Who are the plumbers?

[loetar44]

(02-09-2015 08:02 PM)GARY POPOLO Wrote:  Well I am be adding more confusion to your question but here is the information I found on Wikipedia. It seems that a young man by the name of Fleedwood Herndon Lindley was the last surviving person to look upon the face of Lincoln at his tomb in Oak Ridge Cemetery on 09/26/1901 Lindley was fourteen at the time. The story goes that Lindley was born in Illinois to Joseph Lindley and Julia Herndon. Joseph was a member of the Lincoln Guard of Honor assembled in February 1880 by John Carroll Power custodian of Lincolns tomb. This in response to the attempted theft of Lincoln's remains in 1876. The tomb underwent a massive reconstruction to satisfy their curiosity and lay to rest the rumors that his body was no longer there. The guard of honor decided to open Lincoln's coffin for a final inspection. On the morning of September 26, Lindley's teacher gave him a note from his father telling him to get on his bicycle to Oak Ridge Cemetery to witness a historic occasion. In an interview on January 29th. 1963 three days before death Lindley recalled what he had seen. Yes his face was chalky white his clothes were mildewed. I was allowed to hold one of the straps as we lowered the casket for the concrete to be poured. Lindley died in Springfield on February 1st. 1963 and is buried at Oak Ridge Cemetery not far from Lincoln's tomb. Hope this helps.

I know the story of Fleedwood Lindley and I do believe he was indeed the last LIVING person who saw Lincoln. However, there is a difference between the LAST person and the LAST LIVING person who saw Lincoln.

The last person is the plumber who soldered in place the piece of lead which covered AL’s face for the last time. Each mentioned year (1865, 1871, 1874, 1887, 1901) they thought it was the “final identification”. We now know that on Sept. 26 ,1901 the coffin was opened for the last time. So the plumber who closed the coffin on Sept. 26, 1901 was the LAST person who looked upon the face of AL.

According to me that person was plumber Charles L. Wiley, nephew of Hopkins. Wiley did the closing work in 1901 (not Hopkins, according to Wiley’s only son Charles L. Wiley Jr.). Wiley Sr. died in 1944 (he was 72 in 1938, so born c. 1866) making (the other plumber) Hopkins the “last (LIVING, because Wiley was the LAST) man to see Abraham Lincoln’s face”, as was claimed by his daughter Grace Hopkins Parmelee and others.

Hopkins died June 18, 1946. If all the persons who viewed the remains of AL were dead by 1946, then Hopkins was indeed the LAST LIVING who viewed the remains. That seems not the case. There were different persons stating that they were present at the last viewing and were the last (living) witnesses.

Fleedwood Lindley tells of the incident himself and he had a good recollection of it, and there is all reason to believe him. He died Feb. 1, 1963 and there are now no persons alive who were present at the viewings. So Fleedwood Lindley was indeed the LAST LIVING person in 1963. But he was certainly not the LAST.

Keeping in mind that most of the references are secondary with respect to the men who closed Lincoln's coffin and were at that moment the LAST person to see AL, it’s my believe that:

May 4, 1865: S. S. Elder
Dec. 21, 1865 : unknown (not Hopkins)
Sept. 19, 1871: unknown (probably not Hopkins)
Oct. 9, 1874: Col. Babcock (who is he ?)
Apr. 14, 1887: Hopkins
Sept. 26, 1901: Wiley (probably not Hopkins)

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(02-09-2015 06:53 PM)L Verge Wrote:  I have no answers for you except to say that, given the child labor conditions in the U.S. and elsewhere in the mid-1800s, I don't find it hard to believe that a 15-year-old was qualified for and trusted with opening the coffin. He could very well have been apprenticed to a plumber for training while still 8-10 years old.

P.S. I knew Bert Sheldon back in the 1970s. He had been a police lieutenant with the Metropolitan Police Force in D.C. and was a leading Lincoln enthusiast who helped many researchers and was also instrumental in forming the Lincoln Group of D.C.

In an interview on his 88th birthday (July 15, 1939) Hopkins said that his first interest has always been music. During the Civil War he and other children in his neighborhood marched around playing fifes and drums. When he was 14 years old, he began playing with Butler's band. His first job was July 4, 1865, at Elkhart. In 1870 he joined the German Reed band. So, I don’t believe that he was called in 1865 to the tomb to do plumber’s work as an “plumber’s assistant”. Hopkins was the son of Caleb Hopkins, a captain of the Second Illinois artillery in the Civil War, who had nothing to do with the plumber’s trade.

According to Hopkins (in the same interview) he was called to Oak Ridge cemetery from his plumbing and heating shop to open Lincoln’s coffin and to view the body with several members of the honorary guard on Sept. 14, 1887. He does not mention Dec. 21, 1865; Sept. 19, 1871 or Oct 9, 1874.