Full Title

"President Lincoln Dead. Assassinated in the Theatre at Washington Last Night"

Description

The Daily Dispatch, from Erie, PA, announces the death of President Lincoln and provides many details of the attack at Ford's Theatre, as well as the other attack on Secretary of State William Seward.

Source

Library of Congress Alfred Whital Stern Collection of Lincolniana portfolio 16, no. 27

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

Tags

Cite this Item

Daily Dispatch. ""President Lincoln Dead. Assassinated in the Theatre at Washington Last Night"". Remembering Lincoln. Web. Accessed June 30, 2025. https://rememberinglincoln.fords.org/node/738

Creator

Daily Dispatch

Date

April 15, 1865

Full Title

Louisville Daily Union Press

Description

A full page spread in the Louisville Daily Union Press detailing the assassination and the national feelings at the moment.

Source

Library of Congress Alfred Whital Stern Collection of Lincolniana

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

Tags

Cite this Item

Louisville Daily Union Press. "Louisville Daily Union Press". Remembering Lincoln. Web. Accessed June 30, 2025. https://rememberinglincoln.fords.org/node/734

Creator

Louisville Daily Union Press

Date

April 17, 1865

Full Title

"The President DEAD!"

Description

Front page of the Boston Globe declaring "The President DEAD!" and includes a quote from future president James Garfield, "God Reigns and the Government at Washington Still Lives."

Transcription

BOSTON GLOBE

The President
DEAD!

“God Reigns and the Government of Washington Still Lives.” ----Gen. Garfield on Lincoln’s Assassination.



[Transcription by: Dr. Susan Corbesero, Ellis School, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania]

Source

Library of Congress, Alfred Whital Stern Collection of Lincolniana portfolio 13, no. 9

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

Tags

Cite this Item

The Boston Globe. ""The President DEAD!"". Remembering Lincoln. Web. Accessed June 30, 2025. https://rememberinglincoln.fords.org/node/733

Creator

The Boston Globe

Full Title

Dudley Avery to Daniel D. Avery

Description

Dudley Avery, the son of a Louisiana plantation owner and a former Confederate soldier, wrote his father (who had relocated to Texas when Union troops occupied the plantation earlier in the Civil War) to express his thoughts on the Lincoln assassination. He feared that President Andrew Johnson would be much more harsh on Confederates than Lincoln would have been--a fear that later proved unfounded: "My views in regar to the assassination of Lincoln are the same as yours. I think that in the present condition of the Country it is a misfortune to the South. Johnson seems to be a man void of principle and honor and if he is not restrained by the Conservative party at the North, he will out Herod, Herod. Next to our being subjugated I regard his being raised to supreme command our greatest calamity."

