April 8, 2025 • 9 mins
Hard to imagine loving a politician so much that a third of the entire U.S. populace shows up to watch his funeral train go by and millions file past his open coffin. But sadly, Abe Lincoln was decomposing before their eyes. His two-week journey home was on a train meant to be the 1860s version of Air Force One, and his only trip on it was after his death.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
These days were all a little skeptical of pretty much
every politician, right, but it wasn't always that way. Sure,
there were disagreements about policy and ideology back in the day,
but when the vast majority of people trusted a president,
it was to a degree we sadly just can't comprehend
with that in mind. Got to add another chapter to
(00:20):
the story of Abraham Lincoln's assassination. There was a sense
among his cabinet members that the people should have one
last chance to connect with their martyred president. Thus began
a train trip through hundreds of towns, with stops in
thirteen cities, where people got to look at Lincoln in
his open coffin as his body began to decompose. I'm
(00:41):
Patty Steele. The funeral train seen in person by fully
one third of all Americans. That's next on the backstory.
The backstory is back. Can you imagine the nation respecting
and loving a political figure so much that millions of
people turn out to offer a last goodbye when he dies,
(01:03):
A full third of the US population. As we close
in on the anniversary of Abraham Lincoln's shooting by John
Wilds Booth on April fourteenth, and of his death early
the next morning on the fifteenth. We need to understand
the intense devotion so many Americans felt for him. The
level of grief people felt was overwhelming, especially since his
(01:25):
assassination came just five days after the official end of
the brutal Civil War on April ninth, eighteen sixty five.
Nobody was ready to let him go, but what to do.
Mary Lincoln was so freaked out about her husband's death
she didn't leave her bed in the White House for
six weeks afterwards. She didn't go to Abes's funeral, and
(01:47):
she saw almost no one, including her two sons, Robert,
who was twenty two and Tad, who had just turned twelve.
Mary had always been sort of jealous of the time
her husband gave to his job, and now that he
was dead, she wanted him all to herself. She wanted
Abe's body to take the most direct route home to Springfield, Illinois,
(02:07):
where he would be buried. Problem is Secretary of War
Edwin Stanton felt the nation needed a chance to say goodbye.
In the aftermath of the Civil War, which again had
ended just five days before Lincoln's assassination. Stanton pushed Mary
to approve a whole different trip home, and his plan won.
That trip would take his body on an almost seventeen
(02:29):
hundred mile journey through four hundred cities and towns in
seven states, with stops in thirteen major cities where his
coffin would be taken to public buildings. Lincoln would lie
in state with the coffin lid open, while hundreds of
thousands of people filed past for one last peak. The
railroad journey retraced the whistle stops Lincoln had made from
(02:52):
his home in Springfield, the Illinois capital, to Washington, d c.
The nation's capital, four years earlier, just before his inauguration.
The funeral car called the United States had actually been
built as sort of the eighteen sixties version of Air
Force One, meant to carry Lincoln on any trips he
needed to make as president. It was state of the art,
(03:15):
even able to adjust to different sized tracks. It was
a presidential office on wheels. The car was lavishly decorated
with luxurious blood red silk upholstery, etched glass windows, paneling
in walnut and oak, with gilded trim and crystal chandeliers.
It took several years to build, but Lincoln had never
(03:36):
ridden in it for two reasons, it was only finished
several months before his death, and because it was a
bit ostentatious for his very simple tastes. So the president's
corpse was carefully prepared for burial, and the long trip
west a tough task, especially because his body would be
on display to masses of people. There had been huge
(03:58):
advances in the embalming of bodies during the Civil War
that had allowed the unrefrigerated bodies of thousands and thousands
of soldiers to be sent home to their families for burial,
so those advancements were also used on Abe Lincoln's body.
