Lincoln embalming

[Houmes]

(05-16-2013 02:59 PM)RJNorton Wrote:  Bill, here are a couple of statements from the people who viewed Lincoln's remains at the 1901 casket opening.

Fleetwood Lindley said, "Yes, his face was chalky white. His clothes were mildewed. And I was allowed to hold one of the leather straps as we lowered the casket for the concrete to be poured. I was not scared at the time but I slept with Lincoln for the next six months."

J.C. Thompson said, "As I came up I saw that top-knot of Mr. Lincoln's - his hair was course and thick, 'like a horse's,' he used to say - and it stood up high in front. When I saw that, I knew that it was Mr. Lincoln. Anyone who had ever seen his pictures would have known it was him. His features had not decayed. He looked just like a statue of himself lying there."

When the casket was opened, a harsh, choking smell arose. 23 people slowly walked forward and peered down. Mr. Lincoln's features were totally recognizable. His face had a melancholy expression, but his black chin whiskers hadn't changed at all. The wart on his cheek and the coarse black hair were obvious characteristics of Mr. Lincoln's. The biggest change was that the eyebrows had vanished. The president was wearing the same suit he wore at his second inauguration, but it was covered with yellow mold. Additionally there were some bits of red fabric (possibly the remnants of an American flag buried with Mr. Lincoln). All 23 people were unanimous in their agreement that the remains were indeed those of Abraham Lincoln.

Dorothy Meserve Kunhardt wrote an article on this topic that was published in the February 15, 1963, edition of Life magazine.

If you are asking what he'd look like now I have no idea; perhaps the two medical doctors on the forum will see this thread and comment.

He'd probably look about the same. When Lincoln was embalmed Henry Cattell used a solution of Zince chloride dissolved in hydrochloric acid, which was then pumped into the president's neck and groin arteries. Civil War embalmers also used various mixtures of arsenic, alcohol, mercury, creosote, turpentine, and sulfuric acid. Arsenic would become the chemical most commonly used, in the amounts of 4 ounces to 12 pounds per body. The U.S. essentially banned arsenic use by 1910 because so many morticians were dying from chemical exposure. Mr. Lincoln suffered the same fate as David E. George (the Enid, Oklahoma, "Booth")--the chemical formula was miscalculated and their bodies became mummies, with the skin quite discolored. That's why Lincoln's face was later covered with white chalk, placed there by undertakers to allow mourners some semblance of a viewable body. Embalming fluids preserve bodies by "fixing" the cell proteins, so they can't be a nutrient supply for bacteria. No bacteria, no decomposition. Mummification dries out a body and it can last for centuries (think of Egyptian mummies). Although some decomposition may inevitably occur, there have been amazing stories of preservation in very old remains here in North America. In 1993 the largest cemetery disaster in U.S. history occurred in Missouri at the Hardin County cemetery. Of 1,576 burials, 800 were washed away during flooding of the Missouri river. 645 bodies were recovered (I've seen pictures of coffins floating down river and in ponds), with 120 bodies later identified. I was acquainted with the state medical examiner here in Iowa, and he helped out with examinations and IDs. He noted there were several bodies from the mid 1800s still in remarkably good condition. A little water-logged, but identifiable. He also said the coffins weren't always in good condition, though, and when some were opened snakes slithered out.