Transcription

Petit Anse Island

May 12th 1865

My dear Papa,

The perusal of your kind letter forwarded by Mr. Weeks gave me much pleasure, but I was distressed at the same time to find you had received so few of my letters. Uncle Henshaw returned from New Orleans some three weeks since and immediately wrote you a long letter which I forwarded by way of Shreveport. He brought us the news of Lee's surrender and wrote advising your immediate return home. In a few, short weeks all of our bright hopes for the future of our Country have been blasted: the most gigantic struggle of any people for their independence has proved unsuccessful and our Government has crumbled to the dust, burying in its fall the only remnants of liberty left this distracted country. As a mighty Ship with fair winds, her port almost in sight, her crew filled with hope and expectation, is sent by a squall, to the bottom, with all sails set, so have we gone down. It behooves us to await with patience and hope, whatever the future may bring forth, to bear with fortitude and resignation what God's will may ordain and to battle manfully with the world for a position, and a support. Although the future is dark, it may not be as dark as we anticipate and should the States be allowed to come back with their sovereignty intact, we have much yet to hope for. Uncle Henshaw, with many others, thinks this will be the case. He has been among the Yankees and his judgement is probably more correct than either yours or mine. The Yankees have not recognized the bogus government of Welles and it is probable that the whole people of the state will be allowed to choose their executive officer. My views in regar to the assassination of Lincoln are the same as yours. I think that in the present condition of the Country it is a misfortune to the South. Johnson seems to be a man void of principle and honor and if he is not restrained by the Conservative party at the North, he will out Herod, Herod. Next to our being subjugated I regard his being raised to supreme command our greatest calamity. I hope that dear Mama has returned ere this, if she has not, do you not think advisable for her to return by way of New Orleans. From Havannah she could to Mr Lacy in New Orleans, who would obtain her a pass to go to New Iberia. Ladies come through the lines every day without dificulty. The lines in parts have been opened by the Yankees. I hope however that Ma is now with you and that dear Sister's health was improved by the sea voyage. If you see no prospect of Ma's return to Houston, do you not think it better that you should come home at any rate? Everything here is progressing well under the circumstances as you could wish. If I had more mules at my command I could plant more corn, but at present this is impossible. Make every effort to get that powder here. There will be great demand for salt this summer. It is now selling for six dollars a sack in New Orleans. I deposited all the money I had on hand with Uncle Henshaw. Some think the State Money will be redeemed. This I consider rather doubtful. I endeavoured to sell it here, but was unsuccessful. I am much obliged to you for the flannel and cloth sent over in the trunk. The flannel will make me an excellent summer suit. The coton is unbleached and is too coarse I think for sheeting. Mr. Robinson brought me the axes a few days since. Old Labra has a fine garden and has planted most of the seed you sent over. Mrs. Richardson had previously been kind enough to give me a good many seed. I send you by Mr. Weeks a very handsome pipe that was cared for me by Young Randolph. Please accept it as a very slight token of the love I bear you. I shall look for you home very soon. We have had fish almost every day but I fear the back water from the Mississippi will spoil the fishing. The Grand Levee has broken. Fausse Point and the whole Lafourche Country is under water. The Bayou Teche has been very high since last January and is now almost over its Banks. Louise joins me in much love to Sisters Mary and Minnie, Brother and yourself.

With devoted love,

Your Son,

Dudley

Source

Avery Family Papers, Records of the Antebellum Southern Plantations, Series J, Part 5, Reel 11, Frames 652-655

Rights

This item is published solely for personal research and nonprofit educational use under the terms of fair use. No copyright in the item is asserted or implied by its publication here.

Tags

Cite this Item

Dudley Avery. "Dudley Avery to Daniel D. Avery". Published online by W. Caleb McDaniel, Rice University. Remembering Lincoln. Web. Accessed June 30, 2025. https://rememberinglincoln.fords.org/node/696

Creator

Dudley Avery

Publisher

Published online by W. Caleb McDaniel, Rice University

Date

May 12, 1865

Full Title

Dr. Moses Gage Diary

Description

After calculating the time since he had last written, Dr. Moses Gage, a physician in Bethel, New York, expressed the emotional whiplash many Americans felt at hearing the news of Lincoln's assassination after celebrating the surrender of General Robert E. Lee five days earlier.

Transcription

After a lapse of thirty years, five months & twenty three days I open this book to mark a record more sad and distressing than the one with which I ended so many years ago, then my regrets were for a young friend who passed away in the spring time of life. Yesterday, Friday the 14th Abraham Lincoln President of the U.S. was assassinated in the city of Washington, at the time when we were all congratulating our selves that the slaveholders rebellion was nearly over, and when hope pointed to the bright future, when the glory of this republic was about to be revealed, the man who had did more than all others was stricken down by the hand of the Assassin;--The ways of Providence are inscrutable it may be for the [--] we will hope--The hand of an assassin stabbed Secretary Seward thrice & he too is probably dead before this time.

Source

Vance Gage

Rights

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

Tags

Cite this Item

Dr. Moses Gage. "Dr. Moses Gage Diary". Remembering Lincoln. Web. Accessed June 30, 2025. https://rememberinglincoln.fords.org/node/695

Creator

Dr. Moses Gage

Date

April 15, 1865

Full Title

Franklin Augustus Buck to Mary Sewall Bradley

Source

Buck Papers, Huntington Library, San Marino, CA

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.

