Mourning Lincoln

Abraham Lincoln's assassination still resonates with us today. Americans were deeply shaken by his death and the mourning public’s response was overwhelmingly. Lincoln (who had barely been reelected to his second term in 1864) was elevated to martyrdom by the populace.

After the funeral ceremony at the White House, Lincoln's casket lay in state at the Capitol. It was then put on a train and began a journey north and west to Springfield, Illinois for burial. It took over two weeks to for the funeral cortege to cross the country with numerous stops including New York, Buffalo, Indianapolis and Chicago. People lined the tracks to view his passage and sermons and speeches were made at each stop memorializing Lincoln. For more on his funeral cortege see this well done website: THE ROUTE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN'S FUNERAL TRAIN.