Introduce our speaker for today. Todd harra tod is both an author and a funeral director. In fact, his family has been involved in that profession in delaware for four generations. Todds most recent book is last rites the evolution of the american funeral. And todd will be speaking to us today about how Abraham Lincoln was at the center, really, of the transformation of american funeral practices, both during his time in the white house and then also through his tragic death. Now we will have a question answer session at the end of todds talk. There will be a couple of walking microphones. I would ask, please take advantage of those, because we want our cspan audience to be able to hear both the questions and the answers. So at this time, ill turn it over to ty. Thank you, judge primos. And lincoln club of delaware is my pleasure to present to you. This evening. Now, we all know what happened. Good friday, 1865. But what im going to talk to you about this evening is about how the grand event that was Abraham Lincolns transform formed and set the stage for the traditional american funeral, the funeral that american would use for the next century and a half. But in to understand that we got to backtrack about four years from the time that lincoln was assassinated. So were going to go back to the day that Virginia Held a referendum to ratify their articles of succession. And on that evening, at about 10 00, captain john smead led three handpicked companies from the Washington National rifles across the long bridge that separates washington, d. C. , from virginia and essentially established a bulwark for the Union Invasion of the south. They drove the pickets back into the countryside, and at about midnight, the union army started invading in the south. Now down to the south, near the Washington Navy yard, on the grounds of the lunatic asylum of the 11th new york regimen. It was there. And three of the companies from that regiment were boarding the gunboats. They were side paddle boats that were outfitted as gunboats, and they were boarding the baltimore and the mount vernon, and they floated down the potomac. And at about daybreak, they arrived at alexander andrea. And this is colonel elmer ellsworth, who commanded the 11th new york and colonel ellsworth hopped off of the baltimore and headed up king street and secured the telegraph office. Now, coming out of the telegraph office, across the street was an inn called the Marshall House. And above the Marshall House was a 40 foot flagpole upon which flow of succession is flag that was so large it could said to be seen from the white house on a clear day with binoculars. And the white house is about five miles away. So thats a pretty darn big flag. And ellsworth exclaimed to his entourage. He said, boys, that flags got to come down. And they raced across king street and into the Marshall House, where he said to the clerk, he said, how do i get to roof . And the clerk just stared at him. He said, never mind. And he raced up the stairs to the roof. Now, the clerk went into the back room and woke the innkeeper. A man by the name of James Jackson. And James Jackson was an ardent secessionist and a man who had penchant for violence. Jackson once nearly beat a priest to death after insulting him. And when this priest told the authorities, the sheriff rounded up a posse and went to jacksons home and where hed barricaded himself inside with his brother. And they began to fire upon the sheriff and his posse. And the sheriff essentially threw up his hands and he said, an assault charge is not worth my life. So jackson was a man who had a reputation for violence. And when the clerk woke him and said, Union Soldiers are on your roof, taking down your flag. Jackson grabbed a shotgun and ran for the stairs. Coming down the stairs, draped in the succession, this flag. Ellsworth was wearing it like cape. And his plan was when he got down on to king street, he was going to tear up that flag and give it to his men as souvenirs. Well, when jackson saw that, he didnt hesitate. He leveled his shotgun and blew a hole through ellsworths chest. Now, francis brown, he was a private he didnt hesitate. He raised his sharps rifle. And as the Philadelphia Inquirer would later report splattered his brains all about. Okay, so we have to first happening here. The first one being ellsworth was the first union officer. Casual t of the civil war. And brownell was later awarded the congressional medal of honor. So he became the first recipient of the congressional medal of honor for actions rendered during the civil war. All happened in about 5 seconds. Okay, now, word of ellsworths death reached washington in very quickly via the secure telegraph office. And there was a man there. He was an enterprising physician from brooklyn. His name was Thomas Holmes. And Thomas Holmes had a very unique set. He knew how to embalm people and he had come down to washington thinking that this rebellion he would need to embalm people, to ship them home, because the only way to really ship people was via the adams express. The adams express would only ship human remains if they were either sealed in an airtight metallic coffin or they were embalmed. Now, airtight metallic coffins were being made. But think about it, theyre ramping up wartime production in oc. The metal is being used to make ammunition and weaponry, so the two manufacturers of these airtight metallic coffins, they were having trouble getting the materials. So if you could find one of these, they were going to be very expensive. So really the only option at this point, if you want it to be shipped home and you were a soldier was to be embalmed. A skill set. The Thomas Holmes head. So holmes knew William Seward and he got an audience at the house. They rushed over to the white house and they found president lincoln, his office. The second