Full Title

The Martyr President: Our Grief and Our Duty

Description

Memorial oratory delivered by J.G. Butler, Pastor of St. Paul's Church on Easter Sunday Apr. 16, 1865.

Source

Springer Collection, Oakland University Special Collections

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J.G. Butler. "The Martyr President: Our Grief and Our Duty". McGill&Witherow. Remembering Lincoln. Web. Accessed May 4, 2025. https://rememberinglincoln.fords.org/node/814

Creator

J.G. Butler

Publisher

McGill&Witherow

Date

April 16, 1865

Material

paper

Dimensions

8 1/2"h x 5 1/2"w

Full Title

In Memoriam of Abraham Lincoln, the Martyr President of the United States

Description

Eulogy delivered by the famous historian and statesman George Bancroft at the request of Congress in front of the House of Representatives on February 12, 1866. Originally published by the Government Printing Office, it was reprinted numerous times.

Source

Springer Collection, Oakland University Special Collections

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George Bancroft. "In Memoriam of Abraham Lincoln, the Martyr President of the United States". L. Towers. Remembering Lincoln. Web. Accessed May 4, 2025. https://rememberinglincoln.fords.org/node/813

Creator

George Bancroft

Publisher

L. Towers

Date

February 12, 1866

Material

paper

Dimensions

9 1/2"h x 6"w

Full Title

Abraham Lincoln, a Speech

Description

In this speech, Frederick Douglass reflected on how the outpouring of joy at the conclusion of the Civil War turned to mourning with Lincoln’s assassination. His death, according to Douglass was not only tragic, but also prevented recently freed slaves and African Americans from gaining the ear of wise and well-intentioned leader. Towards the end of his speech, Douglass pondered how life would have been different had Lincoln not perished in April, lamenting that his death was a great blow against African American rights.

Transcription

Colored men, first to the brave Colored Soldiers who had fought under our flag and second to the very intelligent part of the Colored population South. This declaration on his part though it seemed to mean but little meant a great deal. It was like Abraham Lincoln. He never shocked prejudices unnecessarily. Having learned Statesmanship while splitting rails, he always used the thin edge of the wedge first, and the fact that he used this at all meant that he would if need be, use the thick as well as the thin. He saw the absurdity of asking men to fight for a Government which should degrade them, and the meanness of enfranchising enemies and de-franchising friends. He was a progressive man, a humane man, an honorable man, and at heart an antislavery man. He had exhausted the resources of conciliation upon rebels and slaveholders and now looked to the principles of Liberty and justice, for the peace, security, happiness and prosperity of his Country. I assume therefore, had Abraham Lincoln been spared to see this day, the negro of the South would have more than a hope of enfranchisement and no rebels could hold the reins of Government in any one of the late rebellious States. Whosoever else have cause to mourn the loss of Abraham Lincoln, to the Colored people of the Country his death is an unspeakable calamity.

[Transcription by: Evan Laugen, Chandra Manning's class, Georgetown University].

Source

Frederick Douglass Papers, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress

Rights

This item is in the public domain and may be reproduced and used for any purpose, including research, teaching, private study, publication, broadcast or commercial use, with proper citation and attribution.

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Frederick Douglass. "Abraham Lincoln, a Speech". Remembering Lincoln. Web. Accessed May 4, 2025. https://rememberinglincoln.fords.org/node/812

Creator

Frederick Douglass

Date

Late December 1865

Full Title

The Martyr President

Description

Poem framed in mourning borders by Robert Newell, a popular humorist and political satirist. He boasted this poem was "written in a single evening."

Source

Springer Collection, Oakland University Special Collections

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Robert H. Newell. "The Martyr President". Carleton, Publ.. Remembering Lincoln. Web. Accessed May 4, 2025. https://rememberinglincoln.fords.org/node/811

Creator

Robert H. Newell

Publisher

Carleton, Publ.

Date

1865

Material

paper

Dimensions

7 1/2"h x 4 3/4"w

Full Title

Abraham Lincoln: Rede bei der Gedachtnissfeier in der Dorotheenkirche zu Berlin

Description

Cover of a 48-page German translation of "A discourse on the death of Abraham Lincoln delivered Tuesday, May 2, 1865, in the Dorotheen-Church, Berlin" by Henry P. Tappan.

Source

Springer Collection, Oakland University Special Collections

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Henry P. Tappan. "Abraham Lincoln: Rede bei der Gedachtnissfeier in der Dorotheenkirche zu Berlin". H. Keller, Frankford am Main. Remembering Lincoln. Web. Accessed May 4, 2025. https://rememberinglincoln.fords.org/node/810

Creator

Henry P. Tappan

Publisher

H. Keller, Frankford am Main

Date

May 2, 1865

Material

paper

Dimensions

9"h x 5 3/4"w

Full Title

The Private and Public Life of Abraham Lincoln, by O. J. Victor

Description

Cover of a reprint of a 1864 biography of Lincoln. Framed in mourning borders. After the death of Lincoln, publishers rushed to put out biographies of the dead President.

Source

Springer Collection, Oakland University Special Collections

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Orville J. Victor. "The Private and Public Life of Abraham Lincoln, by O. J. Victor". Beadle and Company. Remembering Lincoln. Web. Accessed May 4, 2025. https://rememberinglincoln.fords.org/node/809

Creator

Orville J. Victor

Publisher

Beadle and Company

Date

1865

Material

paper

Dimensions

6 1/2"h x 4 1/8"w

Full Title

The Execution

Description

Cover of newspaper with illustration, caption reads: Execution of the Conspirators in Washington, D.C. - The Final Preparations- Appearance of the Criminals on the Scaffold - From a sketch by our special artist, D.B. Gulick.

