The return of Lincoln's body to the White House

[Rhatkinson]

I am reading a great two volume book entitled, "The President's House" by William Seale. It was recommended to me by Dr. Bill Bushong who spoke at the fall Surratt conference, and it is excellent. In it, I learned some new information that I thought I would share:

• Lincoln's body was brought in to the White House via the South Portico, through the Blue Room and then left to the main stairwell (the stairwell then was where the State Dining Room is now.) I had always assumed that the body was brought through the North Portico as JFK's body had been.

• As most know, Lincoln was brought to be autopsied in the Prince of Wales Room, which was the room where Willie Lincoln died and is the current private family dining room for the First Family.

• Mrs. Lincoln refused to enter any room where Lincoln had been. I had long wondered which room she was in, but Seale states that during the autopsy Benjamin French was sent to make sure she didn't accidentally come in the room, and he found Mary "down the hall bedroom across from the Oval room." Here is the map of the second floor as it appeared in 1865:
   
This must mean that Mary was in the East Bedroom, as the other bedroom was a right next to the Prince of Wales room, so it is unlikely she would have been that close. (that other bedroom, the West Bedroom, was where Andrew Johnson slept during his presidency.) Anyway, the East bedroom was then unoccupied and historically has been the bedroom of presidential children such as Chelsea Clinton. It was Caroline Kennedy's bedroom and was the room she was in when she was informed of her father's death. Here is how the room looked in 1962:
   
It is from this room that Mary Lincoln cried out during the next two nights as workers hammered nails to make bleachers for guests to stand on during Lincoln's funeral. She apparently begged them to stop as the hammering sounded like a gun shot. One can only imagine how difficult that must have been to endure in her condition.

• The night before the funeral, Lincoln's body was moved from the Prince of Wales Room into the coffin in the East Room. The men carrying the body took their shoes off so as not to alert Mary that they were moving the body.

• When the White House was opened for citizens to come view the body, the mourners entered through the North Portico and moved into the East Room. The odd part is where they exited. After breaking into two lines as they moved past the coffin, the guests left the East Room though a set of stairs built to allow them to leave through a WINDOW in the East Room!

• Andrew Johnson did not move his office (or his family) into the White House until long after Lincoln's death. In an odd twist of fate, his office at the Treasury Building was decorated with the flags that had draped the box at Ford's when Booth shot Lincoln, including the Treasury Guard flag that bore the tear from Booth's spur.

• Mary Lincoln left the White House for the first time since leaving for Ford's on May 22nd. Elizabeth Keckley wrote that when she left for the train station, "there was scarcely a friend to tell her good-bye."

• Willie Lincoln died on what we call today "The Lincoln Bed", but was then known as "The Prince of Wales Room Bed."
   

Anyway, I thought some of these points were very interesting and wanted to share them. I love White House and Washington history, and know that many here feel the same.

Heath

[Joe Di Cola]

Thanks for your post. William Seale's two volumes are a must read for anyone intersted in the Presidents.

[L Verge]

Mr. Seale was very helpful to Tidwell, Hall, and Gaddy when they were exploring the theory of mining the White House. I knew him through his museum work in our county, and made the introductions. He knew right away about the large sewer pipes that were, in essence, tunnels under the structure.

[LincolnMan]

Heath: that is an awesome post- so much little known information- much of it heartbreaking...

[irshgrl500]

(11-05-2013 11:49 AM)Rhatkinson Wrote:  I am reading a great two volume book entitled, "The President's House" by William Seale. It was recommended to me by Dr. Bill Bushong who spoke at the fall Surratt conference, and it is excellent. In it, I learned some new information that I thought I would share:

• Lincoln's body was brought in to the White House via the South Portico, through the Blue Room and then left to the main stairwell (the stairwell then was where the State Dining Room is now.) I had always assumed that the body was brought through the North Portico as JFK's body had been.

• As most know, Lincoln was brought to be autopsied in the Prince of Wales Room, which was the room where Willie Lincoln died and is the current private family dining room for the First Family.

