0:02

You're listening to American Shadows, a

0:04

production of I Heart Radio and Grim

0:06

and Mild from Aaron Minky.

0:16

His footsteps echoed as he walked to the White

0:18

House hallway. As he did,

0:20

he heard the sound of sobbing from the East

0:22

Room. Inside, among

0:25

the lace curtains partially covered by

0:27

heavy crimson damask, drapery soldiers

0:30

stood guard, and there,

0:32

beneath the painted ceilings and massive crystal

0:34

chandeliers, a crowd of mourners

0:37

gathered around a body, mostly

0:39

shouted in cloth. The

0:42

soldiers he had expected, after

0:44

all, the room had frequently hosted Union

0:46

troops and leaders, Ulysses S. Grant

0:48

among them. Grant's reception

0:51

had been hosted there the year before. No,

0:53

it was the body he found there that

0:56

was out of place. The

0:58

mourners continued to weep and wail.

1:01

Who died? He asked one of the soldiers,

1:04

the president, sir. The soldier replied,

1:07

killed by an assassin. He

1:10

glanced at the corpse, a man he did not

1:12

recognize, and,

1:15

after determining it was not his own

1:17

body lying in state, Abraham

1:19

Lincoln awoke. It's

1:23

unclear how much stock Abraham Lincoln

1:25

took of dreams He talked about

1:27

them, sure, but then don't we all

1:30

His interest seemed more of a curiosity,

1:33

well, except when they were dark

1:36

dreams regarding his family. He

1:38

had had those dreams before. Once,

1:41

while traveling, Lincoln wrote a letter to

1:44

his wife Mary, asking her to make sure

1:46

their son Tad's pistol was safely hidden.

1:49

It had a terrible dream, he told her, one

1:51

regarding guns and their son. He

1:54

had recalled other dreams too, less

1:57

violent but disturbing in their own way.

2:00

On the morning of April eighteen

2:02

sixty five, he told members of his cabinet

2:04

about a dream from the previous night. It

2:07

had been a recurring dream. Actually, in

2:09

it, he was crossing a body of water, although

2:12

he was moving so fast he couldn't tell if it

2:14

was an ocean or a lake. Abraham

2:16

Lincoln was an intelligent man, There's

2:18

no question about that. But there

2:21

were two things. He was unaware of the

2:24

significance that someone later place on his

2:26

dreams, and that this new one, of

2:28

a funeral in the White House would

2:30

be his last. I'm

2:32

Lauren Vogelbon, Welcome to

2:34

American Shadows. It

2:43

was April nine, and Robert E. Lee had

2:45

just surrendered three thousand

2:47

Washington residents converged on the city

2:49

in wild celebration parades

2:52

with bands playing the Star Spangled banner marched

2:54

down the streets. Before

2:56

long, the party moved to the White House lawn.

3:00

They stood beneath one of the balconies and began

3:02

to chant speech speech.

3:05

Unlike the triumphant crowd outside,

3:08

Lincoln was more sullen. War

3:10

was war. After all, it

3:13

had taken one to bring about the end of slavery,

3:15

as well as the increasing tension between

3:17

the North and South over states rights and expansion,

3:20

but all of that had come at a tremendous price.

3:24

Upon hearing their continued boisterous

3:26

chants, President Lincoln stepped onto

3:28

the balcony and addressed to the crowd. He

3:31

had often gone against suggestions before

3:33

to not make himself so public. It

3:35

was risky, his friends and family had warned it

3:38

was dangerous. Lincoln

3:41

believed in making himself available, though

3:43

he had found value in it during his run for office.

3:46

When he couldn't stand in front of a crowd, he made

3:48

sure to sit for photographers so that people

3:51

could put a face to the man aspiring

3:53

to become their president. During

3:55

his campaign, had even passed out buttons

3:58

with his picture on them.

4:00

Since then, he had been photographed a hundred

4:02

and thirty times. He hoped

4:05

it might give the public a better look at the presidency

4:07

and helped put a face to the wartime efforts.

4:10

For those who loved him, photos were another

4:12

form of access, but he also

4:15

enjoyed the conversation, and

4:17

so on the night of April tenth, as

4:19

he looked out into the sea of citizens, he

4:22

promised them that he would deliver a speech

4:24

the next evening. We want

4:26

to hear you now, someone shouted, and

4:29

Lincoln smiled politely at their request.