Tags

Cite this Item

Franklin Augustus Buck. "Franklin Augustus Buck to Mary Sewall Bradley". Remembering Lincoln. Web. Accessed June 30, 2025. https://rememberinglincoln.fords.org/node/694

Creator

Franklin Augustus Buck

Date

April 22, 1865

Full Title

Abigail Williams May to Eleanor Goddard May

Description

Abigail Williams May reflected on the wider significance of the two days since President Lincoln's assassination, saying, “You will remember, forever, with satisfaction, that you were alive at this time.”

Source

May and Goddard Family Papers, Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America, Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA

Rights

Use of this item for research, teaching, and private study is permitted with proper citation and attribution. Reproduction of this item for publication, broadcast, or commercial use requires written permission.

Tags

Cite this Item

Abigail Williams May. "Abigail Williams May to Eleanor Goddard May". Remembering Lincoln. Web. Accessed June 30, 2025. https://rememberinglincoln.fords.org/node/693

Creator

Abigail Williams May

Date

April 16, 1865

Full Title

Albert Browne to “Dear Ones"

Description

Abolitionist Albert Browne, a U.S. Treasury official at Hilton Head, South Carolina, at the end of the Civil War, wrote home to his family about the events of the few days since the Lincoln assassination. He stated, “O how much I have lived in these few days!”

Source

Browne Family Papers, Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America, Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA

Rights

Use of this item for research, teaching, and private study is permitted with proper citation and attribution. Reproduction of this item for publication, broadcast, or commercial use requires written permission.

Tags

Cite this Item

Albert Gallatin Browne. "Albert Browne to “Dear Ones"". Remembering Lincoln. Web. Accessed June 30, 2025. https://rememberinglincoln.fords.org/node/692

Creator

Albert Gallatin Browne

Date

April 18, 1865

Full Title

Union Extra, April 15, 1865

Description

This broadside extra reports on the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln. It falsely states that Secretary William H. Seward was killed and that John Wilkes Booth was arrested. The broadside contains a 4:10 a.m. dispatch from Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton to Major General John A. Dix with the latest information. There is a report from New York describing the public's grief and the rage "undoubtedly felt towards all known secession and rebel sympathisers [sic]."

Source

HN-1865-011084

Rights

Use of this item for research, teaching, and private study is permitted with proper citation and attribution as follows: Courtesy, Newseum Collection. Reproduction of this item for publication, broadcast, or commercial use requires written permission. For permission, please contact the Newseum.

Tags

Cite this Item

[s.n.]. "Union Extra, April 15, 1865". . Remembering Lincoln. Web. Accessed June 30, 2025. https://rememberinglincoln.fords.org/node/627

Creator

[s.n.]

Publisher

Date

April 15, 1865

Material

Newspaper

Full Title

Mary Henry Diary

Description

Mary Henry, the daughter of the Secretary of the Smithsonian, recorded her thoughts about the death of Lincoln and provided an extensive discussion of the funeral in Washington.

Transcription

[April] 15th. We were awakened this morning by an announcement which almost made our hearts stand still with consternation. The President was shot last night in the Theater. When the morning paper was issued he was still alive although little or no hopes were entertained of his recovery but now the tolling bells tell us he has ceased to breathe. He is dead. Mr. De Bust has just told Hannah he died at ½ 7 o'clock. Deeply must the country mourn this death for although uncouth & ungainly he was true hearted, magnanimous and kind and in the present crisis ready to follow the such a course with the defeated belligerants as would win them back to their allegiance to the Government and subdue the rebellion in their hearts as well as subjugate their aims. The South has lost in him a good & judicious friend. His successor Johnson heartily desires the death of the leaders of the rebellion & is in every way ultra in his views. I have not given the particulars of the disaster. It was announced in the yesterday's papers that the President with Gen Grant would be at Ford's Theater in the evening and a large crowd collected there in consequence. Gen Grant however left the city before night for N.Y. Mrs. Lincoln had not been well & the President went to the place of amusement with reluctance, not wishing to disappoint the audience. He was received with more than usual applause. About 9½ o'clock a shot was heard which was at first supposed to be from the stage and a man leaped from the President's box upon the stage crying, "Sic semper Tyrannis" "I have done it." and making his way to the door mounted a horse & rode off. The shrieks of Madame Lincoln first announced to the petrified audience the catastrophe which had taken place. The President was found to be in a state of insensibility, shot twice through the head. He was immediately conveyed to a house opposite the theatre followed by Mrs. L. escorted by her friends in an almost frantic condition.

