Abraham Lincoln Funeral Train Route

Abraham Lincoln Funeral Train Route. April 21-May 3, 1865. , The Darke County Connection , Citizens of the Miami Valley were made aware of Lincoln's funeral train through announcements in local newspapers. Sunday April 30, the train traveled into Darke County on a wet and chilly night. The train briefly stopped in Union City Junction, later to be known as Bradford, to resupply with fuel and water. A small number of citizens were allowed on the funeral car to pay their last respects. Next the train entered Gettysburg at 1:10am and later Greenville at 1:36am. Greenville was the only town in Darke County to hold a memorial. About 500 people gathered at the station, which was the crossroads of the Dayton and Union Railroads. The station was tastefully decorated and two huge 15 foot bonfires illuminated the night. Thirty-six young ladies dressed in white waved the Star Spangled Banner, while a group of men and women sang Lafayette's Requiem and Company C. 28th Ohio Infantry lined up in formation. As the train traveled through Darke county hundreds of people from the rural area gathered along the tracks to pay respect. Small bonfires and torches spotted the landscape. At 2:41am the train passed through New París, the last station in Ohio. An arch of evergreens 30 feet wide and 20 feet high stood over the tracks where a large crowd gathered. Here is where the funeral train switched onto the Dayton line and continued to Indianapolis, Indiana., Planning , (February 12, 1809 - April 15, 1865), was the 16th President of the United States. He served from March 1861 until his assassination by John Wilkes Booth while watching the play "Our American Cousin" at Ford's Theatre in Washington, DC. with his wife, Mary Todd Lincoln., After much consideration and debate the final resting place of Abraham Lincoln was decided to be located at Oak Ridge Cemetery in Springfield, Illinois. Mrs. Lincoln's initial choice was Chicago, Illinois. She also did not desire an extended public train route not wanting to make a spectacle of her deceased husband. Secretary of War, Edwin M. Stanton was in charge of the arrangement and burial of President Abraham Lincoln. He appointed Ohio governor John Bough as co-chair of the committee overseeing the planning and operation of the funeral train. Choosing the route proved to be the biggest challenge and was tentative until late April 19th. Mrs. Lincoln was persuaded to extend the journey and deviate from the original route. The final route was a compromise between cities, time and Mrs. Lincoln's wishes., Railroads , Brigadier-General Daniel C. McCallum, the director and superintendent of United States Military Railroads, was assigned the duty of assembling the funeral train. General Edward D. Townsend was in charge of daily operations. The train was under military command and operated over all railroads directly on the authority of the U.S. Government. The railroad car "United States" was modified for funeral duty, originally built for the President and government use. At least 42 steam powered locomotives were used along the journey. Frequent stops were necessary to replenish the wood that heated the water and water for the boiler. Around 80 train cars were used in the course of the journey. At no time were there to be any less than 9 train cars. The train was not to exceed 5 miles per hour when passing a station or town., The Lincoln funeral train departed Washington DC., April 21, 1865, 8:00am and arrived in Springfield, Illinois on May 3, 1865. Over a span of 13 days it would travel over 1,600 miles and 7 states (Washington, Maryland, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois). It is estimated that one third of the population, about 12 million Americans, witnessed the train en route from Washington, DC., to Springfield, Illinois. Of that number, 1.3 million viewed the open casket at various stops along the way.