Is This Abraham Lincoln?

[L Verge]

Interesting tidbit on the dentist/embalmer who prepared President Lincoln's body: "Dr. Charles DeCosta Brown was a practicing New York dentist before the war and he returned to a successful dental practice after. What were the circumstances of this odd piece of history? In the years before dentistry organized itself into a separate profession, Dr. Brown was among some physicians who limited their practice to dental care. Upon graduating from the University of Pennsylvania Medical School Dr. Brown practiced medicine in Philadelphia until 1850 when he moved to New York to study dentistry. No mention was made of graduating from a dental school and there was no college of dentistry in New York State until 1865, so it is assumed that he studied dentistry in preceptor training. He was successfully practicing dentistry when the Civil War broke out in 1861. A former patient, Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton, appointed the multi-skilled Dr. Brown to the post of official Embalmer of the United States government. Embalmer- Surgeons were in great demand, considering over 618,000 soldiers died in that war. Mr. Lincoln was the first President of the United States to be embalmed. Accounts of the time state that President Lincoln’s body remained in good shape on that trip. It is said that embalming became more common partly because of the public success of the Lincoln funeral.

"Discussion. History supports the premise that although it is a very negative set of events, war advances some positive technical and social practices. It is easy to see that over 600,000 dead produced a need for improved mortuary science. Dr. Brown apparently contributed technologically as evidenced by his holding a patent on an embalming technique. The U.S. Army adopted embalming in a time when it was looked upon as an ancient ritual of Egyptians. This advance in practice certainly benefited the nation as a whole. Dr. Brown performed many of these military embalming but the very public attention produced by preparing the great leader of our nation for his final journey changed practices of civilian and military alike."

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(06-21-2017 02:50 PM)RJNorton Wrote:  

(06-21-2017 02:16 PM)L Verge Wrote:  Roger, was there ever an embalmer's report posted on this forum? I did a quick search and found none. I can't say that I ever looked for the embalmer's report elsewhere, but I don't recall anyone ever talking about there being a written one. Help?

Twenty Days says:

Lincoln's blood was drained through the jugular vein. A cut was then made in the thigh and through it a chemical substance was force-pumped which hardened the body like marble. The undertakers then shaved the face, but they left a tuft on the chin. The mouth was set in a very slight smile, the eyebrows were arched, and the eyes were closed.

I have seen that in several other sources, but they never seem to say that it was taken directly from an official report by Dr. Brown or his partner.