The chief embalmer was a guy named Charles Brown. He
told the big wigs and the press there would be
(04:19):
no obvious change in Lincoln's appearance by the end of
this lengthy trip west. He told the Chicago Tribune, the
body of the President will never know decay. Well, not
so much, but we'll get to that part. At dawn
on April twenty first, Lincoln's black mahogany coffin was placed
on a hearse, which in those days kind of looked
(04:41):
a little like a scary float in a parade. It
was pulled by horses from the US Capitol, where it
had spent two nights lying in state, to the train station.
Soldiers gripped the coffin silver handles and placed it in
the railroad car, Lincoln's first and last ride in it.
They also carried in a small all coffin that held
(05:01):
the body of Willie Lincoln, the president's eleven year old son,
who had died of typhoid fever three years earlier. His
coffin had been held in a vault in Georgetown Cemetery
where his parents could visit him, ironically waiting to return
to Springfield for burial after his dad left office. Over
the twelve day trip, the train, pulled by an engine
(05:23):
with Lincoln's portrait on the front, traveled through four hundred
cities and towns. No matter the time of day, both
sides of the track were filled with people paying their respects, praying,
catching a quick look at the coffin, or just observing.
Towns had built elaborate decorated archways over the tracks. There
(05:44):
were bonfires blazing all along it. There were choirs and performances. Trackside,
there were tiny children and very old people. They all
wanted to say goodbye and maybe be a part of history.
There were thirteen major stops where Lincoln's coffin was taken
off the train, placed on a horse drawn hearse, and
(06:05):
taken to a public building for viewing. In Philadelphia, Lincoln's
body lay in state next to the Liberty Bell in
Independence Hall for twenty hours. During that time, one hundred
and fifty thousand people filed past his open coffin after
waiting in a line that was three miles long. Even
larger crowds came out in New York City. There a
(06:27):
half million spectators, including six year old Teddy Roosevelt, who
watched from a second floor window in his family's mansion,
saw sixteen horses pull an elaborate hearse. Hundreds of thousands
filed past his open casket at City Hall. As the
days progressed, it became pretty clear the embalmer had overestimated
(06:48):
his skills. Folks said Lincoln's eyes began to sink into
his skull, and his skin darkened and withered as he decomposed.
The New York Evening Post said, it is not the genial,
kindly face of Abraham Lincoln. It is but a ghastly shadow. Yikes,
But the Embalmer along on the trip to care for
the body, pretended all was well, saying to the press,
(07:12):
no perceptible change has taken place in the body of
the late President since it left Washington. But he tried
to hide Lincoln's darkening face by loading it with chalk
white makeup. As for the smell of rotting flesh, they
continually doused the body with the perfume of lilacs and camellias,
which only added to the miasma as you can imagine.
(07:34):
The funeral train finally reached Springfield, Illinois on May third,
after a sixteen hundred forty five mile journey. Lincoln was home.
There was a twenty four hour public viewing there in
the Illinois state capital. Finally, Lincoln's coffin was closed on
the morning of May fourth. He and his little boy
Willie were laid to rest at Oakridge Cemetery inside a
(07:56):
limestone vault. The doors and iron grating were sealed. But
during the almost three weeks since his death, over one
and a half million had seen Lincoln in his coffin,
and more than seven million, a full third of the
entire US population, had watched his coffin go by. As
they waited by the side of the train tracks. President
(08:18):
Abraham Lincoln was finally at rest. Hope you're enjoying The
Backstory with Patty Steele. Follow or subscribe for free to
get new episodes delivered automatically, and feel free to dm
me if you have a story you'd like me to cover.
(08:40):
On Facebook, It's Patty Steele and on Instagram Real Patty Steele.
I'm Patty Steele. The Backstories a production of iHeartMedia, Premieer Networks,
the Elvis Durand Group and Steel Trap Productions. Our producer
is Doug Fraser. Our writer Jake Kushner. We have new
episodes every Tuesday, Day and Friday. Feel free to reach
(09:02):
out to me with comments and even story suggestions on
Instagram at Real Patty Steele and on Facebook at Patty Steele.
