at this time i'm honored to introduce our speaker for today todd harra. todd is an author and a funeral director and in fact his family has been in that profession in

delaware for four generations. his most recent book is "last rites" the evolution of the american funeral and todd will be speaking to a city about the abraham lincoln was at the center really of the transformation of american funeral practices both during his time in the white house and also through his tragic. we will have a question and answer session at the end of paths talk. they will be a couple of walking microphones. i would ask these take advantage of those because we want our c-span audience to bee able here -- to hear both the question and the answers at this time i will turn it over to todd. [applause] thank you judge noel primos and smyth pleasure to present to you this evening. we all know what happened in

1865 but what i'm going to talk to about this evening is about how the grand event that was abraham lincoln's -- to set the stage for the traditional american funeral. the funeral that americans would use for the next century and a half but in order to understand that we to backtrack about four years at the time that like it was assassinated. i want to go back to the day that virginia held a referendum to ratify their articles of succession and on that evening at about 10:00 pastor john. >> led to three hand-picked companies across the long parts that separated washington d.c. from virginia and essentially established a bulwark for the union invasion of the south. they drove back in the

countrysidert and at midnight te union army started invading the south. down to the south near the washington navy yard's the 11th new york regiment was there and three of the companies from that regiment were boarding the gun boats. they were side we help our boats outfitted gunboats in the reporting of baltimore and a mt. vernon and they floated downte e potomac and is about they arrived at alexandria. this is colonel elmer ellsworth who commanded the 11th y pleaded new york and colonel ellsworth headed up king street toward the telegraph office. coming up of the telegraph office across the street was an n called the marshall house. about the martial house was a

40-foot flagpole upon which was a concessions flag that was so large it was said to be seen from the white house on a clear day with binoculars. the white house is about five miles away. ellsworth explains to his andres, he said that flag has become down and it raced across king street into the martial house where he said to the clerk how do i we get to the roof and the clerk just stared at him and said nevermind and races up the stairs to the roof. the clerk went into the backroom and focus the innkeeper a man named james jackson and james jackson was an ardent succession must end of man to a penchant for violence. jackson wants nearly beat a priest to after him. when the priest told the authorities to share front about the posse and went to jackson's home where he barricaded himself inside withbr his brother and

began to fire upon this sheriff and his posse but the sheriff threw up his hand and said the assault charge is not worth my life so jackson was a man with a reputation for violence. when the clerk will came in said union soldiers are on the roof taking downur your flag jackson grabbed his shotgun and ran for the stairs. coming down the stairs elsewhere was wearing the succession flight with tape andnd his plans was to tear up the flag and given it to his men. when jackson didn't hesitate he leveled his shotgun and a hole or ellsworth chest. a private didn't hesitate. he raised his rifle and is that philadelphia acquired -- require or -- "the philadelphia inquirer" said splattered his --

ellsworth was the first union officer casualty of the civil war. w and brownell was later awarded the congressional medal of honor so he became the first recipient of the congressional medal of honor for actions rendered during the civil war. this all happened about five seconds. word of the ellsworth reached washington quickly by this is securedfi telegraph office and there was a man there an enterprising physician from brooklyn. his name was thomas holmes and thomas holmes had a very unique skill set. he knew how to embalm people and he had come down to washington thinking this rebellion he would need to embalm people to ship them home to the only way to ship people with the adams

express in the adams express would only shipth human remainsf they were in an airtight coffin or they were embalmed. airtight coffins were being made. about it they are ramping up wartime production, okay? the medal was being used to make ammunitionmu and weaponry so the two manufactures in these airtight metallic coffins were having trouble getting the material so he would if you would find one of these they would be very expensive. his only option at this point was to be shipped home a skill set that thomas holmeses had. holmes new william seward and he got an audience at the white house for the rest of the white house and they found president lincoln in his office at the second story now the lincoln bedroom today and present link