Source

Springer Collection, Oakland University Special Collections

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D.B. Gulick. "The Execution". Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper. Remembering Lincoln. Web. Accessed May 4, 2025. https://rememberinglincoln.fords.org/node/808

Creator

D.B. Gulick

Publisher

Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper

Date

July 22, 1865

Material

paper

Full Title

"John Wilkes Booth Shot and Killed"

Description

News article with bylines: J. Wilkes Booth shot and killed, His accomplice Harrold captured, Booth's body and Harrold's in Washington. The article gives details of the capture.

Source

Springer Collection, Oakland University Special Collections

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Louisville Daily Journal. ""John Wilkes Booth Shot and Killed"". Louisville Daily Journal. Remembering Lincoln. Web. Accessed May 4, 2025. https://rememberinglincoln.fords.org/node/807

Creator

Louisville Daily Journal

Publisher

Louisville Daily Journal

Date

April 28, 1865

Material

newspaper

Full Title

Wilkes Booth and his Dead Body [From the Cincinnati Union of Sunday]

Description

News article with details of what happened to the body of John Wilkes Booth.

Transcription

Wilkes Booth and his Dead Body. -
[From the Cincinnati Union of Sunday}
The Louisville Courier has the following:
“Wilkes Booth, whose body Secretary Stanton took so much pains to dispose of, so that no man should ever know the spot where it was buried, is reported to be in Europe. The story is that the man who ‘Boston Corbett’ so heroically shot, and whose body Stanton refused to exhibit to any one that ever saw Booth, was a poor wretch hired by the assassins to personate Booth, in order to facilitate the escape of the latter. Whether there be or be not any truth in this story, it will never cease to be a suspicious circumstance connected with the fate of Wilkes Booth, that Stan-ton refused to deliver the body that was brought up from Virginia to his friends or even to let them look upon it.”
Dating a couple of months from the time that Booth, the assassin of President Lincoln, was shot and killed by Boston Corbett, in the attempt to capture him, sensation stories like the above have been of frequent occurrence. Of course there is not a shadow of truth in the tale of Booth being still alive. The body was fully recognized as being that of Booth, and although tales were told about it be-ing secretly taken out to sea and sunk, and others about it being buried at mid-night, in an obscure place, by two men employed by Government, and who were sworn to secrecy, yet facts, known to but few, and carefully kept from the newspa-per press, show that the body was given over to the relatives of Booth, and that it was buried in either New England or in Canada.
The facts, as we had them at the time on authority not to be doubted, are as follows:
A few days before the body of Booth so mysteriously disappeared, our informant, a resident of New York, and favorably known as a dramatic writer, was called upon after bank hours to cash the draft of an undertaker, a near neighbor, who stated that he had received an order from the Booth family, to repair to Washington with a coffin, and there to receive the body of John Wilkes Booth, which would be surrendered to him on their order, and to convey it North for burial. The under-taker said he would return, and pass through New York, en route with the body, on a Thursday evening, or on Friday morning of the same week.
The morning after the undertaker left Washington, the report came by telegraph that the body had mysteriously disappear-ed—that it had been secretly buried—one report said in an old field, another in the Penitentiary yard, and still another that it had been taken to sea and sunk.
The undertaker did not return to his family until some days had elapsed. He came from the North, but declined to give any information relative to the place where John Wilkes Booth, under another name, had been buried. Should it get out, he said, the grave would be violated and the body removed, and the family were naturally anxious that this should not be.
These facts coming to us from the source they did, are more than sufficient to convince us, not only of the death of John Wilkes Booth, but that his body, with a pledge of secrecy freely given and fully kept, was given over to his family for burial, and that, except the relatives of Booth and the undertaker, no living being knows where the last remains of John Wilkes Booth are interred. No slab marks the last resting place of the assas-sin. The man who dug the grave knew not for whom it was intended, and in the burial permit was inserted a false name. In his unknown grave the assassin will lie until the grave gives up its sheeted dead, and all are called to judgement.

[Transcription by Alicia B., Ford's Theatre Society.]

Source

Springer Collection, Oakland University Special Collections

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Louisville Courier. "Wilkes Booth and his Dead Body [From the Cincinnati Union of Sunday]". Louisville Courier. Remembering Lincoln. Web. Accessed May 4, 2025. https://rememberinglincoln.fords.org/node/806

Creator

Louisville Courier

Publisher

Louisville Courier

Date

September 18, 1866

Material

newspaper

Full Title

Proceedings of a called meeting of ministers of all religious denominations in the District of Columbia, in the First Baptist Church on Thirteenth Street, Monday, April 17

Description

Minutes of a meeting of ministers of various denominations in Washington, D.C. to organize a response to the assassination and burial of President Lincoln. Includes remarks by Rev. Gurley, who was a close friend of the Lincolns during his time as Chaplain of the United States Senate. He preached the funeral sermon at the White House on April 19.

Source

Springer Collection, Oakland University Special Collections

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Phineas Densmore Gurley. "Proceedings of a called meeting of ministers of all religious denominations in the District of Columbia, in the First Baptist Church on Thirteenth Street, Monday, April 17". McGill & Witherow. Remembering Lincoln. Web. Accessed May 4, 2025. https://rememberinglincoln.fords.org/node/805

Creator

Phineas Densmore Gurley

Publisher

McGill & Witherow

Date

April 17, 1865

Material

paper

Dimensions

9" h x 5 5/8" w