Lincoln's Assassination

    Date Event
    In New York City, John Wilkes Booth performs with his brothers Edwin and Junius for the only time
    In Washington, Secretary of State Seward is injured quite badly when thrown from his carriage
    John Wilkes Booth shoots President Lincoln during the play "Our American Cousin" at Ford’s Theatre
    Lewis Powell attempts to assassinate Secretary of State William Seward in Washington, DC
    Fugitive John Wilkes Booth rides into Maryland and reaches the farm of Dr. Samuel Mudd at four a.m.
    President Lincoln dies from the head wound John Wilkes Booth inflicted eight hours before
    President Lincoln's body taken from Petersen's Boarding house to the White House two hours after death
    Reckless remark over the death of President Lincoln leads to mob violence in Fall River, Massachusetts
    John Wilkes Booth and David Herold continue their flight across Maryland then hide in a remote thicket
    Mary Surratt and Lewis Powell are arrested in a late night War Department raid on Surratt's boarding house
    Assassination conspirator Samuel Arnold is arrested in the morning at Fortress Monroe in Virginia
    In Baltimore, assassination conspirator Michael O'Laughlin is arrested in the morning in Baltimore
    - John Wilkes Booth and David Herold are hiding from their pursuers in a remote Maryland pine thicket
    The funeral service for President Lincoln takes place in the White House East Room at noon
    At the War Department, Secretary Stanton announced large rewards for the capture of the Lincoln conspirators
    George Atzerodt, failed assassin in the John Wilkes Booth conspiracy, is captured in Maryland
    The body of slain President Lincoln is laying in state in the United States Capitol rotunda
    Doctor Samuel Mudd, who treated and sheltered John Wilkes Booth, is arrested at his Maryland farm
    At eight o'clock in the morning President Lincoln begins his twelve-day journey home from Washington D.C.
    At ten o'clock in the morning President Lincoln's remains reach Baltimore to lie in state there for several hours
    - In Philadelphia, President Lincoln's remains lay in state at Independence Hall for two days
    Abraham Lincoln's funeral train leaves Harrisburg and rolls across the Pennsylvania countryside to Philadelphia
    President Lincoln's remains arrive in New York City to lay in state at City Hall
    Abraham Lincoln's funeral train leaves Philadelphia before dawn and moves across New Jersey
    President Johnson sets May 25th as a day of "special humiliation and prayer" for Abraham Lincoln
    President Lincoln's remains depart New York City after a massive procession across the city
    Secretary Edwin Stanton intervenes to ensure African-American participation in New York's funeral procession
    John Wilkes Booth is trapped in a Virginia barn, is shot, and dies of his wound just before dawn
    - President Lincoln's funeral train makes its way across upstate New York to Buffalo
    At Albany, thousands of citizens file past Abraham Lincoln's coffin in the State Capitol
    President Lincoln's remains spend the day in Buffalo, New York before heading for Cleveland, Ohio
    In Philadelphia, high political emotions start a brawl and get a prominent Philadelphia author arrested
    President Lincoln's remains spend the day in Cleveland, Ohio, on their journey west
    In Washington, John Wilkes Booth's accused fellow plotters are transferred to the Old Penitentiary for trial
    For Christian religious reasons, President Johnson adjusts the day of mourning for Abraham Lincoln to June 1, 1865
    In Columbus, Ohio, thousands view President Lincoln's remains during a day at the State Capitol
    President Lincoln's casket lays in state at the State Capitol in Indianapolis, Indiana
    At Richmond, Indiana, a crowd of thousands await the three a.m. arrival of President Lincoln's train
    Reaching his home state, President Lincoln's remains arrive in Chicago to a remarkable reception
    In Washington, President Johnson orders a military trial for John Wilkes Booth's accused fellow plotters
    President Lincoln's remains reboard his funeral train for the last time in Chicago bound for Springfield, Illinois and home
    Abraham Lincoln returns to Springfield, Illinois where his remains lay in state in the State House
    In Springfield, Illinois, President Lincoln is laid to rest at the Oak Ridge Cemetery
    In Washington, the officers of the military court for John Wilkes Booth's accused fellow plotters are named
    In Washington, membership of the military court for John Wilkes Booth's accused fellow plotters is adjusted
    In Washington, the accused Lincoln Assassination plotters all plead not guilty before their military court
    Famed Maryland lawyer and statesman Reverdy Johnson meets with accused conspirator Mary Surratt in her cell
    In Washington's Old Penitentiary, the taking of evidence in the Lincoln conspiracy trial begins
    - In Washington's Old Penitentiary, the taking of evidence in the Lincoln conspiracy trial continues
    In Washington's Old Penitentiary, the taking of evidence in the Lincoln conspiracy trial concludes
    - In Washington's Old Penitentiary, final arguments are being made in the Lincoln conspiracy trial
    In Washington's Old Penitentiary, the Commission in the Lincoln conspiracy trial begin their deliberations
    In Washington D.C., the planned reopening of Ford's Theater causes public and governmental consternation
    In Washington, President Andrew Johnson approves the sentences passed down to the Lincoln conspirators
    In Washington's Old Penitentiary, the Lincoln conspirators are told their fate in their cells
    Four condemned Lincoln assassination conspirators, including Mary Surratt, are executed in Washington, D.C.
    On Secretary of War Stanton's orders, troops surround Ford's Theater and prevent its re-opening
    President Johnson orders the surviving Lincoln conspirators to serve their sentences off the coast of Florida
    In Washington, the War Department purchases Ford's Theater and begins to convert it as an office building
    On Abraham Lincoln's birthday, historian George Bancroft delivers a memorial oration before Congress
    Accused Lincoln conspirator is returned to the United States under arrest for murder.
    Accused Lincoln conspirator John H. Surratt goes on trial in Washington DC for murder.
    Date Title
    Edwin Booth to Henry C. Jarrett, Boston, Massachusetts, April 15, 1865
    Edwin M. Stanton to Major General William T. Sherman, April 15, 1865
    Henry W. Halleck to William T. Sherman, April 15, 1865
    Maunsell Bradhurst Field to Editor New York Times, Letter accounting the Passing of President Abraham Lincoln, April 16, 1865
    "The Consequence," Chicago Tribune, April 17, 1865
    Henry Reed Rathbone, Deposition on the events of April 14, 1865, Ford's Theater, Washington D.C.
    "The Great Calamity," Chicago Tribune, April 17, 1865
    "The Murder of President Lincoln," New York Times, April 16, 1865
    Report of Messrs. Brough and Garrett on arrangements for the transport of President Lincoln's remains to Illinois, April 18, 1865
    William T. Sherman to William W. Halleck, April 18, 1865
    Milwaukee (WI) Sentinel, “The Calamity,” April 19, 1865
    George Alfred Townsend, "The Obsequies in Washington," April 19, 1865
    William T. Clark to Ida Clark, Washington D.C., April 19, 1865
    Otto C. Bardon, Reminiscences of the Sultana Disaster, April 27, 1865
    Chief Engineer Nathan Witringer, Reminiscences of the Sultana Disaster, April 27, 1865, written on April 14, 1886.
    Entry by Kate Stone, April 28, 1865
    Andrew Johnson, Proclamation, Reward for the Conspirators, Washington, D.C.
    Charges and specifications against the Lincoln Conspirators on trial in Washington, D.C., May 8, 1865
    Official Verdict of the Military Commission trying the Lincoln Conspirators, as endorsed by President Johnson, July 5, 1865
    How to Cite This Page: "Lincoln's Assassination ," House Divided: The Civil War Research Engine at Dickinson College, https://hd.housedivided.dickinson.edu/node/36583.