and was in tears. ellsworth was a deer friend of his. he abandons law clerk in springfield and he also served asgu his bodyguard during his inaugural train ride to washington. dr. holmes said to him mr. lincoln have come for your permission to embalm ellsworth so his parents might see him. president lincoln replied to him and heem said i do not know what embalming is. i can't grant this permission. through the urging of seward he was able to secure the permission for the embalming of ellsworth. ellsworth at this time was being transported back to the washington navy yard by the james brady and other gunboats. homes left the white house and respect to the coffin maker

joseph verges house in georgetown where he would stay. he grabbed his embalming grip and boarded a bus headed for the washington navy yard. when he got there he found ellsworth laid out and the engine house. they were called the fire zoo abs because of worth had raised firemen.t of all these are men that rushed towards fires and are used to dealing with dangerou' situations. they would make excellent soldiers and this was the type of french infantry unit used in the crimean war. they were known for their aggressive tactics so they used different tactics in standard union infantry soldiers. that's why ellsworth was being autopsied in the engine house or what might be called the firehouseto today.

he kept the fire apparatus. after the autopsy was complete holmes got to work in bombing of worth using a proprietary fluid. while he was embalming goes with the presidential carriage showed up at the navy yard. and it was mrs. lincoln. she wanted to see ellsworth. those worth was undergoing a surgical procedure. it would not be right for a woman to see him like this so she was turned away. an hour later the presidential carriage returns to the washington navy yard andd this time the president accompanies mrs. lincoln. she he goes in and he sees ellsworth family comes back out he said that the honor guard i would like your permission to bring colonel ellsworth to the whitene house for a funeral ceremony because -- before he

goes back to his parents in cannondale new york. they bringri ellsworth to the white house where he is laid out and about 300 politicians and high-ranking military officials gathered there for a funeral ceremony. mary todd lincoln comment, he looks natural. he looks like he's only sleeping. now think aboutut this. until this moment in time a wound like this, a shotgun wound to the chest with it made ellsworth, he would have been rendered -- within a day and here he is in the white house looking natural like he's only sleeping. it was as if holmes had worked magic. by the wars and homes have embalmed 4028 soldiers but it

was this of ellsworth that essentially gave this cadre of in cadre of embalmers the green light to mbone during the civil war. after the ellsworth slaying many men mostly physicians went to washington to buy their trade of embalming and make their fortune. holmes was the first. in order to understand the lincoln funeral step back another decade and a half from 1845 and this is on the left john nicholas goodenow the first embalming textbook in the mid-1830s and here on the right we have jeanpierre. in 1845 goodenow was essentially the undisputed embalmer in europe atis this time and suitce

that i've got a better way to do this. they took part in this competition for embalming supremacy if you will wear before a medical board these two and one other each embalmed a body. canal used aluminum salt aluminum sulfate and saw fierce gases. just to be clear in just a minute they buried these bodies for 14 months and they dug them up so they looked like -- his wasos the only one that didn't show signs of t decomposition. a doctor came to license his

methodology and also his formula of zinc fluoride in america and was licensed by new york city by dr. charles. so let's fast-forward back to the civil war here. in bombing is becoming commonplace. commonplace for those that could afford it and it's estimated only 6% of soldiers were embalmed and sent home. this isr. dr. richard burr in bombing at camp pendleton gettysburg and here we have theh embalming of william gannal who was taken to fredericksburg and over here doctors chamberlain camp letterman. these two gentlemen in the coffin are alive.