At the same time of the accident an attempt was also made upon the life of Sec. Seward. The assasin entered the house upon the plea that he had brought a prescription of Dr. Verde the physician of the Sec. He pushed passed the servant into the room of the sick man & after disabling the attendants inflicted several sabre wounds in his neck & then made his escape. Sec. Stanton it is said was warned of the danger and guarded himself against it. The rain is falling heavily and the bells still toll their melancholy tale.

7 P.M. The sad day of excitement is over. The President's body has been embalmed and lies in state at the White House while the frantic grief of Mrs. Lincoln has settled into an apathetic dejection from which it is impossible to arouse her. The President remained unconcious to the last. The members of the Cabinet, Mrs. & Miss Kinney and Miss Harris surrounded his bed. Dr. Gurley was present & afterwards escorted the bereaved widow to her home. At the request of Mrs. Lincoln, he communicated the mournful intelligence to poor little Tad who was wandering from group to group of the sorrowing attendants endeavoring vainly to find out what was the matter. His cries when he heard that he was Fatherless were exceedingly touching. He has been the most constant companion of the President. Johnson has received the oath of office and seems impressed with the dignity and responsibility of his new office. The assasins have not yet been arrested but the evidence if conclusive that Booth a miserable actor and worthless vagrant, a Son of the great tragedian, committed the deed. That is the murder of the President--the stabbing of Mr. Seward was probably done by an accomplice. Mr. Seward is in a critical position and has not been informed of the death of the President or of the danger of his son, who was so much injured by the assasin that very little hope is entertained of his life. The feeling of resentment at the South as instigating in all probability the murder is deep and I fear will entirely replace the feeling of kindness before entertained for the insurgents. The Southerners if they have countenanced the dreadful deed have fatally mistaken the interest of their cause.

[April] 17th. The sorrow for the President's death is deep and universal as we went to church yesterday we found all the houses draped in black. In front of the studio of Mr. Baumgrass, a large portrait of Mr. Lincoln was suspended surrounded with the marks of mourning. The church was so thronged with stranger we with difficulty made our way into the building and after standing for some time were provided with seats in the isle. The pulpit and gallery was dressed in black and the Presidents pew was closed and clothed with the same emblem. The Dr. in a short introductory address alluded to the terrible calamity which had befallen the Nation and spoke in terms of true affection of the personal qualities of our beloved chief Magistrate. The Assasins have not yet been found. The feeling against the South is exceedingly bitter. Mr. Seward's wounds are not as serious as was at first supposed and he will probably recover. He was informed last night of the death of the President and of the critical condition of his son still remains in a state of insensibility. The funeral ceremonies are expected to take place on Wednesday.

