoln's remains were removed from the crypt and placed in a white marble sarcophagus in the tomb.

[edit] Attempted theft

In 1876, two counterfeiters, Jack Hughes and James "Big Jim" Kennally, attempted to steal Lincoln's body and hold it for ransom. They conceived the plot at a Chicago tavern called The Hub. Their plan was to ransom the body in return for the release from prison of their supplier of counterfeit bills by hiding the body 200 miles away in the Indiana Dunes until the ransom was paid. The local sheriff was tipped off about the plan, and a Secret Service informant then infiltrated the group. As the group rode to Springfield by train, there was also a group of lawmen on the train and also in the antechamber of the tomb as the group made their attempt to steal the body. The plan was allowed to proceed until the tomb was entered and Lincoln's coffin was removed from its sarcophagus. After a signal from the informant, the waiting lawmen approached the burial chamber. However, their noise alerted the criminals and they escaped. They were later arrested at The Hub.^[5][6]

[edit] Tomb reconstruction and exhumation

The original tomb was in constant need of repair and deteriorated significantly due to construction on unsuitable soil. In 1900, a complete reconstruction of Lincoln's tomb was undertaken. In August 1901, upon completion of the reconstruction, Robert Todd Lincoln visited the tomb. He was unhappy with the disposition of his father's remains and decided that, in order to prevent theft and other disturbances, it was necessary to build a permanent crypt for his father. Lincoln's coffin would be placed in a steel cage 10 feet deep and encased in concrete in the floor of the tomb. On September 26, 1901, Lincoln's body was exhumed so that it could be re-interred in the newly built crypt. However, those present (a total of 23 people) feared that his body might have been stolen in the intervening years, so they decided to open the coffin and check.^[7]

[edit] Last viewing

It was said that a harsh choking smell arose when the casket was opened. Lincoln was perfectly recognizable, even more than thirty years after his death. His face was a bronze color, from the gunshot wound that shattered the bones in his face and damaged the tissue. The color was unhealed bruises. His hair, beard and mole were all perfectly preserved although his eyebrows were gone. His suit was covered with a yellow mold and his gloves had rotted on his hands. On his chest, they could see some bits of red fabric — remnants of the American flag with which he was buried, which had by then disintegrated. It was theorized that Lincoln had been embalmed so many times on board his funeral train that he had been practically mummified.

One of the last living persons to see the body, a youth of 13 at the time, was Fleetwood Lindley, who died on February 1, 1963. Three days before he died, Lindley was interviewed and confirmed his observations.^[8]

Another man, George Cashman, claimed to be the last living person to have viewed the remains of Abraham Lincoln. In the last years of his life, George Cashman was the curator of the National Landmark in Springfield called "Lincoln's Tomb." He particularly enjoyed relating his story to the more than one million visitors to the site each year. Cashman died in 1979.

His claim concerning the viewing of Abraham Lincoln's remains was later refuted when his wife, Dorothy M. Cashman, wrote a pamphlet entitled "The Lincoln Tomb." On page 14, Mrs. Cashman wrote, "At the time of his death in 1963 Fleetwood Lindley was the last living person to have looked upon Mr. Lincoln's face."^[9]

In fact the last living person to have viewed the remains of Abraham Lincoln was Leon P. Hopkins, one of the two plumbers (the other was his nephew, Charles L. Willey) who cut a piece out of the top of Lincoln's lead-lined coffin, so that Lincoln's head and shoulders could be seen. Hopkins closed the coffin after the viewing was done.^[10]

[edit] Second tomb reconstruction

A second, major reconstruction of the tomb was undertaken in 1930. Much deterioration had occurred due to poor construction during the 1900–1901 reconstruction. During the second reconstruction, the entrance to the tomb was reconfigured to better accommodate visitors and the original, white marble sarcophagus was replaced with the red granite marker in front of the place where Lincoln is interred.^[11]

[edit] Lincoln's body 17 times removed at Oak Ridge Cemetery, Springfield, Illinois

(0) May 4, 1865: coffin placed in Receiving Vault.

(1) Dec 21, 1865: coffin placed in nearby special built Temporary Vault (coffin opened, body viewed)
(2) Sept 19, 1871: coffin placed in Lincoln Tomb (still under construction), in temporary crypt in south wall (coffin opened, body viewed).
(3) Oct 9, 1874: Lincoln Tomb, Memorial Hall, body placed in (original white marble) sarcophagus (coffin opened, body viewed). Lincoln Tomb was dedicated Oct 15, 1874)
(4) Nov 7, 1876: Lincoln Tomb, coffin partly lifted from sarcophagus (attempted theft; thieves only moved the coffin a few inches when they were interrupted by police).
(5) Nov 8, 1876: Lincoln Tomb, coffin placed back in sarcophagus.
(6) Nov 13, 1876: Lincoln Tomb, coffin removed to place near northeast wall, to be removed later that day.
(7) Nov 13, 1876: Lincoln Tomb, coffin removed to secret location (eastside Lincoln Tomb).
(8) Nov 14, 1876: Lincoln Tomb, coffin placed into wooden case on secret location (eastside).
(9) Nov 18, 1878: Lincoln Tomb, coffin replaced to secret location (northside).
(10) Nov 20, 1878: Lincoln Tomb, body exhumed and viewed and reburied at same secret location (northside).
(11) April 14, 1887: Lincoln Tomb, removed to Memorial Hall, coffin opened, body viewed.
(12) April 14, 1887: Lincoln Tomb, coffin placed in newly built crypt beneath floor of Memorial Hall.
(13) March 10, 1900: coffin removed to secret place a few yards northeast of Lincoln Tomb (during Lincoln Tomb reconstruction, which started in 1899 and lasted 15 months).^[12]
(14) April 24, 1901: coffin removed to reconstructed Lincoln Tomb, body placed in newly constructed sarcophagus.
(15) July 10, 1901: Lincoln Tomb, coffin temporary removed to empty crypt in wall in order to build a permanent crypt under the floor of Memorial Hall.
(16) Sept 26, 1901: Lincoln Tomb, coffin opened (in Memorial Hall) and body viewed.
(17) Sept 26, 1901: Lincoln Tomb, coffin permanently placed in a steel cage, and embedded in concrete, 10 feet deep under the floor of Memorial Hall. The red granite sarcophagus in front of the place where Lincoln is finally interred is empty.

During the 17 removals Lincoln's coffin was 6 times opened and his body viewed: Dec 21, 1865 (1); Sept 19, 1871 (2); Oct 9, 1874 (3); Nov 20, 1878 (10); April 14, 1887 (11) and Sept 26, 1901 (16). The coffin was never completely opened, only a piece was cut out of the top of Lincoln's lead-lined coffin, so that his head and shoulders were visable. ^[13]

[edit] See also

• Abraham Lincoln Assassination
• Army Medical Museum - On display are Lincoln's death mask, the bullet fired from the Deringer pistol which ended the President's life, the probe used by the United States Army Surgeon General to locate the bullet, pieces of Lincoln's hair and skull, and the surgeon's shirt cuff, stained with Lincoln's blood.
• The Henry Ford - On display is the chair in which Lincoln was shot.

[edit] References

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