topic Re: LINCOLN'S LAST DAYS in Community Chat

LINCOLN'S LAST DAYS

Oznell — Tue, 27 May 2025 23:13:39 GMT

Everything about Abraham Lincoln is so fascinating. He was a singular personality, brilliant and gifted, tragic but noble.

A few facts below that I find so interesting about him, as the Civil War came to a close, his major work was done, and he would soon leave the scene:

1). The fact that he had recurring dreams before the assassination that portended some dreadful end. His friend and U.S. Marshall, Ward Hill Lamon, said that three days beforehand, Lincoln related a dream to him in which he heard mournful sounds at night, followed them to a room in which lay a catafalque with his body lying in it.

Some said he later softened the horror of it, by telling others the person in the coffin wasn't really him....

But the morning of his assassination, he related to his Cabinet a recurring dream that he had just had again, in which he was on a clipper ship heading at great speed to a dark shore, which made them uneasy...

The dream had occurred, he said, every time some major event was about to befall him, such as huge developments in the Civil War.

We're so lucky that photography by the 1860's was up to the task of conveying to us that remarkable face and force of personality....

2). It's widely known that his two favorite books were the Bible ( esp. Psalms) and apparently, all of Shakespeare. He was mad about Shakespeare plays and the theater in general, and therefore, had seen his future assassin, John Wilkes Booth, perform on a number of occasions.

Lincoln adored "Macbeth", and a few days before he died, he had regaled a captive audience with his reading of a scene in which Macbeth and Lady Macbeth are agonizing together.

3) The seething and hateful actor, John Wilkes Booth, attended both the occasion of Lincoln's Gettysburg Address, and also, his second Inaugural.

John Wilkes Booth was dashing, but vile and poisonous.

He even said that he could easily have attacked Lincoln at the Inaugural, had he wanted to.

And a remarkable photo of the event, showing both where Booth was standing, and where the President was standing, seems to indicate that he could have:

( Booth is standing within the top circle, and Lincoln is giving his speech in the circle below it.)

4). The Booths and Lincolns were entwined in another way. Probably in early 1865, Lincoln's son Robert was boarding a train in Jersey City; his foot slipped, and he was grabbed and saved from being crushed by-- John Wilkes Booth's brother, Edwin Booth! Edwin Booth was a much more sane individual than his brother, but he was also a famous actor, and Robert Lincoln recognized him and thanked him for saving his life!

It is said that this act of saving Lincoln's son gave Edwin Booth some comfort, after such shame was brought upon his family with his brother's terrible actions.

There are so many extraordinary facts and odd or eerie coincidences associated with the end of Lincoln's illustrious life, they could never be all recounted.

Does anyone here have a favorite fact or anecdote about Lincoln that you'd care to share? Love to hear!

Re: LINCOLN'S LAST DAYS

rms1954 — Tue, 27 May 2025 23:41:34 GMT

My father was so enamoured by President Lincoln. He would study his life and write down interesting facts ... he kept a journal. Unfortunately when he passed my sisters threw out all of the historical memorabilia he collected. They felt it was of little importance (at least to them.) I was heartbroken.

Re: LINCOLN'S LAST DAYS

SharkE — Tue, 27 May 2025 23:30:59 GMT

Seems like I read where John Wilkes Booth's brother saved Lincoln's son.

They were all waiting for a train had something to do with railroad tracks. Lincoln's son was playing on the tracks and this Booth man pulled him back real fast.

This happened before the killing.

Re: LINCOLN'S LAST DAYS

SharkE — Tue, 27 May 2025 23:32:32 GMT

Yikes ! just now read the prior post about this happening.

QVC won't let me delete nothing. Anyway, glad I didn't imagine it.

Re: LINCOLN'S LAST DAYS

Malibulove — Tue, 27 May 2025 23:47:32 GMT

@SharkE

Did you not read @Oznell entire comment?

Re: LINCOLN'S LAST DAYS

shoekitty — Wed, 28 May 2025 01:35:44 GMT

@Oznell thank you once again for such interesting information!!! He was quite a figure. And so darn good looking as well. It is said he had Marian's disease or another endoctrine disease , that altered his appearance as he got older. But who doesn't get old in the White House. The elected President moves into the White House, and 8 years later you can see the aging.

Re: LINCOLN'S LAST DAYS

SharkE — Wed, 28 May 2025 00:11:36 GMT

@Malibulove wrote:
@SharkE

Did you not read @Oznell entire comment?

Yes, did U not read message 4 ?

Re: LINCOLN'S LAST DAYS

MJDinVegas — Wed, 28 May 2025 00:11:57 GMT

Hi, @Oznell ! I'm touched by Lincoln's soulful eyes in the first portrait-clearly carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders.

My husband and I lived for a time in Front Royal, VA, for my job and we were intrigued by the history of the area. Before my husband moved out in 2006, I attended a function at the Courthouse in Winchester, Va. people were dressed in period dress and it was on Lincoln's birthday. I was told by locals that if I wanted to see a real party, come back on Robert E. Lee's birthday!

My office looked out on the Cedar Creek Battlefield which took place near Belle Grove plantation.

So much history around us in a short drive-Antietam, Gettysburg. A very memorable 4 years of my life.

Thank you for posting!

Re: LINCOLN'S LAST DAYS

Love my grandkids — Wed, 28 May 2025 01:12:00 GMT

@Oznell And Abraham Lincoln had Marfan's syndrome. Very interesting if you read up on it.