they have the exciting prospect of having their picture made. those are models. let's now move to february of 1852 when it calamity rocks the white house. william lincoln dies of typhoid fever and this is on lincoln's fine. he looks like he's only sleeping so they send for an embalmer. they don't send for thomas holmes which i've never read anything definitive on why but i suspect is out inmb the field in bombing. these embalmers follow the army so she calls on the firm of and alexander. the same dr. that licensed dr. sucquet in bombing formula with fluoride. the 23 of me and by the name of

henryat picks cell embalmed youg willie lincoln and he was laid out in the green room of the white house and then he was temporarily interred at oak dale cemetery in theam family vault williamrt harold who is a supree court clerk at the time. president lincoln would visit that tim very often and was said to have ordered his coffin unsealed on two occasions that he could be the body. we know willie was buried in a metallic coffin similar to this one. this is an 18 50's version so by the mid-1860s there were two companies that are making these. one was in cincinnati and the other one was the w. wm raiment

company out ofof queens, new yo. i strongly suspect willie was placed in the wm raiment version. why? >> senator daniel would was the owner of that company. daniel woods was good friends with president lincoln so it would stand to reason if your good but he owns a coffin company you are probably going to be using that coffin. let's move forward. three years after the death of willie and we all know what happened friday 1865. the following day he was transferred from the pearson house to the white house underdi the direction of this man.

frank was the government undertaker contracted to conduct all funerals of government officials. lincoln was transferred from the peterson house to the white house in a plane wooden coffin supplied by harvey inmar and i think this is just because of proximity. harvey inmar -- i think that's why they were used to supply the coffins. and think in the course was transferred to the prince of wales room in the white house. there were nine doctors in attendance for his cranial autopsy so just the cranial autopsy. they didn't do the full autopsy. one of those being robert king stone who was is a family physician and the other being the surgeon general joseph kay

barnes. this was so hurried they didn't even have a proper kit. one of the surgeons offered up his own personal invitation kit for the autopsy. after the autopsy they sent for the embalmer. brandon alexander once again and it's documented that when a messenger arrived to and alexander dr. was a very prolific and well-known in ballmer was atof the office when the call came in. for some reason henry could tell now age 26 with no medical experience was sent to the white house alone to mbone the president of the united states. think about what you are doing at age 26. and a burden without momentous

task of the fall -- and bombing of the president of united states. he used dr. sucquet's formula and injected five courts through president lincoln's femoral arteries. after which he was dressed and shaped in left it lie in repose until his coffin could be made. his coffin was designed by frank sam's and made by an undertaker in walked or named john weaver. his coffin was solid walnut and lined with lead in satin covered in broadcloth. was decorated with silver nail heads it was built in

essentially two different places. here's a replica of it at the national funeral history museum in houston texas and this is what we call an entire panel in most of you are familiar with a lid that fits on the hinge of the caskets of today and this was done partially by design so they could double the number of people walking by his coffin son instead of having people walking by on one and they are going by both sides so they could double the people that would be viewing president lincoln. this was custom-built to a length of six feet and 6 inches to accommodate the president's six-foot four-inch frame. it's interesting though that is

the standard length of caskets these days because that's the length that accommodates 99.8% of all americans without having to get a larger casket. this coffin cost the government $1500 so about $24,500 in today's money. on tuesday the 18th folks were admitted to the white house to view the president and on the following day wednesdayes the 19th there was a private ceremony held at the white house for 600 ticketholders that were admitted. after that ceremony the president's coffin was taken to the capitol where it was to lie in state in the rotunda. president lincoln was the second person to lie in state in the rotunda of the capitol and the first president.

they are than 35 people to date that have laid in state in the rotunda. on the morning of the 21st lincoln's coffin was taken from the capitol building and taken to the train station. the idea washa to have it essentially is a national funeral where people could partake so the secretaryry of wr thought they'd do it train journey back to springfield for mrs. lincoln wanted the president buried. so the train is going to go 1616 miles and go through 404 cities towns and hamlets crossroads stopping 11 times on this journey ending may 4 back in f springfield for the president's burial.

