escort to Springfield

[loetar44]

Thanks Roger. I think that the names of the men who actually carried the coffin into the vault are lost in history. What do you think?

[RJNorton]

Kees, at this point, my best guess is "yes." I checked the books I own that would most likely have these names and none did.

[STS Lincolnite]

I wonder if anything more specific would have been recorded in the local newspapers in Springfield, IL? If it was decided that local people and/or friends of the President would perform this task, I would assume the names would have been recorded there. I will put it on my list to check the next time I get to a newspaper repository. I hope to make it over to Springfield for a brief visit in the next month or so.

[David Lockmiller]

(01-22-2015 06:09 PM)RJNorton Wrote:  Hi Kees. I had this information in a file. This is the list of the Veterans Reserve Corps members. These 29 men moved the coffin from place to place during the long funeral journey. All were sergeants except as noted otherwise.

John P. Barry, Co. A, 24th VRC (formerly 118th Penn. Vol. Inf.)
Luther E. Bulock, Co. E 9th VRC (formerly 97th N.Y. Vol. Inf.)
Patrick Callaghan, Co. H 9th VRC (formerly 69th N.Y. Vol. Inf.)
Frank Carey, Co. E, 12th VRC (formerly 51st Ohio Inf.)
Samuel Carpenter, Co. K, 7th VRC (formerly 35th Mo. Inf.)
Augustus E. Carr, Co. D, 12th VRC (formerly 140th N.Y. Vol. Inf.)
James Collins, Co. D, 12th VRC (formerly 12th Mass. Vol. Inf.)
Addison Cornwell, Co. I, 7th VRC (formerly 134th N.Y. Vol. Inf.)
William F. Daly, Co. A, 10th VRC
William W. Durgin, Co. F, 10th VRC (formerly 1st & 9th Maine Vol. Inf.)
Joseph H. Durkee, Co. E, 7th VRC, 1st Lt. (formerly 146th N.Y. Vol. Inf.)
John R. Edwards, Co. E, 7th VRC (formerly 21st Wisc. Vol. Inf.)
Lloyd D. Forehand, Co. I, 18th VRC (formerly 5th N.H. Vol. Inf.)
George E. Goodrich, Co. A, 12th VRC (formerly 124th Ohio Vol. Inf.)
John Hanna, Co. B, 14th VRC (formerly 40th N.Y. Vol. Inf.; 2nd U.S. Cavalry)
Edward Hoppy, Co. C, 12th VRC, 2nd. Lt. (formerly 44th & 9th U.S. Inf.; 2nd U.S. Art.)
John Karr, Co. D., 14th VRC (formerly 1st Mich. Vol. Inf.)
Rufus W. Lewis, Co. E, 18th VRC (formerly 15th Conn. Vol. Inf.)
A. Judson Marshall, Co. K, 9th VRC (formerly 94th N.Y. Vol. Inf.)
James M. McCamly, Co. A, 9th VRC, Capt. (formerly 70th N.Y. Vol. Inf.)
Edward Murphy, Co. B, 10th VRC, 2nd. Lt. (formerly 148th Penn. Vol.)
Jacob F. Nelson, Co. A, 9th VRC (formerly 150th Penn. Vol. Inf.)
William H. Noble, Co. G, 12th VRC (formerly 21st Wisc. Vol. Inf.)
James M. Pardun, Co. K, 24th VRC (formerly 93rd Ind. Vol. Inf.)
Irvin M. Sedgwick, Co. H., 18th VRC (formerly 8th Mass. & 93rd N.Y. Vol. Inf.)
Frank T. Smith, Co. C, 10th VRC (formerly 5th Wisc. Vol. Inf.)
John P. Smith, Co. I, 14th VRC (formerly 119th Ill. Vol. Inf.)
Chester Swinehart, Co. D, 7th VRC, 1st Sgt. (formerly 14th Ohio Vol. Inf.)
William H. Wiseman, Co. E, 24th VRC (formerly 139th Penn. Vol. Inf.)

(list source: Dr. Wayne Wesolowski)

Roger, it would appear that you have already made a posting about Captain James M. McCamly.

In a recent story titled "Opera glasses belonging to Lincoln offered for sale," Kevin McGill of the Associated Press reported:

"The story behind the [Lincoln opera glasses]: After Lincoln was shot, McCamly was among those helping move the mortally wounded president from the theater to a building across the street. Something fell from Lincoln's body and McCamly picked it up. He found the [opera glasses] in his pocket the next day. . . . They were handed down within the family from generation to generation."

