The Assassination
of
Abraham Lincoln
Plot to Steal Lincoln's Body
Excerpts from newspapers and other sources
From the files of the
Lincoln Financial Foundation Collection
Tllti CHICAGO T*\£uio£" KDNtiSDAY. iWVOl ^'?^^^a^rtf^emSl' Oulf one moljvc CB.U t« attributed to I'.cw to; come. hero and "' ' --oiiie Eltvser VVasl" burn And His Assiat- Uoor, villi cu> Wed revolver* lu their hands, «lu- fa U l-lven above did not kill If auy rualaUiitv waa 1 and urn ku )«n tc only ants Waitin^in the Dark. temiln. ,1 to *lu>»t to u.il 1 c'aily llili iroruln /. to -/c-'U- made. Jur-t us tin v were turnlns the corner a i<-s.i,t .'>.'» but the out r.ttre would hay* accidentally exploded u'.ttiiliou » the the left one of the meu I>.< dan-eat a i*hare ol the • imUe was very luud, 10 still elettloh. Wonts cannt t cs- Iiobber'-i Interrupted by Acci- hb revolver. The toa.juunlty as the XUo nn:l unfortunate- ; k-i'.rf 1'. ~^*Wcre the bUxroundiiii,'., aud pr-:«H il.c fi-elln;'* of those who do dent, iuj'1 Contrivo to Hs- there ' double dla ailed ly it uai tuo loud, fjr, thouerh k U wm.U/ Uojasd thai Uw' ] ' fiet to e;u over, capo. we.-c !iut al>out TJJ robbery of. tho j t' f petrator.w,f thU at tfmntrd' • when the officers col to the door of the vault Wdl u-n'ttin* of America's mostLved I'resUUut dastardly villain* were j;onc. They must the -O-jU be bro.i^Ul. to justice. >/ /..- <^ - that they ompuraitvely lit tie. !o' !:?:.ar ou:ul, and he felt assured sect. Th'- dui.iaiie doue U One ri'gis- *» e ili»::l'lioiuled u' tei.fi! tjirc for no good purpose. Tin- oil" era of course lorn ' ill think I. Il U-rtO 5! from Haciuc, aud the other not tab him: fix vandals, they t> id, when they »lll KeRoaVi, Wis. Their lames are tup pre only a.iu.-.llon of a-ll^'cl me time tl':y have had nothing to do with tt.iat teapprihciiiied. ccvunrj later. An effort will of course be m.ide to Hut ut who they are, and should they prove U> he v .lott-nt Injustice Mould be doue them 'y tcVf uow who they are. Mr. Poir.r, deteeti- LOt being UM'd , to « work, xould give but rneaa-T liostrl: l^-i <.f them. 1'he result of the inur view \ h Tyrrell U nuknowu, but ho inu>t have conchi i:ii that ejection n'i THE LINCOLN TOMB PLOT. Memories Revived by the Death of Elmer Washburn. To the Eoitok ov Tub SUN Sir: The recent death of Elmer Waehburn, foniier chief of police of Chicago, caused a newspaper revival of the etory of the attempt to Htwai the body of Abraham Lincoln from the Lincoln tomb in OaU Jildgo ' Cemetery. Springfield, \\\. The tory, as revived, was Inaccurate in «i- most every detail, u carried a Chi- cago date line and should have been accurate. The uttompt was not made lin the fall of U73, but on the night of the Presidential election November 7, lo7G. Headers will readily understand why that night was chosen. The plotters were Chicago and St. Louts criminals, two of them b2lng no- torious counterfeiters. Their plan was not to take the body to Canada, but to bury tho casket containing the body In tho Kankakee swamp and hold It for ransom. One. of the sang confessed the plot Mineral daye before tho night tlxed for executing it. Kobert T. Lincoln, Hon of Hie Emancipator, and yet living, was notified, i'laus were laid to capture the Bang while at work In the tomb. Armed men, mostly '.iviseiis of Springfield, hid in the tomb -.arly in tho day chosen for the attempted robbery. The gang came Into the cemetery in a spring wagon after dark and not suspecting a trap. Without much trouble they ontored the tomb. .Lincoln's body was in a heavy meiallio casket that rested in a marble sarcophagi* in the eentro of the tomb. The robbers opened the sarcophagus end had pulled tjhe casket out about eighteen IncheB when one of the citizens lyinjr in wait to capture them made a noiso that frightened the sung and they J-im from the tomb with the citizens In pursuit. There was a running fight, but the robbers escaped. Later two of them were caught ami Imprisoned tor abort terms. Kor six months after that the casket, with Lincoln's remains, lay cov- ered with boards in a corridor of the tomb, between what ia now the memo- rial room of the tomb and the room containing tho sarcophagus. It was guarded day end | night. Then the casket, with that containing the remains of Mrs. Lincoln, was buried in six feet of cement immediately under the spot from which tho robbers had attompted to steal it. iiefore the robnrial, however, an un- dertaker, in the presence of a coanmiit- tee of Springfield citizens, removed the metal plate of the casket over the face of Lincoln, und eleven years after his death it was revealed that no apparent change had taken place. Tho remains appeared as natural us they were on the day of their interment In April, I860. This i.s the story told me by Major E. s. Johnson, custodian of the Lincoln tomb at Springfield, civil war Veteran. Inilniate friend of the Lincoln family. ouo of the men who attempted to cap- ih. ture robbers, and one. of u u- Lincoln guard of honor from, the night ol No- vember 7, 1S7G, when the attempt was to made steal the. body, until it was again interred, surrounded on every sldo by Six feet of cement. Jlajor Johnson was alto a member of the committee that viewed Lincoln's remains after they had been In the tomb eleven years. Ho web a schoolmate of Robert T. Lincoln, only survivor of the martyred I'resldent's family. juvid c. Maker. New Voiik, November 30. 1 n t Cf i^TORY OF PLOT TO STEAL LINCOL N'S BOD Y REVIVED. [j Chicago, [ Nov. 2€ (by A. P.)—The story of the plot to steal the body of Abraham Lincoln from Oak Ridge cemetery at ,fc>pringfleld was revived to-day, follow- ing the announcement of the death of ?'«"«•; Washburn, former .Chief of Police ot Chicago. According to the story, sup- pressed on request of relatives, the at- tempt was made in the fall of 1879 and the plan was to convey the body at the martyred President to Canada r wnere from negotiations for its return would •be conducted. Mr. Waehburn was of head the Government secret service here at the time and with eight Federal agents was hidden in the cemetery the when four ghouls pried open the iron door "la u s° le «m. Alarmed ij ? , by the ac- cidental discharge of a revolver., the but were arrested liVin vi. three days prison S?L£2 i°.E?23L22 »«" l? 1 Springfield Tomb of Lincoln-Story of Plsn to Steal Llofioln 1 s B^dy Story of Plot to Steal Lincoln's Body Is A Feature of Masonic Library Collection though nuinl li.stol shots were fra tnd hang on the walla of tin. a exchanged. Dramatic Story of Plot Three weeks later the robbers be- Tru uded in alcove collection is were arrested in Chicago, but TT WAS FORTY-SIX years ago' the a book by John C. Power, secretary cause' of no law in Illinois then * Nov. 7 that the last and most dar- of tho Lincoln Guard of Honor and which made grave robbing a felony, they were sentenced to only one year Ing of a Berles of dastardly attempts custodian of the National Lincoln monument, on "The Attempt to in prison on some minor charge. Was made to steal the body of Pres- Steal Lincoln's Body." The book was Realizing tho danger of leaving ident Abraham Lincoln from where presented to Col. McNeill 'of Oska- Lincoln's body in MXcb ar tmstcure It lay in the Lincoln monument at loosa. but his own manuscript which place, Dr. Power and a few other Oak Ridge cemetery near Spring- he included with the gift proves faithfuls removed the coffin and even more interesting. placed it in what apparently was a field, 111. The tragic story of President Lin- much more dangerous location and So declares Col. J. P. McNeill, of coln's deatli is too well known to much less dignified, according to Col. Oskaloosa, last survivor of the fam- need repeating. lie was shot the McNeill. For they left, he .said, on evening of April 14, 18(if>, bv John the jutting foundation walls of the ous Lincoln Guard of Honor, In his Wilkes Booth at Ford's Memorial hall, covering it only with manuscript on the historic events of theater, Washington, and died at 7:22 a. m. loose boards intending to return nearly half a century ago which is the following day. later take it to safe lo- only one of the many interesting and some On May 4, his body cality. papers, books and pictures on the was placed in the receiving vault of the Oak McNeill declares, however, that na I ion's martyred president, to be Ridge cemetery and Dec. 1 of the coffin this found in the Alcove of Lincolniana, on remained in unpro- the same year was placed for one of the noteworthy features of the in a tem- tected and undignified manner porary vault in the ground the nearly years, the necessity Iowa Masonic library in First ave- of two when National Lincoln nue. Outside of the Congressional monument associa- of making extensive repairs to the tion to remain until the catacomb of hall caused the monument associa- library, this collection on Lincoln is the monument in condition to said to be tho l«i7tept in U>* country. was a to tion instruct Dr. Power and his Though established only a year, receive it. Then on Sept. 17, 1874, ct.s.iociutes io remove it to some se- the cret the Lincoln collection of books and body was placed in Crypt No. 1 and secure place. Oct. papers now totals nearly 200 vol- and on 19, of that year, was Secrete Body enclosed in a marble sarcophagus, umes, a huge scrap book of news- On the Night of Nov. 18, 1878, they paper magazine clippings the floor of the catacomb, and of Lin- I accepted this sacred and patriotic according^^'"f: to McNeill's account. coin and many pictures. Many of,' trust and moved the body. Robert This, however, proved to be far the books are gifts from folk who T. Lincoln and members of the na- from a safe place. In the fall of are great admirers of Lincoln or tional association knew what was be- 1876, Dr. Power was informed of a who have' in their home libraries ing done but only the members of plot being concocted in Chicago books and papers»that were published the Lincoln Guard of Honor knew among alleged counterfeiters and during his lifetime or shortly after- where the body was concealed, Mc- others, to steal the body of the mar- ward. Neill says. tyred president and bold It for a The Lincolniana alcove was started The Lincoln of high ransom. United States secret Guard Honor was by Crescent lodge No. 25, A. P. and organized soon afterward incor- service men and Chicago detectives and A. M., which made a liberal contri- porated went to work on the case immediately under the laws of Illinois to bution for the purpose of obtaining guard, protect and make sacred and it was learned an attempt was everything possible pertaining to the Lincoln's body, and in every other to be made by the tomb robbers the life of Lincoln. The lodge also ap- way conserve and enshrine those night of Nov. 7, 1S76. pointed a committee of which Joseph things which were connected with B. Miller, a past master, was chair- Thieves Escape in Dark his life and service. man, to solicit money for the en- Soon after it was dark that night, The first memorial exercises for largement of the library with the Col. McNeill relates, Mr. Power and President Lincoln were held April above indicated result. the detectives hid In Memorial hall, 16, 1880, at the Lincoln monument, Many Different Biographies which was separated from the cata- under the auspices of the guard. comb by a wall, through which They began at 7:22 a. m. to corres- Included In the books in the alcove | sound carried easily. They heard I pond with the hour of his death. .are many different biographies of the robbers at work and ran After the death and burial effort been made out into the of Mrs. Lincoln. An has hallway ! in and around the I Lincoln July, 1882, continues Mr. to obtain copies of nearly every class monument, hoping to catch them red-handed. McNeill, the members of the guard of writing on him, as his life and They had not dared a met again at the request -work have been dealt with from so light in the of Robert catacomb, however, and in dark- Lincoln, and transferred her body to many different angles and by bo the ness the ghoulish gang escaped the side of Lincoln's in the secret many different authors. al- place they had provided. There they There are books on his boyhood, remained until April 15, 1887, twenty on his paternity, on his home, on his years after the president's death, relation to slavery, on the Civil war, when the guard, its membership de- on Lincoln us a leader, as a states- pleted, feeling that its trust bad man, as a man, as a lawyer; his fam- been fulfilled, exhumed the bodies ily, Lincoln at Gettysburg, personal and brought them back to the cata- recollections, anecdotes and inci- comb, turning them .over to the care dents; the poet's Lincoln, Lincoln of the members of the compared with Washington, Lincoln monument association. and .the Black Hawk war, Lincoln After the body of the martyred and Douglas, and scores of others. president had been properly ident- There is a collectioh of post card ified to forestall the possibility of a views showing places of interest in hoax, it, with that of Mrs. Lincoln, a study of Lincoln's life and the was placed in a pit dug through the events of the Civil war time. The floor of the catacomb. They remained faded newspaper clippings bring a touch of greater reality and a keen I there until March, 1900, when they remembrance to older visitors at the were removed to a temporary tomb library of those Lincoln days more built outside, while, the larger struc- than half u. o*ntu>-y u=; tures of Lincoln ranging all the way I that year, at the request of Robert prints to Lincoln, the body of his father was from news engravings, j beneath which he intends presenting to the I placed In a concrete vault Lincolniana alcove. the floor of the catacomb with the A portrait of President Lincoln ', sarcophagus directly over it. and a copy of the Lincoln classic, thc.j "In this place," Mr. McNeill writes, "it would seem that the pub- lic mind may rest in tho confident hope that through all the coming years, these sacred remains may rest quietly, unvexed by either friendly or vandal hands." , MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 29 1MOl Lincoln Sarcophagus Prey^f Despoilers Souvenir hunter, have been carrying away the white marb le sarcophagus which ln Abraham Lincoln reposed I/U40 from 1876. according to reports *from Springfield, 111. . The sarcophagus was convenient the to despoilers, it appears, because lt was left upon the lawn of the Lincoln ^morial when the «•***«* work of rebuilding of the martyred predden! eeently was begun. It was to have been preserved for Its historical assocI<{. tons, though not being incorporated in t^o restored tomb. A misunderstanding •'Pon the part of the workmen is blamed for leaving it where it could become the ruey of the, souvenir hunters. The misunderstanding is certainly re- ntable. But once it occurred, why -as it not corrected i n time to. save the sacred relic? Surely someone de- serves a reprimand for permitting it to be tossed hs< de like so much rubbj8h Southing ought to be done about it. even at this iSte date. , The surprising tnnig about incu guilty. They had broken the lock reasoning is that the plot might of a door, the courts decided, and, have been successful. One can regardless of the fact that it was in E partly imagine the furor that would their minds to steal Lincoln's body, have been created when the word they had not done so, and, as a re- was flashed over the wires that the sult, they escaped with a very light EFFORT TO STEAL BODY body of Abraham Lincoln had been sentence. fctolen from the tomb at Springfield. It is hardly necessary to state One may guess that after the mat- that this weakness in the criminal ter had remained a mystery for a law of the state of Illinois was OF LINCOLN IN 1816 few days or weeks, the nation as a greatly strengthened at the nejft. whole would have_bccn in a propel session of the state legislature so that the intent of those breaking frame of mind to deal with the to Hold Remains to locks was to be taken into consid- Intended I vandals on their own terms, if the should future events of the remains of the Martyred President eration, Secure Release and Pardon transpire. should be returned. kind The day following the attempted For Leader of Their Gang It was the pian of the counter- robbery, an organization was form- feiters to steal the body, carry it ed known as "The Lincoln Guard (This is the sixth of a scries of by night to the sand dunes of of Honor." This organization was articles written by Raymond II. Sel- northern Inaiana, about where tne made up of friends of Mr. Lincoln lers, editor of The Star, concerning Dunes State Park is now located, and and they pledged themselves to the a recent visit to the old home and bury the body in some lonely spot task of guarding the tomb of the burial place of Abraham Lincoln, in known only to themselves. There, Martyred President against future S^ingfieJO. marking the spot for their own jJJU^^ . |MVV marauders. This was the principal guidance, they would allow the purpose of the organization, al- It was more than twenty-one winds to swetp me drifting sands were burial though its duties and purposes years following the death and over the grave until all ; races of later broadened so that they in- of Abraham Lincoln that the at- the burial were removed. Then., cluded the planning of a proper ob- tempt was made to steal his body and only then, would they open ne- servance of Lincoln's birthday and from the tomb at Oak Ridge ceme- gotiations with the government for for celebrations of other occasions