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During the night that President Lincoln lay dying in the Petersen House, more than 40 people came in and out. In 1868, artist Alonzo Chappel depicted all those who had come in and out as present in the room as Lincoln died—a physical impossibility. Meet some of the people who attended to the dying president that night.
A close friend of First Lady Mary Lincoln, Elizabeth Dixon stayed by the First Lady’s side during the night. Mrs. Dixon’s sister, Mary Kinney, and niece, Constance Kinney, were also with her.
Mrs. Lincoln was so visibly distraught that Secretary of War Stanton ordered the First Lady out of the president’s room. She spent the night in the front parlor and was not present when her husband died — his identity as president overriding that of husband and father.
The president’s son visited the house during the night but was not present for his father’s death. He spent much of the night with his mother in the front parlor.
The Secretary of the Navy spent most of the night inside the Petersen House. His diary presents one of the fullest pictures of the night Lincoln died.
Dr. Todd, a resident of Lexington, Kentucky, was visiting his cousin, First Lady Mary Lincoln, in Washington on April 14, 1865. He was supposed to meet with the president the next day. Instead, he tended to his cousin’s dying husband.
Vice President Andrew Johnson visited Lincoln briefly in the Petersen House during the night, but was not present at Lincoln’s death. He returned to his hotel room to prepare to assume the presidency.
The Secretary of War conducted interrogations in the rear parlor of the Petersen House. He directed the investigation into the President’s assassination and ordered additional security in case the assassination was part of a Confederate attack on Washington.
The pastor at New York Avenue Presbyterian Church, which Lincoln attended, gave a sermon at Lincoln’s D.C. funeral a few days later.
Major Rathbone spent most of the night in the hallway of the Petersen House, bleeding from the knife wounds he received from John Wilkes Booth.
Dr. Charles Leale was in the audience at Ford’s Theatre and attended to Lincoln in the Presidential Box along with Dr. Charles Sabin Taft. They then took leading roles in his care at the Petersen House, along with several other surgeons.
Dr. Charles Sabin Taft was in the audience at Ford’s Theatre and attended to Lincoln in the Presidential Box along with Dr. Charles Leale. They then took leading roles in his care at the Petersen House, along with several other surgeons.
My dress is saturated with blood; my hands and face were covered. You may imagine what a scene, and so, all through that dreadful night when we stood by that dying bed. Poor Mrs. Lincoln was and is almost crazy.
What happened to the House Where Lincoln Died? Explore how its residents fared and how this small house later became a museum with 3,000 artifacts.
How did people around the country and world respond to Lincoln’s assassination? See primary sources detailing what they said.
Looking for learning activities related to this history, and more? See what Ford’s Theatre has to offer.
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