April 19, 1865 funeral procession

[RJNorton]

Lincoln's Springfield Funeral hearse - Announcement from the ALPLM:

"James Cornelius, curator of the Lincoln collection at the museum, said a special exhibit of items associated with Lincoln’s assassination and funeral will be displayed in the Treasures Gallery from around the end of March to early May.

Included is the original silver-plated medallion from the hearse that carried Lincoln’s body to Oak Ridge Cemetery on May 4, 1865.

The medallion was removed from the hearse, which burned in a livery fire in St. Louis in 1887. It is the only remaining artifact from the hearse and was in private hands for more than a century. Engraved on the medallion are the words “In Memoriam,” the initials “AL” and the words “Springfield, May 4, 1865.”

Historian Ian Hunt of the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library Foundation discovered in early 2014 that it still existed, and it will be displayed at the museum as part of that exhibit.

“No one knew it was out there,” Cornelius said. “The owners didn’t really realize they had it.”

http://www.sj-r.com/article/20141209/NEWS/141209522