The Historical Abraham Lincoln Assassination

Above, the presidential box at Ford's Theater.  The portrait of George Washington is the original.  Photo by Armand Vaquer.

In reading several articles in connection to Steven Spielberg's new epic, Lincoln, I am reminded of my June 1982 trip to Washington, D.C. to attend a White House reception for members of the California Ronald Reagan Delegation to the 1980 Republican National Convention.

I crammed a week's vacation in three days in Washington (that was all the vacation time I had available at the time).  Besides the White House, I also visited the U.S. Capitol, Arlington National Cemetery, the Smithsonian Institution's Air & Space Museum and took a boat ride down the Potomac River to Mount Vernon, the home of George Washington.  The other main highlight of the trip was my visit to Ford's Theater and the Peterson rooming house across the street.  They were the first places I visited in Washington after I arrived and checked into my hotel.

Photo: Armand Vaquer.

Ford's Theater (left) was where President Abraham Lincoln, the first Republican president and the first to be assassinated, was shot by actor/Southern sympathizer John Wilkes Booth as he sat in the presidential box watching a play, "Our American Cousin"  on the night of April 14, 1865.

Booth was familiar with the play and timed his attack on Lincoln for when the audience would erupt in laughter.  At 10:15 PM, Booth snuck into the President's box and shot him after bracing the door shut.  After Booth shot the President in the back of the head with a derringer, he jumped from the box onto the stage to make his escape.  Unfortunately for Booth, one of his spurs caught on decorative bunting and he broke his leg when he hit the stage.  He was still able to escape, but it slowed him down in the following days and he was shot and killed in a burning barn on April 26. 

Ford's Theater was restored to its appearance on that fateful night.  At one time, it was converted and used as an office building.  I have a family connection to Ford's.  My great-grandfather was working there in one of the offices when the floors collapsed, causing several deaths on June 9, 1893.  My great-grandfather was uninjured. 

Above, the suit Lincoln was wearing when he was shot.  Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Today, besides the restored main auditorium, Ford's Theater also has a museum of Lincoln memorabilia in the basement.  Included in the collection are the clothes Lincoln was wearing when he was shot.

Above, the entrance to the house where Lincoln died.  Photo by Armand Vaquer.

After Lincoln was shot, it was decided that he could not survive a trip back to the White House (remember, the streets were cobblestone at that time, which would make it a rough ride), so he was carried across the street to the Petersen rooming house.  That, too, has been restored to its 1865 appearance.

 

The wound that the derringer ball caused to Lincoln's skull and brain was a fatal one. (Even if they had today's medical technology, Lincoln still could not have survived the wound.)  Members of Lincoln's family and administration stood vigil as Lincoln's life slowly ebbed away.  He died at 7:22 the next morning. 

First Lady Mary Todd Lincoln sat in the rooming house's parlor during the vigil.  Her son Robert alternated between attending to his mother and keeping vigil over his father.

Secretary of State Edwin Stanton, upon Lincoln's death, said, "Now he belongs to the ages."

Photo: Armand Vaquer.

When I visited the rooming house in 1982, a pillow with Lincoln's bloodstains rested encased on the bed (above photo). 

One of the best books chronicling Lincoln's assassination is Jim Bishop's The Day Lincoln Was Shot.