4:32

He wanted to be sure of his words, though, and

4:34

he told the crowd as much. He'd

4:36

be better prepared. He told them to say all he had

4:39

to say, no mistakes.

4:42

Someone in the crowd called out, you haven't

4:44

made a mistake yet. Tomorrow,

4:47

he assured them he'd give them a proper

4:49

speech. Then Lincoln

4:52

remained true to his nickname and true

4:54

to his word. The next evening,

4:56

the crowds returned, despite the misty weather,

4:58

singing and cheering the White House lawn. He

5:02

stepped out onto the north portico's second floor

5:04

balcony to a standing ovation, though

5:07

he still felt a bit somber, he began

5:09

his speech more cheerfully. He

5:12

promised a day of national thanksgiving before

5:14

moving on to the heart of the matter. After

5:17

a moment of applause, the crowd settled

5:19

in to listen to what else the great emancipator

5:22

had to say. The nation

5:24

had a monumental task before it. He told

5:26

them. The new amendments to the Constitution

5:28

not only outlawed slavery, but

5:31

they also granted the right for black and white

5:33

citizens to access the same public schools

5:36

and allowed states to enfranchise black men,

5:38

giving them voting rights. Having

5:41

heard enough, one man stepped forward,

5:44

a twenty six year old actor named John

5:46

Wilkes Booth. He might

5:48

have lived in the North, but his allegiance had always

5:50

been with the South. Lincoln's

5:52

talk of granting black men the right to vote had

5:54

been the final straw. Face

5:57

contorted and fists clenched in fury,

5:59

he shouted racial slurs that addressed

6:01

the crowd. Now, by God,

6:03

I'll put him through today.

6:07

Those words would get you arrested. Back

6:10

then, Booth simply stormed off, all

6:12

the while forming a plan in his head.

6:15

He wouldn't take the abolishment of slavery, nor

6:17

black citizenship lying down. Though

6:22

his words of running the president through sounded

6:24

like a plan unto itself, Booth

6:26

came up with a different idea, albeit

6:29

not entirely alone. There

6:31

were initially six men as part

6:33

of the plot. Two friends

6:35

and fellow sympathizers had been aiding Confederate

6:37

spies. They knew secret roots

6:39

in southern Maryland, and one of them

6:42

figured he was physically strong enough to subdue

6:44

Lincoln if needed, and

6:46

the plan, it was admittedly

6:49

a pretty lofty one, abduct

6:51

the President, take him to Richmond, and hold

6:53

him for ransom. Lincoln

6:55

was to be exchanged for Confederate soldiers being

6:57

held in Union prisons, but

7:00

when his friends backed out, Booth decided

7:02

on a different approach, the one he

7:05

infamously carried through with on

7:09

April fourteenth of eighteen sixty five.

7:12

We're all familiar with what happened that night. The

7:14

Lincolns entered the Ford Theater Playhouse and

7:17

made their way to the Presidential Box along

7:19

with two guests. For the evening. With

7:21

the Lincoln seated in their walnut rocking chairs

7:23

and with the audience engaged in the performance

7:25

of Our American Cousin, Booth

7:28

snuck in and shot the president in the back

7:30

of the head. While his wife Mary and guests

7:32

Henry Reid, Rathbone and Clara Harris looked

7:34

on. Rathbone

7:36

attempted to tackle the president's assailant, Booth,

7:39

who was carrying a knife as well as the pistol,

7:41

cut Rathbone from elbow to shoulder. Mary

7:44

looked down at her dress, now covered in her

7:46

husband's blood. She and Clara screamed.

7:50

Making a bold escape, Booth leaped the stage

7:52

below. Shouts went

7:54

out to stop him, but Booth fled into the night.

7:57

As a man hunt emerged, an army doctor

7:59

and other physicians converged on the presidential

8:01

box. Lincoln was bleeding but

8:04

alive, Barely suspecting

8:08

the wound would be fatal, the decision was made

8:10

to move Lincoln to a more comfortable spot. A

8:13

man with a room for rent across the street from the

8:15

theater offered it to them, and six

8:17

men carried Lincoln to the house and laid

8:19

him onto a bed. Abraham

8:22

Lincoln died the following morning. Church

8:25

Bell's toll and people began to mourn further

8:28

north. The fireworks and celebration had

8:30

barely ceased when word of the assassination

8:32

reached them.