tery, Springfield. That anyone the release of their leader and for having a patriotic significance. should have thought of such a the pardoning of the entire band in Plans were also made at once, and weird scheme had never occurred to exchange for the return of the body were carried out, for the placing of any of these who had been in of Abraham Lincoln. the body of Lincoln in a vault so charge of the Lincoln Memorial, Might Have Worked. securely that it would be impossible for any- although the body was Had they succeeded in their first one in the future to form the opin- sealed in its crypt in the tomb and program, the stealing of the body, ion that the body might be stolen. entrance to the chambers under- the remainder of their plan might A great deal of publicity was given neath the plane of the tomb was have succeeded also. One can pic- in which the body guarded by strong steel doors that to the manner ture the state of mind of the peo- vault far were locked each night. was securely placed in a ple of the United States, even to- underneath the tomb. At the night of Nov. 7, 1876, the down On day, if they should learn that Lin- the present time, the body reposes effort, carefully planned for many coln's remains been stolen had beneath a block of steel and con weeks previously, as it was after- away and hidden in a place where thick. It was the ward learned, was made to remove crcte several feet the body would never be found un- those planned this the body of Lincoln from its last purpose of who less the perpetrators of the deed It was resting place. burial to make it the last. chose to tell. Courageous men it body of Col. Herbert Wells Fay, cus- their hope that there the the daring criminal type, which for- todian of the tomb, describes the Lincoln might lie. "undisturbed these men were, would » no doubt dastardly plot as probably bred in ever." have gone to their deaths with the mind of some reader of "blood Not Difficult Task. their lips sealed. Third degree and thunder literature" so common According to Col. Fay, present methods or the threat of death not in that day, but that there was custodian of the tomb, it would would, in the opinion of Col. Fay. to back of the plot was di- have been a very difficult task method present custodian of the tomb, have vulged later the miscreants have stolen the body on that No when been unavailing, inose in charge were captured. vembcr night back in 1876. After of the tomb in those days trem- the A band of counterfeiters had the locks to the outer doors of bled for years afterward whenever hav? been working in the Middle West tomb were broken, it would not they thought of what might have effort to in the early seventies, to rcouired a great deal of according j been the result if the criminals had that the story of Col. Their suc- break the locks and mortar Fay. j been successful in their efforts to the crypt- cesses had made them bold, and in held the metal casket in force their way into the tomb and a| their efforts circulation c,i the tomb. The work was but to put into remove the body. matter of a half hour or more with more and more worthless money, j The counterfeiters had all of the body they did not cover up their trails some heavy tools. Getting their arrangements completed and In- as carefully as they had done ear- to the sand dunes of northern decided to make their attempt on more !>- lier, with the result that the Unit- diana would have oetn a the night of Nov. 7, 1876, fifty-four of ed States secret service operatives ficult task than the actual theft years ago this month. They came learned the identity of the entire the body. to the .tomb in the dead of nignt pav- gang and finally rounded and In those days, there were no up and had succeeded in breaking the arrested the leader. ed roads and no automobiles. They lock on the outside door leading to Had Become Powerful. could not have taken the body by the inner corridors when they were Flushed with success and very train, tor every train and every frightened away. In their flight, been wealthy from their spurious money highway, too, would have they left their tools and enou^n planned operations, the members of the suarded. The vandals had clews to permit the U. S. secret ser- to travel by night and had mapped gang naturally resented the arrest I vice operatives to figure out the j They of their leader and seemed to feel 'their route with great care. perpetrators of the deed, and witn- j if should that Uncle Sam was interfering witn I felt very certain that they entire i | in a few days the band was a business that he right to set a start of a few hours they had no rounded up and placed behind | seatbins break up. This was the conclusion 'would be successful in bars. * produced by their crooked reason- Housebreaking Charge. ing ar.d they began to plan and The tragedy (or comedy might plot to effect the release of their perhaps be a better word) of the leader, without at the same time entire transaction was that after endangering their own Leeaom. the grave robbers had been caught Efforts to influence the court and placed behind the bars, it was were unavailing and then it wa^ found that the state cf Illinois did that the plan was suggested by one statute fit i not have a single to of them that they should steal the their case except the statute against body of Abraham Lincoln and hold housebreaking, and that was the it as a hostage until they should ef- | i only charge of which they were fect the release of their leader and should secure a promise from the Federal government that pardons should be granted. all of them. their destination. After that, they were to send a letter to the gov- ernment officials setting forth the terms under which the body would bu returned or its hiding place re- vealed. They had every reason to believe they would have their plans crowned with success. Reading of these plans in this era makes it hard to realize thai such an act of depravity could cvcji bo conceived, but there are thing* almost as bad, or even worse, hap- pening today. In fact, it would be much • easier to carry out, such a plan now than it was a half cen- tury or more ago, but it is not at all possible that anyone will ever succeed in stealing the body ol Abraham Lincoln. One trembles yet, however, in the thought that such a plot was once almost suc- cessful. We in America are a civilized na- tion. We realize that the body is but the residence in which the soul resides. When the spirit moves out, the body returns to dust. We cai accept that doctrine with regard to our own bodies, but there is some- thing sacred about the dust of our loved ones. We like to know where repose their mortal remains. We like to go to their graves and place there our tributes to their memor- ies. We like to go there and com- mune in memory with them once more. It was the realization of this very human feeling that caused our own government to send the mothers and wives of our boys who were buried in France back there across the hundreds and thousands ol miles of water that they might visit the graves of their loved ones. No wife or mother who has made that sacred pilgrimage has failed to say I O'l her return that she "feels better now that I have visited his grave.' 1 It would have made no difference to Abraham Lincoln's spirit what might have been done with his body, but it would have made a great deal of difference to the hundreds of thousands of people who revere his memory. One stands in awe ,11 the tomb of Lincoln as the realiza- tion comes that here lies the body of the man who is described as "hu- manity's friend." One may have .1 feeling of reverence as he stands in the great Lincoln Memorial in the Nation's capital. You may feel that you should bare your head I at the shrine of his birth or at the grave of his mother down in southern In- diana, but it is a different feeling frcm all of these that you have as you stand at his last resting place. We would have a far different feeling, we arc quite sure, at' the tomb in Oak Ridge cemetery, had I those vandals been successful in their efforts on that November night in 187C. R SUNDAY JULY 12 1931 "T^UmanS. ^l-aJ~g^"Re^l£.-Vc-i secret service. It was a very cloudy signal to the five officers Inside the which a party convicted of that crime day and it turned dark early. At Memorial hall. Therefore, the officers is subject to a penalty of not ItsJ six o'clock the head of the secret serv- waited for his signal. Later it was than one and not more than ten years, PLAN TO STEAL ice and four men, including the ex- learned that after breaking the lock in the penitentiary. chief, were admitted to the Memorial of the sepulchre, and before starting Following this attempt to steal the hall at the south door of the tomb to force the lid of the sarcophagus, remains of Lincoln "The Lincoln LINCOLN BOOT by James Carroll Power, the custodian they pushed the young man into the Guard of Honor" was formed for the of the tomb. The outer door was room and gave him a lantern to hold. purpose of protecting the .body. It then locked and the party conducted He realized they would shoot him if was legally organized on F»*>ruary 13, through the north door of the hall to he attempted to dispose of the light 1880, with G. S. Dana, president; TOLDJNJETAIL a place where lights could not be seen and pass out the door. There was N. J. Reece, vice president; J. F. through the door grating from the nothing for him to do but hold the McNeill, treasurer; J. C. Power, sec- outside. Lamps were lighted and one light till they had the wooden and retary; J. P. Lindley, Edward S. Sur- Secret Service Operative man placed inside against the solid lead coffin drawn from the sar- Johnson, Horace Chapin, N. B. Wig- the cophagus. When it was about half gins and Clinton L. Conkling. mises Plan and Take wall separating the hall from sepulchre on the north, where he way out the conspirators stepped out- Other objects of the organization Steps Accordingly: could hear noises of any persons at- side the sepulchre and instructed the were the raising of a fund to pur- tempting to break into the sepulchre. young man to bring a horse and chase the home of Lincoln, repair is wagon hidden near it By WILLIAM DODD CHENERY He was instructed to remain there they thought was and open to the public, and to by to haul away the body, they agree- hold memorial services upon suitable till he heard sounds, in which event Restless in life, the massive 'frame return to Memorial hall, ing to await his return. He had not anniversary occasions The first that templed the matchess soul of he was to guided by lamps placed as guides, and really secured the horse and wagon memorial service ever held at the Abraham Lincoln found not siircease but made them believe he had one at tomb was at 7:22 a.m. on the morn- death. During the 36 report. from strife in the east gate. He started in that di- ing of April 15, 1880, to correspond cjay he Await Thieves years that elapsed from the rection as though going for the team with the moment that Lincoln had was placed in the receiving v^ult in custodian of the tomb, Mr. The and then, in the darkness, turned breathed his last. • till the vaulted Oak Ridge cemetery Power, and the five officers kept and ran to the door of Memorial hall grave in the sepulchre of the tomb watch in darkness so intense that "it and gave the prepared signal. was dug at the insistence of his 6on, could almost be felt" for more than Capture Conspirators Robert T. Lincoln, so deep 'and so two and a half hours, when footsteps securely barred by iron, steel and were heard approaching the outer The officers quickly hurried around cement that never again wiJLit be south door, which was closed by two the tomb to the north door, expect- opened, he was moved far inore than shutters, one of wood and glass and ing to capture the conspirators, but twenty times, not counting the. many the other of iron rods. Two men they, shrewdly, had withdrawn about times the casket was opened '.on the appeared, one carrying a dark lan- 35 yards from the tomb and lay down cortege procession from Washington tern. Finding both doors locked, by a small oak tree, from where they ' to Springfield. 3 they seemed satisfied and went to the saw the officers enter the sepulchre and heard their exclamations of dis- No tale of the imagination of the north door, 120 feet distant, and by sawing and filing, broke the padlock appointment. For ten days they to the grated door of the sepulchre. could not be found. At the end of dramatist could be more thrilling They began taking the stone sar- that time the young man, who had than the attempted abduction of the cophagus apart, and the sentinel managed to retain their confidence, remains in 1876. The chief operator placed inside reported that the men informed the officers that they were of the United States secret service were at work. Mr. Power writes that together in the same drinking place for the district including Chicago had there was for some minutes excited in Chicago where he had first en- suspicions aroused that a certain sa- whispering between the officers and tered into the scheme with them. The loon was the rendezvous for counter- he wondered why they did not at officers entered the saloon, one or feiters and sent a young man, not once try to capture the conspirators. two at a time, till enough were pres- before known in these parts, to try It developed later that they did not ent to enable them to overpower and to gain their confidence. By gradual depend alone upon the sentinel in- handcuff them. They were brought approaches he worked his way so side. ThR young man from Chicago to Springfield, tried and sent to tiia skillfully that he was admitted to who was in the confidence of the penitentiary for one year—the fullest their plans. They intended to steal conspirators had been instructed to extent of punishment for stealing a Lincoln's remains, bury them in some leave them as soon as they entered dead body at that time in effect. On secure place, leave the country for a the sepulchre, go around outside and May 21, 1879, a law was enacted under while and await a favorable time to return and claim a reward. They hoped to obtain $200,000 in cash and also the release of a confederate who had been arrested and was serving a ten-year sentence in Joliet peni- teniary for making counterfeit money. They proposed to their new acquaintance, the secret service, agent, that he accompany them and share In the profit. He reported to his su- perior officer, who Instructed him to agree to their proposal and report daily. Plan to Steal Body It was decided to steal the body Tuesday night, November 7, 1876, the night following a presidential election day, as it was thought so many peo- ple would be out late seeking election news that no suspicion would attach to their movements. The two con- spirators and the young secret service man left Chicago on the Chicago and Alton road at 1 p.m. November 6; the chief secret service operator and two assistants boarding the rear of the same train. All arrived in Spring- field at 6 a.m. November 7, the train being two hours late. Balloting for president and vice president was go- ing on all over the nation. At five o'clock that afternoon two additional secret service men arrived, one of them an ex-chief of the United States '• WEEK BY WEEK S\ t i £ . - _ IB THE PLOT TO STEAL LINCOLN'S BODY Condensed From The Records. HERBERT WELLS FAY, Custodian Lincoln's Tomb. In 1876 Benj. Boyd, an expert engraver, was caught in the act of making a plate of counterfeit money at Fulton, Illinois, and was sent to the penitentiary at Joliet. Mullen and Hughes were passers of the counterfieit money in Chicago and they laid plans to get this engraver out, realizing that they would soon be out of money. The plan was to steal Mr. Lincoln's body and hold it for ransom, and at the proper time agree to return it for the pardon of the engraver from the penitentiary and $200,000 cash ransom. It failed as they had taken a government detective into their confidence and they and the whole secret service force came down from Chicago on the same train. While the detective and Mullin and Hughes were tearing the sarcophagus apart in the tomb proper, the secret service and local assistants were in the room at the tomb where you now register. At the last moment orders were changed and the detective could not give the alarm as planned but did a little later. Mullens and Hughes were tried and sent to the penitentiary for one year, there being no law until later that gave a penalty for the stealing of a human body. The at- tempted theft was on Nov. 7, 1876, the night that Hayes was elected President. The general impression that the attempt was made from the Oak Ridge receiving vault, but this is not sustained by the records. Emancipator's Casket Cost Sum of $75 tditor Tverybody's Corner: Was there ever an attempt maile to steal the body of Lincoln I Plcaie givt an' account of it. C. 1. B. COMPARATIVELY recently ASas 1901 the coffin of Abraham Lincoln was opened in Spring- field, Illinois, to set at rest rumors that ghouls had carried away the body. Then, in the presence of M. O. Williamson, one-time State Treasurer of Illinois, and fifteen others, the coffin was opened, the body of the Great Emancipator was seen, and the coffin was closed, sealed and imbedded in solid con- crete. At that time the Board of Trustees of the Lincoln monument in Springfield decided, with the consent of Robert Todd Lincoln, the son, to open the coffin before it would be sealed forever. Early in the year of 1876 a pri- vate detective