his son was going to accompany him to willie was never part of the funeral ceremony. willie's coffin stayed on the presidential hearse car the entire time. just note lincoln's portrait a different locomotive were used throughout j the journey at the same presidential car was used the entire time. this car was initially designed so the president could tour the country during reconstruction. he was hastily outfitted when the president was assassinated so draped in the appropriate crepe of the time. it was said to be very nice kind of the pullman car of its day and it had a sitting room a parlor bedroom and wheels that accommodate different gauge

tracks. interestingly enough the president was rumored to have supposed to have been inspecting the car on saturday and he died. stop one was baltimore and just as his son robert and robert rohde from washington to baltimore on the two-hour ride that this was the only lincoln family member to ride the lincoln special and that's what they called lincoln's funeral train. he wrote a grand total of two hours in one of the only times of lincoln family member brode attorney. robert later met the entourage, the funeral on tours in springfield and baltimore lincoln's coffin was taken to the exchange building where he was viewed for an hour and a

half. it was the shortest viewing time of any of the stops estimated that 10,000 people viewed him during this time. from there he was taken to harrisburg where he -- it was met with a deluge of rain at the capitol with 25,000 people viewing him and from there the following day dr. lancaster his coffin was not offloaded but his predecessor james buchanan was attended the reception in lancaster but it was reported that trained as it was coming into philadelphia almost stalled because there were so many flowers heaped onto thee tracks. i find that very unusual and interesting because they can about how much it train weighs

and how many flowers it would take to stall it train. this is one ofs the pieces of e lincoln funeral that changed american burial practices or american funeral practices. prior to the lincoln funeral flower offerings were made. they have been made since antiquity. mostly it was a simple bouquet picked from somebody's garden and brought to the ceremony and the thought was surrounding the of was something that is vibrant and nice looking but it also had a practical purpose of covering up or masking the odors of decomposition blitz which wants and bombing came into "vogue" was really not needed anymore. after the lincoln funeral we start to see these grand --

people were essentially mimicking what they saw during lincoln's services in the cities he went to. this top one here is the cat a fault in columbus can see loads of flowers and this one is a in michigan indiana. these pillars were decorated with flowers picked from hundreds of local gardens. so we see flower displays as being part of this national mourningte. fraternities and social organizations if the lincoln special stop in your area and the coffin was not offloaded it was common for them to bring tributes onto the train and we see the emergence of what are

called set pieces. flowers are arranged to look like something else. crosses and read for common things that were taken onto the trains as a tribute to the slain president. after lincoln's funeral we see these getting more ornate. the broken hearts during these all become popular floral offerings. really the origin is with the lincoln funeral. stop three in philadelphia the ceremonies are officiated by an undertaker. this hearse he created for the event cost $4000. $73,000 in today's money and lincoln's remains were taken to independence hall and that's

where the declaration of independence was signed but his coffin was laid out under the liberty bell. from 5:00 a.m. on april 23 to 2:00 a.m. on the 24th so period of 21 hours approximately people stood in line to view the president. from there the lincoln special went to jersey city where lincoln's, the lincoln hearse car was put onto a ferry to cross into newk. at the ferry terminal the clock stopped at 7:22 and i couldn't find a picture of a clock stopped at 7:22. this was a common victorian superstition and that they were afraid the dead would not be a live pass on to where they were going and the dead should ♪♪ time so they could pass freely

into the next world so pretty much every stop, all the clocks in the building were stopped at the minute of his death and also the mirrors were -- this was another, and victorian superstition one that is a dead spirit saw themselves reflected in the mirror they would realize they were dead and they couldn't pass on. so all the mirrors would have been draped in all publications that they were held. when the ferry arrives at the station was met by rally a the undertaker new york. he dug g the graves at the willt street at this for both church and as such he was often called by newng yorkers to handle funel arrangements because he knew how to effectively burydy somebody.