The article also states that the "Forbes family of publishing fame paid $24,000 for them in 1979." The anonymous previous owner "said he had paid $424,000 for the opera glasses at Christies' auction house in 2002." The current owner, M. S. Rau Antiques, in the New Orleans French Quarter, has an asking price of $795,000 for the Lincoln opera glasses. Rau says that the opera glasses "will be sold to whoever comes up with the sale price," but added that his hope is that they go to a collector or museum who will put them on public view.

A related historical note is in the book "American Brutus: John Wilkes Booth and the American Conspiracies" by Michael Kauffman at page 46: "Captain James McCamly returned Mrs. Lincoln's opera glasses, which were found when his detachment secured the theater." The wording of the paragraph indicates that Captain McCamly returned Mrs. Lincoln's opera glasses to her on the night of Lincoln's assassination.

[RJNorton]

Thank you for finding this information, David! I always rely heavily on Reck's book regarding Abraham Lincoln's final hours as it is so very detailed. I am a little surprised Reck did not mention this, but Kauffman's book is terrific. I now think the chances that these were authentically Mary Lincoln's opera glasses have risen due to what you have found, David. Thanks again.

Nevertheless, I guess I am the ultimate skeptic. There were 1,000+ attendees in Ford's that night, and many ran out of the theater after the shot was fired. Chaos. How do we know it was Mary Lincoln who dropped these glasses?

[David Lockmiller]

(10-01-2018 04:00 AM)RJNorton Wrote:  Nevertheless, I guess I am the ultimate skeptic. There were 1,000+ attendees in Ford's that night, and many ran out of the theater after the shot was fired. Chaos. How do we know it was Mary Lincoln who dropped these glasses?

Roger, I presume that the opera glasses must have been found in the presidential theater box. "Captain James McCamly returned Mrs. Lincoln's opera glasses, which were found when his detachment secured the theater."

[RJNorton]

But the article Thomas K. linked to says:

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

"The story behind the artifact: After Lincoln was shot, McCamly was among those helping move the mortally wounded president from the theater to a building across the street. Something fell from Lincoln's body and McCamly picked it up.

He found the binoculars in his pocket the next day. It's unclear whether he tried to return them amid the turmoil following the president's death. They were handed down within the family from generation to generation."

[David Lockmiller]

The pair of German opera glasses carried by President Lincoln at the 14 April 1865 performance of Our American Cousin at Ford's Theatre—the evening he was assassinated by John Wilkes Booth.

Fully functional man's opera glasses of German manufacture (the original case, in the Ford's Theatre National Park Collection, stamped "Gebruder Strausshof Optiker | Berlin"); black-enameled telescoping ocular tubes, gilt metal central spindle with composition focus gear, gilt metal fittings and inner ocular tubes, four ground glass lenses (two 1/2 in. and 2 1 3/8 in. in diameter), lathe-turned threaded eyepieces; one eyepiece a bit askew and with a tiny crack in its lens, the other with a tiny chip. Approximately 4 in. wide, 2 3/4 in. deep when closed (3 3/4 in. deep when fully extended), 1 1/2 in. high.

PROVENANCE--

Captain (later Major) James M. McCamly (died 1 September 1878) — Sarah C. McCamly, his widow — Sarah M. Hartt, her granddaughter — Robert C. Hartt, her son (the foregoing family provenance is supported by an accompanying dossier of documents, including affadavits, copies of James McCamly's military and pension records, a 1968 Smithsonian Institution report, and other documents mentioned above) — acquired, through the offices of Ralph Geoffrey Newman, by Roy P. Crocker (The Roy P. Crocker Historical Document Collection of the Lincoln Savings and Loan Association, Sotheby's, 28 November 1979, lot 251) — purchased by Malcolm Forbes (The Forbes Collection of American Historical Documents, Christie's, 27 March 2002, lot 106)

[LincolnMan]

(01-23-2015 05:09 AM)RJNorton Wrote:  Eva, this indeed happened. Here is a list of both state and territorial governors who rode the train:

Richard J. Oglesby, Governor of Illinois
Oliver P. Morton, Governor of Indiana
John Brough, Governor of Ohio
Thomas E. Bramlette, Governor of Kentucky
Thomas Fletcher, Governor of Missouri
James T. Lewis, Governor of Wisconsin
A. I. Boreman, Governor of West Virginia
Henry H. Crapo, Governor of Michigan
A. W. Bradford, Governor of Maryland
Stephen Miller, Governor of Minnesota
Andrew P. Curtin, Governor of Pennsylvania
Ruben H. Fenton, Governor of New York
Joel T. Parker, Governor of New Jersey
A.C. Gibbs, Governor of the Washington Territory
William Wallace, Governor of the Idaho Territory
Newton Edmonds, Governor of the Dakota Territory

(Information from Scott Trostel's Lincoln Funeral Train)

Did not know Gov. Crapo of Michigan participated. Nice fun fact for me. Thanks Roger!