8:34

A while Lincoln's body lay in state, a

8:37

photographer's flash went off once more.

8:40

Afterward, doctor's cut away part of

8:42

his scalp and removed his brain. As

8:45

they held it, the bullet fell out. Undertakers

8:50

worked skillfully, doing what they could to

8:52

preserve the president's appearance despite

8:54

the man's devastating head wound, and arranged

8:56

his features to resemble a man at peace.

9:00

Then they dressed him and the Brooks Brothers suit had

9:02

worn on his second inauguration, along

9:04

with a pair of white dress gloves. The

9:08

North thought his death might bring the nation closer,

9:10

but sadly it did not. Some

9:14

in the South believed his death might reverse their

9:16

loss and restore life as it had once been.

9:18

Thankfully, they were just as disappointed, although

9:22

that didn't stop many Southerners from expressing

9:24

their sentiment that Lincoln had got what

9:26

he deserved. Back

9:29

in Washington, scavengers took

9:31

whatever they could find after Lincoln's body had

9:33

been moved to a pine casket, scraps

9:35

of his blood soaked shirt a lock of hair.

9:38

Doctors who had removed his brain had taken their

9:41

own morbid souvenirs as well. Around

9:44

noon on April nineteenth, four days

9:47

after his death, over six hundred

9:49

distinguished guests from generals to politicians,

9:52

crammed into the East room of the White House, where

9:54

Lincoln's casket sat. Soldiers

9:57

stood guard as mourners paid their respects.

10:00

It was exactly as Lincoln himself had

10:02

dreamed not too long before. Mary

10:06

Lincoln and twelve year old Tad stayed upstairs

10:08

throughout the four days of morning. With

10:11

so many people coming and going, and considering

10:13

how her husband had died, Mary took

10:16

the safer path of grieving in private.

10:19

Finally, a smaller group consisting

10:21

of Lincoln's cabinet, the Supreme Court,

10:23

and Lincoln's twenty one year old son Robert, paid

10:25

their last respects. But

10:29

while we've all heard the story of lincoln'ssassination,

10:33

what happened next is much less well

10:35

known. Our story begins

10:37

ten days after his murder, when

10:40

Abraham Lincoln's casket was loaded onto

10:42

a funeral train headed for its

10:44

final resting place back in his hometown of

10:46

Springfield, Illinois. Far

10:48

from a stranger to the public eye, Lincoln

10:51

would be in front of them once more. Back

11:06

in Springfield, President Lincoln's

11:08

former political friends at the State Capital

11:10

prepared for his interment. They

11:12

had purchased a site close to the train depot downtown

11:15

where they planned to build him a tomb. There

11:18

was only one problem. They hadn't

11:20

discussed their plans with Mary Lincoln.