he was a carpenter by trade. on the morning of april 21 at committee of aldermen approached him and said, the presidential funeral will be held here on the 24th and we want you to build a hearse of the grandest magnitude you can think of. so that's three days, 72 hours. he was up to the task and he accepted in 72 hours he drops one of the grandest purses that were used in the lincoln funeral and employed 60 minute women working around-the-clock for three days straight. hers was 14 feet long and eight feet wide and 15 feet tall and pulled by 16 horses each leadoo by a groom and for that e city of new york paid $9000 or

roughly $165,000 in today's money. this was a common theme. all the cities would make a custom hearse to carry lincoln's remains, something -- they were trying to outdo each other. something grander than the previous one and specifically the coffin lid sits five or six feet off the ground so as processing through the city streets and everyone could see it. the procession wound its way through the city and the city hall for a chorus of 800 people singing and greeted him while lincoln's coffin was taken upstairs and laid outside of the governor's room at city hall. prior to the doors being thrown open to the public to come in and view the president, this is brigadier general townsend.

he was essentially acting as stanton's proxy during all this. stanton did not come on the lincoln special. and a photograph or by the name of jeremiah ernie came into photograph the president. this is the only known photograph that exists of the president because when mrs. lincoln agreed to edwin stanton for the funeral arrangements they were a couple ofti conditions one know showed been made for her son willie and the president will not be photographed. visit the evening new york papers and he found out about it and he was furious that he ordered all the prince and all the negatives of this photograph to be destroyed. this was located in 1952 by a 14-year-old boy who was coming through the nikolay k. papers at

the volunteer collection at the university of iowa. this photograph came from louis stanton, edwin's son and give it to john nikolay who bumbled it -- bundled up in the papers and they were given to the university of iowa. think about that he couldn't part with this cherished mementos of this is the only existing photograph that exists at president lincoln. in new york the new york herald estimated 160,000 people viewed the president. generaler john who was essentiay the grand marshal in new york city estimated 100,000 people viewed the present andnd it's likely the number lies somewhere in between. the next stop is albany. dr. who is accompanying the

remained along with -- had issued a statement gives the new york press had been so shall we say i'm kind about lincoln's appearance. they issued this statement to p the press. as we keep lincoln moving further west to see the press coverage of his appearance becoming more favorable until he arrives in chicago. the "chicago tribune" reports no corpse in the world is better prepared for an appearance. at the same time the president's funeral being held in albany john wilkes listed as killed. i thought this was interesting. what i founded the national history exam i don't know if he can read this little card here but it says this essentially contains the carefully guarded truth that booth was not

executed as once believed by the public. and i'm not a believer in conspiracy theories but he did order the photographer by the name of alexander gardner to photograph john wilkes-booth remains and to my knowledge that photograph has never surfaced so just a little food for thought. we are going to jump ahead to stop seven in cleveland. the stop is notable because cleveland had the foresight to construct an outdoor form for lincoln's funeral. all the other stops the funerals were held in capitol buildings or some sort of hall where the public had to be funneled down hallways in this way and that. they had the great idea with the big funeral outside. they created this style pagoda and in the days leading up to the presence of rivaling

cleveland they ladies do not put hoops and your skirt so we can fit more people in line. they,0 were expecting 120,000 people to view the president during the stop in cleveland. unfortunately get heavy rain seemed to plague the lincoln funeral train of put a damper on the crowd. 2000 brave ohioans braved the weather to bead the president. ribadu jump ahead to stop 10 in chicago here. i just want to point out it's kind of hard to overstate the amount of money that they spend on decorating for the arrival of their slain leader. this here is an archway that the city of chicago constructed over michigan avenue 24 feet wide and