discovered a plot of a Chicago gang to steal the body of Lincoln. The plot was not car- ried into execution until election night in the following November. Robert Lincoln, meanwhile, had been notified and the conspirators were continuously watched by pri- vate detectives. On election night the would-be robbers arrived in the Springfield cemetery while detec- tives watched from behind Me- morial Hall, a lew yards away from the tomb. Accidentally one of the detectives dropped his pistol and it was discharged and the ghouls made their escape, but not before they had drawn the heavy casket halfway out of its sarcophagus. Two weeks later the robbers were captured by the United States Secret Service men. Curiously enough, grave robbing at that time was not a crime in Illinois, and the prisoners were indicted for con- spiracy to steal a coffin, the prop- erty of the Lincoln Monument As- sociation. They were convicted and sentenced to one year's imprison- ment. The undertaker who had sold the coffin testified that it was worth $75. Fearing another attempted grave robbery, the Monument Associa- tion had stone masons replace the casket in the sarcophagus and re- pave the marblework the morning alter the attempted robbery. Still fearful, they had the body hidden beneath Memorial Hall where it remained for ten years until a strong tomb of brick and mortar, more secure than the old sarcopha- gus, was completed on April 14, 1887, and the coffin was removed to it. It was in 1901 that Robert Todd Lin- coln provided the funds for an ab- solutely robber-proof vault, con- sisting of armorplate and concrete, ten feet below ground within the base of the new monument. Here on September 26, 1901, after iden- tification was made which was men- tioned in the first paragraph, Abraham Lincoln was interred for the "last" time. P II I L A d r, £ r / : - J The Attempt to Steal Lincoln's Body By Herbert Wells Fay, Custodian Lincoln's Tomb, Springfield, III. rpHE question of the place of hi3 in the door. This was the signal for *• burial is the one most frequently the whole force to proceed to the asked at Lincoln's Tomb. This is quite north room and catch the thieves in generally followed by the inquiry, the act. "Why should any one wish to steal But at the last moment the thieves his body?" The story is this: A changed their plans, they placed the of counterfeiters lo- group had been detective on the inside to hold the cated in Illinois in 1876, and northern lamp. The officers had a relay of Benjamin Boyd, an expert engraver men stationed around the hallway had been caught in the act of making and they reported the tearing of the a plate in a deserted stone house sarcophagus apart but they could get along the Mississippi river Fulton, at no signal. 111., and had been sent to the peniten- They tore off the end and drew out, tiary at Joliet. about 16 or 18 inches, the casket hold- The passing of counterfeit bills in ing Mr. Lincoln's body, being ready Chicago had been traced to Mullens to load it and take it away when they and Hughes; and Lewis Sweigles, a told the detective to go for his Pinkerton detective had been sent by wagon. the U.S. officials to shadow them. After It was the night of the election the detective had gained their confi- of Rutherford B. Hayes, to the presi- dence, they said they were getting dency of the United States, and people short of counterfeit bills, and dis- interested in election returns were closed the plot to steal Mr. Lincoln's constantly passing through the ceme- body from his tomb at Springfield, tery- The two thieves hid behind take it to the sand dunes of Indiana, some bushes north of the tomb to hide it between two trees, where the await developments. winds of the night would cover all The detective started down the traces of recent movement, and when steps as if after his wagon, but when the excitement of the loss of Mr. Lin- out into the darkness proceeded to coln's body had reached fever heat, to the south end of the tomb and gave again return it for the pardon of the signal. The secret service men their engraver from the penitentiary rushed to the tomb proper and found and a payment of $200,000 in cash it empty. besides. When the thieves saw a force of approaching striking matches in- But it all failed, because the de- men and wagon, as they tective in whom they confided dis- stead of the man fled in the dark- closed the whole plot. He pretended had expected, they started on foot to them that he was an expert body ness, got away and snatcher, and had furnished many for Chicago. They were arrested in back to Spring- bodies for the medical students, and a few days, brought being no pen- for alleged skill and valor, they pro- field and tried. There for such an offense, posed that he accompany them to alty at the time breaking the Springfield on their ghoulish mission. they were charged with lock and sentenced to one year in the They all came on the same train. penitentiary. The next legislature The detective and the two thieves oc- placed a penalty at from one to ten cupied the smoking car, while Cap- years for like offenses of stealing tain P. A. Tyrell of the secret service bodies. force and his men, slipped into the sleeping car as the train was pulling out. They kept out of sight during the trip. When in the yards at Springfield they had the train crew let them off on the wrong side, and made their way to the Lincoln Tomb and joined the custodian and local officers in the registration room. In their original plans Hughes was to visit the tomb and get the lay of the land. Mullens was assigned to get the tools, and the detective was to get a horse and wagon, which he told them he had secreted at the bottom of the hill near the receiving vault. In all their plans, the Pinkerton de- tective was to remain on the outside, and he had planned with the secret service men, that when they had en- tered the tomb proper, he was to dash around to the south door, the entrance >^JBED of the registrar room, and as an alarm, was to strike a match and light a cigar in front of the window I luX^ I 133 WEEK BY WIH , THE ATTEMPT TO STEAL LINCOLN'S BODY Compiled by Herbert Wells Fay, Custodian Lincoln's To;nb As about 100 tourists in the past few When Lincoln's casket was drawn out days have asked where they could get the of the sarcophagus about twenty inches, thrilling story oi the attempt to steal Mr. Mullens ordered the detective to go for Lincoln's body, and as Power's account his horse a;;d wagon. When out into the of the crime is cut of print, we republish darkness ha proceeded to the south door the outline of tha story. of the tomb and gave the signal. As In 1886 a group of counterfeiters had Mullens and Hughes had their work at been run down by the United States the tomb completed, they hid under the secret service, and Benjamin Boyd, an ex- bushes beneatn a big tree just north of pert engraver, was apprehended at Ful- thie tomb. ton, Illinois, where he had rented a de- When they saw several men approach serted house and on trial was sent to the instead of a man and a wagon tney fled penitentiary at Joliet. for Chicago, getting away that night, hut Terrence Mullens and Jack Hughes they were traced to their city haunts and were under suspicion as confederates in captured in a few days. Chicago and Lewis S. Swegles, a Pinker- This was the night that Hayes was ton detective was detailed to shadow ele.tcd President, iVov. 7, 1876. ±hey se- these men. After gaining their confi- lected election night for their crime be- dence they told him that they were get- lieving that their activities would not ting short of counterfeit bills and that be so apt to attract attention. they must get their engraver released. They were tried and sent to the peni- One of their plans was the wild scheme, tentiary for one year, there being no law the statute that is, to steal Lincoln's 1 ody carry it on books providing a penalty to the sand dunes of Indiana and bury it for attempting to steal a human body. between two trees, where the. winds of Later an act was passed and now in Illi- the night would cover all traces of recent nois one could be sent for from one to movement and at the proper time agree ten years for the same offense. to return it for the pardon of their en- graver from the penitentiary and S2Q0,- This attempt to steal Mr. Lincoln's 000 in cash as a ransom fee. body caused .Robert Lincoln in 1901 to But it all failed because "murder will place it where it now remains six feet out." The Pinkerton man pretended to be- irom the inner north wall ten feet below one of the four famed body snatchers of the floor, protected by $700 worth of his community and with the record they steel, stone and cement, or 30 inches wished him to come along and take part north of the 1930 cenotaph and ten feet in the goulish night raid. below the floor. They all came down from Chicago on the same train. Swengles, the detective, Be careful to note that it requires two and the two body thieves occupied the sets of figures to locate the body, and smoking car, while the secret service men everyone interested wants to know the slipped into the sleeper at the rear of facts. the train and kept out of sight during the trip. When in the Springfield yards Springfield, 1850. they had the trainmen let them off on R, Lloyd, Esqr. the wrong side and they proceeded to the You see the purport of the within let- Lincoln tomb and hid in the space back ter. I can do no more in the case. I of Memorial Hall at the south entrance think you had better employ another— of the tomb. either Judge Logan here, or Judge Pur- On arriving at Springfield, Mullens ple at Peoria, and let him correspond was to get the tools, which he did. with Grimshaw at once. Hughes was to get the lay of the land, Your truly, which he did, and Swengles, the detective, A. LINCOLN. was to have ready a horse and wagon, (Not in standard works.) but he did not, but told them he had. In all the plans the detective was to remain on the outside and Hughes to Springfield Cafeteria hold the light while Mullen pried the sar- 508 E. MONROE ST. cophagus apart. But at the last moment they ordered the detective on the inside 29c—39c—49c to hold the light. This prevented him from going to the Noon and Evening south door and lighting a cigar which Breakfast 6-11:30 was the agreed signal. about lf> or lx inches they told the de- The Attempt to Steal Mr. Lincoln's Body tective to get his horse and wagon. He The most went down the steps until they could net appalling incident in the story of Abraham see him and then swung around to tiu Lincoln excepting his murder was south door and gave the the attempt to steal his body. alarm as plan- In 1875 a group of counterfeiters was ned. Chief Patrick Tyrrell and men located in northern Illinois. They were rushed around to the north end found tiie chased from city to city. Benjamin Boyd sarcophagus as above described, but no an expert one was present. Mullens engraver was caught in the and Hughes upper story after of a deserted stone house they had finished theil work, hid alonpr the Mississippi river at Fulton, behind some bushes by a large tree at ti a III. The U. S. north end and when they secret service men of this' saw several division nun watched his maneuvers there for appearing instead of horse and some time, wagon, hoping to arrest at the same they fled to Chicago am! were not time captured for several days. Dr. Driggs, whose printing outfit was in the This was Nov. 7, 1876, the night Roth- freight house at Clinton, III., and erford Hayes was elected President. In afterward moved and set up and in due time Mullens and working order in a secret room on the Hughes were tried top story and given a sentence of one year in the of a building at Central ia, 111. penitentiary, theie Leaving Cn.pt. Patrick D. Tyrrell and being n-o law provid- John McDonald at Fulton, Chief Elmer ing a penalty lor the stealing of a human body. Washburn left for Centralia to nick up Driggs. When Boyd was arrested they Mullens and Hughes had planned a telegraphed Washburn that the "bird had clever ruse. They took uncommon news- been captured" which was the signal for papers and wrapped their tools in some him to get Driggs. They were tried Oct. and dropped it on the floor. They had 21, 187.i, convicted and sent to the peni- conceived that this paper would be sought tentiary. A little later Terrcnce Mullen as evidence. They tore off a part of the and Jack Hughes, who were passing coun- front page through the label and ad- terfeit bills in Chicago, became alarmed, dress. This they expected to send to Mr. their stock was getting low and they com, Boyd in the penitentiary and he could nifmced a campaign to get Boyd out of show to the authorities showing that he Joliet. One of thoir schemes was to steal was connected with the thieves and Mr. Lincoln's body, carry it to the sand- could produce the body. The detectives dunes of Indiana, bury it between two spoiled all this. trees ar.d when the excitement was at its The remains of Mr. Lincoln were on height to agree to return the body for the September 26, 1901, viewed by a delega- pardon of their engraver from the peni- tion of citizens who declared that except tentiary and $200,000 cash. for being a little dark did not look as if It all failed because the two body he had been buried except for a few snatchers had taken a detective into their weeks, and authorities say if it was that confidence. Capt. P. D. Tyrrell, John well preserved after 36 years it will re- McDonald and a few detectives and main practically the same for centuries. Swegles and the two body thieves came An excavation was made six feet from from Chicago to Springfield on the same the north opening, twelve feet into the train. The official kept out of sight all ground, this was filled two feet by ce- the way down and the trainmen let • them ment, upon which a steel cage is placed off on the wrong side of the train in holding Mr. Lincoln's casket. Thin ce- the Springfield yards and they came out ment was poured over this and masonry to the tomb and were hidden in the regis- built over that to the top of the ground. ter rooms and the hallway. One of the It is four feet from the top of the earth thieves was to get the tools, the other to to the floor. It was not necessary to dis- gft the lay of the land and the detective was to bring a horse and wagon, which turb his body in he the 193] construction. did not do but told them he had se- The centopah was placed si:: feet creted at the bottom of the and 30 hill. In all inches from the the north opening or win- plans the detective was to remain on dow. This would leave Mr. Lincoln's the outside and he planned body as soon as located they as follow.,; six feet south of the commenced to work on the sarco- north window or 30 phagus to come around inches north of the to the front floor centopah and ten L'est below the floor, of the tomb and strike a match before with head to the the window west. There is nothing as if he was lighting a cigar. over the body to mark But at the live burial spot. last minute they switch H plans and put the detective on the inside to bob] the lamp. After the end of the sarcophagus was torn away, the douh'» tops removed and the casket drawn out CONSPIRATORS h remains and the vigilant officials Springfield and tried, were sentenced are quickly moving to the final de- to one year in the penitentiary. At noument. TRY TO STEAL thati time that was the fullest extent The lock broken, the thieves begin of punishment for stealing a dead taking the stone sarcophagus apart, body. In 1879 the penalty was raised but still the federal agents wait. Mr. from one to ten years. LINCOLN BODY Power is confusedly beginning to Sought Wonder why they don't spring into $200,000 action. He learns that his com- The thieves had intended to steal Secret Service Men Frustrate panions are not making any moves Lincoln's body, rebury it in some until they receive a pre-arranged secure place, leave the country for Scheme on Election signal from one of the vandals! a while and at a favorable time, re- In amazement he discovers turn and claim a reward. They Night that one of the conspirators is in reality hoped to get $200,000 and the release a secret service man detailed by the of a confederate who had been ar- The time is 6 a.m. November 7, chief operator of the federal secret rested for counterfeiting and was 1876. service for the Chicago district to serving a 10 year sentence in Joliet. The day is cloudy and gray, a gain the criminals' confidence. How Following the "snatch" scare, the somber harbinger of a crime- well he succeeded was shown by his "Lincoln Guard of Honor" was or- premeditated night. working hand in glove with the gang. ganized to protect Lincoln's body and to A puffing Chicago and Alton train Coffin Drawn Up raise a fund whereby his pulls into the home might be purchased, repaired Springfield station, Almost incredibly soon the wooden and thunderously unloads and opened to the public. its human and lead coffin of the martyred pres- cargo. Three disembarking male ident is drawn from the sarcophagus. passengers look furtively about them, Still the spy has not given the sig- then make a bee-line for town. After nal. Has something happened to them, prosaicly enough, follow an- him? Should they continue other to wait. trio. The agents nervously wonder. It is a presidential election day. There It is at last. Rushing Even at this early hour there is a around the tomb to the north door smattering crowd. Rigs and horses they burst into the sepulchre—only are tied to the halter-posts