Lincoln's Final Hours: Conspiracy, Terror, and the Assassination of America's Greatest President

232 Pages·2015·4.76 MB·English

by  Kathryn Canavan

Lincoln’s
Final Hours
LINCOLN’S
FINAL HOURS
Conspiracy, Terror, and
the Assassination of America’s
Greatest President
KATHRYN CANAVAN
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Copyright © 2015 by The University Press of Kentucky Scholarly publisher for the Commonwealth,
serving Bellarmine University, Berea College, Centre College of Kentucky, Eastern Kentucky University,
The Filson Historical Society, Georgetown College, Kentucky Historical Society, Kentucky State
University, Morehead State University, Murray State University, Northern Kentucky University,
Transylvania University, University of Kentucky, University of Louisville, and Western Kentucky
University.
All rights reserved.
Editorial and Sales Offices: The University Press of Kentucky
663 South Limestone Street, Lexington, Kentucky 40508-4008
www.kentuckypress.com
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Canavan, Kathryn.
Lincoln’s final hours : conspiracy, terror, and the assassination of America’s greatest president / Kathryn
Canavan.
pages cm
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-8131-6608-7 (hardcover : alk. paper) — ISBN 978-0-8131-6610-0 (pdf) — ISBN 978-0-
81316609-4 (epub) 1. Lincoln, Abraham, 1809-1865—Assassination. I. Title.
E457.5.C25 2015
973.7092—dc23
2015018012
This book is printed on acid-free paper meeting the requirements of the American National Standard for
Permanence in Paper for Printed Library Materials.
Manufactured in the United States of America.
Member of the Association of
American University Presses
For John, Matt, and Greg,
three marvelous writers
with unlimited stories inside them.
The life of the dead is placed in the memory of the living.
—Cicero
Contents
Preface
1. The Secret about Booth
2. Washington City Then
3. The Great Illumination
4. The Making of an Assassin
5. Plans and Dreams
6. Nothing Exactly According to Plan
7. Shuffling History
8. The Turning of the Tide
9. Looking Forward to a Memorable Evening
10. Booth’s End Game
11. ’Tis the Wink of an Eye
12. Thunderstruck
13. Their Precious Burden
14. Enough Evidence to Hang Booth
15. Waiting for History
16. That’s the Last of Him
17. Caught in the American Nightmare
18. Grief and Greed
19. The Most Elaborate Funeral in US History
20. The Manhunt Closes In
21. Unrivaled Honors and an Unexpected Invoice
22. Paltry Meanness
23. History Forgot Tenth Street
24. Lincoln Would Not Be the Last to Die at Ford’s
25. A Place to Make Him Comfortable
Epilogue: What’s Past Is Prologue
Acknowledgments
Notes
Bibliography
Index
Preface
History burst through the front door of one Washington home on April 14, 1865.
The Petersens, who owned a boardinghouse across the street from Ford’s
Theatre, were scarcely aware the president had been shot when doctors carried
him to their front door.
Unbeknownst to them, one of their boarders was standing in a second-story
window watching the commotion across the street. It was he who made the split-
second decision to run outside with a lighted candle and beckon the doctors to
their door.
Imagine how you might feel if there were a knock at your door this Friday
evening and, without a word of warning, soldiers rushed the fatally wounded
president of the United States into your bedroom, followed by the first lady,
cabinet members, and a bevy of socialites. Now imagine you have no electricity,
no hot water, and no bathrooms, just gas lamps, a stove to boil water on, and
chamber pots that you must empty.
Ordinary people like the Petersens and their boarders were thrust into an
extraordinary circumstance.
Some handled it better than others.
Until now, most of their stories were untold.
Although some of the events that took place that night startle, every detail and
quotation in this book is true, actual and documented.
Petersen House, where President Lincoln died, shown on a 1907 picture postcard. The house originally had
light green shutters.
Credit: The Collection of Jim Garrett