11:24

Her husband and children had been the center of

11:26

her life. Obviously, watching

11:28

her husband die was devastating, but it

11:31

hadn't broken her. She

11:33

argued with Illinois politicians that her husband's

11:35

last wishes were to be buried in the rural

11:38

Oak Ridge Cemetery just outside

11:40

Springfield, and she intended to make

11:42

sure that happened. Though

11:44

they disagreed, they had little choice

11:46

but to oblige. She was,

11:49

after all, the legal custodian of her

11:51

husband's body. So

11:53

on April eighteen sixty

11:55

five, Lincoln's funeral train,

11:58

dubbed the Lincoln Special, to hearted

12:00

Washington. A large

12:02

photograph of the president had been secured to the front

12:04

of the engine, just above the cattle guard. But

12:07

before reaching its final destination in Illinois,

12:10

the train was scheduled to make a number of stops

12:12

in major cities so that mourners could

12:14

pay their respects. Nearly

12:17

three hundred people rode the nine car train

12:19

on any given segment from national

12:22

and state officials, to military and service

12:24

personnel, as well as the president's

12:26

oldest son, Robert. The

12:29

ninth car was reserved for two coffins,

12:31

actually one for Abraham

12:33

Lincoln and one for William Wallace

12:35

Lincoln. Abraham and Mary's third son,

12:39

Willie, as had been called, had

12:41

tragically died just before Christmas in eighteen

12:43

sixty two at the age of eleven, the

12:45

victim of typhoid fever. Abraham

12:48

had taken his son's death particularly hard,

12:50

so Mary thought it was best to have Willie reinterred

12:53

next to his father. Aside

12:56

from cities slated for public services,

12:59

the train had to other scheduled stops as

13:01

well. Oil lanterns provided

13:03

light at night, and wood stoves kept the guest

13:05

cars comfortable. The train needed

13:07

to make stops for additional oil and wood, as

13:10

well as water for the trains boilers, and meals

13:12

for passengers, making

13:14

the journey even more cumbersome. Over eighty

13:17

different passenger cars were used

13:19

to make the seventred mile journey.

13:22

Back then, train tracks often had different

13:24

gauges or widths that required passenger

13:26

cars to be switched out at various stations.

13:29

Planners coordinated with newspapers

13:32

notifying them when the train would pull into their town,

13:35

not an easy task, as time zones weren't

13:37

standardized back then. Major

13:40

locations where the train was scheduled to stop

13:42

planned ahead. Cities constructed

13:45

decorative arches over the tracks and adorned

13:47

them with flowers and flags, Bells

13:49

told, cannons were fired, and guns

13:51

saluted, all to mark the train's

13:54

arrival. People

13:56

who lived in those less publicized locations

13:58

simply gathered along the track. They

14:01

came from everywhere, traveling by

14:03

foot, horseback, buggy, and sometimes

14:05

even other trains, all for the chance

14:07

to watch the President's train passed through. Other

14:11

times, people waited in the dark, holding

14:13

torches or sitting by bonfires,

14:15

hoping to be at the right place at the right time.

14:19

Some dropped to their knees in prayer. Others

14:21

wept. Parents held children

14:23

high, hoping they had catch a glimpse

14:25

of a historic site that they remember for

14:27

the rest of their lives. And

14:30

at each stop, armed guards

14:32

watched over the bodies. Some

14:34

stayed on the train to guard Willie's coffin while

14:37

the President's was loaded onto an extravagant

14:39

horse drawn hearse. Long

14:42

processions followed the Hearse from the train station

14:44

to State Capitals for services in

14:47

Philadelphia, his body lay in state inside

14:50

Independence Halls, East Wing, where the

14:52

Declaration of Independence had been signed.

14:55

Newspapers reported that people waited upwards

14:57

of five hours just for the chance to

14:59

quit. We walked past his open coffin, Many

15:06

of those who got the chance to pay their respects

15:09

walked away, shocked. The corpse

15:11

before them bore little resemblance to the pictures

15:13

of the man they had seen. The

15:15

thinning chin, the sunken face, the

15:18

dark pallor that had settled on his skin

15:20

that morticians could no longer disguise.

15:23

The dead President didn't look how they'd expected

15:26

to some he did not resemble what they'd

15:28

call a great man. The

15:31

problem, of course, was decay. Embalming

15:35

back then wasn't what it is today,

15:37

and by the time the train pulled into Springfield

15:39

on a particularly hot and May fourth, he

15:42

had been dead and on the move for nineteen days,

15:45

all without refrigeration. The

15:48

mortician on board did his best, but no

15:50

amount of powder could hide the blotches on the

15:52

president's face. Those

15:54

public services had been intended as a way

15:56

to honor him, but now those

15:58

involved began to see it differently. Were

16:01

they respecting the President or had they disgraced

16:03

him by parading his corpse across the coast.

16:07

It's no wonder that Mary Lincoln stayed behind

16:09

in Washington. Just because

16:11

we can do something doesn't mean we always

16:13

should. The

16:16

two coffins were removed from the train for the last

16:18

time that Thursday afternoon. An

16:21

Illinois regiment made their way along the procession

16:23

route with gunfire salutes behind

16:25

them. Drummers marched in a choir saying

16:29

six horses drew the Hearse, followed

16:31

by Robert Lincoln and a group of black Americans.

16:35

The procession marched past Lincoln's home at

16:37

the corner of Ethan Jackson, and

16:39

then finally toward the Oak Ridge Cemetery.

16:42

There, Abraham Lincoln and his son would

16:44

be laid to rest next to one another alongside

16:46

a clear running stream.

