Willie Lincoln plaque

[STS Lincolnite]

(04-28-2017 09:22 AM)RJNorton Wrote:  Laurie, here is what it says in Twenty Days.

"Word soon got about that Mr. Lincoln had been back to the tomb twice to have Willie's coffin opened so that he could look at him again. Dr. Charles Brown had embalmed Willie so perfectly that he did really seem to be only sleeping, and Lincoln could not bear to leave him alone in the cold tomb."

There is no footnote or endnote. I have seen similar wording in a few other books, but I don't ever recall a footnote or an endnote about this. I am just curious if anyone has seen one. I just don't know the original source (if one exists). I am sure it's possible Lincoln did this, but I am unaware regarding where the information comes from.

I have recently been interested in Oak Hill Cemetery and its connections to Lincoln. As per this post, Willie was temporarily interred there, but Oak Hill is also the final resting place of Edwin Stanton and John Nicolay.

I remembered this thing about Willie had been previously discussed and found this older post. I was again wondering what the source citation was for the claim that Lincoln had Willie disinterred to view him. I haven't been able to find much more information than what Roger and others here have posted. I did see one story that as far as a source went simply stated "according to newspaper accounts at the time...". I hope to do some newspaper searches, but without specifics of dates, the timeframe is pretty wide - ranging from February 1862 to April 1865 I suppose. That is a lot of newspapers to sort through!

Has anyone read any more current information as to identification of a more definitive source more contemporary to the event or found any newspaper accounts of the alleged incidents?