story. Its now the lincoln today and president lincoln was in tears. Ellsworth was a dear friend of his. He had been his law clerk in springfield. And he had also served as his bodyguard during, his inaugural train ride to washington. And dr. Holmes said to him, he said, mr. Lincoln, ive come to secure your permission to embalm ellsworth. So his parents might see him. And president replied to me, goes, i do not what embalming is. I cannot grant permission. And through the urging of seward he was able to secure the permission for the embalming of ellsworth. Now ellsworth this time was being transported to the Washington Navy yard via the james gray, another gunboat. And so holmes, he left the white house and he raced back to the coffin. Joseph birchs house in georgetown, where he was staying. He grabbed his embalming grip and boarded it on the bus and headed for the Washington Navy yard. Now, when he got there, he found ellsworth laid out in the engine house. Why the engine house . Well, the 11th new york, they were called the fire zoo, abbs. And thats because ellsworth had raised a regiment all fireman oc new york firemen. He thought, these are men that rush fires theyre used to dealing with dangerous situations. Theyll make excellent soldiers and zoo. This was a type of french light infantry unit that was used in the crimean war. They were known for their aggressive tactics, so they used different tactics than your Standard Union infantry soldier. So thats why ellsworth being autopsied in the engine house. So we might be called the firehouse house today. Its where they kept the fire apparatus. So after the autopsy was complete, holmes got work in bombing ellsworth using his proprietary fluid called enum and knot. And while was in bombing, ellsworth, the president ial carriage showed up at the navy yard and in it was mrs. Lincoln and she wanted to see. Now this was victorian times. Ellsworth was undergoing a surge angle procedure. It would, you know, not be right for a woman to see him like this. So she was turned away about an hour later, the president ial carriage returns to the Washington Navy yard and. This time, the president is accompanying mrs. Lincoln. He goes and he sees ellsworth. And when he comes back out, he says to the honor guard, id like your permission for to bring colonel ellsworth the white house, where we can have a funeral ceremony before he goes back to his parents mechanicsville, new york. So they bring ellsworth to the white house, where hes laid out in the east room. And about three politicians and high ranking military officials gather there a funeral ceremony. And Mary Todd Lincoln comments, he looks natural. He looks like his only sleeping. Now, think about this until this moment in time. A wound like this, a shotgun wound to the chest would have made ellsworth. He would have been rendered unviable to decomposition. Probably within a day. And here he is in the white house, looking natural, like hes only sleeping. It was as if holmes had worked magic. He had stood death on his head. Almost. Okay by wars end. Thomas holmes had been bombed. 4028 soldiers. But it was this death of ellsworth that essentially gave this cadre of the green light to embalm during the civil war. After the ellsworth slain, many men, mostly physicians, flocked to washington to then ply their trade of embalming and make their fortune. Holmes was the first, so in order understand the lincoln funeral a little bit, were going to need to step back another decade and a half. Two 1845. This year on the left, Jean Nicholas goodenough. He wrote essentially the first embalming textbook in the mid 1830s. And here on the right we have jean pierre souk and in 1845, the canal essentially the undisputed embalmer in europe at this time. And souk said, ive got a better way to do things. So they took part in kind of this grisly little carpet, titian for embalming supremacy you will where before a medical board these two and one other a man by the name of mr. Dupre. They each embalmed a body. Okay canal used he used aluminum salts aluminum acetate, aluminum and sucre used chloride and dupree sulfuric gases. All right, youre saying, todd, what does this have to do with lincoln . Well, this should be clear here in just a minute. So they buried these bodies for 14 months. And after 14 months, they dug them up to see what they look like. Suitcase was the only one that didnt show any signs of decomposition. Okay. Now, at this time, suitcase and an agent by the name of dr. Palazzi to america to conduct embalming demonstrations, essentially to license his methodology, and also his formula of zinc chloride in america. And it was by a dentist, new york city, by the name of dr. Charles brown. Okay. So lets fast forward back into the civil war here. Embalming is becoming commonplace. All right. Now, commonplace, though, for those that could afford it. All. Its estimated that only 6 of soldiers were. Of all soldiers killed were embalmed and sent home. This is dr. Richard burr. Embalming at camp letterman. Gettysburg. Okay here we have the embalming shed of William BurnellThomas Holmess brother in law. This is taken at fredericksburg. And then over here, this is doctors chamberlain and lefferts, embalming tent camp letterman at gettysburg. These two gentlemen in the coffin, they are alive. Okay. They had the exciting prospect of having their picture made. So those are models. So lets now move to february of 1862, when a calamity rocks the white house, Willie Lincoln dies of typhoid fever. And this is on mrs. Lincolns mind. He looks natural. He looks like hes only sleeping. Okay. So they send vernon bomber. Now they dont send for Thomas Holmes. I have never read anything on why. What i suspect is holmes was out in the field in bombing. These embalmers would follow the armies. So she calls on the firm of brown and alexander the