[April] 18th. Have just returned from the Kennedys where I passed the night. I went to see Dr. & Mrs. Gurley yesterday afternoon. The Dr. said he had been called to go to the President about 4 o'clock in the morning. He found him in the house opposite the theatre lying insensible upon a bed with the life blood dripping from the wound in his head upon the clothes on the floor beneath. The several members of the Cabinet & other persons were standing around the deepest sorrow depicted upon their countenances. The Dr. went to the bed side but for a while was too much overcome with his feelings to perform the religious services required of him. He went to Mrs. Lincoln and found her in an almost frantic condition. The President died about 7½ o'clock. Dr. Gurley returned to his bed side a few moments before his decease. He made his way through the sorrowing & silent spectators & found him slowly drawing his breath at long intervals lying as before perfectly motionless. A faint hardly perceptable motion in his throat and all was over. So still was the room that the ticking of the President's watch was distinctly heard. After a solemn & impressive prayer, Dr. Gurley went to break the sad intelligence to Mrs. Lincoln who was in the parlor below. She cried out "Oh why did you not tell me he was dying?" Robert Lincoln showed great self possession & calmness and did all in his power to comfort his sorrow stricken Mother. Dr. Gurley went with her to the White House. Some of her expressions are exceedingly painful. To day remains of the good kind man are deposited in the East Room and from an early hour the streets have been thronged with people going to take their last view of him. Sally & Annie Kennedy asked me to go with them but I thought I would rather remember him as I saw him last at the Capitol at the inaugeration. Carry and I are going out again soon, we feel too restless to remain at home. Father writes that the feeling of resentment against the Southerners in New York is bitter in the extreme. One man for an expression indicating want of sympathy in the general sorrow was thrown over the railing of a ferry boat & instantly crushed by the wheels. We expect Father to night. He heard the news shortly after his arrival in New York on Friday night. Capt. Alexander was here this morning. He says he has no doubt that Boothe is concealed in Baltimore. It will be very difficult to catch him being an actor he is accustomed to assume all disguises. The Capt. is firmly convinced that the assassination and attempted murder of Mr. Seward was a plot to destroy the amicable relations springing up between the North and the South through the humane policy of Mr. Lincoln and by substituting a sterner administration and harsher measures against the rebels with increased bitter feeling to unite the South for further resistance. Seward was Mr. Lincoln's chief supporter in his lenient measures.

The city is in such a state of excitement that the slightest unusual circumstance attracts a crowd immediately. Yesterday afternoon while I was making a call a number of carriages passed the window where I was seated some empty, some filled driving furiously and the street was soon filled with people running eagerly towards N.Y. Ave. not a one of them knowing what was the matter. In a few moments a crowd extending over several squares had collected. After some time it was discovered that two negro women fighting has caused the disturbance. Traces of the assassin have been found and several supposed accomplices in the plot arrested but great fears are entertained that the murderers will escape. A sense of insecurity pervades the community and guards have been placed around the houses of the most prominent citizens.

[April] 19th Wed[nesday]. To day was the funeral of our good kind President. The ceremonies of the White House were conducted by Dr. Gurley, Dr. Hall, Bishop Simpson and one other clergyman whose name I have forgotten, in the East Room. The catafalco was erected in the centre of the appartment graduated semi circular platforms were arranged around this for the accommodation of the invited attendants. The various delegations had each their place assigned. Father was invited to take part with the officers of the Smith. Inst. and I went with him to the Treasury building were he obtained for me a position upon one of the porticos to witness the procession. Only four or five ladies were admitted into the East Room. It was a beautiful day and as the people collected at the corners of the streets, at the windows & upon the roof of the houses, it was difficult to realize we were not preparing for some gala festival instead of the last sad honours to the well beloved dead. The procession left the White House about 2 P.M. We were notified that it had started by the distant booming of guns & the tolling of bells. The sad sweet strains of the funeral march heralded its approach and soon the military escort appeared marching slowly with bent heads & guns reversed. The sad pagent was two hours in passing. The funeral car was heavily draped with black plainly showing the coffin which was adorned with beautiful flowers. The remains were placed in the Capitol & will be open to the view of the public until Friday morning. They are to be conveyed to Springfield.

[April] 26th. The remains of President Lincoln left the city yeste Friday morning. Dr. Gurley has joined the company who escort them. The papers this morning contain a description of the manner in which the cortege has been received. Mrs. Lincoln is quite ill and poor little Tad quite inconsolable. Mercy tempered with a great deal [of] severity is approbated to be the policy of the new President in dealing with the rebels.

Source

Smithsonian Institution Archives

Rights

This item is in the public domain.

Tags

Cite this Item

Mary Henry. "Mary Henry Diary". Remembering Lincoln. Web. Accessed June 30, 2025. https://rememberinglincoln.fords.org/node/551

Creator

Mary Henry

Date

April 15, 1865