Thanks for listening to the Backstory with Patty Steele. The
pieces of history you didn't know you needed to know.
These days were all a little skeptical of pretty much
every politician, right, but it wasn't always that way. Sure,
there were disagreements about policy and ideology back in the day,
but when the vast majority of people trusted a president,
it was to a degree we sadly just can't comprehend
with that in mind. Got to add another chapter to
(00:20):
the story of Abraham Lincoln's assassination. There was a sense
among his cabinet members that the people should have one
last chance to connect with their martyred president. Thus began
a train trip through hundreds of towns, with stops in
thirteen cities, where people got to look at Lincoln in
his open coffin as his body began to decompose. I'm
(00:41):
Patty Steele. The funeral train seen in person by fully
one third of all Americans. That's next on the backstory.
The backstory is back. Can you imagine the nation respecting
and loving a political figure so much that millions of
people turn out to offer a last goodbye when he dies,
(01:03):
A full third of the US population. As we close
in on the anniversary of Abraham Lincoln's shooting by John
Wilds Booth on April fourteenth, and of his death early
the next morning on the fifteenth. We need to understand
the intense devotion so many Americans felt for him. The
level of grief people felt was overwhelming, especially since his
(01:25):
assassination came just five days after the official end of
the brutal Civil War on April ninth, eighteen sixty five.
Nobody was ready to let him go, but what to do.
Mary Lincoln was so freaked out about her husband's death
she didn't leave her bed in the White House for
six weeks afterwards. She didn't go to Abes's funeral, and
(01:47):
she saw almost no one, including her two sons, Robert,
who was twenty two and Tad, who had just turned twelve.
Mary had always been sort of jealous of the time
her husband gave to his job, and now that he
was dead, she wanted him all to herself. She wanted
Abe's body to take the most direct route home to Springfield, Illinois,
(02:07):
where he would be buried. Problem is Secretary of War
Edwin Stanton felt the nation needed a chance to say goodbye.
In the aftermath of the Civil War, which again had
ended just five days before Lincoln's assassination. Stanton pushed Mary
to approve a whole different trip home, and his plan won.
That trip would take his body on an almost seventeen
(02:29):
hundred mile journey through four hundred cities and towns in
seven states, with stops in thirteen major cities where his
coffin would be taken to public buildings. Lincoln would lie
in state with the coffin lid open, while hundreds of
thousands of people filed past for one last peak. The
railroad journey retraced the whistle stops Lincoln had made from
(02:52):
his home in Springfield, the Illinois capital, to Washington, d c.
The nation's capital, four years earlier, just before his inauguration.
The funeral car called the United States had actually been
built as sort of the eighteen sixties version of Air
Force One, meant to carry Lincoln on any trips he
needed to make as president. It was state of the art,
(03:15):
even able to adjust to different sized tracks. It was
a presidential office on wheels. The car was lavishly decorated
with luxurious blood red silk upholstery, etched glass windows, paneling
in walnut and oak, with gilded trim and crystal chandeliers.
It took several years to build, but Lincoln had never
(03:36):
ridden in it for two reasons, it was only finished
several months before his death, and because it was a
bit ostentatious for his very simple tastes. So the president's
corpse was carefully prepared for burial, and the long trip
west a tough task, especially because his body would be
on display to masses of people. There had been huge
(03:58):
advances in the embalming of bodies during the Civil War
that had allowed the unrefrigerated bodies of thousands and thousands
of soldiers to be sent home to their families for burial,
so those advancements were also used on Abe Lincoln's body.
The chief embalmer was a guy named Charles Brown. He
told the big wigs and the press there would be
(04:19):
no obvious change in Lincoln's appearance by the end of
this lengthy trip west. He told the Chicago Tribune, the
body of the President will never know decay. Well, not
so much, but we'll get to that part. At dawn
on April twenty first, Lincoln's black mahogany coffin was placed
on a hearse, which in those days kind of looked
(04:41):
a little like a scary float in a parade. It
was pulled by horses from the US Capitol, where it
had spent two nights lying in state, to the train station.
