Willie Lincoln plaque

[terryw]

I'm just jumping into this discussion. I'm working on a history of the Carroll family, including learning more about the vault and their friendship with the Lincolns. After requesting a digital copy of Mary Miner Hill's memoir, I was sent a pdf, so it is available from the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library. There is a passage in the memoir, quoting from a letter the Rev. Miner wrote his daughter Katie while visiting Washington in June 1862 and visiting the Lincolns, that states that he visited the vault in Oak Hill and the sexton opened the lid of the coffin for him to peer at Willie underneath a glass covering. He was perfectly preserved and dressed as if he were alive. Mrs. Lincoln was sending flowers and greens to the vault every two days, filling it with a calming fragrance. Nothing about Lincoln visiting the vault in that manuscript. I am still searching for verification of his visits from contemporary sources. I would also be grateful for any information about the "friendship" between the Carrolls and the Lincolns other than the Lincolns attending the wedding of the Carroll daughter to Capt Griffin in December 1861.