around to find it empty! The body is in- the square, and enthusiastic ballot- tact but the conspirators are gone. ing, already underway, continues And so ended one of the most eerie through the hours. of the Lincolnian chapters. Early dark descends upon the city. Conspirators Captured Out at Oak Ridge cemetery a death- As a perfect finishing touch the like pall envelopes the 'white tomb- conspirators were finally captured stones pointing heavenward, and the through the efforts of the spy who pretentious Lincoln Memorial tomb. had managed to regain their con- U. S. Agents Admitted fidence. They were caught in their Chieago Five men, three of whom were hide-out—a saloon. They had escaped the passengers on the morning train, agents the first time only knock at the south door of the tomb. because they* had cunningly withdrawn Secret service agents, .they are ad- from the tomb after the agent-spy mitted by the custodial, James Car- ostensibly went for a horse and roll Power. Locking the outer door, wagon with which to haul away the the party goes through the north body. The spy had not been able door of the hall to a spot where to give his alarm as soon as he lights cannot be seen through had planned because his the comrades had grated door on the outside. made him hold a lantern while they did the digging. Lamps are lighted and a is man The conspirators, brought to stationed inside near the solid wall separating the hall from the sep- ulchre on the north. Instructed to remain there until he hears any sounds, in which event he is to make his way to Memorial hall, the rest of the party leave him. Intense darkness cloaking them, the five officers and Mr. Power keep watch for several hours before they hear footsteps approaching the outer south door which is closed by two shutters, one of wood and glass and the other of iron rods. Break Lock Two men appear cautiously carry- ing a lantern. They too had been passengers of the morning train. Finding both doors locked to their satisfaction, they go to the north door a little more than a hundred feet distant and start sawing and filing the sepulchres padlock. Except for their furtive move- ments, silence reigns. While the rest of the nation is wondering who's going to be the next president, his- torical drama is being enacted al- most beneath their very nose. With- in several hundred feet of each other the would-be desecrators of Lincoln's Attempt to Steal Lincoln's Body On January 24, 1936, Jess Jones of Chicago, visited the tomb. He is a dis- tant relatives of Rev. Jenkin Lloyd Jones famed as the founder of Lincoln center, Chicago. This enterprise, while primar- ily a department of social activities, was established and supported by the dona- tions and endowments of Chicago people somewhat after the Hull house plan. He had heard of the plot to steal Mr. Lin- coln's body. The story briefly is as follows: Ben Boyd had been sent to the penitentiary in 1886 for making counterfeit money plates. Mullen and Hughes were hand- ling counterfeit bills in Chicago. To get their engraver out in 1876, they proposed to steal Mr. Lincoln's body and bury it in the sand dunes of Indiana and at the proper time agree to return it for the pardon of Boyd and $200,000. It all failed because they had taken a Pinker- ton detective into their confidence. The United States secret service officers and the detective and two thieves all came to Springfield on the same train—the night Hayes was elected president. The se- cret service men were in the south room. In all their plans the detective was to re- main outside on guard and at any time could appear at the window in the south room. He was to light a cigar and that was the signal. At the last moment they placed the detective in the inside of the north room to hold the light. When the sarcophagus was torn apart and Lin- coln's casket drawn out about eighteen inches, they ordered the detective to go for his wagon, as he had promised. When out in the darkness he proceeded to the north room and found that the thieves had vacated. When they saw a dozen men approach they left for Chicago but were captured in a few days and sent to the penitentiary for one year. Lvr<> ^/;>'.v ' ///S4 When the thieves saw a force of men approaching striking matches instead of the man and wagon as they had expected, WEEK BY WEEK they fled in the darkness, got away and started on foot for Chicago. They were PLOT TO STEAL LINCOLN'S BODY arrested in a few days, brought back to Springfield and tried. , I There being Com ; bi, Wells Pay, C« ..lain l.inchiST, no eraii;. 1 at the time for such offense, they Th que tion of the place ox' his burial wrong side and they made their waay to were charged with breaking the lock and is the one most frequently asked at Lin- the Lincoln tomb and joined the CL1S- sentenced to one year in the penitentiary. coln tomb. This is quite generally fol- todian and local officers in the regis.strar The next legislature placed a penalty at lowed by the inquiry "Why would anyone room. from one to ten years for like offenses. is v i. h to steal his '00115 V The story In their plans Hughes was to visiit the Fear of subsequent had been attempts caused this: A group of counterfeiters tomb and get the lay of the land. Miullen the officials in charge to place Mr. Lin- located in northern Illinois in 1876, and was assigned to get the tools and thic- de- coln's body in iron and had masonry six feet Benjamin Boyd, an expert engraver tective was to get a horse and w,-agon south from the north wall or grating, service ten boon caught by the U. S. secret which he told them he had secretecd at L'cet below the floor with head to the plate in a men in the act oi making a the bottom of the hill mar the rece west. It was not disturbed in the 19ol deserted stone house along the Missis- vault, but being a detective he ha reconstruction, but a centopah was sippi river at Fulton, Illinois, and had placed six feet and thirty inches south been sent to the penitentiary at Joliet. In all th eir pi ana tl ie I 'ink. ite in d of the grating. Chi- The passing of counterfeit bills in Live was t ron lam 1 1 he on! side an m The position of the body at the present cago has been traced to Mullens and he had ph Hilled with the ! seciei; se time is thirty inches beyond or north of Hughes, and Lewi;; Sweigles, a Pinker- men that v\ hen t hey hi id e ntered the torn I he cenotaph ten feet below the floor had been sent by the U. S. was d; arouni 1 to th ton detective to ash surrounded by six feet of concrete and to shadow them. After the de- so at! if tli officials iron with head to the west or facing the tective had gained their confidence, they room and as an alarm was to strike a cast. said they wji^ getting short of counter- match and light a cigar in front of the fit bills, and disclosed the plot to steal window in the door. This was the signal Mr. Lincoln's body from his tomb at for the whole force to proceed to the Spiingfield, take it to the sand dunes of north room and catch the thieves in the Indiana, hide it between two trees, where act. the winds of the night would cover all But at the last moment they changed traces of recent movement and when the their plans, they placed the detective on excitement of the loss of Mr. Lincoln's the inside to hold the lamp. The officers body had reached fever heat to again to had a relay of men stationed around the return it for the pardon their engraver hallway and they reported the tearing from the penitentiary and a payment of of the sarcophagus apart but they could |200,000 in cash ! esides. get no signal. But it all failed because they had taken They tore off the top and end end and the detective into their confidence, who drew out the casket holding Mr. Lincoln's disclosed the whole plot. He pretended to body about 16 or 18 inches, just ready to them that he was an expert body snatcher load it up and take it away when they and had furnished many bodies for the told the tective to go for his wagon. medical students, and for alleged skill It was the night of the election of Mr. and valor they proposed that he accom- Hayes, president of the United States, pany them to Springfield on their goulish and a people interested in election re- mission. turns were constantly passing through They all came on the same train. The the cemetery. The two thieves hid be- detective and the two thieves occupied hind some bushes north of the tomb to the smoking car, while ('apt. P. A. Tyrrell await developments. of the secret service force and his men, The detectives started down the steps slipped into the sleeping car as the train as if after his wagon, but when out into was pulling out. They kept out of sight the darkness proceeded to the south end during the ti ip. of the tomb and rave the signal. The When in the yards at Springfield they secret service men rushed [ (l 1 he tomb had the trainmen let them off on the proper and found it empty. WEEK BY WEEK ATTEMPT TO STEAL LINCOLN'S BODY Compiled by Hebisbbt Wells Fay, Cu8t(,diuii Lincoln Tomb i here were two thrilling events in the graver and $200,000 in cash. history of Lincoln. One his tragic death It all failed and that is why so little is and Che other the attempt to steal his said about it in Lincoln books. It failed body. As the latter failed, but little is because they had taken a Pin.kcrton de- said about ii in the 15,000 books and tective into their confidence by the WEEK pamphlets written about him which alone name of Lewis C. Swegles. They constantly nil a large libiary. told him that passing through the cemetery they were getting short on counterfeit Mullen and Hughes hid behind A gioup of counterfeiters were dis- some money and must get their bushes engraver out. north of the tomb, and when they Swegles pretended that he saw a lot of men :i11 was an ex- approaching, instead of ' local authorities in Illinois in 1876. two in pert grave robber and they invited him to a wagon they left at once Don Boyd, an expert, ens raver, was lo- on foot accompany them on this job. for Chicago. cated in the top story of a deserted stone Then all came Their haunts building along the Mississippi river at down to Springfield on were known and they the same train. Mullen, were arrested, r'ultcin, Illinois. The residents of the vi- Hughes and the brought to Springfield, detective rode tried and sent (inily never could see any daylight ac- together in the smoking to the penitentiary for one car and Officer year, on the tivity about the weird structure, but at P. I). Tyrrell and several charge of burglary, the aids slipped into breaking of nil lil they would .see a light above, and the sleeping car and a lock. There was no penalty kept out of at that "haunted" house was often whispered sight all (he way to Spring- time for attempting to steal a field. human among the residents. In the yards the railroad men let body. A subsequent legislature them off on the wrong side and passed a bill making a Government men were also watching they penalty of from went immediately to the tomb and hid one to ten years for like offenses. a printing outfit that was stored for a Many themselves under the guests at the time in tomb back of the tomb .say that when it is the freight house at Clinton, 111., register room. a national and later offense that it should be for saw it moved to Centialia, 111., Under their plans, Mullen was to a long term of years even where a building was rented by Rev. get or for life. the tools, Hughes to get the lay of the After the attempt to steal Griggs and the office was located on the Mr. Lincoln's land which body it was hi, they both did, and the detec- | around under second floor. The secret set vice men were the monu- tive was to secure a horse and ment in six or eight places gathering evidence that in this print shop wagon and under the which he did not get but told construction of 1!)01 an counterfeit money was being printed. them that excavation was he made six had it secreted at the bottom of the feet in from the north end of It was arranged that when Ben Boyd hill. the tomb and twelve feet below the floor. was arrested at Fulton, the reverend gen- In all the plans the A cement base of two tleman would detective was to feet was built in be captured at Cent i alia. remain on the the bottom, outside and he had ar- upon this was placed a steel The code telegram was "The bird has ranged with the secret service that cage in which the casket of been captured." men Mr. Lincoln when they commenced to tear the was placed, with head to Boyd and Griggs were sar- the west. A simultaneously steel cophagus apart he was to go to the south cover was riveted upon this arrested, tried and sent and to the peniten- entrance thin cement and light a cigar in front of was poured over it and solid tiary, the former at Joliet. It was to get the window in the door at that time. masonry built over it to the him released that top of the the plot to steal Mr. But ground at the last moment they changed (six feet) and it is four Lincoln's body was planned. feet to their plans and ordered the detective the floor. This was not disturbed Terrence Mullen ami Jack to in the Hughes were go inside the 1931 tomb and hold the light. construction, but a handsomely de- passing counterfeit money in Chicago signed When the sarcophagus was torn apart cenataph of real arc fosil marble and with their engraver in- the peniten- and the from casket drawn out eighteen or Arkansas was placed six feet and tiary they naturally would be soon out twenty inches they told the detective thirty inches south from of funds. They planned to the north end schemes to get of go for his wagon. He went out in the the building. their engraver out. One of the plans darkness and when out of The guests are constantly was as follows: sight he pro- told that ceeded Lincoln's to the south entrance of the tomb body is now thirty inches be- To steal Mr. Lincoln's body from its and gave the yond or north belated alarm. The officers of the cenotaph and ten tomb at Springfield, bury it in the sand rushed round the tomb proper at feet below the floor in iron, rock dunes of Indiana and when the and the excite- north cement, end and found it vacant. with head to the west, made ment was aroused over the case, to agree It necessary was the night Rutherford B. Hayes by the attempt to steal Mr. to return it for the release their of en- was elected Lincoln's president, and citizens were body, Nov. 7, ISTt;. Why the Plot to Steal Lincoln's Body Failed BY HARLOWE K. HOYT Counterfeiters Pl;in sene torches, the ringing of bells the coffin of Lincoln on its side on One of the lesser known incidents and blowing of nor .is, and the the floor. Above the trees a full in the realm of Lincolnia is probably pitched battles, man-to-man or mob- moon showed its face. The detec- the most startling in history of that to-mob, to prove how seriously they tives dashed out. Shots were fired, colorful president. That it came to took their politics in the good old more or less at random. The thieves, pass nearly a duzen years following days. who had withdrawn into the thicket his assassination makes it the more The actual rifling of the tomb and awaiting the coming of the horse unusual. the plan to conceal tne body was and wagon, made good their escape. For it was nothing less than a this. The lock of the tomb was to But the escape was short. Ten scheme on the part of counterfeiters be broken. Lincoln's body was to days later, with the information of and their associates to steal the be taken from its black, silver- their government spy, officers had body of Abraham Lincoln from its mounted coffin, put in a sack, placed rounded up the whole gang. Most tomb and hide it until a ransom of in a spring wagon and driven up into of them were cornered in Chicago. $200,000 was paid them. the dunes of Indiana. There it was Indignation was at top pitch. The The germ of this plot, ingenious to be buried, in the midst of the men were taken to Springfield, placed as it was diabolical, originated in piling hills, where the winds would in prison, and surrounded by a de- the fertile brain of "Big Jim" obliterate every trace of the spot, tachment of militia. Kinealy. Following the days of the and only those who marked it well Robert Lincoln engaged the best Civil War and during the period of might find it again. Chicago talent to assist in the prose- reconstruction, "Big Jim" and his cution. But that was where the rub followers were the most notorious Entry came. What charge was to be made The first part of gang of counterfeiters in the United the plot was against them? At that time, Illi- carried States. But in the early 70s, hard out with never a hitch. The nois had no law against body snatch- padlock on the iron door luck cETught up with them. Ben was sawed ing. And if it had one, the body Boyd, master engraver, was arrested away. The marble lid was pried had not been stolen. The tomb had and sent to Joliet. The supply of from the sarcophagus and the wood- been desecrated but that was a minor queer currency became exhausted. en casket lifted out. One of the offense. So, after much worry, the And in 1876, the Kinealy gang was gang was dispatched to bring up the gang was indicted and put on trial waiting horse left. up against it. and wagon. He for conspiring to steal a coffin. The Calling his followers together, "Big But when he returned, it was not value was placed at $75. Jim" considered ways and means with a conveyance and quadruped Convicted Finally a plot was hit upon. First but with eight members of the United States Secret S3rvice. (This be- Eight months pass ;d before the of all they needed Boyd in order tc was fore they called case came to trial. With the law's secure their counterfeit bills. Next them G-men.) For of time, they needed an immediate fund to the supposed gangster was none delay and passing indigna- other operative tion was not so hot. Several ballots carry on. So it was decided that than an who had before they would steal the body of Lincoln been trailing the gang for months, were taken by the jurors an in their agreement was reached. At one time, from its tomb, hide it away and re- whA had participated con- sultations, four of the jurymen voted not guilty. turn it only when Boyd was out of and who had reported prison and the United States govern- every step of the proposed body- But in the end, the gang were guilty. They were sentenced ment had turned over to them the snatching as the plan evolved. found in Joliet sum of $200,000. The nine officers dashed into the to serve one year Prison. Not years passed before the The actual crime was not sur- tomb with drawn revolvers, demand- many Lincoln Mausoleum was erected rounded with as many difficulties as ing immediate surrender. There was new answer. struck and the coffin removed to the spot might be presumed at first glance. no Someone a match. flickering where it now waits for eternity. Lincoln's body lay at that time in The light disclosed only its first resting place—a small pri- vate family tomb surrounded by vines and trees, half covered with d L e v e l A earth, two miles from Springfield. It was a deserted spot where they practically were free from espion- age. Election Day On the evening of Nov. 6, 1878, three of the Kinealy gang left Chi- cago for Springfield. They had m*t in a saloon which served as head- quarters. Taking a copy of the London Times, they tore a piece from one page and stuffed the newspaper into a bust of Lincoln that stood on the bar. They planned to leave the scrap of paper in the tomb. Later, when it had been discovered, they would contact Illinois officials, identify themselves by the paper in the bust, and de- mand their ransom. It was election night when the body snatchers reached Springfield. The Hayes-Tilden fight was at its height —probably one of the bitter- est battles ever waged for the presi- dency. Excitement was at full tide; There was the parading, the kero- to the presidency, and before his re- in a most amazing posture— in order to make it fit some secret recess. moval to Washington, Lincoln and his ENTIRE NATION However, when last the casket was family rented the Lincoln home—the opened and Lincoln's features were only home he ever owned— at Eighth gazed upon by an official state com- TO HEAR TALKS and Jackson streets, and moved his mittee—on the occasion of the re- family over to the old Chenery House building of the tomb in the early for a week. The mirror, as well as 1900's—I have it from at least two men, still living, who saw that face, several other items of furniture Will ON RADIO CHAIN that his features were even then per- has in his home in Springfield now, fectly preserved. I never tire of talk- stood in the suite which the Lincoln ing to elderly Louis Hopkins, then a Searcy Recalls Lincoln's Mir- family occupied. I might remark that tinner, who was the last to look upon the Will Chenery of Springfield is a ror, Attempt to Steal cousin of William L. Chenery, editor Lincoln's features as he re-soldered of Collier's Weekly, in New York. the lid of Lincoln's coffin. Mr. Hop- Body kins' son. Dr. Louis L. Hopkins, still The nation on February 12 will has a piece of lead taken from the listen to voices speaking from within By EARL B. SEARCY casket and replaced with metal a few feet of where the remains of new by his father that occasion. Minority leader, Illinois State Senate Lincoln and his family now rest, in on The national broadcast on February Oak Ridge cemetery. Years ago, as If such voices of the country as 12 from the Lincoln tomb here in a Springfield newspaper reporter, I have spoken to Lincoln in the flesh Springfield will carry with it a availed myself of the privilege of could stand before the microphone in deluge of thoughts and suggestions talking to several older citizens who future nation-wide broadcasts from upon similar events worth while for had known Lincoln personally, some the Lincoln tomb on February 12, the future. Americans, more and of them intimately, in his lifetime. what a fascinating story the aggre- more, I believe, are coming to look From these people I gained the un- gate of their reminiscences would upon Lincoln and Americans of disputed notion that Lincoln, whom comprise. kindred distinction as national in- I have long regarded as America's stitutions, and their resting places as greatest man, was just a plain human national shrines. being, full of whatever it takes to win A few days ago, I was talking about in life's battles, but actuated by the this coming broadcast with a man same motives, and subject to the whose family had an unique and in- identical trials and tribulations, that teresting connection with Abraham beset any American of his circum- stances. Only Lincoln Lincoln and his family. That man is overcame them. William Chenery, one of the best in- Many of us don't. formed students of Lincoln in the I wish, in that broadcast of Feb- United States. ruary 12, all the voices that I have It was in Will's home that I was heard discuss Lincoln from a per- talking to him. He pointed out a sonal basis, could be brought back long, antique mirror. to life and could be heard to speak "Lincoln gazed at himself a good again. many times in that mirror," my Even in death, Lincoln has been a friend remarked. Naturally, I asked much disturbed man. After the near when and where. Came, then, the successful attempt to steal his body story. for ransom in 1874, precautions by Chenery's father and uncle owned the score were taken to prevent a and operated the old "Chenery House" like occurrence. They tell me, and in Springfield, which stood at the with authority, that in the years that northeast intersection of Fourth and immediately followed, Lincoln's casket Washington streets, where the Illinois was often placed in the most gro- hotel now stands. After his election tesque niches in the tomb, and often H and George Hay. By WILLIAM D. CHENERY timated to members of gangs asso- That night, Nov. 6, the gangsters, of ciated with Kinealy that he was The majority of adult citizens Hughes, Mullins, one other unnamed a horse thief himself, but would also Springfield may be aware that an gangster, and the reformed Swegles assist in other profitable undertak- the body boarded the Chicago and Alton train attempt was made to steal ings. Boyd was caught in the act of ** the front Platform of the first of Lincoln on the night of Nov. 7, „,„„« a counterfeit pate of $20 1876. The younger generation may 42 be less informed, hence this brief condensation of facts from the vol- ume entitled "Attempt to. Steal the * s *"- -™*««-™ " ""• Washb>™ «"i McDonald followed on Body of Lincoln," by John Carroll fenced o Power, published in April, 1887. Three different known plots to H steal the body of Lincoln are of rec- h by 65 years old, was sentenced tomteen £* °g ord. The first, in. 1867, was made J™,*, £J£, Spring- years' confinement, and a an unimportant lawyer of members of both parties registered s body $5,000. Because Boyd turned state's field, who planned to convey the under assumed names. A telegram o to some point south of the United States and hold it for ransom. He SSStftt SSJfM - ssjzs; A** secure the co-opera- and court costs. endeavored to rell a the hotel, take him to the tele- fa tion of two young men, one a The conviction of these two men tomb and plan the method of pro- other a me- graph operator and the deprived Kinealy of his source of ceedure when the gangsters arrived be chanic, whom he thought might supply of counterfeit money, and he there Tnat afternoon Hughes, ac- of great persuaded by the possibility then revived the idea of stealing the companied by his supposed confed- financial booty. Both refused his preceding body of Lincoln. The night erate swegles, called at the tomb as plan, and fearing he had created wit- election, November 7, O the national casua i visitors, asked many questions disappeared. nesses against himself he 1876, was selected because of the gen- of Mr p0Wer and learned the en- the third, PQ The second, and also eral excitement attending a presi vironment of the casket. While they shrewd and plan originated in the dential election. One of the gang, were at the tomb Mullins secured an CO emigrant Irish- fertile brain of an Jack Hughes, a counterfeit distribu- old ax from a saloon to use in alias Big nan, James B. Kinealy, tor of twelve years' activities, was forcing the top off the marble sarco- Jim, who had served a five-year sen- out on bail, and frequented the sa- phagus. counter- tence at Joliet for passing loon of Terrence Mullens, 294 Mad- At five o'clock a conference of the his re- feit money and who, upon ison street, Chicago. It was there five previously mentioned officers, stable in St. lease opened a livery Swegles ingratiated himself in their with also a previous secretary of ex- r cloak for his dealings with _ouis as a confidence so completely that they Chief Washburn, named English, and atives of counterfeiting body epresent asked his help in stealing the Swegles met in Tyrrell's room in the While he never touched an reveal tangs. to 1 of Lincoln. It was the plan St. Nicholas and completed their himself, he ar- ncriminating bill the hiding place of the body to Boyd, plans. anged the distribution. who would then negotiate for its At six forty o'clock that evening centennial year of the United receiv- The recovery with the government, all assembled in the memorial room States, 1876, was one of nation-wide ing his own release from prison and in south end of the tomb. It had Big Jim plotted with a :elebrations. the cash payment of $200,000 in gold. been a cloudy day and at that hour ;ang of sixteen thieves and counter- taken from The body was to be it was so dark that the hand could headquarters in Lincoln, eiters, with the tomb to the east gate of Oak not be seen before the face. to steal Lin- 111., to make an attempt Ridge cemetery, placed in a wagon, Remaining in the unlighted Me- coln's body on the night of July 3, driven some distance toward Mount morial hall the first intimation they no one would be suspicious of when Pulaski, using various relays of driv- had of the approach of the gang- the presence in the city of strangers. ers to divert suspicion, the leaden sters was a bright light from a bull- Five of th» men came to Springfield, casket hidden in a large hollow log eye flashed through the door of Me- rented a vacant store on the north CO fallen in a thick patch of paw paw morial hall. As they had taken side of Jefferson street, a few doors CO bushes in a grove on the river bot places out of range of vision through west of Fifth street, opened it tem- torn land of a farm belonging to the door the gangsters Hughes and -M porarily as a saloon, and from there JM Daniel Clark (of course without Swegles, felt safe and proceeded made trips, as casual visitors, to the O Clark's knowledge) about six or eight around the tomb to the. north cham- comb, and laid all their plans. One O miles northeast of Mount Pulaski, ber where the casket stood. Mr. of the five became intoxicated and From there it was to be later taken English, stationed where he could -evealed the plan while drunk to a to the sand dunes of northern Indi- hear sounds from the chamber, re- voman in a disreputable resort. This ana, where winds would soon obliter- ported that the gangsters were saw- • PH voman sent word of it to Abner ate all traces of its place of conceal- ing the lock the door of the cata- CO Wilkinson, then chief of police of at ment. comb. J Springfield who, in turn, notified Mr. Swegles Power, custodian of the tomb. Mr. Friday, October 26, 1876, Swegles had been instructed by P— Hughes to horse *4-H Power called into consultation the had an interview in the law office of have a and wagon a t the east entrance c3 ihree members of the executive com- C. W. Dean of Chicago, with Tyrrell, to Oak Ridge, o and h planned nittee of the National Lincoln Monu- Robert Lincoln and the Hon. Leonard e had with the offi- a cials ment association, John T. Stuart, Swett, a legal adviser of the late to inform them of the progress ot the robbery while >* a> Col. John Williams and Jacob Bunn. president, and also a friend of Rob- seemingly going for the wagon. However, Hughes To them it appeared so incredible ert Lincoln. Mr. Swett wrote a let- and that no action was taken by the com- ter to Major Stuart, giving particu- Mullins had pushed Swegles into c3 « the mittee. Fortunately, however, the lars of the plot, and directing Major catacomb before their own en- CO trance gang learned that the plot had been Stuart to have watchers stationed at and forced him to hold a lan- 4U discovered, left the saloon (rent un- the tomb. After that the custodian, tern wh ' ,e thev worked on opening hc """"Me sarcophagus. a; +-> paid) and disappeared. Mr. Power, and two armed men were When they had the leaden coffin Third plot—n 1876 Patrick D. Tyr- on duty every night, carefully ar- partly with- p> drawn from the sarcophagus they cd rell, chief operative of the United ranging signals to avoid shooting • PH States Secret Service, had headquar- each other In the dark. sent Swegles for the wagon. Instead of in al U e way l eas at* ters in Chicago for his district, com- On the night of «° « ° •?»?, November 1, 1876, J ?, , > ? Illi- he turned to the right at the foot of prising Wisconsin, Missouri and the gang met in the room of Swegles nois. There were at large at that in Chicago, decided upon the amount tlie hill, and returned to the Memorial coun- hall and gave Tyrrell the password time the two most important of ransom, $200,000, and the liber information. Tyrrell told to terfeiters in the United States, Ben ation of their engraver, Boyd, also and him son Boyd, born in Cincinnati, 1834, their method of securing the body. the of an engraver, and who became At nine o'clock on morning of most expert maker of counterfeit November 6 Swegles informed Tyr- money in the entire country, and his rell that the gang would leave that confederate, Nelson Driggs. To gain night for Springfield. Tyrrell there- information from gangsters Mr. Tyr- upon arranged a meeting in the office rell employed men, known at that of Robert Lincoln to counteract the period as "ropers," who had once plot. They secured the services of themselves been criminals, had ap- ex-Chief U. S. Secret Service Wash- parently reformed, but still were in burn, John McDonald, a detective of the confidence of law-breakers. the Illinois Humane society and two One of these, Lewis C. Swegles, in- Pinkerton detectives, John McGinn keep out of sight, while the officials I the Memorial hall, on into an unfin- tustened around the tomb to the ished passage under the tomb Major catacomb chamber. Huehes and Mill. Stuart, afterward *t»t^ if <•,(,,..„.« Hughes and Mul- Stuart afterward stated it injured lins had cautiously gone part way him so seriously that he could hardly down the hill, while awaiting the re- walk for weeks after. turn of Swegles with the wagon, and In February, 1880, a group of men made their escape. who had assisted in secreting the casket two years after Strangely—they were unsuspicious its first re- moval to the corridor, of the double-dealing of Swegles, organized the and "Lincoln Guard he related to them some marvelous of Honor" to further yarns protect it. Their first public function about his "hair-breath" escapes was to hold memorial from the officials, when he met them a service at more 7:22 o'clock a. m., April 15, because than 10 days afterward in Chi- It cago, was the exact anniversary of Lin- at Mullins' saloon. He reported their coln's death. frequenting the saloon to Tyrrell and they were captured there about 11 o'clock p.m., November 17, 1876. Next day both were returned to Springfield for trial. There were no adequate laws upon the statute books of Illinois at that time regard- ing grave robbing, and these two men were sentenced to one year in Ches- ter, one day of which in solitary con finement and the other days at har labor, and to pay the costs of tr trial. Although the name of Kinealy i St. Louis, brains of the plots, can to attention he was not prosecute till found in possession of counterfe money in 1880, strangely enough o April 15, the very day that the firs memorial service was being held h Springfield at the tomb of Lincoln He was sentenced to one year ir Chester for possessing counterfeit money. ' The leaden casket was pushed back into the sarcophagus, audi the lid replaced. Six days later Major Stuart; called upon Mr. Power and told him he could not sleep for thinking of an- other attempt at robbery and that they would conceal the leaden casket elsewhere. That night, the three executive officials of the Monument association, Col. Williams, Major Stuart and Jacob Bunn came with Adam Johnson, a marble worker of the, city, and the five men, including Mr. Power, carried that heavy casket weighing over 500 pounds from the qat,acom.b. around the tomb, and lntc ILLINOIS STATE REGISTER SUNDAY APRIL 17 1938 ' St'M Li "' SSL'™." " COl S B«"y Abraham °dy f Lincoln from ° Springfield, *" t0mb at T] and °thhe succeeded men alm ost but wp? L CaUght and Prison senten giv^ er a ft I £r 2 tria ' L consequence of ^ A s a *he now lies so"", £? ^"^ body en Cel U" der th * l^or of tthe ttomb l and/ Steeland cone^tl '" * M of ! "B C,et °°! ° n Linco1 T'h« f " Park the time 10 fro t he fol^r" ^ * -- intotositr'of ; n Un UP to the r 0Undsr present thne T t a,Soflf , some other Lin™i„ T has 'of mat interest to all " ^"^ ^*K ' formation Md in " ? the i^ neS^:~rk-r SJ^F^-r-seS! ' " 1 8 ^oldeVrniu! Iteyrnd "- ^ ' 5S.