27 feet high and the city so much money to welcome linking back to their city one last time. it's very awe-inspiring and humbling to see how much the nation loved him. this year is collins h. jordan the local undertaker that was tapped the obsequies while lincoln was in chicago. if propelled -- he became the shoe undertaker for chicago and later did conduct the funeral for carter harrison the mayor of chicago that was murdered during the world's fair in 1887. this is the grand hirsi constructed. this hearse is interesting because on top of it is a taxidermy but you can't see it

in the photograph so i put the drawing in it. in chicago the funeral procession was led by joe and comprised of 40,000 people in the procession alone. the cook county courthouse where lincoln was laid out in the courthouse and was viewed for 26 hours and 150,000 people viewed him in chicago. after that he was taken to the train station. it was nighttime and it was by torch light. i think it's very romanesque because the romans had their funerals at night so it wouldn't interferee with commerce and in fact the word funeral is from the latin word which means porch. the final stop after chicago was

back in springfield. this is where lincoln was going to be buried. this was the only surviving photograph of the springfield hearse. itn was destroyed in 1887 and e fire that also claimed the lives of three people in 18 horses. springfield had all their money decorating for lincoln's arrival and ran out of money so the mayor of st. louis generously offered to donate the hearse to springfield and springfield accepted. the hearse was owned by a name -- man by the name of jesse barnett. this hearse was built close by in philadelphia and made by a famed coach builder billy rogers and it cost about $6000 at the time.

that hearse was reverse engineered for the 150th anniversary of lincoln's an outfit called stop funeral home in springfield illinois. using the photograph i just showed you rebuilt this hearse using. matt correct techniques and they have a downloadable brochure on their web site so i put the url up there. if interested -- anyone's interested in finding out how they did it's really interesting and with whatnt they came up wih was beautiful. this essentially was how lincoln'she remains were conveyd in springfield. this is one of the few stops where his remains were conveyed and in a hearse built as a hearse not something that was custom-built for any occasion like so many other cities that have a lot of money to throw at this for able to do.

after lincoln was viewed one last time in his hometown he was buried here and oakridge cemetery and for those of you who have seen lincoln's tomb you are saying well what iss this? this was oakridge. it was very common for cemeteries at the time to have a vault to receive coffins during the cold months when they couldn't dig because the frost was to pick. they would store folks in these receiving vaults until the spring thaw. the lincoln monument, the lincoln tomb not even having been started or thought about at the time when he was taken to oakridge he was placed in this receiving vaults tell his final tomb could be built. the reverend david simpson who was the bishop of the methodist episcopal church said during his

committal he said such a scene was never witness among the events of e history. there had been great processions of mourners and one for the patriarch jacob which cameeg frm egypt and the egyptians and far more have gazed on the base of the departed man than have ever looked upon the face of any other departed man. the 1600 miles or more by night by day and by sunlight. i thought that was very fitting because counting it up at each stop 880,000 americans cast their eyes on president lincoln. that's not even counting the millions of americans that were

present in the city streets as his coffin went by where that line the tracks when the lincoln special sped by. there were vast swatches of wilderness is the train went by which isli usually pitch. people in the train would say was almost like it was dawn because so many people had built these bonfires near the tracks to just catch a glimpse of lincoln's train, the funeral train as it went by so they could be part of something could stand together in solidarity and mourned as americans. mr. lincoln would not rest in peace. he would be moved 13 more times from his initial entombment and that receiving fault until he was finally buried one last time on september 26, 1901.

.. sarcophagus off and expose his coffin. so that's why in 1901, he was buried in a steel cage ten feet deep, covered completely with concrete, to prevent any future grave robbing and. he's buried under the floor of the memorial he is buried under the floor of memorial hall here. now, router brimmer started to circulate his homes has done the embalming. no one knows where that rumors came from there circulated by the newspapers. holmes has been dead for year at this point. so they did not come from him. that is patently false. henry could tell a 26 involved mr. lincoln. very quickly wrap up. let's look at the effects of the lincoln tragedy and how they

shape thend american for the net century half. these are the elements of the early american funeral. they were based on 1644 records directory of public worship of god which said no funeral services should be said no prayer should be held. the colonial american funeral, your manger wash at home, dressed by the family. the wake will be sure to make sure a person was in fact at it. those with no embalming bend. the only way people could no doubt sign of decomposition breadth remains were conference a piece of string was taken down at your local cabinetmaker carpenter who would make custom coffin. there would be a procession. bells would be told i'm for the first half a century nothing was said to print the family would then gather and that was the

