The Bloody Pillow Case

[L Verge]

I just read in another newsletter that the "blood-soaked pillowcase on which Lincoln died is now housed at the Mutter Medical Museum at the College of Physicians in Philadelphia."

Have I been asleep all these years? I thought the pillow case was in the hands of the NPS. It was my understanding that it had been put into conservation storage in Maryland. I can't believe that the NPS would turn over such a valuable artifact to anyone else.

[Dave Taylor]

I don't recall any bloody pillow cases at the Mutter Museum when I went there. However, I do know that the striped pillow case that so many people remember will be going out on loan soon to the Reagan Museum for their upcoming Lincoln exhibit.

I know it doesn't say anything about the pillow case on the website, but I have it on good authority that they will be borrowing it from the NPS.

[J. Beckert]

Is that the striped pillow itself? I remember seeing that at the Petersen House over 30 years ago. Jim Garrett said recently it's so brittle, you could poke your finger through it.

[Jim Garrett]

The striped pillow is at the NPS storage facility in Landover Md and indeed very fragile. That is the pillow upon which the President's head was lying on at the time of death. To say the least, it is iconic. Everyone who has seen that pillow remembers it and without exception, everyday, a visitor will ask about it.

For years and years, it was displayed in the Petersen House on the bed (not THE bed) in the death room. The Petersen House for most of it's 160+ years has not had any modern HVAC, or climate control system. The pillow was long displayed under a pexiglass case, long before we understood the necessity of proper modern display techniques.

I'm glad to hear that it may travel. I think the Reagan Museum would be a fitting spot for the pillow to visit.

[RJNorton]

Jim, do you know where the Kunhardts found the story (p. 97 of "Twenty Days") of William Petersen hurling one of the bloody pillows out the window? Joe first mentioned the story the other day. Unless I missed it, that story is not mentioned in Bain's book.

[LincolnMan]

Is there more than one pillow case? Didn't they change the cases-especially in consideration of Lincoln's family when visiting the dying Abraham?

[Jim Garrett]

Jim, do you know where the Kunhardts found the story (p. 97 of "Twenty Days") of William Petersen hurling one of the bloody pillows out the window? Joe first mentioned the story the other day. Unless I missed it, that story is not mentioned in Bain's book.

I don't think it is in "Lincoln's Last Battleground". I view Robert Bain's book as more of a family history that intersects the assassination. I would not doubt the account from "Twenty Days", the question is, did he go back out and retreive them? Rich and I have looked at the pictures of the coverlet in both "Twenty Days" and "Lincoln's Last Battleground" and to our eyes, they aren't the same. That's to not say that there could have been two coverlets on the bed. I think that is a very real possibility. April is a month with still very cold nights, (the other night it was down in the low 40s). It tough to document the coverlets. The pillows at the NPS have pretty good documentation.

[L Verge]

You're right about the striping. What I was thinking of was the pillow casing - the striped "ticking" as we call it. This little newsletter article specifically says "pillowcase," so maybe the Mutter does have one. Wasn't it the GAR of Philadelphia that was considering letting a piece of a blood-stained pillowcase that they own be tested for DNA to satisfy Dr. Sotos? Maybe they have given that to Mutter?

[Jatkins252]

Is there more than one pillow case? Didn't they change the cases-especially in consideration of Lincoln's family when visiting the dying Abraham?

there were multiple pillows and linens. I believe Jim told us last week that they changed it each time Mrs. Lincoln came into the room. I think they were borrowing them from neighbors to make sure they had enough. Did I get that right Jim?

[Jim Garrett]

Is there more than one pillow case? Didn't they change the cases-especially in consideration of Lincoln's family when visiting the dying Abraham?

there were multiple pillows and linens. I believe Jim told us last week that they changed it each time Mrs. Lincoln came into the room. I think they were borrowing them from neighbors to make sure they had enough. Did I get that right Jim?

You are correct Josh. Glad to see you jumping into the symposium with both feet. Linens, towels, pillows came from the houses on either side. The pillow currently on display at Ford's came from a chaise lounge chair in the Sardo home, on the downhill side of the Petersen house.

[LincolnMan]

Speaking of Lincoln death-bed things the pillow cases)-we all have read where Lincoln had been covered with the mustard plaster (or something like that). What was the reason for doing so? Did it remain on him until he died? What are the details about it?

[BettyO]

As far as I know, in the Victorian era, it was common belief there that mustard plasters relieved pain... they were used for just about everything - especially to improve breathing.

Maybe one of our doctors would like to chime in?

[L Verge]

I think that the mustard plasters were supposed to help speed blood through the veins???

[Hess1865]

Gen. Grant reportedly used mustard plasters to relieve his migrane headaches

[Anita]

I took this photo at the Reagan Library Lincoln exhibit. Note the black marks. " Bloodied Pillow -This simple hand sewn feather pillow with a cover of blue and white ticking was where Lincoln last laid his head."
   

The pillow shown in the exhibit catalog has no black marks on it.(I'm waiting for a call back on why it appears to be a different pillow)It states it's from the Peterson House, Ford's Theater, NPS.

NY Times article Feb.9,1913 http://tinyurl.com/q9h333b shows the same pillow with the black marks that are in my photo. "The pillow shows some black marks besides the blood stains, which are supposed to have been made by a pair of rubber shoes worn by Mr. Lincoln the night of his murder which were bundled up with the bedclothes in the terrible confusion of the night."

Did Lincoln wear rubber shoes that night? Is there another explanation for these marks?