-S s$S?«Liebe ^ecutive Jeered '" rv I^f^ r Union, Indiana^ Jj— Linco,» PAUL STOTLER SAVES THREE 1 •$•* Rendezvous at Oak Ridge Even in Death They Would Not Let Abraham Lincoln Rest Article by King V. Hostick .$..$. Extension of Remarks of Hon. George A. Dondero of Michigan in the House of Representatives Tuesday, February 18, 1941 Not printed at Government expense United States Government Printing Office, Washington : 1S41 295891—20069 REMARKS During the month of March 1876 "Big Jim" put his plan into action. Taking five of his cohorts, he quietly left their Chicago head- HON. GEORGE A. DONDERO quarters and went to Springfield and opened a saloon and dance hall. Kinealy mas- queraded the men as bartenders. Soon every- thing was in Mr. DONDERO. Mr. Speaker, under readiness. That this first at- tempt did not succeed then was due to one leave to extend my remarks in the Rec- of the gang itself. This worthy, his tongue ord, I include an article which appeared loosened by drink, was indiscreet enough to in the American Legion magazine of boast to a woman acquaintance that he was February 1941, written by my good friend, going to get rich quick. He even went on King V. Hostick, a Lincoln student and to reveal details. He would, he said, be out writer. in Oak Ridge Cemetery on a certain night of the next month "stealing Old Abe's bones" The article follows: and later burying them beneath a bridge spanning the Sangamon river a few miles north of Springfield. (By King V. Hostick) Be it said to her credit, the woman scur- Criminal annals record few exploits as bi- ried to the local police with the story. She zarre as the plot thwarted by Secret Service also confided he^ "secret" to several of the agents of the United States Government 62 townspeople. Quickly the news spread over years ago when they prevented the attempted the entire village. The townspeople formed theft of the body of Abraham Lincoln from a vigilante committee on the spot and the Its tomb in the outskirts of Springfield, the conspirators were forced to abandon all capital city of Illinois. thought of carrying out their project. They The daring plan to spirit away the body lost no time in closing shop and fleeing from of the sixteenth President of the United the town. States in June 1876 was conceived by a gang But this failure did not discourage the of counterfeiters, headed by one "Big Jim" determination of "Big Jim." It merely de- layed him several months. Klnealy. Their purpose was twofold—collec- tion of a fat ransom for return of the body The scene now shifted to Chicago where and the release from prison of a previously "Big Jim" was the owner of a saloon, and It captured member of the gang whose skill as was from this center that future activities an engraver was sorely needed to continue would be directed. The legitimate business successfully their Illegal operations. conducted in the front of the tavern served For many years "Big Jim" and his satellites to cover the secret meetings in a rear room had piled a profitable business in the manu- where plans were discussed for a second at- facture and passing of spurious currency. tempt to rob the tomb. Counterfeit bills, known to be the handiwork For several weeks an acknowledged thief of this gang, had appeared throughout the named Lewis C. Swegles had been loitering entire country. "Big Jim's" cleverness and around the saloon, bragging of being "the luck eluded every effort to apprehend him boss body snatcher of Chicago." Swegles as- and his accomplices while the financial re- serted frequently and proudly that he was the turns from their depredations reached rich chief source of supply of medical schools proportions. seeking cadavers for the dissection rooms. All went well until the arm of the law "Big Jim" listened and was impressed. managed to reach out and gather in a single Swegles' known record of having served two member of the gang; and ironically enough, terms in the penitentiary for horse stealing the most Indispensable of all. It was Ben proved an additional recommendation and Boyd, the master engraver, whom the Gov- Kinealy soon took him into the gang as a ernment collared and put safely behind valuable assistant for the work in hand. prison bars for a long term. Finally new plans were perfected. The With this engraver gone, "Big Jim" was gang decided to break into the tomb, remove seriously handicapped. He combed the un- Lincoln's body from its casket, place It in a derworld for someone who could replace huge sack and, using relays of horses, carry Boyd; but he searched In vain. Then it was It to the sand dunes of northern Indiana. decided that Boyd must be released from Here the desolate, uninhabited lake shore Jail—but how? An out-and-out prison T'ould afford an ideal spot for concealing the break was impracticable since it involved too former President's body, while the winds great a risk. "Big Jim" realized the neces- from the lake would quickly obliterate all sity of a more subtle method to achieve his traces of recent activity and any other tell- ends. tale evidence. Another part of the plan the After much deliberation Kinealy had a gang agreed on was to buy a copy of a Lon- fantastic inspiration. The gang would steal don newspaper, from which a piece would the body of Abe Lincoln from the tomb be torn and purposely left on the floor of where it had lain for 11 years. With the the tomb, to be found by the police. Later body of the Great Emancipator In their pos- It would play an important part when a session, "Big Jim" sensed it would be a member of the gang approached the Governor simple matter to negotiate with the Governor bearing as credentials the rest of the same of Illinois for both a ransom and Boyd's paper. "Big Jim" was taking no chances of freedom some other crook horning in to demand pay- 295891—20069 (3) — ment when the news of the crime reached the At the insistence of Abraham Lincoln's only ears of a startled world. surviving son, Robert, the finest legal talent After completing all preliminary plans, in Chicago was retained to prepare charges the gang again set off for Springfield. Ar- against the criminals. These attorneys did rived there, they proceeded immediately to their best, but a technicality worked in the Oak Ridge Cemetery. The date set for the counterfeiters' favor. There was no law on "snatch" was November 7, a clever choice the statute book of the State of Illinois under because that day was Presidential election which the gang could be brought to trial for day, and most of the townsfolk out that the actual crime which had been committed night would be congregated near the news- attempting to steal a human body. If the paper offices and downtown saloons to hear gang had stolen the coffin, a charge could election returns. have been laid on these grounds—but they "Big Jim" and his men reached the cem- hadn't succeeded in doing even that since the etery without challenge. The lock of the coffin had not been removed from inside the door leading into the tomb was soon sawed tomb. The gravest indictment which could away, the huge marble lid of the sarcophagus be drawn against them was conspiracy to steal shunted aside and the wooden casket par- a coffin valued at $75. After taking several tially lifted out. ballots the Jury found the defendants guilty Swegles had previously secured a team of on this count and sentence of 1 year in the fast horses and a wagon, and these were ready Illinois State Penitentiary at Joliet was and waiting in a nearby secluded spot. After imposed. the gang succeeded in lifting the casket part As a result of this abortive attempt to steal way out of the sarcophagus, Swegles was it, Abraham Lincoln's body began a series of ordered to drive the wagon nearer the tomb's secret travels. Fearful for its safety, the entrance. Obediently he moved off, not to Lincoln Monument Association moved it con- get the horses, however, but to inform eight tinually from place to place, some 17 times detectives stationed in a room at the other in all. of the that the moment was near. end tomb Finally, and again at the insistence of Swegles had been masquerading, too. Actu- Robert Lincoln, the body of his father was ally he was a reformed criminal now in the embedded permanently in a mass of steel and employ of the police. He ran around the cement some 6 feet beneath the floor of the tomb building and gave the agreed signal to tomb. The casket is completely surrounded the waiting detectives by striking a match, by this impregnable shell and will in all lighting a cigar and whispering, "Wash." up probability remain intact for ages to come. With drawn weapons, the Secret Service The old sarcophag-.s was doomed to be de- men dashed to the sarcophagus and called stroyed. Years later, when the present con- upon the ghouls to surrender, only to dis- struction Lincoln's was being ef- cover that they had disappeared. When of Tomb fected, workmen laboring near the Swegles had been dispatched for the horses monument carelessly cracked the priceless slabs and wagon, the thieves had stepped out a few which previously housed the body and which had feet into the nearby woods. Upon seeing been pried apart by the thieves. their plot discovered, they dashed further In among the trees and escaped. Because of the nature of the crack in the Several days later all who participated in original sarcophagus, a massive brown marble the attempted theft were captured in Chicago, cenotaph stands today in the interior of the returned to Springfield and imprisoned to tomb as a permanent monument to a name await trial. which will never cease to be remembered. Bulletin of the Lincoln National Life Foundation Dr. Louis A. Warren, Editor Published each week by The Lincoln National Life Insurance Company, Fort Wayne, Indiana Number 792 FORT WAYNE, INDIANA June 12, 1944 THE PLOT TO STEAL THE LINCOLN CORPSE There are few incidents connected the lamented Lincoln's body and hold- vehicle which he assured he could with the final disposition of Lincoln's ing it as a ransom for the release of acquire. remains which are of more human in- Boyd. terest than the plot to steal the corpse. An interesting detail about the ar- Although most students of Lincoln Before their plan became mature rangements called for the wrapping of have a vague idea of the episode, the they had raised their bounty and not the tools used in an old newspaper development of the plans and the frus- only were they to demand the release which they felt sure those discovering tration of the effort are not so easily of Boyd, but also ask for a cash settle- the empty crypt would preserve as evi- called to mind. ment of $200,000, to boot. Possibly as dence. A part of the front page of the they visualized this amount of cash paper was ingeniously torn off through A band of counterfeiters was found the release of Boyd may have become a the title and date. This was to be sent operating in Illinois during the latter secondary matter. Their plans were to to Boyd in the penitentiary so that he part of 1876. It was discovered that remove the body from the tomb at might prove he was in touch with the of an expert engraver, by the name of Springfield, and transport it to the kidnappers, and with the payment Benjamin Boyd, was making the plates sand dunes of Indiana. There they in- the ransom money could produce the from which the money originated, and tended to deposit it in a secluded place body. it was thought if he would be appre- between two trees where the wind hended, the gang could be broken up. would so blow the sand that the traces In the preliminary plans of the plot It was also discovered that a printing of their own presence there would be the detective, Swengles, was supposed press, owned and operated by a certain obscured, and the body preserved until to act as a watchman on the outside of give an op- Dr. Driggs, was being used to strike it would be redeemed by the payment the tomb. This would him off the currency. His press was discov- of the funds. portunity to signal the other secret ered in a freight house at Clinton, Illi- service men hiding in the registration when the time nois, but it was soon removed and room of the monument, conviction culprits in act traced to its destination. Soon after the arrest and was ripe to catch the the of their confederates, Mullins and of robbing the grave. At the last mo- Hughes were suspected of their part in ment, however, Swengles was given a A plan was laid by the officers to the counterfeiting enterprise, and lamp to hold within the crypt. It was arrest the engraver and printer at the Lewis S. Swengles, a detective, was not until the marble sarcophagus had same time, although they were operat- ordered to shadow the pair. He did been mutilated, the end and part of top ing in different towns. The United such an excellent job that they soon removed, and the casket holding the States secret service men had made made him their confident, and revealed body partly pulled from the stone re- Fulton their base of attack, and Capt. enough of their plans so that he was that Swengles was free to Patrick D. Tyrrell and John McDonald ceptacle invited to assist them after he had signal. He was sent for the vehicle, remained there to arrest Boyd, while left the impression that he had some but instead notified the secret service Chief Elmer Washburn proceeded to experience in snatching bodies. men. Centralia to pick up Driggs. The en- graver was found in his workshop in a As soon as Swengles left on his sup- deserted storehouse, near the river at The date set for the raid in Spring- posed errand for the horse and wagon, Fulton, and a telegram was sent to field was November 7th, 1876. The Hughes and Mullens hid in some near- Washburn, who immediately captured election of President Hayes occurred by bushes to await the return of Swen- Driggs in a secret room in the top story on that day, and it was contemplated gles. They had just reached their hid- of a building in Centralia, where he that election night would be an ideal ing place when they saw the group of had set up his press. time for the effort. In the meantime rush around the monument Swengles had kept his other detective detectives and enter the tomb. Of course the offi- tried on Oc- associates acquainted with what he Boyd and Driggs were cers found no grave robbers present. were found knew about the proceedings. At the tober 21, 1876, and both The counterfeiters now conscious that former and appointed time not only Mullens, guilty, and sentenced. The their plans were known made their the more important one of the pair was Hughes and Swengles boarded a Chi- Springfield, but Capt. escape. sent to Joliet to serve his term. cago train for P. D. Tyrell, John McDonald, and a force of detectives also found quarters Several days after the failure of The salesmen for the gang, who dealt in the sleeping car of the train, while their plot, they were arrested in Chi- in the worthless money, were Terrance the three confederates occupied the cago and brought to Springfield for Mullens and Jack Hughes. Their chief smoker. Just before the Springfield trial. The law at that time provided no locality for the distribution of the goods station was reached, the officers were penalty for an attempt to steal a dead was Chicago. Running short of funds let off in the freight yards without any body, so a charge of burglary was en- after the arrest of their accomplices, suspicions aroused on the part of the tered against them, and they were sent and with their enslaver now in prison, counterfeiters. to the penitentiary for a year. they began to discuss plans to have him released. Upon reaching Springfield the part It is of interest to note that the Pink- which warned There is some evidence that they each one of the three men was to play erton detective agency plot to assas- first conceived of their weird plot at in the abduction was assigned. Hughes Lincoln of the Baltimore inaugur- Lincoln, Illinois, in a saloon on Pulaski was to go immediately to the tomb and sinate him, on the way to the to Street. Possibly their presence in a make a survey of the situation. Mul- ation, and which became invaluable town, named after the martyred presi- lens had the task of providing the nec- the government during the hostilities, to martyred dent, and which he is said to have chris- essary tools, and Swengles, the detec- conclude their services the plans of tened with a watermelon, may have tive, was to be responsible for trans- Lincoln by frustrating the suggested the possibility of stealing portation of the body by securing a those who would steal his corpse. " Barter Plan Kinealy planned to carry It into the deserted sand dunes of Northern Indiana near the shores of Lake Michigan, and gang IN 1876 bury it in a sack the had with them. Then while an outraged nation demanded its return they would barter the Lincoln's kidnaped body of Abraham Lincoln for the release of Ben Boyd from Joliet. Grave Hit The three men sawed the padlock of Lincoln's mauso- leum. The others waited in their wagon in the grave- By Thieves yard's darkness. The marble tomb was in a deep circular By HENRY J. TAYLOE well. They pried away the TV mayhem and crime slabs with