16:49

The afternoon sun shone down bright and

16:51

hot. Robert and no less

16:53

than a thousand mourners solemnly stood

16:55

by as the two coffins were carried from the hearse

16:58

to a fifteen by fifteen foot public

17:00

vault. Inside, the

17:02

walls were draped in black velvet and

17:04

embellished with evergreen branches. After

17:08

everything had been through his assassination,

17:10

the embalming countless days of travel

17:12

and public viewings, Lincoln's

17:15

body would finally rest in peace. Souvenir

17:18

hunters, though, had a different plan. Within

17:22

days, an entire company of soldiers had

17:24

to be stationed at the vault. The

17:26

hunters took everything near the tomb that they could carry

17:28

away. Some weren't

17:30

satisfied with trifles and mementos, though,

17:33

no, they wanted something bigger, something

17:35

more personal. But the thing

17:37

they wanted was beyond priceless. Some

17:40

might even call it a sacred national treasure.

17:43

They wanted the body of Abraham

17:45

Lincoln. Jim

17:54

Kennelly had a problem.

17:56

Big Jim, as he was known to his friends, had

17:58

been running a profit of all counterfeit business

18:01

until a recent setback shut him down.

18:04

His best engraver, a man named Boyd,

18:06

had been thrown into a prison cell, and

18:09

to spring him, Kennelly needed some

18:11

serious leverage. In

18:14

the spring of eighteen seventy six, Kennelly

18:16

went to the town of Lincoln, which is about thirty

18:18

miles north of Springfield in Logan County.

18:21

And yes, the town was named

18:24

after the sixteenth president, but before

18:26

he became president. Twelve

18:29

of Kennelly's men called the town their home, including

18:32

gang leader Thomas Sharp. Other

18:34

members included Robert Splain, James

18:37

Fox, James Fox Jr. Benjamin

18:39

Sheridan, and Vine Williams. Collectively,

18:43

they were known as the Logan County Gang and

18:45

were notorious for using counterfeit money.

18:48

Now the gang all wanted their engraver

18:51

boyd out of prison, and Kennelly had

18:53

a plan to make it happen. They

18:55

were going to steal President Lincoln's

18:58

body and then hold it for ransom in

19:00

exchange for Voyd's release. But

19:03

while that idea probably sounded

19:05

ridiculous on paper, recent events

19:07

had suddenly turned it into a very attainable

19:09

goal. Oak Ridge Cemetery,

19:12

where Lincoln's body had been taken at the end of

19:14

his funeral train journey, dates back

19:16

to eighteen sixty five years

19:18

before the president's death. The site

19:21

had been chosen for the beautiful topography

19:23

and a large number of oak trees. Not

19:25

much had been done in the way of care and landscaping

19:28

after its creation, though, nor had

19:30

the planned stone entry or iron gates

19:32

yet been added. The burial

19:34

of President Lincoln and his son had changed all

19:36

that. Three years after their

19:38

caskets arrived in eighteen sixty five, construction

19:41

of the Lincoln Monument began. Then

19:44

six years later, on September nineteenth

19:46

of eighteen seventy one, Lincoln and

19:48

his son were moved from their hillside crips

19:50

to a more secure location in the cemetery's

19:52

catacombs. Three

19:55

years after that, and with lingering concern

19:57

about the safety of their remains, the bodies

19:59

of Lin and his son were moved yet again, this

20:02

time to a marble sarcophagus inside

20:04

the newly completed monument. It

20:06

was a historic occasion, and President

20:09

Ulysses S. Grant attended the dedication ceremony.

20:12

At last, Lincoln's remains were safe,

20:16

and now that the President's body had been

20:18

moved from its secret, inaccessible hiding

20:20

place, the gang's outlandish

20:22

plot was possible. But

20:25

Kennelly had already made some changes to

20:27

the plan. Not only would

20:29

they ask for Boyd's release, that also

20:31

demand that the governor pardoned him of all charges

20:35

and fork over a hefty sum of cash to

20:37

sweeten the deal. Little

20:39

by little, each of the men took a guided tour

20:41

of the cemetery from tomb custodian John

20:44

Carrol Power Power

20:46

liked his job and was happy to answer the guests

20:48

questions. The men couldn't believe

20:50

their luck. Not only was Lincoln's

20:53

coffin inside and above ground sarcophagus,

20:56

but a single padlocked door between

20:58

the tomb and the burial chamber was

21:00

all that stood in their way, no digging

21:02

required. Even better,

21:05

they learned that no one guarded the tomb at

21:07

night that June.

