File:The assassination of Abraham Lincoln (1865) (14573075478).jpg

Identifier: assassinationofunlinc (find matches)
Title: The assassination of Abraham Lincoln
Year: 1865 (1860s)
Authors: Lincoln Financial Foundation Collection
Subjects: Lincoln, Abraham, 1809-1865 Lincoln, Abraham, 1809-1865 Funeral rites and ceremonies Hearses (Vehicles) Railroad cars Railroad trains
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Contributing Library: Lincoln Financial Foundation Collection
Digitizing Sponsor: Friends of The Lincoln Collection of Indiana, Inc.

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construction, later recalled it wasdivided into three companments. \ iz,drawing-room, parlor and state n-oni.the latter being the center of the car....Lincoln apparently had no urgciii de-sire to take possession of his ornaiccoach. The records of the U. S. Militar> ;Railroad yard in Alexandria do not re-flect any visit by the president to in-spect the car after its completion. Cer-tainly he never made any journey in thecar before his assassination on April 15of that year,i The timing and nature of Lincolnsdeath conspired to make his funeral oneof the grandest events of its kind inAmerican history. His body would besent to Springfield on a special train. Itwould follow in reverse the same routePresident-elect Lincoln had (raveled toreach Washington in 1861. U.S. Military Railroad mechanicSergeant Myron H. Lamson oversawthe transformation of the presidentialpassenger car into a presidential funeralcar. He and his workers built a cata- i CIVIL WAR TIMES ILLUSTRATED - March/April 1995
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falque inside the car to tioid Lincolnscoffin. They removed the ornate brassrailing from one end of the car and in-stalled a roller to help load and unloadthe casket. While Lamson and his crewfocused on functional alterations to thecar, another group decorated it for theoccasion. It was decked with black satindraping, silver fringe, and tassels. During the funeral ride, Lincolnsbody shared the car with a special hon-or guard and with the coffin of littleWillie Lincoln, who had died on Febru-ary 20, 1862. Willie had been enclosedm the family tomb of William Carroll,clerk of the Supreme Court, in Oak HillCemetery in Georgetown. It seemed ap-propriate that the son should go hometo Illinois with his father, so his casketwas disinterred for the trip. Preceded by a special pilot engine tomake sure the track was clear, the trainleft Washington at 8:00 a.m. on Friday,April 21, carrying friends and a largegroup of dignitaries. The presidents el-dest son, Robert, attended the depar-ture, but it

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