[RJNorton]

RE: "McCamly was among those helping move the mortally wounded president from the theater to a building across the street."

Personally, I know of zero Lincoln assassination books that list McCamly as one of the men who carried President Lincoln to the Petersen House. Kauffman mentions him but not in reference to carrying the President.

[L Verge]

Methinks that the problem here is that the descendants of Capt. McCalmly misstated the provenance of the glasses. Without re-reading the posts, wasn't McCalmly of the Washington City Guards and more likely to have cleared a path to Petersen's (if on duty at all) and, as Mike Kauffman stated, served to secure the theater? It would be interesting to see his military and pension records -- if serving with the Washington City Guard, was he eligible for a U.S. pension?

Interesting to see that Ralph Newman, original owner of the famous Abraham Lincoln Book Shop in Chicago, was in on the transactions. Personally, I have a hard time envisioning Abraham Lincoln holding a small pair of opera glasses up to his eyes in any public setting... I think it is much more likely that the glasses belonged to Mary Lincoln.

[David Lockmiller]

(10-01-2018 07:44 AM)RJNorton Wrote:  But the article Thomas K. linked to says:

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

"The story behind the artifact: After Lincoln was shot, McCamly was among those helping move the mortally wounded president from the theater to a building across the street. Something fell from Lincoln's body and McCamly picked it up.

He found the binoculars in his pocket the next day. It's unclear whether he tried to return them amid the turmoil following the president's death. They were handed down within the family from generation to generation."

I believe that we are talking about two opera glasses - one belonging to Abraham Lincoln and the other belonging to Mary Lincoln. Can you imagine Abraham and Mary Lincoln wanting to look through a single set of opera glasses at the same time? And, they were probably a matched set - purchased or gifted at the same time. [I later found out that they were definitely NOT a matched set.]

In the chaos of the moment in transporting the wounded Abraham Lincoln across the street, Captain McCamly must have forgotten completely about putting the Abraham Lincoln opera glasses in his pocket. Later, that night Captain McCamly returned to Ford's Theater with a detachment of soldiers to secure the murder scene where the second glasses were found. Apparently, that same night Captain McCamly returned the glasses to Mary Lincoln or someone else who would return the opera glasses to her.

---

(10-01-2018 08:02 AM)L Verge Wrote:  It would be interesting to see his military and pension records -- if serving with the Washington City Guard, was he eligible for a U.S. pension?

From the Congressional Record: Proceedings and Debates of the . . . Congress. CONGRESSIONAL RECORD –HOUSE 1890, page 3513.

“The next business on the Private Calendar was the bill (H. R. 5263) granting a pension to Sarah C. McCamly.

The bill was read, as follows:

Be it enacted, etc. That the Secretary of the Interior be, and he is hereby, authorized and directed to place on the pension-roll, subject to the provisions and limitations of pension laws, the name of Sarah C. McCamly, widow of James M McCamly, late captain of Company A, Ninth Veteran Reserve Corps, and who had command of the guard of honor in charge of the remains of the late President Abraham Lincoln and that said pension commence September 1, 1978, at which date her husband died and his pension discontinued.

Claimant is the widow of Capt. James McCamly . . . who was pensioned at the rate of $20 per month for gunshot wound of right hip and left leg, received at the battle of Williamsburgh, March 5, 1862, and who died in New Orleans in the year 1878 . . . .

(Note: The widow's claim for a pension was initially rejected because the soldier's death was not caused by the wound but by yellow fever; but the fever was taken in New Orleans while he was there for the purpose of receiving an examination by the Pension Board of his wounds received in battle.)

[RJNorton]

I am still riding the fence on this. Years ago I had several communications with Gloria Swift on a variety of topics. I have a ton of respect for her opinions on Lincoln-related material.

"But park ranger Gloria Swift, the former curator of the theater’s Lincoln artifacts, said that case is thought to have belonged to Lincoln’s wife, Mary Todd, whose opera glasses were also found in the box and are now in private hands.

She said she was skeptical of the McCamly story, noting that Lincoln had been examined by doctors in the theater and doubted that his opera glasses would still have been on his person as he was carried across the street.

It doesn’t mean it didn’t happen,” she said. But “they could have been anyone’s glasses."

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/ope...9b5c8e0c16

[Steve]

Here's a link to an article in the April 15, 1967 San Diego Evening Tribune about McCamly and the opera glasses, along with a press release by Congressman Lionel Van Deeran from May 2, 1967:

https://archive.org/details/curiosrelics...49/page/n3

Interestingly, at the time the National Park Service concurred with Laurie's assessment that if the glasses are indeed authentic, they were probably Mary's.


