Stanton dealing with Lincoln's death

[BettyO]

Quote:Sounds very strange- but was it so odd back then?

Probably not. Victorian people were very much attuned to death and it's consequences. They were also after the "Great Second Awakening" much more in touch with religion involving death and the "hereafter." The corpse of a dead person was considered "sacred" - a house for the soul and therefore needed a "casket" (the word coffin was not utilized that much.) The term casket was referred to as a receptacle for jewels or precious items and therefore the body was considered to be so prized as the soul's container that it needed a casket to "house" it when buried.

Stanton's "digging up of the girl's corpse" is indicative of the era. Folk feared being buried alive. This is what Stanton perceived. There were at the time caskets with small bells attached to a string so that if the "corpse" being in a coma survived the burial and awakened to find themselves coffined, they could pull the string, ring the bell and summons help. I believe that this system originated in Germany. It was also utilized here and in the UK.

It is said that Robert E. Lee's mother suffered from epilepsy. She once had a seizure where she went into a deep coma for a day or so. Her family could not revive her, she showed no signs of life and so thought the worse. The story goes that she was "laid out", placed within a coffin and while being transported to the burial ground at Shirley Plantation where she was then living with her family and 3 year old Robert, she suddenly revived, came to within the coffin and began screaming and clawing at the coffin top. The procession immediately stopped, the coffin was opened and she was carried, alive, back to the house in company of her joyous relatives.

Death was all around in the Victorian era. Photographs were taken, folk went into deep mourning out of respect for the deceased and that was considered "normal." To not mourn for the given period was considered to be a disgrace; not showing proper respect for the "dear departed."

Queen Victoria showed her love and respect for her Consort Albert by remaining in black mourning clothes for the rest of her life.

Likewise, I believe that Mary Lincoln did as well. This was considered normal and no one saw anything strange in it. After WWI, folk didn't place such strong attachment to "mourning" and today we see it as "morbid" or weird.