Re: LINCOLN'S LAST DAYS

Love my grandkids — Wed, 28 May 2025 01:13:28 GMT

@shoekitty It's Marfan's. If you read up on it it's quite interesting.

Re: LINCOLN'S LAST DAYS

Franklinbell — Wed, 28 May 2025 01:31:45 GMT

Fascinating !

Re: LINCOLN'S LAST DAYS

Scooby Doo — Wed, 28 May 2025 03:00:24 GMT

Back in the late 80's I toured the DC area and went to Ford's Theater. They had a display there of Lincoln's suit and hat. Then I went across the street to the house where Lincoln died. Went to the back bedroom where they had the bed he died in and a pillow with his blood on the pillowcase. It was enclosed in a plastic shield. I think it's been moved to a museum now. It was a very humbling experience.

As a side note, he was assinated on April 14, my birthdate. The Titanic also struck the iceberg on April 14. Quite a memorable date for me.

Re: LINCOLN'S LAST DAYS

MoJoV — Wed, 28 May 2025 04:28:36 GMT

Lincoln was such a remarkable and tragic figure. I've read and enjoyed so many books on him. What a huge blessing we had him to guide our United States through the Civil War. So sad he died before he could enjoy the peace. The same for another historic figure who died at the end of war before he could see the peace... FDR.

Thank you @Oznell.

Re: LINCOLN'S LAST DAYS

beach-mom — Wed, 28 May 2025 07:18:08 GMT

Thank you @Oznell. I didn't know a lot of these facts.

I lived not far from the Booth mansion in Maryland, Tudor Hall. When I was a teen the mansion was deserted, and of course we all thought it was haunted! It's at the end of a long lane. (We called it "the mansion," but it's not really a mansion.)

My parents' home in Maryland on an inlet of the Chesapeake Bay was built with brick their contractor bought when they renovated Ford's Theater. I have been to Ford's Theater and the house across the street. When you stand in those rooms and you think about their history, it is really powerful.

There's a interesting recent book about the young Booth family, Booth, that is the story of the parents who built the house and their ten children. They didn't live in Tudor Hall long. I read a summary of it, and one of these days I'll read the actual book!

Re: LINCOLN'S LAST DAYS

Oznell — Wed, 28 May 2025 12:06:24 GMT

Thanks all for sharing your thoughts!

Oh, @rms1954 , I feel for you with the loss of your father's precious journal and memorabilia. That was a huge loss. How neat that your Dad did that-- he sounds like such a thoughtful lover of history and its giants, like Lincoln.

@MJDinVegas , ditto about those eyes. I read somewhere that some contemporaries of his noted that, when he was not joking and in one of his lighter moods, his eyes were the saddest imaginable, to look into.

Love hearing about your experiences in that most historic area! And yours as well, @Scooby Doo and @beach-mom

@shoekitty , I agree that, in addition to everything else, he was striking looking, like no one else. Interesting that by some 19th century standards of beauty, he was continually derided by many in the press, and elsewhere as being "ugly", and compared to an "ape". "Long-armed ape" was one epithet.

So true, @MoJoV .

Re: LINCOLN'S LAST DAYS

Goldengate8361 — Wed, 28 May 2025 12:45:54 GMT

I wonder if Lincoln would have made it today with today's media. I like to think so. He was a smart guy interpersonally.

Re: LINCOLN'S LAST DAYS

ciao_bella — Wed, 28 May 2025 20:06:15 GMT

@Oznell When I was teaching (retired 5 years now) I often read my students, especially on Presidents Day, the true story of Grace Bedell, about how she got Mr. Lincoln to grow his beard. The book is titled "Mr. Lincoln's Whiskers". The book is a wonderful and endearing read, and I encourage anyone to read or share it with your children or grandchildren. A quick summary of the book is as follows, but it goes into much more detail than just her letter, which I will post. :

Abraham Lincoln was the first President of the United States to wear a beard. What gave him the idea was a letter he received from an eleven-year-old girl from Westfield, New York named Grace Bedell.

"Dear Sir," she wrote, " My father has come from the fair and has brought home your picture. I am a little girl only 11 years old but want you should be President of the United States very much so I hope you won't think me very bold to write to such a great man such as you are. Have you any little girls as large as I am if so give them my love and tell her to write me if you cannot answer this letter I have got 4 brothers and half of them will vote for you anyway and if you let your whiskers grow I will get the rest of them to vote for you. You will look a great deal better because your face is so thin. All the ladies like whiskers and will tease their husbands to vote for you and then you would be President. My father is going to vote for you and if I was a man I would vote for you too but I will try and get everyone to vote for you that I can. I must not write anymore. Answer this letter right off if you can". Good bye Grace Bedell.

Re: LINCOLN'S LAST DAYS

beckyb1012 — Wed, 28 May 2025 13:37:12 GMT

President Lincoln as always fascinated me. The gloves he wore to Ford's Theater that night sold this week at an auction in Chicago for $1.5 million dollars. A handkerchief in his pocket sold for over $820,000.

Re: LINCOLN'S LAST DAYS

jubilant — Wed, 28 May 2025 13:51:23 GMT

@ciao_bella Love this story. A little girl of 11 writing such a letter. I can't imagine that happening today.....................................

but who knows...maybe?

Re: LINCOLN'S LAST DAYS

jubilant — Wed, 28 May 2025 13:53:53 GMT

@Oznell Very interesting post! Had not heard a lot of these things.