• Mrs. Lincoln refused to enter any room where Lincoln had been. I had long wondered which room she was in, but Seale states that during the autopsy Benjamin French was sent to make sure she didn't accidentally come in the room, and he found Mary "down the hall bedroom across from the Oval room." Here is the map of the second floor as it appeared in 1865:

This must mean that Mary was in the East Bedroom, as the other bedroom was a right next to the Prince of Wales room, so it is unlikely she would have been that close. (that other bedroom, the West Bedroom, was where Andrew Johnson slept during his presidency.) Anyway, the East bedroom was then unoccupied and historically has been the bedroom of presidential children such as Chelsea Clinton. It was Caroline Kennedy's bedroom and was the room she was in when she was informed of her father's death. Here is how the room looked in 1962:

It is from this room that Mary Lincoln cried out during the next two nights as workers hammered nails to make bleachers for guests to stand on during Lincoln's funeral. She apparently begged them to stop as the hammering sounded like a gun shot. One can only imagine how difficult that must have been to endure in her condition.

• The night before the funeral, Lincoln's body was moved from the Prince of Wales Room into the coffin in the East Room. The men carrying the body took their shoes off so as not to alert Mary that they were moving the body.

• When the White House was opened for citizens to come view the body, the mourners entered through the North Portico and moved into the East Room. The odd part is where they exited. After breaking into two lines as they moved past the coffin, the guests left the East Room though a set of stairs built to allow them to leave through a WINDOW in the East Room!

• Andrew Johnson did not move his office (or his family) into the White House until long after Lincoln's death. In an odd twist of fate, his office at the Treasury Building was decorated with the flags that had draped the box at Ford's when Booth shot Lincoln, including the Treasury Guard flag that bore the tear from Booth's spur.

• Mary Lincoln left the White House for the first time since leaving for Ford's on May 22nd. Elizabeth Keckley wrote that when she left for the train station, "there was scarcely a friend to tell her good-bye."

• Willie Lincoln died on what we call today "The Lincoln Bed", but was then known as "The Prince of Wales Room Bed."


Anyway, I thought some of these points were very interesting and wanted to share them. I love White House and Washington history, and know that many here feel the same.

Heath

Very sad. Actually, many of these details, are heartbreaking.

[GARY POPOLO]

What a great post Heath. I think I would enjoy reading this book. It is very sad to hear the pain that Mary went through on top of the loss of her husband. But as sad as it is to read it also is very interesting to hear facts that some of us never knew. I believe that this is one of the main reasons for this form. To learn and share our knowledge and questions about what happen and why during what must of been a very trying time in our American history. I love it all and wish I had more time to devote to this one of my favorite hobbies. Best to all. Gary

[Jim Garrett]

One of the interesting stories come from Herb Collins, retired curator of the Political Collection at the Smithsonian. Herb says that all of Abraham Lincolns blood from the autopsy was saved and was at the National Museum (now know as the Smithsonian). It has long since disappeared, along with the boat that Booth and Herold crossed the Potomac in. Those Victorians collected everything!

[Angela]

(11-08-2013 07:29 AM)Jim Garrett Wrote:  One of the interesting stories come from Herb Collins, retired curator of the Political Collection at the Smithsonian. Herb says that all of Abraham Lincolns blood from the autopsy was saved and was at the National Museum (now know as the Smithsonian). It has long since disappeared, along with the boat that Booth and Herold crossed the Potomac in. Those Victorians collected everything!

Thank you Jim - I had ALWAYS been wondering about this! Every time someone laments the fact that we cannot take any DNA samples because the body is buried under tons of concrete, I'd thought that since it was embalmed, the blood must have been removed and I had always expected it to be kept somewhere. Too bad that people back then could not imagine the possibilities of science...

[BettyO]

Quote:One of the interesting stories come from Herb Collins, retired curator of the Political Collection at the Smithsonian. Herb says that all of Abraham Lincolns blood from the autopsy was saved and was at the National Museum (now know as the Smithsonian). It has long since disappeared, along with the boat that Booth and Herold crossed the Potomac in. Those Victorians collected everything!

Someday these items may come to light - just like Lew Powell's noggin' did!

[Jim Garrett]

Many items at the Smithsonian had very broad classifications. I surmise that the vile/container that contained Lincoln's blood may have been filed in the Natural History/Anatomical collection instead of the Political collection. The original card catalogue for the Smithsonian was digitized and the originals are either in deep storage in College Park, Md at best or they are lost at worst. The Smithsonian, like all museums these days are seriously understaffed and few have the time to be a sleuth.