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loetar44 · **RE: April 19, 1865 funeral procession**

(12-08-2014 08:25 AM)STS Lincolnite Wrote: There is no specific date given (just 1865), but it seems that the Capitol was in fact decorated with crepe and the flag was at half-mast. In thinking on this a little further, the use of crepe and the flag put at half-mast during the grand review may have been considered and used as a show of respect for the Union Armies' comrades who lost their lives during the war. What do you think?

Scott, I think that could be right, it is at least a possibility. But I still suspect it has more to do with Lincoln. A lot of houses still had during the Grand Review crepe decorations, as a "remnant" of Lincoln's funeral.

(12-08-2014 09:14 AM)L Verge Wrote: Who was given the first non-presidential state funeral? In what year?

As far as I know, the first state funerals in the capital were those of Vice President George Clinton in April 1812 and Vice President Elbridge Gerry in November 1814. Both funerals stood model for William Henry Harrison’s funeral (the first presidential funeral in the capital). However, the state funeral had not yet the modern prescribed protocol. Henry Clay was in July 1852 the first lying in state in the Capitol Rotunda; Abraham Lincoln the second and Thaddeus Stevens was third, but the second (13-14 August 1868) where the "Lincoln catafalque" was used. The very same catafalque has been used for all those who have since lain in state in the Capitol Rotunda as well as for those who have lain in state elsewhere in the Capitol building. It was used 29 times until now in the Rotunda (the last time in December 2012 for Sen. Daniel K. Inouye), 7 times in the Supreme Court Building and 1 time in the Department of Commerce building.

(12-08-2014 09:14 AM)L Verge Wrote: What was the name of the locomotive that pulled Lincoln's funeral cars out of D.C.?

The Funeral train left the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Depot in Washington April 21, 1865 at 8:00 A.M. , pulled by engine no. 238, which was a Thatcher Perkins 4-4-0 (= wheel arrangement), built by the B&O in 1865. I think it was named the "Edward H. Jones", because Ralph G. Newman writes in his "In this Sad World of Ours, Sorrow Comes to All": The funeral train, eight coaches trimmed in black and drawn by the engine "Edward H. Jones," pulls out of the station). Sister engine no. 239 was the advance pilot and ran 10 minutes ahead of the train. Behind the 238 were six passenger cars and a baggage car. Then the Funeral car and a business car for the family Lincoln and the military escort. The engineer of the 238 was Thomas Beckett and the Fireman was C.A. Miller. At Harrisburg, PA the engine was changed to PRR No 331. Engineer was John E. Miller. Source: “The President Travels by Train” by Bob Withers (1996)

(12-08-2014 02:29 PM)STS Lincolnite Wrote:
(12-08-2014 02:05 PM)RJNorton Wrote: My memory is that the Old Nashville was the one used on the Cleveland to Columbus portion of the route.

I believe there were 42 locomotives that pulled the Lincoln Funeral Train during the course of its journey. I am at work now so don't have references but I believe the old Nashville did pull the train further down the line than when leaving DC - and pretty sure it was in Ohio like Roger said. That particular locomotive is memorable in that there is a great photo of it decked out in mourning decoration (see below).

Correct! The Columbus & Cincinnati Railroad Engine “(Old) Nashville” was only used to pull the Lincoln Funeral Train from Cleveland to Columbus, Ohio. One can find references in books and on the Internet telling how “Nashville” was the engine that pulled the Lincoln Funeral Train; either directly or by implication leading the reader to incorrectly conclude it was the one and only engine that pulled the Lincoln Funeral Train from Washington, D.C. to Springfield, Illinois. Not true. The Lincoln Funeral Train used as many as 42 different locomotives to make the over 1600 mile route from Washington, D.C. to Springfield, Illinois.