crowbars. Lincoln's make many suspect that these wooden coffin lay bare. forth are America's most sordid Easing it back and days. Are and upward inch by inch, they well. they? Lin- pulled it half out cf the coin's birthda; But the angle was steep and for them. month evokes < the weight too much coffin a reminder of So while Lincoln's erect, other days— if stood tilted there, half of this lets half out of its tomb, one Swegle.s, feel any bet- the three, Lewis G. rest of ter. In any said he would get the their case, this hap- the gang to help with Swe- pened: backs and with ropes. dark- In the post- gles disappeared in the Lincoln era Mr. Taylor ness. the biggest counterfeiter in Swegles did not return But He Ihe North was a giant hood- with the men or the ropes. lum named "Big Jim" Kinealy. came back with eight other for He and his gang hung out in Secret Service agents — Secret the rear of a Chicago saloon Swegles himself was a the at 294 West Madison St. The Service man planted in time plates for the greenbacks Kinealy gang from the were made by a true genius, of Boyd's arrest. a master engraver, one Ben Boyd, pale and perky. They threw a torch into the The Secret Service caught and, well of the tomb for light Boyd up to his elbows in etch- on with guns drawn, called tools admiring his own ers' surrender. But the was sen- the men to handiwork, and he save for tne hard well was empty, tenced to 10 years at had flea tilted coffin. The pair labor in the state penitentiary with and the rest of the gang at Joliet. The disaster stopped Kine- them. . A Chicago bartender named aly's money supply, of course, the Terrance Mullen, told and in the autumn of 1876 the gang haa hard Secret Service the gang decided that its Chicago hide- permanent come back to a times would be "Big Jim out. One by one unless they pried Boyd out of captured the others were prison and put him back to and returned to Springfield work. and Late on the afternoon of for trial. records show all n years Illinois November 6, 1876, 11 to join the gang were sent after the death of Abraham JoUet unsprung Ben Boyd in Lincoln, three of the gang short Penitentiary for a single left Chicago on a Chicago & Springfield, y< Alton train for were not convicted days But they 111. The others left two steal the for conspiring to earlier in a wagon. They set great hallowed body of our kidnap Lincoln's body. out to Abraham Lincoln. They were to convicted for conspiring steal the casket. MAYHEM IN THE OLD DAYS Tried To Kidnap Abe Lincoln's Body By HENRY J. TAYLOR Easing it back and forth and upward inch by inch, they pulled it half out of the well. TV mayhem and crime sus- make many But the angle was steep and the weight too pect that these are America's most sordid much for them. days. Are they? Lincoln's birthday month So while Lincoln's coffin stood tilted there, half erect, half out of its tomb, one evokes a reminder of other days—if this lets of the three, Lewis G. Swegles. said he would us feel any better. In any case, this happened: get the rest of the gang to help. The other In the post-Lincoln era two blew out the torch and Swegles disap- the biggest counterfeiter in peared. the north was a giant hood- But Swegles did not return with the lum named "Big Jim" men or the ropes. He came back with eight Kinealy. He and his gang other Secret Service agents— for Swegles hung out in the rear of a himself was a Secret Service man planted in Chicago saloon at 294 West the Kinealv gang from the time of Boyd's Madison-st. The plates for arrest. District Chief Tyrrell and his aides the greenbacks were made had been hiding nearby. by a true genius, a master They threw a torch into the well of the engraver, one Ben Boyd, tomb for light and, with guns drawn, called pale and perky. The Secret on the crouching men to surrender. But Service caught Boyd up to Taylor the well was emptv, save for the tilted cof- his elbows in etchers' tools, admiring his fin. The pair had fled and the rest of the own handiwork, and he was sentenced to 10 gang with them. November 6 was election years at Joliet. day; Hayes and Tilden running for the The disaster stopped Kinealy's money presidency. But that night this news of hor- supply, of course, and in the autumn of ror and desecration, crackling over the 1876 the gang decided that its hard times telegraph wires of the nation, drowned out would be permanent unless they pried Boyd even the election returns. out of prison and put him back to work. BY A CURIOUS T\yiST a London news- LATE ON THE AFTERNOON of Nov. 6, paper figured in the search clues, but the 1876, 11 vears after the death of Abraham decisive tip came from a Chicago bartender Lincoln, three of the gang left Chicago on named Terrance Mullen. He told Tyrrell the a Chicago & Alton train for Springfield. 111. gang had come back to a Chicago hideout. The others left two days earlier in a wagon. One by one "Big Jim" and the others were Thev set out to kidnap Lincoln's body. captured and returned to Springfield for Kinealy planned to carry it into the de- trial. serted sand dunes of northern Indiana near Abraham Lincoln's son, Robert, hired the shores of Lake Michigan, and burv it lawyers to prosecute them. This was harder in a sack the gang had with them. Then than one might think. For, as Kinealy well while an outraged nation demanded its re- knew, there was no law in Illinois against turn they would barter the kidnaped body of stealing a body. Moreover, they had at- Abraham Lincoln for the release of Ben tempted to steal it but had not actually stolen Boyd from Joliet. anvthing. Crooked politics, some graft and The three men sawed the padlock of other interferences delayed the trial more eight first ballot Lincoln's mausoleum. The others waited in than months Even on the for acquittal. Finallv all their wagon in the graveyard's darkness. four jurors voted 12 agreed, and the were convicted. There was no moon and all was black and men in the were silent except for the rustle of a soft wind Illinois records show all gang sent to Ben Bovd in Joliet in the trees and, once, a neighing of the ioin unsprung horses. Penitentiary for a single short year. But they were not convicted for conspiring to THE MARBLE TOMB was in a deep cir- steal the hallowed body of pur great Abra- cular well. The three men leaped down and ham Lincoln. They were convicted for con- lit a torch. They pried away the slabs with spiring to steal the casket, on which a proven crowbars. Lincoln's wooden coffin lay bare. value could be placed at $75. Chicago American Chicago, Illinois February 7, 1962 G. h ( ? (, v- HENRY J. TAYLOR The Lincoln Body Theft Story TV mayhem and crime make many sus- well. The three men leaped down and lit a pect these are America's most sordid days. torch. They pried away the slabs with crow- Are they? Lincoln's birthday month evokes bars. Lincoln's wooden coffin lay bare. Eas- a reminder of other days—if this lets us feel ing it back and forth and upward inch by any better. In any case, this inch, they pulled it half out of the well. But happened: the angle was steep and the weight too much In the post-Lincoln era the for them. biggest counterfeiter in the So, while Lincoln's coffin stood tilted there, north was "Big Jim" Ki- one of the three, Lewis G. Swegles, said he nealy. He and his gang would get the rest of the gang to help. The hung out in the rear of a other two blew out the torch and Swegles Chicago saloon at 294 W. disappeared in the darkness. Madison st. The plates for But Swegles did not return with the men the greenbacks were made or the ropes. He came back with eight other by a master engraver, Ben secret service agents — for Swegles himself Boyd. The secret service was a secret service man planted in the Caught Boyd up to his el- Henry J. ToH.r Kinealy gang from the time of Boyd's arrest. bows in etchers' tools, ad- miring his own handiwork, and he was sen- Tip from a Bartender tenced to 10 years at hard labor in the state penitentiary at Joliet. They threw a torch into the well of the The disaster stopped Kinealy's money sup- tomb for light and, with guns drawn, called ply, of course, and the gang decided that its on the crouching men to surrender. But the hard times would be permanent unless they well was empty, save for the tilted coffin. pried Boyd out of prison and put him back to The pair had fled and the rest of the gang work. with them. *- Late on the afternoon of Nov. 6, 1876, three The decisive tip came from a Chicago bar- of the gang left Chicago on a train for Spring- tender named Terrance Mullen. He told the field, 111. The others left two days earlier in secret service the gang had come back to a a wagon. They set out to steal Abraham Lin- Chicago hideout. "Big Jim" and the others coln's body. were captured and returned to Springfield for trial. Planned Dunes Hiding Place Lincoln's son, Robert, hired lawyers t Kinealy planned to carry it into the de- prosecute them. This was harder than or serted sand dunes of northern Indiana and might think, for there was no law in Illin ir bury it. Then, while an outraged nation de- against stealing a body. Finally, the manded its return, they would barter the were convicted. All in the gang were sen' body for the release of Boyd. Joliet for a year. The three men sawed the padlock off Lin- But they were not convicted for conspii coln's mausoleum. The others waited in their to steal the hallowed body of Lincoln. T wagon in the graveyard's darkness. There were convicted for conspiracy to steal was no moon. All was silent. casket — on which a proved value couli The marble tomb was in a deep, circular placed at $75. The Detroit Hews February 11, 1962 Almost Forgotten: The 1876 Night Gangsters Tried To Steal Lincoln THE DETROIT MEWS - February 11, 1962 P.12-B By HENRY J. TAYLOR But the angle was steep and the weight loo much for them. TV mayhem and crime make So while Lincoln's coffin stood many suspect that these are ^m tilted there, half erect, half out America's most sordid days. Are of its tomb, one of the three, they? Lincoln's birthday month Lewis G. Swegles, said he would evokes a reminder of other days get the rest of the gang to help — if this lets us feci any better. I with their backs and with ropes. In any case, this happened: 1 The other two blew out the In the post-Lincoln era the big- torch and Swegles disappeared gest counterfeiter in the North in the darkness. was a giant hoodlum named "Big Jim" Kinealy. He and his gang Gang Escapes j hung out in the rear of a Chi- But Swegles did not return cago saloon at 294 West Madison ,, \ '"" with the men or the ropes. He street. , -\j J : came back with eight other Se- The plates for the greenbacks cret Service agents— for Swegles were made by a true genius, a himself was a Secret Service man master engraver, one Ben Boyd, planted in the Kinealy gang from pale and perky. The Secret the tune of Boyd's arrest. Dis- Service caught Boyd up to his trict Chief Tyrrell and his aides elbows in etchers' tools, admiring had been hiding nearby. his own handiwork, and he was sentenced to 10 years at hard They threw a torch into the labor in the state penitentiary at The Lincoln Memorial at well of the tomb for light and, Joliet. Springfield, 111., from which with guns drawn, called on the thugs all but succeeded in "kid- crouching men to surrender. naping" Kidnap Plot Lincoln's body. But the well was empty, save Robert Todd Lincoln, who re- for the tilted coffin. The pair had tained lawyers to prosecutt The disaster stopped Kinealy's Abraham fled and the rest of the gang desecrators of father's tomb money supply, of course, and in Lincoln for the release with them. the autumn of 1876 the gang of Ben Boyd from Joliet. decided that its Crooked hard times would The three men sawed the pad- politics, some graft be Hideout Found permanent unless they pried lock off Lincoln's mausoleum. and other interferences delayec Boyd out of prison By a curious twist a London the trial more than eight and put him The others waited in their wagon months back to newspaper figured in the search on the first work. in the graveyard's darkness. Even ballot four for clues, but the decisive tip jurors voted for acquittal. Finally Late on the afternoon of Nov. There was no moon and all was came from a Chicago bartender all 12 agreed, and flic 8, 1876, 11 years after the death black and silent except for the men were named Terrancc Mullen. He told cum ictcd. of Abraham Lincoln, three of rustle of a soft wind in the Tyrrell the gang had gone back the gang left Chicago on a Chi- trees and, once, a neighing of to a Chicago hideout. One by cago & Alton train for Spring- the horses. Short Jail Term Held, one "Big Jim"' and the others 111. The others left two were captured and returned to Illinois records show all in tlu days earlier in a wagon. They Tomb Desecrated Springfield for trial. gang were sent to join unsprung set out to kidnap Lincoln's body. The marble tomb was in a Ben Boyd in Joliet penitentiary Kinealy Abraham Lincoln's son, Rob- planned to carry it deep circular well. The three ert, hired for a single short year. into the lawyers to prosecute deserted sand dunes of men leaped down and lit a torch. northern them. This was harder than one But they were not convicted Indiana near the shore They pried away the slabs with think. af Lake might For, as Kinealy for conspiring to steal the hal- Michigan, and bury it in crowbars. well knew, there a sack the was no law m lowed body of our great Abra gang had with them. Lincoln's wooden coffin lay Illinois against stealing a body. ham Lincoln. They were con- I'lien while an outraged nation bare. Easing it back Zeraanded and forth Moreover, they had attempted to victed for conspiring to steal the its return they would and upward inch by inch, they steal it larter the kidnaped but had not actually casket, on which a proven value body of pulled it half out of the well. stolen anything. could be placed at $7.5. incoln Aore I'... II of The Lincoln <• Foundation . . . Dr. K. Orald MrMurln. Kditor I * 1>I i-Ik .1 . :n I. month by National Life I n-ur.nn . (Company, Fort Wame, Indiana Number 1609 Fort Wayne, Indiana March, 1972 THE ATTEMPT TO STEAL LINCOLN'S BODY Editor's Note: The newspaper account of the attempt to steal Abra- the clews are next to nothing, if human ingenuity can ham Lincoln's body the night of November 7, 1876 (presidential track it will be done. other, election day), as reported by The Chicago Tribune, on Wednesday, them Somehow or no one November 8, 1876, must be one of the most sensational news stories exactly knows how, J. C. Power, the custodian of the in the history of American journalism. Lincoln monument, became impressed with the idea A Xerox copy of the newspaper article has been called to the that there were designs upon the remains, and he com- attention of the editor by Webb Garrison of Evansville. Indiana, who stated that "the story is of great historical importance because it was municated his suspicions to Leopard Swett and Robert a national 'scoop' — whose veracity was at first challenged by other Lincoln. They could hardly believe that any one, even Chicago papers." the meanest and lowest scoundrel in the land, could con- Of course the story was true, and the many ramifications of the ceive such a thing. However, to prevent the horse from plot and the people connected with the event wove itself into a bizarre and complicated narrative. getting out of the stable, they concluded to lock the One of the most unique books in all Lincolniana was published in door — to adopt precautions even should there be Sprintdield, Illinois, in 1890, bearing the title. History Of An Attempt nothing in the feeling. Accordingly, Swett wrote Col. To Steal The Body Of Abraham lAncoln . . . The author was John Carroll Power, custodian of the Lincoln Tomb, who from the very Stewart (Stuart), of this city, about two weeks ago, first suspected the ghoulish plot and played a leading role in the requesting him to station a guard at the monument. This apprehension of the criminals. Power's devoted 105 pages of his 287 was done, but no one came to disturb the corpse. Detect- page book to the details of the crime. In his introduction, he wrote among other things that, "This volume is a record, in the plainest tive Tyrrell, of the United States Secret Service, whose language possible, of the plottings prior to, and of the attempt to headquarters are in Chicago, having business here, was steal, the body of Abraham Lincoln, in ^ order to make merchandise of it." When The Chicago Tribune published their first story about the crime, their reporters could not foretell the eventual outcome of the case. Later, news stories would follow, but the minute details would be left for custodian, J. C. Power, to discuss and anaylze in his book in 1890. Later condensed versions of the plot were published (see "Rendezvous at Oak Ridge" by King V. Hostick) and additional facts were gleaned from newly acquired evidence. One of the most fac- tual accounts to embody the basic evi- dence was the account written by Louis A. Warren for Lincoln Lore, Number 792. June 12, 1944, entitled "The Plot to Steal The Lincoln Corpse." The Chicago Tribune "scoop" is re- printed for the edification of our sub- scribers. R. G. M. HORRIBLE Dastardly Attempt to Despoil the Lincoln Monument. Thieves Trying to Steal the Bones of the Martyr President. Warning Given, and Steps Taken to Arrest Them. Elmer Washburn and His As- sistants Waiting in the Dark. History Of An Atte The Robbers Interrupted by Acci- Interior of the the it. the dent, and Contrive to