Grant and Lincoln's invitation

[loetar44]

I still wondering why Julia Grant wanted to leave town so quickly. And why did the Grants choose the local train, which took 13 long hours to reach Burlington? A much faster option was the 7:30 am express in the morning of April 15, arriving 7½ hours later. This was not only a lot faster, but there was also not a long 6 hour delay in Philadelphia to swap trains. Why did the Grants choose this “slow” local and why did they choose to spend six hours in the middle of the night in an uncomfortable train station in Philadelphia (the news of Lincoln’s assassination reached the Grants during the stop here). That the reason for this was only because Julia did not want to sit in the same box as Mary, seems very odd to me. If she disliked Mary that much why did Julia than agree that her husband accompanied Mary on the evening of the 13th? Why did she make the decision in the morning of the 14th to leave Washington asap? Like the Stantons (and others) the Grants could have simply said “no” to Lincoln’s invitation. Ellen Stanton, like Julia Grant, did not like Mary Lincoln too, but the Stantons did not leave Washington to have an “excuse”. I understand that the Grants wanted to see their children, but it is not logical to me that they wanted to see them at ca. 7:00 am (arrival time of the local train), tired, with very little sleep and not at ca. 3:00 pm (arrival time express train) much more relaxed. Julia wrote in her memoirs that she wanted to leave Washington, not because of Mary, but because she felt a great sense of urgency to leave the town, not because of Lincoln’s life but Grant’s life was in danger. Mrs. Grant’s bad feelings, growing so intense that day, are more logical to me. But how to prove such a life saving hunch? We only have Julia’s memoirs, which I find pretty convincing. It has been documented many times that Lincoln foresaw his own assassination. I think what Julia Grant “foresaw” concerning her husband is relevant too. Why to dismiss or ignore it?