american funeral. now in 1683 we see the first funeral ceremony was for a man who is a pastor in roxbury, massachusetts. the funeral service would be preached on sunday services not the day of the burial per they'll be preached after not let us on the sunday after might be a sunday or two. that we start to see prayer services being held gravesite. graveside. the first recorded instance of that is 1717 he was one of the colonial magistrates you might be familiar. he took part in which trials. we start to see the american funeral changing. i'm not sure the lincoln journal invented this template but to use a chemical term the activation that spurred definitely embalming came into both. 880,000 people that saw president lincoln their thought

after that it was good enough for the president, it's good enough for me. prit was the embalming is a practice explode in america after the civil war. flower attributes in the interest of time are touched on it.. i'm going to breed by that. the visibility of the hearse. think about the grand hearse i talked about. please try to outdo themselves. they're almost frivolous. people try to scratch out an in existence in the new world. having a specialized vehicle to convey the dead was not needed. most people were mirroring folks in their yard or in the town commons, somewhere where they could walk. after the civil wars with the rural cemetery out of that city centers.

was one of the rural cemeteries outside of the city limits the setting that appealed to the ape victorian sense of people gone to their sleep. so it lincoln being buried in a rural cemetery as they were called was an endorsement for this type of cemetery. all the settings americans won this type of barrel that did not want to be buried in the crowded churchyard jammed into city centers. they wanted this rural setting for burial. emphasis on the casket and coffin. we start see a couple things one the mass production of caskets and then the advent of the casket no longer our local carpenters knocking something together custom. certainlyy lincoln's grand coffn that was appreciated before millions of people all the

sudden there's an emphasis in the funeral right of the coffin and then later the casket. postmortem photography has this golden age for the mid- 19th century until the turn of the 20th century when modern medicine and the personal camera make it go the way of the horse in the buggy. but certainly lincoln being photographed, that photo being published in the paper and everyone knowing it kind of create a p buzz about postmortem photography.he mrs. mary todd lincoln. she put on morning dress after her husband was assassinated i never took it off until the day she died. the next 17 years. look to the victorians adopt overt morning and it was not just her.

it was the other family of six and 50000 soldiers there was killed during the civil war. this was a time of national crisis. these men marched off to war most were never seen again. this was a time of national mourning. the victorian people adopted this type of overt morning this display of overt morning they held onto that until there's another national crisis i will not even go into it in american cast about its quickly. mary todd lincoln was about leading the charge but americans are looking to her saying she's doing it, it was good enough for the first lady it's good enough for me. that is what i have for you this evening on the grand funeral of president lincoln buried thank you very much for coming out and listening. [applause]

[applause] any questions? >> how about if i start out by testing the mike i do have a question for you. thank you for this presentation it was wonderful and very inspiring. i have to share a story because my questions about it. twenty years maybe 30 years ago they made a recreation of one of the slave ships called the amistad. they picked up a single man a black man in sri lanka who took the trip and represented all of the slaves that have been taken that trip. through the caribbean in came up and i joined our creation ship. atit christiana river and stayed there for a week. the weather was beautiful all that week and during that time i got too talk to this gentleman o full of love. he was an amazing man. the last thing they were going to do before the ship left was

give it prayers rabbis, pastors, fathers and the small town. during that one section it rained and it r rains. not quite loud enough to almost lata is a soundman i was devastated kind of erect the moment i came out and went to apologize to him and he was crying. i like where you crying? i'm sorry. no you don't understand. in my country when it rains it means god is pleased with your work. i would suggest maybe it was not plagued by rain it was blasted d by rain. [applause] so my question is, i was curious about the flag and the flag coats and it was written like 70 years later but in it represents lincoln when they talk about the

pledge of allegiance the words under g god on the last couple sentences of the gettysburg address. they talk about the flag being taken at half mast for 30 days for a president in 10 days for a vice president. and also that the flag should lie with thele stars on the left shoulder on the coffin but always on the pictures were flags on the train. i was curious how else was the flag changed during the funeral? >> you know, i honestly don't know. i did not come across any references or photos of the flag on lincoln's coffin. it was a prominent symbol on the hearse. they had these pillars because a lot of them are canopied and you would see the flags wound around a lot of the pillars of the hearses that were used.

