For years , every time we so much as partake a toe out of state , I ’ve put cemeteries on our travel itinerary . From garden - corresponding expanses to overgrown thrill hills , whether they ’re the last resting office of the well - known but not that crucial or the important but not that well - sleep with , I love them all . After realizing that there are a portion of taphophiles ( cemetery and/or headstone enthusiast ) out there , I ’m ultimately putting my archive of interesting tombstones to good use .
One hundred and forty - nine years ago today , Abraham Lincoln breathed his last on a bed in William Petersen ’s boarding house , across the street from Ford ’s Theater .
But you already know that narration . This is n’t the story of Lincoln ’s life-time , or even of his death — it ’s the story of Lincoln ’s earthly clay , which went on quite a journeying after Abe died on April 15 , 1865 .
In add-on to Washington , D.C. , of row , Lincoln ’s funeral procession via power train cross six state , with stops in 13 city . He was get together on the train by another coffin — that of his boy , Willie , who had die of typhoid pyrexia in 1862 at the geezerhood of 11 . Once the Lincolns in conclusion reached their final destination of Springfield , Ill. , their caskets were taken to then - rural Oak Ridge Cemetery at Mary Todd ’s insistence . Her determination irritated city officials , who want Abe to be placed in the middle of town to promote Springfield in last as he had in sprightliness . When they crusade back , Mary threatened to have him bury in D.C. alternatively . They relented .
The Oak Ridge web site was n’t ready for the Lincoln burials , so they were interred at the cemetery ’s receive vault to expect relocation to what would eventually be a monolithic repository . But even the irregular lodging was only temporary .
On December 21 , 1865 , Abe and Willie were relocated to another temporary vault near the twist of the Lincoln Tomb . This move reunify them with another family member — Abe and Mary ’s 2nd Logos , Eddie , who pass in 1850 just before his 4th birthday . The Lincolns were still endure in Springfield at the meter of Eddie ’s death , so his coffin just had to be wreak over from another burial ground in town .
The three Lincolns remain undisturbed until 1871 , when they were finally go to the grave structure , though it was still under construction . In 1874 , they were run to a whitened marble sarcophagus in the grave , just in time for the public opening of the memorial on October 15 . But Abe ’s travels were n’t over just yet .
In 1876 , an Irish crime boss decided that stealing Lincoln ’s trunk and holding it for ransom was the honest way of life to secure the expiration of one of the extremity of his counterfeiting ring . As the presidential election of 1876 ( Rutherford B. Hayes vs Samuel Tilden ) were taking berth on November 7 , members of Big Jim Kennally ’s crew , including a rent body snatcher , creep into the memorial park , made their means into the unguarded tomb with no fuss at all , and then open up the sarcophagus by cutting the padlock off with a single file . The one thing they were n’t counting on : the 500 - lb cedar coffin . They sent the graverobber to bring a wagon , but instead , the man — really an informant for the Secret Service — alerted the police force . Each of the workforce involved eventually meet a one - yr prison sentence for their macabre attempt at graverobbing .
Though the endeavor failed , the tomb ’s caretaker was alarmed that such an unpaid operation could descend so near to win . Custodian John Carroll Power had Lincoln ’s organic structure moved or canvass at least six times after that , either in response to grievous looting threats or due to renovations .
last , in 1901 , the final crypt inside of the Lincoln Tomb was ready . To ensure none of the grave robbery threats had actually succeeded , the casket was open so the body could be positively name . A total of 23 citizenry look at the corpse and nemine contradicente agree that it was , indeed , the president . Though his supercilium were croak , the ease of Lincoln ’s feature were easily recognisable , including the wart on his cheek and his coarse , black hair . His suit was cover with chicken mold , and pieces of red material , believed to be a decayed American flag , were also in the casket . Though Abe had been dead for more than 35 years at the clock time , experts believe that his body was embalmed and “ refreshed ” so many times on his funeral tour of duty that it may have stunted the process of decay .
After see the president with their own eye , groundskeepers prepared to repose Lincoln to catch one’s breath one last time . Under book of instructions from Robert Lincoln — the only pull through member of the immediate Lincoln family — the President of the United States ’s coffin was encased in a brand John Cage , then buried 10 foot underground and covered with concrete . That ’s where he remains to this twenty-four hours . Mary Todd and three of his boy are buried there as well . ( Robert , the only son to exist to maturity , is inhume in Arlington National Cemetery . )
See the other entering in our Grave Sightings serieshere .
