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Southern sympathizer and actor John Wilkes Booth
assassinated President Abraham Lincoln at Ford's Theatre on April 15, 1865. It
was just six days after General Robert E. Lee had surrendered the Army of
Northern Virginia to Union General Ulysses S. Grant. The surrender effectively
ended the Civil War that had raged across the nation for four years. After
funeral services in the White House on April 19, 1865 after lying in state in
the East Room of the White house on April 18.
After the funeral, an honor guard transported the casket holding the
body to the Rotunda at the United States Capitol for a ceremonial service. The body
lay in state on April 20. At 7:00 AM, an honor guard escorted the President to
a waiting funeral train that would transport the President to Springfield,
Illinois for burial. The funeral procession for President Lincoln began at 8:00
AM with around 10,000 people observing. The route the train would take would
mirror the route he took on his journey to Washington DC from Springfield,
Illinois on his inauguration journey in 1861. Before reaching Indiana, the
train would travel through Maryland, Pennsylvania, New York, and Ohio. The
President's son, Todd, who had died in the White House was disinterred and
placed in the train for burial with his father.
Last Time in Indiana
The President reached the state he spent his boyhood in,
crossing the Ohio Border into Richmond, Indiana at 7:00
AM , April 30, 1865 .
Indiana Governor Oliver P. Morton got on the train and accompanied the fallen
President to Indianapolis , where Lincoln
lay in state in the Capitol Rotunda. Thousands gathered to pay their last
respects to the fallen President. Along the way, the train passed through
various Indiana towns, including
Centreville, Germantown , Cambridge ,
Knightstown and Charlottesville .
Church bells tolled and crowds gathered to watch the solemn procession stream
by. A heavy rain had accompanied Lincoln
along the route. The rain prevented Governor Morton from delivering his public
address. The train departed Indianapolis
late in the evening and arrived at Michigan City ,
Indiana Michigan
City , the train delayed while Chicago
dignitaries gathered to board the train to accompany the President to Chicago .
Local officials conducted an unscheduled funeral as they waited. The train
departed Michigan City May 1, 1865 at 8:35 AM . Lincoln
left Indiana , the place of his
boyhood, for the last time.
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