Es- Catacomb, as thieves left Crypts designed for the bodies of cape. Lincoln family were assigned as follows: (1) Lincoln, (2) William and Edward. (3) Thomas (Tad), (4) Mrs. Lincoln, (5) Robert. Lincoln's body rested in crypt No. 1 from September, 1871, until October, 1874, when it was placed in the marble Special Dispatch to The Tribune. sarcophagus. This entire arrangement of the Lincoln bodies (some members of the Springfield, 111., Nov. 7. — An family were still living) was later changed. A, is the top or false lid of the marble attempt was made this evening to sarcophagus. B, is the main lid of the marble sarcophagus. C, is one of the wooden perpetrate one of the most infam- temporary trestles supporting the sarcophagus. D, is the top of the red cedar coffin. ous outrages which the mind of E, is the end of the cedar coffin, drawn about eighteen inches out of the sarcophagus, man can conceive of — that of ready to be carried away. F F, are the marble sides of the sarcophagus. HHH H. are stealing the bones and ashes of copper dowels in the marble sides of the sarcophagus. G, is the marble end piece Abraham Lincoln. Unfortunately of the sarcophagus, bearing the inscription Lincoln, surrounded with an oaken the perpetrators escaped, leaving, wreath in marble. It is proper to state that this piece did not occupy the place it however, the evidence of their does in the picture, but was left by the vandals where it could not be seen from crime behind them, and though the door. : ; ; ; LINCOLN LORE requested by Swett and Lincoln to see Mr. Power, and carrying them off, it certainly could not have been their to look around town, and watch for suspicious characters. intention to take away the casket, for it must weigh He arrived here three or four days ago, and at once from 500 to 600 pounds, and half a dozen men could commenced a vigorous shadowing of several of the small not have carried it to the fence for transfer to a wagon hotels, but he saw no one whom he recognized. This after- in the road. It is more than likely that they intended to noon Mr. Power came into town in a hurry and hunted cut open the casket and gather up the bones and dust up Tyrrell and informed him that two very hard-looking of the martyr-President and put them in a bag. What cases had been out to the cemetery looking around, and would have been the indignation of the country had this he felt assured that they were there for no good purpose. been done! The scheme concocted by these men is cer- One registered as from Racine, and the other from tainly unparalleled in the history of crime and, now Kenosha, Wis. Their names are suppressed, since they that there is evidence of minds so debased, it is certain have had nothing to do with what occurred later. An that measures will be taken to guard the monument effort will of course be made to find out who they are, and prevent future attempts. The facts given above did and should they prove to be innocent injustice would be not come until early this morning, and are known to only done them by telling now who they are. Mr. Power, not a few, otherwise the outrage would have occupied as being used to detective work, could give but meager great a share of the attention of the community as the descriptions of them. The result of the interview with election. Words cannot express the feelings of those who Tyrrell is unknown, but he must have concluded that do know it, and it is earnestly hoped that the double- election night was an excellent one in which to rob . . . perpetrators of this attempted robbery of the re- the tomb. mains of America's most loved President will soon be The evening's train brought from Chicago ex-Chief brought to justice. of the Secret Service Elmer Washburn, who, it seems, - had been requested by Swett and Lincoln to come here A Lincoln Campaign Song 1860 and aid Tyrrell. About half-past 6 Washburn, Tyrrell The May 5, 1908, Oxford Democrat of South Paris, Maine, pub- lished a Lincoln campaign song that was sung at a rally at Paris Hill, and three other men went out to Oakwood (Oak Ridge) Maine, sometime in 1860. Hannibal Hamlin and his brother Elijah and concealed themselves in Memorial Hall inside the spoke at the rally. On the platform with them was a wooden chair monument to await developments. One man was posted said to be made of rails split by "Old Abe himself." The text of the song was in for in the labyrinth in the rear, so called because of the re-written 1908 the newspaper in response to a request from a reader. The person who wrote the walls running in different directions and making num- words from memory (she well may have been at the rally in 1860) erous passage ways, these walls supporting the terrace. was Mrs. E. V. Canwell of South Paris. The singing of the Rally Song led the meeting His object was to hear the noise made in the vault if was at mass at Paris Hill by "Mr. Locke, the army balladist." He may have been attached to the local militia. any were made. After patiently waiting for nearly three The text of the song follows hours, and when about tired out from standing still, the Hark ! Hark ! A signal gun is heard utmost silence being imparative, he heard a grating noise Just out beyond the fort which lasted perhaps five minutes. Then, in a little while, The good old ship of state, my boys came several successive thuds, as if some one was ham- Is coming into port. With tattered sails and anchor gone, mering. having arrived action, The time for Washburn I fear the rogues will strand her. and his men slipped out of the door, with cocked revolvers She carried now a sorry crew, in their hands, determined to shoot to kill if any resist- And needs a new commander. ance was made. Just as they were turning the corner Old Ab'ram is the man to left his re- the one of the men accidentally exploded With a sturdy mate volver. The noise was very loud, so still were the sur- From the Pine Tree State, roundings, and unfortunately it was too loud, for, though Old Ab'ram is the man. there were but about 120 feet to go over, when the officers Four years ago she put to sea. got to the door of the vault the dastardly villains were With prospects brightly beaming gone. They must have had some one watching to give Her hull was strong, her sails new bent, them the signal of danger or else had come outside for a And every pennant streaming. breath of fresh air and heard the snapping of the cap She loved the gale. She plowed the wave, Nor feared the deep's commotion. and ran into the woods which surrounded the monument. Majestic gently on she sailed It is but a short distance, and a man could get within Proud mistress of the ocean. shelter and be unobservable in a quarter of a minute. The men at once scattered, and went in the direction the Buchanan was the man, But his four year's trip, thieves had gone, and while dodging behind the trees, Leaves a crippled ship, two of them exchanged shots, each mistaking the other Buchanan was the man. for one of the fugitives. After shooting at each other, they cried "Wash," "Wash," indicative of a friend in Our ship is getting out of trim, 'Tis time to calk and grove her ; such an emergency, and then they found out their mis- She's foul astern of human gore, take. The bullets whizzed close to both, and it was mir- They've turned her to a slaver. aculous that they escaped injury. She has cruised about from coast to coast, Her flying bondsmen hunting. No traces of the thieves being discovered, the party Until she strained from stem to stern, returned to the catacomb, and there beheld a sight which And lost her sails in hunting. made them sad. The body, as is known perhaps, is in- Old Ab'ram is the man closed in a lead casket. This is surrounded by a cedar With a sturdy mate case, and the receptacle of these is a marble sarcophagus. From the Pine Tree State, The latter had a double lid, the upper one not being as Old Ab'ram is the man. large as the other. Both had been pried off with a chisel We'll give her what repairs she needs, or an ax, and somewhat chipped in the operation. The A thorough overhauling under lid was laid crosswise on the casket, the head- Her scurvey crew shall be dismissed piece on the floor, and the upper lid standing against the Into some honest calling, wall. The casket itself was pulled out about a foot from Brave Lincoln soon shall take the helm, On truth and right relying, the body of the sarcophagus, and a small piece had been In calm or peace, in storm or war. taken off on the floor, where an ax with the edge full of He'll keep her colors flying. marble-dust, an ordinary chisel, and a pair of nippers. The other tools had evidently been taken away since the Brave Lincoln is the man, With a sturdy mate lock on the iron-grated door had been sawed-off. From the Pine Tree State It should perhaps be stated that the sarcophagus was Brave Lincoln is the man. in the catacomb and not in the crypt, being thus placed Brig.-Gen. Ben Hardin Helm in order that visitors might see it. The damage done is comparatively little. Mrs. Lincoln's "Rebel" Brother-In-Law The officers of course were disappointed at not catching (Continued from February, 1972 issue) the vandals, but they think it is only a question of a little time when they will be apprehended. Through correspondence with the Todd family, Lincoln Only one motive can be attributed to these despoilers of had been informed that Mrs. Helm owned some six the grave, and that is the hope of a reward for the hundred bales of cotton located in Jackson, Mississippi, restoration of the remains. If they had succeeded in and Atlanta, Georgia, over which she wished to estab- . ^ay, 1975 it happened in . . ORLANDO, Fla.: Cocoa, a dwarf sperm whale with a bad sunburn, is rapidly recovering after being rescued from the surf at Cocoa Beach. The whale has eaten nearly 15 pounds of squid since Friday. ""SPRINGFIELD, 111.: The attempted theft of Abraham Lincoln's body from lOak Ridge Cemetery in 1876 was revealed in files by Samgamon County employees. The files showed three men were charged with conspiring to steal the body and casket, valued at the time at $75. LONDON: A cuddle in the morning can cause absen- teeism, the owner of a toy factory has found. Joe Potts appealed to his 158 female employees to put work first and ask their husbands to wait until evening for that cuddle. Potts says fewer than 120 of the women report each day. PEKIN, 111.: Thirty years ago, Pekin High School named its athletic teams the "Chinks" because the city was named after Peking, China. Sensitivity has caught up with the times, and a meeting has been scheduled with the state Human Relations Commission to consider a name change, perhaps to "Dragons." Ledger-Star Norfolk, Virginia November 1, 1076 Section Day, 187(5 Norfolkj Va. Ledger-Star Nov." 1, 1976 News a century ago was bizarre By Henry S. Rorer den in nearby bushes and escaped when they saw the Secret Service men rush to The big news on Election Day is WHO the tomb. They were arrested several days 'ON, but at the close of Election Day on later in Chicago and returned to Spring- ov. 7, 1876, there was no winner. Due to field for trial. As the law at that time pro- le fact that the electoral votes of Louisi- vided no penalty for an attempt to steal a la and South Carolina were contested, dead body, a charge of burglary was en- ie election of Rutherford B. Hayes was tered against them and they were sen- )t certified until March 2, 1877, two days tenced to a year in the penitentiary. tore his inauguration. HP According to the custodians of the Lin- The sensational story of the time was a coln tomb, the remains of the 16th presi- te news bulletin published the following dent have been removed 17 times since the ly by the Chicago Tribune: The attempt body was first placed in the receiving vault steal a corpse and hold it for ransom. at Springfield, 111., on May 1, 1875. The j>k;* he corpse was that of Abraham Lincoln. construction of the temporary vault, the erection of the Lincoln Monument, the abortive attempt to steal the body, and the The story began in 1875 when two coun- numerous repairs and reconstruction of the rfeiters were arrested and imprisoned. deteriorating monument were responsible wo of their confederates, Terrence Mul- for the many secret movements of Lin- n and Jack Hughes, who had been pass- coln's body. g the counterfeit bills, planned to steal ie body of Lincoln, hide it in a sand dune return the In order to satisfy morbid curiosity, and . Indiana, and demand for its to put an end to rumors that the body was ilease of the two counterfeiters and not there, the coffin was opened five 00,000 ransom. times, and witnesses who had known Lin- coln were present to identify the body. A Pinkerton Agency detective, Lewis C. plot wegles, learned of the and became At the turn of the century, it was found necessary to rebuild the Lincoln tomb. The foundation was not secure, as freezing tem- peratures had thrown the outer granite Historian Henry Rorer formerly blocks out of alignment. When the tomb taught that subject at Maury High was opened on Sept. 26, 1901, the coffin School and went on to serve as princi- was opened for the last time, and the body pal of three Norfolk elementary identified by 25 witnesses, a number of schools before bis retirement in 1971. whom had known Lincoln. The lead casket was then sealed and placed on a concrete foundation 12 feet be- convinc- confidant of the conspirators by neath the surface. The coffin was lowered g them that he was an experienced grave steel cover riveted into a steel frame and a • • ' » f •• fn ~- r* bber. The date for the grave robbery was over it. Cement was poured over the steel- in the belief that their venture anned caged box, and today the body is enclosed ould be overlooked in ihe excitement of in tons of steel, stone and cement, 10 feet i election day. beneath the surface. When the tomb was reconstructed in 1931 it was not necessary Swegles had agreed to provide a horse to move the body again. id wagon to haul away the casket. When It is interesting to note that the Pinker- ie tomb had been opened and the casket Detective Agency, which had warned ulled from the grave, Swegles was sent ton Lincoln of a Baltimore plot to assassinate >r the vehicle, but instead he notified a while route to his inauguration, roup of Secret Service men who were him en concluded their services to him by frustrat- /aiting nearby. m attempted to steal his ing those who had it appears today Lincoln's tomb in Springfield as Meanwhile, Mullen and Hughes had hid- corpse. *; *$! - ; Lincoln's troubles didntdidn't end with hishi death. In 1876. criminals tried to kidnan his corpse l/J^l terfeiters led by a small-time crime A Plot to Steal Lincoln's Body boss named Big Jim Kennally. Early in 1876, Kennally's best engraver of coun- A posthumous kidnapping attempt shaped the Secret Service terfeit plates, Benjamin Boyd, had been sentenced to 10 years in the state peni- of Springfield who were members of tentiary in Joliet, 111. To pressure the By Thomas J. Craughwell the National Lincoln Monument As- governor to release his man, Kennal- efore Secret Service agents sociation, the organization charged ly recruited two members of his gang, guarded the president, they with maintaining Lincoln's tomb, the Terence Mullen, a saloonkeeper, and , chased counterfeiters. Their absence of rigorous security measures Jack Hughes, a sometime manufactur- assignment did not formal- seemed perfectly reasonable. After all, er of counterfeit nickels, to kidnap Lin- ly shift until 1894, when a handful of who would want to steal Lincoln's coln's body. For ransom, they would agents served as Grover Cleveland's body? demand $200,000 in cash and a full bodyguards. But there is an earlier Comic caper. The answer to that ques- pardon for Boyd. example of the Secret Service getting tion was a gang of Chicago Irish coun- Given the cemetery's minimalist ap- involved in presidential security, albeit briefly, and in a posthumous kind of way. In 1876, Abraham Lincoln's body lay within an aboveground white marble sarcophagus in a handsome tomb on the grounds of Springfield, Ill.'s Oak Ridge Cemetery. Oak Ridge was a rural cemetery located about 2 miles outside of the town. No groundskeeper lived there. No night watchman patrolled the area around the president's tomb. And the only thing standing between Lincoln's body and any would-be grave robbers was a single padlock on the tomb's chamber door. Not even the president's sarcophagus was bur- glarproof: Its lid was sealed, not with cement but with the less permanent plaster of Paris. To the distinguished gentlemen 1 52 Mrs. Julion Valleth, of tins ulj, brought out Mrs. E. J. Buckbee, of Mattoon, and they heard ten stories of Lincoln. They were especially enthused over the Coles county collection. Mrs. S.|S. Cobb, of Wagoner. OUla., | who recently visited the tomb, sends a picture of Maj. George F. Bucher, and notice of his death at Muskogee, Okla. In his sketch it records a tradition that Major Bucher was the sole sur- vivor of four soldiers who guarded Lin- coln's body at Lincoln's tomb. At mid- night, so the story goes, the four guards thwarted an attempt to steal Mr. Lincoln's body. They arrested the intruders and they were sent to prison. As Lincoln's body did not arrive in Springfield until May 3, 1865, and placed in the receiving vault May 4, and the atteunpt to steal Mr. Lincoln's body eleven years later, there are som<3 doubts if Major Bucher may have guarded the receiving vault, but the re- porter who wrote tho story may have made additions to make it interesting.