This article first appeared in April 2009.
On Thursday, April 30, it will be exactly 144 years since the remains of assassinated President Abraham Lincoln came to rest for a moment in Indianapolis on its way to the State House.
I’ve written extensively about the “Lincoln ghost train” over the past 10 years and I never cease to be amazed by the depth of information and research that has gone into documenting the Lincoln assassination, hunt and capture of murderer John Wilkes Booth, trial and hanging of the conspirators, and the route home of Lincoln’s body.
As a historian and a memorabilia collector, I find it thrilling to see that even after 144 years, new items dealing with the Lincoln death are being discovered every day. I recently ran across a witness letter written by a man whose grandfather played a small part in the event. The letter was written on Jan. 31, 1942, nearly two months after Pearl Harbor and the beginning of U.S. involvement in World War II. I’d like to share it here so that you too can experience the thrill of reading the previously unpublished words of a Hoosier who was actually there.
“The story of my grandfather’s connection, humble as it was, with the assassination of Lincoln is an old one in our family, one that I have heard since I was old enough to listen. Fortunately I had written it up to give as a high school talk before his death in 1911. My grandfather, James L. Lucas, was a coal miner at Trevorton, Pennsylvania, at the outbreak of the Civil War. He enlisted in the 11th Pennsylvania Volunteers in 1862 and was wounded at Thoroughfare Gap, Virginia, the day before the opening of the Second Battle of Bull Run. Upon recovery he was placed in the Veterans Corps and assigned to the guarding of southern prisoners, and so forth, at the Old Capitol Prison in Washington.
“He was on guard there the night of the assassination. He took no part in the pursuit of Booth nor in his capture. When the body was returned, however, to Washington and placed on the Montauk he was one of the guards assigned. The body was placed on an old cellar door supported by two carpenter’s trestles. It was covered with a tarpaulin. He was present when a portion of the spinal cord was removed from the neck of the body and when a physician identified the body as that of Booth by a scar on the neck. He stated that he had often seen Booth about the city where he was well known and that there was no question as to his identity. The body was on the Montauk a couple of days, near the end of which the guards were told that if a boat approached the ship with two men who asked for the body it was to be delivered to them. If one or more than two men approached the ship they were to be fired upon without warning. In the dusk of the evening of the second day two men appeared and removed the corpse. They headed in the direction of the mouth of the Potomac.
“He, with another of the guards, was sent then to the old penitentiary building in the Navy Yard. A flagstone in cell No. 100 was raised, and a shallow grave dug. The body was wrapped in an army blanket and placed in a gun case. The grave was filled in and the flagstone placed over it. The few people taking part in the secret burial were sworn to very strict secrecy. This mystery was partially revealed by Colonel Lafayette C. Baker in his book published about 1867. In the meantime my grandfather had come to Indianapolis, Indiana, where he became manager of the local opera house. Here he was visited by Edwin Booth around 1869 who was anxious to learn all possible details regarding his brother’s internment. Of course, he had already been given permission to remove the body, a fine account of which was given some years ago in the Saturday Evening Post. This was during (Andrew) Johnson’s administration.
“At the trial of the conspirators my grandfather, a very close-lipped, stern man, was inside messenger. I have often heard my grandfather say that for days on end he was not allowed out of the building. His discharge from the army took place just before the execution of the conspirators. Contrary to the statements expressed by many people of the innocence of Doctor Mudd and Mrs. Surratt he was firmly convinced that they were one hundred percent guilty, Mrs. Surratt in the actual plot and Doctor Mudd in the aiding of a man of whose crime he was cognizant. (Signed) Sincerely yours, P.S. Lucas.”
In this Bicentennial year of President Abraham Lincoln’s birth, 144 years after his death, it’s fascinating to think that voices from the past still reach out through the pages of time, touching us with their personal recollections of events that have taken on a mythical life of their own. Just as the enormity of the Lincoln tragedy still affects and moves us today, a long forgotten letter brings home the fact that it also deeply moved and affected the people who lived the events before they became myth and legend.
Al Hunter is the author of the “Haunted Indianapolis” and co-author of the “Haunted Irvington” and “Indiana National Road” book series. His newest books are “Bumps in the Night. Stories from the Weekly View,” “Irvington Haunts. The Tour Guide,” and “The Mystery of the H.H. Holmes Collection.” Contact Al directly at Huntvault@aol.com or become a friend on Facebook.