same dr. Brown that bought suitcase or license doctor. Suitcase, embalming the zinc chloride and a 23 year old man by the name of Henry Cattell embalmed a young Willie Lincoln. All. And he was laid out in the green room of the white house. And. And then he was temporarily interred at. Oak Hill Cemetery in the family vault of william carroll, who was a Supreme Court clerk at the time. Now, president lincoln would that tomb very often and is said to have ordered his coffin unsealed on at least two occasions so he could view the body. Now, we know willie was buried in a metallic coffin similar to this one. This is a fisk medal. This is an 1850s version. So by the mid 1860s, there were two companies that were making these. One was crane and breed out of cincinnati. The other one was the w. M. Richmond company out of queens, new york. Now i strongly suspect that willie was placed in the w. M. Raymond version. Why . Because senator daniel would was an owner of that company. Daniel would was good friends. President lincoln so it just fits. Teresa in that if your good buddy owns a coffin company, then youre probably going to be using that coffin. Okay. Now lets move forward three years after the the death of willie and we all know what happened. Good friday 65. Okay. So the following day, when lincoln died, he was transferred from the Peterson House to the white house under the direction of this man, frank sands. Frank was the government undertaker, so he had the contract to conduct all funerals. Government officials. All right. And lincoln was transferred from the Peterson House to the white house in a very plain wooden coffin. It was supplied by harvey and ma and i think this is just because of proximity. Harvey m. R. They backed they essentially shared the same alley is fords theater. So i think thats why they were used supply the coffin and lincoln of course was transferred to the prince of wales room and the white house. All right. Now, there was nine doctors in attendance for his cranial autopsy. So it was just a cranial autopsy. Just his head. They didnt do the why. That would be a full autopsy. One of those being robert king stone, the lincoln family physician, the other being the surgeon general, joseph k barnes. Now, this was so hurried, they didnt even have a proper, proper projection kit. One of the surgeons offered up his personal amputation kit for the autopsy. Now, after the autopsy, see the frank sands sent for the embalmer . They used brown and alexander once again. And is documented that when the messenger arrived at brown and alexander, dr. Brown, who was very very prolific and wellknown embalmer, he was at the office when the call came in for some reason henry could tell. Now age 26 with no medical experience, was sent to the white house alone to embalm the president , the united states. I think about what you were doing at 26 and being burdened with that memento stars being sent to embalm the president of the united states. Okay, henry. He used dr. Suitcase formula saying chloride. He injected five quarts of it through president lincolns femoral artery. After which he was dressed and, shaved and left to lie in repose until his coffin could be made. How his coffin was by frank sands. It was made by an undertaker in baltimore named john weaver. This coffin was a solid walnut. It was lined with lead and white satin covered in black broad cloth. All right. It was fitted up, meaning it was decorated with kind of those silver nail heads, the discussions you see this handles, the fringe at harvey and ma, the undertaker. I previously mentioned. So it was built in essentially two different places. Now, here is, a replica of it at, the National FuneralHistory Museum down in houston, texas. And as you can see, this is what we call lift panel, meaning this entire panel lifts off most of. You are pretty familiar with seeing the hinged panel. The lid sits on a hinge. On caskets today and this was done partial early by design so they could double the number of people walking by his coffin. So instead of having people walking by on one end. Theyre going by on both sides so they could double the people that were going to viewing president lincoln. Now, this was, as i said, custom built to a length of six foot, six inches to a prop to accommodate the president s six foot four inch frame. It is interesting that that is the standard length of caskets these days, because thats the length that can accommodate 99. 8 of all americans without having to get a larger casket. This coffin. It costs the government 1500 dollars. So would be about 24,500. In todays money. Now, on tuesday. The 18th, folks were admitted to the white house to view the president and then on the following day, wednesday, the 19th, there was a private ceremony held at the white house where 600 Ticket Holders were admitted. After that ceremony, the president s coffin was taken to the where it was to in state in the rotunda. Now, president lincoln was the person to lie in state, in the rotunda, in the capital, and the first president. Now, there have been 35 people to date have laid in state in the capitol rotunda. Now, on the morning of the 21st, lincolns coffin was taken from the Capitol Building and taken to the train station. Now, lincolns the idea was to have this essentially this National Funeral, where people could partake. So the secretary of war, Edwin Stanton, thought, well do a train journey back to springfield, where mrs. Lincoln wanted president buried. And so the train is going to go 1662 miles, go. 404 cities, towns, hamlets. Stopping 11 times to offload it on this journey ending may back in springfield for the president s burial. Now his son was going to accompany him, but willie was never part of funeral ceremonies at any of the cities. Willies coffin stayed on the president ial hearse car the entire time. Just note lincolns