21:09

They finalized the plan on

21:11

July three. They would break into the

21:13

tomb, then move the coffin to a bridge

21:15

about two miles north. There,

21:18

they planned to rebury the president until

21:20

Boyd walked free and they had their cash

21:22

in hand. The gang

21:24

leader Sharp was the most excited about the plan

21:27

and decided to treat himself to a pre victory

21:29

celebration at a local brothel. He

21:32

drank heavily and spent time with Bell Bruce,

21:35

who knew many of the other gang members as well, and

21:38

during their time together, Sharp couldn't

21:41

help but share the news with Bell. Soon,

21:44

he bragged he and the gang would be rich. Maybe

21:46

afterward, he said, Belle and the girls would help

21:49

them celebrate in style. Belle

21:51

held down a profession viewed increasingly

21:53

as immoral by much of society, but

21:56

grave robbery stealing the president's

21:58

body. Told another

22:00

friend of hers, Abner Wilkinson,

22:03

who just happened to be Springfield's chief

22:05

of police, and wouldn't

22:07

you know it, Chief Wilkinson met tomb Custodian

22:10

Power the very next day and informed

22:12

him of the plot. Of

22:14

course, Sharp awoke from his drunken

22:16

stupor and realized the mistake had made.

22:19

With their chances diminished and cover blown,

22:21

he and his gang loaded everything up and skipped

22:24

town, leaving all their debts unpaid.

22:27

Kennely was annoyed, but he still believed there

22:29

was a way to get the job done, so

22:32

he headed to Chicago for more professional

22:34

accomplices, which he found at a shady

22:36

saloon and pool hall called the Hub.

22:40

Before long, Kennelly had recruited a

22:42

man named Jack Hughes who had a long rap

22:44

sheet for counterfeiting, as well as Jack's

22:46

friends Terrence Mullen and Herbert Nelson.

22:50

This time, Kennelly's plan involved stealing

22:52

Lincoln's coffin and loading it onto a freight

22:54

wagon headed to the Indiana shores of Lake

22:56

Michigan. There they would bury it

22:58

in the sand for safe. Keyping BOYD

23:01

would then contact the governor and make the deal

23:03

his release plus twenty thousand dollars

23:06

in exchange for the safer turn of Lincoln's

23:08

body. Kennelly believed

23:10

the plan was solid, except that

23:12

the shores of Lake Michigan were two hundred and twenty

23:14

miles from the cemetery and the trip would

23:16

take roughly ten days. Kennelly

23:19

left the men to sort out those details on their

23:21

own, but as soon

23:23

as had left the saloon, things went downhill

23:26

and what might be best described as a

23:28

bumbling comedy of errors. One

23:31

of them, Herbert Nelson, had second

23:33

thoughts about stealing the president's body and left

23:36

the group. Mullen and Hughes knew

23:38

they needed another hand, so they brought

23:40

in a wise, cracking horse thief named Lewis

23:42

Swiggles, who was also a regular of the Hub.

23:46

Little did the two know that Swiggles had been

23:48

moonlighting as a government informant to

23:50

the tune of five bucks a day. The

23:52

entire idea stunned Swiggles, but he convinced

23:55

them he was indeed their man, and told

23:57

the men he had worked as a body snatcher before. The

24:00

gang decided that November seventh, election

24:02

night was perfect people would be

24:05

in town and busy with more important matters.

24:08

All they needed to do was slip into the cemetery

24:10

and break the padlock. But

24:12

like Bell, Swuggles wasted no

24:15

time telling the authorities, who in

24:17

turn informed custodian power,

24:19

local law enforcement, and even Robert

24:21

Lincoln, and with that

24:24

the trap was set. On

24:27

the night of the heist, the hack saw, Mullen

24:29

and Hughes brought with them snapped while cutting

24:32

the padlock, so they spent the next

24:34

thirty minutes using a file. Once

24:36

the lock was freed, they stepped inside the tomb.