Soldiers gripped the coffin silver handles and placed it in
the railroad car, Lincoln's first and last ride in it.
They also carried in a small all coffin that held
(05:01):
the body of Willie Lincoln, the president's eleven year old son,
who had died of typhoid fever three years earlier. His
coffin had been held in a vault in Georgetown Cemetery
where his parents could visit him, ironically waiting to return
to Springfield for burial after his dad left office. Over
the twelve day trip, the train, pulled by an engine
(05:23):
with Lincoln's portrait on the front, traveled through four hundred
cities and towns. No matter the time of day, both
sides of the track were filled with people paying their respects, praying,
catching a quick look at the coffin, or just observing.
Towns had built elaborate decorated archways over the tracks. There
(05:44):
were bonfires blazing all along it. There were choirs and performances. Trackside,
there were tiny children and very old people. They all
wanted to say goodbye and maybe be a part of history.
There were thirteen major stops where Lincoln's coffin was taken
off the train, placed on a horse drawn hearse, and
(06:05):
taken to a public building for viewing. In Philadelphia, Lincoln's
body lay in state next to the Liberty Bell in
Independence Hall for twenty hours. During that time, one hundred
and fifty thousand people filed past his open coffin after
waiting in a line that was three miles long. Even
larger crowds came out in New York City. There a
(06:27):
half million spectators, including six year old Teddy Roosevelt, who
watched from a second floor window in his family's mansion,
saw sixteen horses pull an elaborate hearse. Hundreds of thousands
filed past his open casket at City Hall. As the
days progressed, it became pretty clear the embalmer had overestimated
(06:48):
his skills. Folks said Lincoln's eyes began to sink into
his skull, and his skin darkened and withered as he decomposed.
The New York Evening Post said, it is not the genial,
kindly face of Abraham Lincoln. It is but a ghastly shadow. Yikes,
But the Embalmer along on the trip to care for
the body, pretended all was well, saying to the press,
(07:12):
no perceptible change has taken place in the body of
the late President since it left Washington. But he tried
to hide Lincoln's darkening face by loading it with chalk
white makeup. As for the smell of rotting flesh, they
continually doused the body with the perfume of lilacs and camellias,
which only added to the miasma as you can imagine.
(07:34):
The funeral train finally reached Springfield, Illinois on May third,
after a sixteen hundred forty five mile journey. Lincoln was home.
There was a twenty four hour public viewing there in
the Illinois state capital. Finally, Lincoln's coffin was closed on
the morning of May fourth. He and his little boy
Willie were laid to rest at Oakridge Cemetery inside a
(07:56):
limestone vault. The doors and iron grating were sealed. But
during the almost three weeks since his death, over one
and a half million had seen Lincoln in his coffin,
and more than seven million, a full third of the
entire US population, had watched his coffin go by. As
they waited by the side of the train tracks. President
(08:18):
Abraham Lincoln was finally at rest. Hope you're enjoying The
Backstory with Patty Steele. Follow or subscribe for free to
get new episodes delivered automatically, and feel free to dm
me if you have a story you'd like me to cover.
(08:40):
On Facebook, It's Patty Steele and on Instagram Real Patty Steele.
I'm Patty Steele. The Backstories a production of iHeartMedia, Premieer Networks,
the Elvis Durand Group and Steel Trap Productions. Our producer
is Doug Fraser. Our writer Jake Kushner. We have new
episodes every Tuesday, Day and Friday. Feel free to reach
(09:02):
out to me with comments and even story suggestions on
Instagram at Real Patty Steele and on Facebook at Patty Steele.
Thanks for listening to the Backstory with Patty Steele. The
pieces of history you didn't know you needed to know.
Host
Patty Steele
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