Tomb Case 1

Cairo Mourns Lincoln

The assassination of Abraham Lincoln in April of 1865 sent shockwaves across the globe, though not the first President to die in office his murder changed forever how people viewed the office of the Presidency. In the north, the news was met with outrage and in the days following the President’s death those who were seen as celebrating it often encountered swift and violent retribution.

This letter provides a vivid example. Businessman George A. Young writes to his wife Lydia from Cairo, Illinois, only three days after the assassination. He describes his own reaction and the arrival soon after of General Nathaniel Banks, who gave a speech through his own tears and those of the audience. Things then turned brutal as a Confederate sympathizer “said he was very glad of it” and “was shot on the spot.” Young’s clear grief paired with his matter-of-fact description of this violent act shows the full range of emotions at play.