Abe lincolns assassination chair meme
Abe lincolns assassination chair pictures
Shooting him in the back of the head at point-blank range, the famous actor succeeded, inflicting a mortal wound that would take Lincoln's life the following morning. The first murder of an American president in the nation's history, it came just one week after Confederate general Robert E. Lee's surrender ended America's convulsive four-year civil war. Booth, a fanatically pro-Confederate sympathizer, had been stalking Lincoln for the good part of a year. Six weeks earlier, he had stood less feet away from the president at his second inauguration.The president attended the theatre frequently, and the Fords were accustomed to offering him a special box above the stage.
Because General and Mrs. Ulysses S. Grant were expected to be in Lincoln's theatre party, the Ford Theatre staff quickly combined two boxes into a larger one and added special decorative touches. The Grants later declined the invitation, but not before five flags and a framed portrait of George Washington were installed and special furniture was carried inside.
After the assassination, Henry (Harry) Ford, treasurer of the theatre, testified that he included an upholstered sofa and matching rocker in the furnishings.
Theatre employee Joe Simms concurred with this, saying, "I saw Mr. Harry Ford and another gentleman fixing up the box. Mr. Ford told me to go to his bed-room and get a rocking chair, and bring it down and put it in the President's box. I did so.
The chair had not been there before this season. It was a chair with a high back to it and cushioned."
James L. Maddox, another theatre worker, remembered Simms carrying the rocker into the building on his head. "I had not seen that chair in the box this season; the last time I saw it before that afternoon was in the winter of , when it was used by the President on his first visit to the theater."
The Rocker's Tragic Fame
Once the Lincolns settled into their state box, many theatre patrons could not see the president in the rocker, due to their distance from him, the angle of their seats, or the flags which obscured their view.
However, Roeliff Brinkerhoff was an assassination eyewitness who sat with friends in the dress circle opposite the presidential box. In his autobiography he wrote, "I saw Mr. Lincoln sitting in his chair with his head drooped upon his breast, but in all other respects he retained the position he had before he was shot."
After Lincoln had been carried from the theatre to the Petersen home across the street, another eyewitness summoned reporter Lawrence Gobright to investigate the scene.
Gobright recalled, "When we reached the box, we saw the chair in which the President sat at the time of the assassination; and, although the gas had for the greater part been turned off, we discovered blood upon it."
The rocker's importance became obvious immediately after Lincoln's death.
Abe lincolns assassination chair Lincoln Assassination Rocking Chair When President Abraham Lincoln relaxed in this silk upholstered rocking chair on April 14, , his Washington theatre box seemed like a safe and comfortable place. To his right sat his wife Mary, leaning close and laughing at the actor onstage below. At or before p. The assassin, John Wilkes Booth, was a Confederate activist with a thorough knowledge of Ford's Theatre because of his acting career. Even when he wasn't performing he was in and out of the theatre, picking up mail and chatting with the Ford brothers and other actors.The War Department held it as evidence during the trial of the assassination conspirators and later left it with the Smithsonian Institution. Originally it had been the personal property of Harry Ford, and his widow eventually petitioned the government for its return. In she had it auctioned in New York, where Henry Ford, the legendary auto magnate and collector, purchased it for $2,
Today you may see this historic rocker at the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Michigan.
In the museum carefully restored it and installed it in a new environmentally controlled exhibit case. The photo above shows how it looked before the restoration took place.
Although blood stains were found on the chair, the dark stains in the photo were from grease applied to the hair of various people who rested against the back.
Rocker Adaptation © Abraham Lincoln Online | The Rocker Lives On There is only one rocker used by President Lincoln in the theatre box, so others you see are period antiques or modern adaptations. The one shown at the left is a modern version. Here are some comments from reader Richard Sloan, who has purchased reproduction rockers: "The "exact replica" of the upholstered Lincoln assassination rocker that is being advertised is not at all "exact." When first produced for the gen'l public around or '75, it truly was the exact same frame. (I have a feeling, tho, that it was/still is reduced in scale ever-so-slightly.) For the last 10 years or so, the company that makes it (Victorian Classics) (and the ONLY one that does, despite what other companies advertise; they get it from V.C.) has made a modification. The arms are not padded all the way back to the frame any longer. The padding is only about 5" long, and centered in the middle of the arms. The photos of the replica don't usually show this. Be careful what you are ordering! Abraham lincolns assassination National Archives Photograph. This is the black walnut rocking chair Abraham Lincoln was sitting in when he was shot by John Wilkes Booth. It was the president's favorite and was brought from John T. Ford's personal apartment in the theater. There was a dark stain on the red upholstery of the back of the chair due to soiling from the hair pomade that was fashionable for men at the time.I bought 4 of them, together w/3 friends, so I asked them to modify it to the original appearance, and they agreed to do so. It's not just the padding that has to be extended -- the top of the arms' wood has to be notched/sliced all the way back to the frame so that the upholstered pieces sits on them at the right level. (Too complicated to go into any further detail here!) You can ask them to do this for you, but I don't know if they will. The material is not an exact reproduction, either. Abe lincolns assassination chair youtube: President Abraham Lincoln was sitting in this rocking chair during a production of Our American Cousin at Ford's Theatre in Washington, D.C., when he was assassinated on April 14, Henry Ford purchased the chair in for the Museum, where it remains one of the most revered objects associated with the "man who saved the Union.". That is only available if you order 4 - 5 times more fabric that is needed for one chair -- and not from the chair manufacturer. You have to go to Scalamandre for it, and it is extremely expensive. Then you have to send it to V.C. if you want it tufted. I did it for all 4 chairs, and it was a nightmare to coordinate. Abe lincolns assassination chair video Lincoln was watching a production of the play "Our American Cousin" when John Wilkes Booth shot the 16th president point blank. Lincoln hunched down in the chair while his wife Mary Todd Lincoln held him. He died the next morning. That chair Lincoln sat in became a piece of evidence during assassination investigation, then was placed in storage before being purchased and sent to Michigan and displayed at The Henry Ford. There are Lincoln artifacts in museums across the country, but "this one is pretty powerful," said Jim Johnson, senior manager of creative programs at The Henry Ford.Not only that, 2 of the chairs arrived with cracked frames and had to go back. Some of the expensive fabric had to be scrapped due to the damage. If you'll be happy with the chair with the smaller upholstered armrests and a difft. fabric, you're being very wise!" |
Related Links
A Doctor's View of the Assassination*
Assassination Deathbed*
Assassination Links*
Assassination-Related Places*
Assassination Rocking Chair Photo (Library of Congress)
Contents of Lincoln's Pockets on April 14, (Library of Congress)
Ford's Theatre
Henry Ford Museum
Petersen House
Related Reading
Lincoln Assassination Book List*
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