and draped there would be bunting on the hurston. but i never did see anything about flags or read anything about flags order to half mast or anything like that. it would cleveland, columbus, indianapolis, chicago. >> i have a question for you. i've been in several high-frequency death mask. as heather face cast into a mask which has been preserved. has that ever been a tradition in the u.s.? just must make to my knowledge of presidentli lincoln was not e

of them. but death masks never really took off in america as they did in europe. americans adopted in bombing in a way that europeans did not. from the mid- 19th century on you did not need the death mask. because we could hold the lincoln funeral train. think about it. i do not need a death mask and they were creating really and europe for the funeral ceremony. they would be held are a period of weeks after someone died

until they could collect the members of the royal family. i was in the actual nature to run its course they'd have an effigy and a death mask. >> that was a fascinating talk. well done thank you. you mentioned lincoln was the second person to lie in state in the capitol. dear member the first was? >> i believe it was henry clay. yes. >> i just wanted to first say thank you. i've never been exposed to the american culture like today. it is amazing and i'm really

honored, thank you. i grewen up does not allow a boy to be cap more than two days. and one that kept a body for two or three months. so today is kind of unique to understand the culture from perspective. i also wondered in my culture when it rains is a blessing. god ishi signing my dream to heaven. urthe last one is a question to you as you dedicate your time to this work is to families. how do you see the future fill with cremations and now

crystallization's? how you see the future going forward with funeral service? park is one thing that has been constant in my research into the history of the american funeral was there's nothing consonant. if you look at snapshots words 50 years or 100 years starting with the first jamestown settlement went go back and look at the snapshots the american funeral is constantly changing. one thing i can tell you is the funeral 50 years or 100 years from now won't look at the funeral today. now what is going to look like i cannot tell you is cremation growing in popularity? yes. are the new forms of disposition that are emerging and gaining popularity? like alkaline and national natural organic reduction, yes? what is with the perform preferred forms in 50 years question what i do not w know.

we see this change in the funeral.y definitely spurred on something here to stay. what its role is going to look like in the future. i do not live. i certainly been kicked around virtual reality funeral struggling holograms is another night kicked around a lot. that's part of the funeral experience there is talk about virtual memorialization and the meta- verse. instead of going to a rural cemetery buying a headstone like people have done for several hundred years, maybe you buy land in the meta- verse and you have a digital memorial. i do not know.

we will find out together. >> quick she is buried with all the lincoln's are buried together yes. why did they open his coffin? i think you said six times. >> to ensure it was him. there were so many threats of his coffin being snatched and held for ransom a lot of times later they moved in they peek in there to make sure it's him. it works so well when the coffin was open for the final time he was a remarkable state of

preservation. texas said his bombing of traumatizing he left embalming immediate after the civil war is a lithograph of her short part of time he never talked about in bombing lincoln until the rumors that thomas holmes had embalmed him surface in 190 when he finally broke his silence 37 years later a 1901 to talk about embalming president lincoln. that's a first time he spoke out publicly. we will have one more question. thank you for the excellent remarks. the shortness was there a

security concern related to that? >> i have not read anything. perhaps the security around the never read anything definitive as to why is only an hour and a half. the fasting presentation. we do need to cut off the evening because of the time we had said before i think utah isi been a fascinating. [applause] [applause] if you are enjoying history tv sign up for the newsletter using the qr code on your screen to

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