24:39

After breaking the seal on the sarcophagus, they

24:41

set to work removing the marble. They

24:44

ran into another snag when they discovered that the

24:46

lead coffin inside was too heavy to carry,

24:49

so Swuggles was sent to retrieve their lookout,

24:52

a man named William Neelie to provide

24:54

some extra muscle. Neelie,

24:56

though had been recruited by Swuggles himself

24:59

and was all so an informant, so

25:02

when Swiggles stepped outside the tomb, he

25:04

gave the signal. As

25:06

the officers rushed over, one man's gun

25:09

misfired, warning the gang inside by

25:11

the time officers entered the tomb, Mullen

25:14

and Hughes were gone, but the fiasco

25:16

didn't stop there. Police

25:18

ended up in a shootout with one of their own detectives,

25:21

giving the would be thieves ample time

25:23

to flee. Each

25:25

of them, though, were later arrested in Chicago.

25:28

Mullen, Hughes, and Kennely were all eventually

25:31

charged with various crimes, and the gang

25:33

was broken up for good. They'd

25:36

come within a few heartbeats of making their

25:38

own misguided mark on the pages of history,

25:41

but thanks to their own incompetence and

25:43

a good helping of covert intelligence,

25:46

Abraham Lincoln was allowed to rest in

25:48

peace, and after

25:50

all had been through, that's the least

25:52

he deserved. Fearing

26:01

future heists, Lincoln's body was moved

26:03

several times more over the years before coming

26:05

to its final resting place in seventeen

26:09

times to be exact. The

26:12

first move took place just days after

26:14

the failed attempt by Kennelly and his gang. No

26:17

one notified the higher authorities, though, and

26:20

that new location a moldy

26:22

basement right beneath the tomb. From

26:26

there it was moved to a shallow, unmarked

26:28

grave in a different basement, where he remained

26:30

for another decade. When

26:32

Mary Lincoln passed away in two

26:35

she was also buried in the basement. For

26:38

a good long while, tourists never knew

26:40

that the sarcophagus they paid tribute too was

26:42

empty, and very few people knew

26:44

the real location. In

26:48

seven, the coffins were hauled from the dingy

26:50

basement and reburied yet again in

26:52

a different below ground site within the memorial.

26:55

Lincoln's three sons, who had also died, removed

26:58

there too and buried alongside their

27:00

parents. In nineteen o

27:02

one, the bodies were moved yet again when the memorial

27:04

had to be reconstructed. Then,

27:07

on September twenty six one,

27:09

before in turning Lincoln and his wife for the

27:12

final time, the president's

27:14

coffin was opened to ensure that the remains

27:16

inside were indeed his. It

27:19

was something that had happened four other times

27:21

to ensure Lincoln was present and accounted

27:24

for, on December twenty one, eighteen

27:26

sixty, September nineteenth

27:28

of eighteen seventy one, October

27:30

nine of eighteen seventy four, and

27:32

April seven.

27:35

But despite this, theories have

27:37

evolved over the years that suggests the president's

27:40

body doesn't lie in the tomb at all. With

27:43

such a weird and twisted journey to the grave,

27:45

it's easy to see why some people would have their

27:48

doubts. Some suspected

27:50

that Robert Lincoln's visit in eighteen seventy

27:52

one was part of an elaborate ruse

27:54

to throw off further attempts at stealing the president's

27:57

body. The rumors state

27:59

he had made a arrangements with the Guard of Honor to

28:01

have his father's body hidden elsewhere. Yet

28:05

by all accounts, twenty three

28:07

people were present when the tomb was last opened

28:09

in n one. Witnesses

28:12

stated that even after thirty years, President

28:14

Abraham Lincoln was instantly recognizable.

28:18

His hair and beard had been perfectly preserved,

28:21

and it's no wonder when you think about it, to

28:24

keep him presentable during all those stops

28:26

on the funeral train. He had been embalmed

28:28

enough times that he had become mummified. The

28:31

fabric of his suit and the gloves on his hands

28:34

had molded, and across his chest

28:36

there were still fragments of the American flag

28:38

that had been buried with him.

