A Glimpse at History

First of all the information in this article is a culmination of many articles…(Historical Documentary shows and actual documentation I have had the opportunity to utilize and enjoy). I find this event to be another blunder in the integrity of the American public at large.

It starts because during the 1800’s and, especially you during the Civil War, Medical advances occurring by accident and necessity.  they had become aware of their need to know about the human body to prevent disease and death. However, there is no provision at that time, anywhere that allowed Medical researchers access to Human cadavers to learn upon. Large amounts of money can be made by grave robbing for those willing to dig up dead bodies, and sell them to Medical colleges and the like. Yuck! It was not until later, that a provision was made to allow researchers and medical colleges  rights to take over unclaimed bodies for their research, still, shortages occurred.

Which is a basis for our Lincoln story. It was not such a big business here in the states by the time of Lincoln’s death or there after…(there are recorded incidents of it occurring in Canada and it hit the National News in 1875 in Montreal, proving the practice did still occurr)  It is evident to me that there have been several plans over the years to steal Lincoln’s body. I have found a few different plans of ransoming it for various reasons.  Again, Yuck!!!

This particular plan was concocted in Nov. of 1876 by James Kennally a Chicago business man who wanted to randsom the body for $200,000 in exchange for his friend Ben Boyd to be set free from prison, after being caught for creating a counterfiet $50 dollarbill. Unfortunate for him, he revelaed his plan to a man named Swedges who ran to the Feds and alerted them of the plan. These men knew that the body would be in good shape due to it being enbalmed very well in April 1865. The art of Enbalming a dead persons body began during the Civil War in and around the time of the battle of Antietam, in an attempt to get bodies home to families in good shape, if they had the money to pay for it.  Lincoln had been taken to several locations in the Month following his death and the practice performed on him several times until it was felt the appearance of his body started to become unpleasant. These men knew the 16th president’s, embalmed, body resided in a marble container and were confident only one locked door stood between them and their payday.

They did manage to get into the tomb and pry off the lid of the marble vault, but the coffin was sealed. They attempted to lift off the casket lid to get a glimpse, but it was screwed on and time was running out. As it turns out ,the coffin was lead lined and so heavy that the three men attempting the grave robbery, couldn’t lift it out of the vault. The authorities were waiting due to Swedges.

Soon after the failed caper, the question of how to prevent this from ever happening again was answered.  They placed Lincoln in a moldy basement below the tomb and eventually buried him in a shallow unmarked grave. Mrs. Lincoln was placed there too upon her death in 1882. He remained there for over a decade. This improved in 1887 when the two caskets were reburied in the tomb in a well-protected grave. This hole was filled with tons of concrete.

In 1901 when the Lincoln tomb was refurbished, the coffins were moved again and installed in a new steel box, and a fresh layer of concrete. The men doing this, did take a gander at Ole Abe. They cut a small hole in his box and 22 local citizens checked out he body to make sure he was still there. Abe looked fine. Among the people who examined the body in 1901 was a Springfield resident named Fleetwood Lindley, who died in 1963. He was the last living person to examine the face of the 16th president.

Filed under: Civil War Blogs by Savannah Meade