As far as my own opinion on the opera glasses authenticity... I think the story about the glasses falling off Lincoln as he was transported to Peterson House is impossible. Lincoln's coat was removed as the doctors were searching for his wound and before Lincoln was moved the papers he had on his person were removed and given to a soldier to carry to Peterson House. Anything as bulky as opera glasses would've been removed before he was carried to Peterson House.

[David Lockmiller]

Here's another variation. This time from Christie's Auction House in 2002. Notice that the spelling of the last name is different slightly. And, in this narrative, Captain McCamly remained in the Peterson house all night, until the next morning, and then escorted Lincoln's body to the White House.


CHRISTIE’S SALE 1032
FORBES COLLECTION OF AMERICAN HISTORICAL DOCUMENTS
New York 27 March 2002
LOT 106
[LINCOLN, Abraham]. The pair of brass opera-glasses carried by the President at Ford's Theatre at the performance of Our American Cousin, on 14 April 1865, the night he was shot.
Price realized USD 424,000
Estimate USD 40,000 - USD 60,000
[LINCOLN, Abraham]. The pair of brass opera-glasses carried by the President at Ford's Theatre at the performance of Our American Cousin, on 14 April 1865, the night he was shot.

3 x 4 x 1½ in. approximately. Man's opera-glasses of German manufacture (the original case, in the Ford's Theatre National Park Collection, is stamped "Gebruder Strausshof Optiker Berlin"): black-enameled telescoping ocular tubes, gilt metal central spindle with cast-iron focus gear, gilt metal fittings and inner ocular tubes, four ground glass lenses (two ½ in. and two 1 3/8 in. diameter), lathe-turned threaded eyepieces, one eyepiece with tiny chip, the other slightly askew and with a small crack in lens (as if dropped), but otherwise in excellent condition and still fully functional.

LINCOLN'S OPERA-GLASSES: AN EXCEPTIONALLY WELL-DOCUMENTED RELIC OF LINCOLN'S FINAL HOURS AT FORD'S THEATRE; PROBABLY THE LAST OBJECT EVER USED BY THE PRESIDENT

The fateful shot fired by John Wilkes Booth at Ford's Theatre on the night of April 14, 1865, took the life of the sixteenth President and also created the nation's first martyr-President: "Lincoln's death sank into the hearts and captivated the minds of the generation that grew to maturity after the Civil War" (Merrill Peterson); it "produced shock-waves among the American people that were to be deep and lasting" (Thomas Reed Turner). After the shooting and Booth's dramatic escape, a group of physicians and Washington City Guards carefully carried Lincoln, bleeding and unconscious, from the theater to the Peterson House across 10th Street. On the way, a pair of gilt and enamel man's opera glasses that had evidently rested in Lincoln's lap during Our American Cousin fell to the street and were retrieved by Captain James M. McCamley, one of the stretcher-bearers. McCamley, a veteran of the Union Army who had served in the 70th New York Volunteer Infantry from June 1861 until July 1864, placed them in his pocket and forgot about them in the confusion. Captain McCamley remained at the Peterson House all night, until Lincoln's death at 7:22 a.m., then escorted the body to the White House "at which time being relieved of duty he returned to his quarters and went to sleep, when he discovered he had the glasses" (accompanying affadavit). The case which accompanied the opera-glasses was later found in the Presidential box, which was systematically stripped of its contents, furniture, carpet and wallpaper in the wake of the assassination. McCamley, a ranking officer of the Washington City Guard, later commanded the honor guard which accompanied Lincoln's remains to Springfield for internment (recorded in an accompanying 1890 act of Congress granting a pension to McCamley's widow).

Exhibited: Lincoln Exhibition, organized by Meisei University, Mitsuo Kodama, President, at Mitsukoshi Nihonbashi, Tokyo, August 1984.
Provenance:
Two copies of a sizeable dossier accompanies the lot, with detailed documentation including affadavits, copies of McCamley's military and pension records, a 1968 Smithsonian Institution report and a letter from Harold L. Peterson, Chief Curator of the National Park Service, in 1968, stating that "these glasses precisely fit the opera glass case in our possession."

1. Abraham Lincoln
2. Captain (later Major) James M. McCamley (d. 1 September 1878)
3. Sarah C. McCamley, widow of the above
4. Sarah M. Hartt, grandaughter of the above, by descent
5. Robert C. Hartt, son of the above (signed affadavit present)
6. The Roy P. Crocker Lincoln National Savings and Loan Collection (sale, Sotheby Parke Bernet, 28 November 1979, lot 251, illustrated, $22,000, a record price at the time for any Lincoln artifact).