28:42

When all the moving and rebottles were done, Lincoln's

28:45

body was safe beneath ten feet of

28:47

concrete. That didn't

28:49

stop souvenir hunters, though, when

28:51

the tomb needed reconstruction. In one

28:54

they chipped away pieces of the original marble

28:56

sarcophagus while it sat outside. The

28:58

tune m They

29:01

say, you are in death as you were in

29:03

life. Abraham Lincoln

29:05

had made himself widely available to the public

29:08

during his presidency, and in

29:10

odd ways he probably never dreamed of. It

29:13

seems he continued to do so even

29:16

in death. There's

29:24

more to this story. Stick around after

29:26

this brief sponsor break to hear all about

29:28

it. Abraham

29:34

and Mary Lincoln had four sons together,

29:37

Robert, Edward, Willie, and Tad.

29:40

The Lincoln's were very fond of children, and

29:42

it was said they weren't overly strict with their

29:45

sons. Sadly,

29:47

Robert was the only one to survive into adulthood.

29:51

His younger brother Eddie died of tuberculosis,

29:53

Willie died of typhoid, and although

29:56

Tad survived his father, he passed

29:58

away when he was just eighteen. Reports

30:01

vary on the cause of his death, tuberculosis,

30:04

pneumonia, even heart disease. Robert

30:07

resigned his post in the U. S Army a month

30:09

after his father's funeral, and moved to Chicago

30:12

to care for his distraught mother. Eventually,

30:15

Robert married and had children of his own. Following

30:18

in his father's footsteps, he practiced law and

30:21

even started his own successful firm.

30:24

He remained active in politics too. Although

30:26

he never ran for office, he did take the

30:29

post of Secretary of War President

30:31

James Garfield in one Despite

30:35

the family's tragedies, it all

30:37

sounds as though the rest of Robert Lincoln's life

30:39

was charmed. Robert,

30:41

however, believed something different. To

30:44

him. It was cursed. Ec

30:48

In July, Robert

30:50

was traveling with President Garfield, who had barely

30:53

been in office for two months. As

30:55

they waited at the Washington train station, a

30:58

lone gunman shot the president. Garfield

31:00

never fully recovered and died a couple of

31:03

months later. Then,

31:05

in nineteen o one, Robert Lincoln accepted

31:07

President William mc kinley's invitation to join

31:09

him in Buffalo, New York for the Pan American

31:11

Exposition. While they were

31:13

there, a gunman shot McKinley in the abdomen

31:15

and chest, killing him in front of a group

31:17

of well wishers. Many

31:20

years later, Roberts said that there

31:22

was a certain fatality about

31:24

the presidential function whenever he was present.

31:28

Sometimes real life is stranger than fiction,

31:31

and sometimes it gets even stranger.

31:35

One day in late eighteen sixty four,

31:37

Robert Lincoln stood on a train platform

31:39

in New Jersey with a crowd of other travelers

31:42

making their own connections. He

31:44

had been away on a trip to New York, and he

31:46

was ready to head back home to Washington. Standing

31:49

at the edge of the busy platform, he leaned

31:52

his back against a train car to let other passengers

31:54

squeeze by, and that's

31:56

when the train lurched forward. Unable

31:59

to regain his back, he pitched backward. At

32:02

the last moment, another passenger reached

32:04

out and grabbed Lincoln's collar, pulling

32:06

him to safety. The stranger

32:09

didn't recognize the president's son, but

32:11

Robert Lincoln recognized him,

32:13

even if he couldn't put a name to the face.

32:17

The older man had been a devoted Union supporter

32:19

during the war and was a staunch admirer

32:21

of Robert's father. Lincoln

32:24

thanked the man for saving his life, and

32:26

then the two went on their way. It

32:29

was only later that Robert Lincoln's savior

32:31

was identified thanks to a mutual

32:33

friend who worked for the Union Army. The

32:36

stranger had been an actor who came

32:38

from a whole family of famous stage performers,

32:41

including his brother John Wilkes.

32:44

His name was Edwin Edwin Booth.

32:56

American Shadows is hosted by Lauren

32:58

Vogelbaum. This episode, it was written

33:00

by Michelle Muto with researcher Robin

33:02

Miniter, and produced by Miranda

33:04

Hawkins and Trevor Young, with executive

33:07

producers Aaron Minky, Alex

33:09

Williams, and Matt Frederick. To learn

33:11

more about the show, visit Grim and Mild dot

33:13

com. For more podcasts from

33:16

my Heart Radio, visit the I Heart Radio

33:18

app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever

33:20

you get your podcasts.