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In the course of the very long funeral procession some twenty men are named as Lincoln's pallbearers. The president layed in state at every train stop and once arriving in Springfield, his coffin was transfered from the funeral train to a horse drawn hearse for the procession to the cemetery. What I am interested in knowing is, what are the names of the pallbearers who carried the coffin from the horse drawn hearse to the first receiving vault at the Oak Ridge Cemetery in Springfield, Illinois in 1865.
Senate: Lafayette Foster, Edwin D. Morgan, Reverdy Johnson, Richard Yates, Benjamin Wade, John Conness. Army: U. S. Grant, H. W. Halleck, W. A. Nichols. Civilians: Orville Browning, George Ashmun, Thomas Corwin, Simon Cameron. Marine Corp: J. Zelin. Navy: D. Farragut, W. S. Shubrick. House of Representatives: Henry Worthington, Elihu Washburn, Green Clay Smith, Schuyler Colfax, Henry Dawes, Andrew [sic] Coffroth.
Thank you JT, but as I said there were many bearers over the course of the long funeral procession. I would only be curious as to who carried the coffin at the very end. All of these men did not, however they participated in other instances where the coffin was moved from place to place along the long funeral train ride and public viewings along the way. By the way, General Grant was not a pallbearer, but rather a member of the military honor guard and funeral detail.
I am trying to authenticate a Fife that was purported to have been played at Abraham Lincoln's funeral in Springfield, IL. I am searching for a listing of who was in the procession that day. The Fifer was Jesse Lambert.
According to the book "From the Log Cabin to the White House", written by Mary M. Harris and published in 1908, the funeral procession from the statehouse grounds to Oak Ridge Cemetery was led by General Joseph Hooker, with Generals John Cook and James Oakes and their respective staffs, acting as escorts.
The pallbearers are listed as: Jesse K. Dubois, Stephen T. Logan, Gustavus Koerner, James L. Lamb, Samuel H. Treat, John Williams, Erastus White, J.M. Brown, Jacob Bunn, Charles Matheny, Elijah Iles, and John T. Stuart.
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Originally Posted by jdr721442
I am trying to authenticate a Fife that was purported to have been played at Abraham Lincoln's funeral in Springfield, IL. I am searching for a listing of who was in the procession that day. The Fifer was Jesse Lambert.
The list in Ms. Harris's book of those in the final funeral procession is quite detailed. Of course, given that it was written about 103 years ago, there is no way of knowing how definitive it actually is. That being said, the name "Jesse Lambert" does not appear within it.
One thing mentioned in the book was the presence of a band, listed as "Lebruns Washington Band" from Saint Louis. The "Lebrun" seems to be a reference to Nicholas Le Brun, a French national who was a musician and composer residing in Saint Louis, Missouri. He wrote a piece titled "Lincoln Dead March", which is stated to have been played at Lincoln's funeral by a 100 piece orchestra conducted by Mr. Le Brun, and accompanied by a 2,000 person chorus. Unless you have information saying that this Jesse Lambert was a military fifer or part of military band that marched in the procession, perhaps he was instead a member of Mr. Le Brun's orchestra.
Jesse Lambert was a military musician in Company K, 78th Illinois US Infantry. He mustered in on August 30, 1862, in Quincy, IL. He mustered out on June 7, 1865. He was a fifer.
Facts I know so far are:
1. The obituary of Webster A. Wood stated: "that he [Wood] was in charge of the drum corps at President Lincoln's Funeral at Springfield, IL on May 4, 1865.
2. The 146th Illinois Volunteer Regiment, under the leadership of Captain Wilbur F. Heath, played a song at Lincoln's funeral in Springfield, IL.
So far, I can't link Mr. Lambert to either of these two groups. I am trying hard to get the name of the drum corps, but no luck so far.
Does this information help? Can you steer me in some direction?
In the process of looking for additional information on the subject, I have come to the realization that I need to make a correction of sorts to my original post. Part of the issue has to do with the term “pallbearers” and what is generally understood to be their duties as opposed to the actual role they played in the Lincoln funeral. In this instance, pallbearers acted as part of the overall “Honor Guard” that stood vigil over Lincoln’s casket or marched with it in each of the cities it passed through on the way back to Springfield. What they did not do, however, is actually lift, carry, or touch the casket in any way. So while the list of pallbearers for the last procession from the statehouse grounds to Oak Ridge Cemetery is correct, they were not in fact the individuals who carried Lincoln’s casket into the tomb.
The only people that were allowed to handle Lincoln’s coffin were men from the “Veterans Reserve Corps” , which was made up of soldiers and officers who had been wounded or disabled and were no longer considered fit for active duty in the field. In total, twenty-nine of these men, almost all sergeants, accompanied Lincoln’s body from Washington, D.C., to Springfield, Illinois. They were as follows: John P. Barry, Luther Bulock, Patrick Callaghan, Frank Carey, Samuel Carpenter, Augustus Carr, James Collins, Addison Cornwell, William Daly, William Durgin, Joseph Durkee, John Edwards, Lloyd Forehand, George Goodrich, John Hanna, Edward Hoppy, John Karr, Rufus Lewis, A. Judson Marshall, James McCamly, Edward Murphy, Jacob Nelson, William Noble, James Pardun, Irvin Sedgwick, Frank Smith, John Smith, Chester Swinehart, and William Wiseman.
Given the size of the contingent, I would suspect the duty of carrying Lincoln’s coffin was likely rotated amongst the men at each stop along the funeral train’s route, but I have found nothing to say that was definitely the case. In any event, though I’m sure someone at the time wrote down exactly who of these twenty-nine men were the last to handle Lincoln’s casket, whether or not that information still exists today and where it might be found, is not something I can answer.
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Originally Posted by jdr721442
So far, I can't link Mr. Lambert to either of these two groups. I am trying hard to get the name of the drum corps, but no luck so far. Does this information help? Can you steer me in some direction?
The various texts I have seen indicate the presence of multiple bands taking part in the funeral ceremonies at Springfield. Other than “Lebruns Washington Band” none were referred to by name. I did run across a description of one being a “reconstituted regimental band”, but as far as what regiment and which state it came from, it did not say.
The link below may be of some help to you. It regards another man, Eli Blanchard, who was a drummer from the 24th Michigan Infantry Regiment. According to the posted story, the 24th Michigan was part of the escort from the statehouse to Oak Ridge Cemetery. If you look at the comments section, you will see one from a person who appears to be Webster Webb’s great grandson. Perhaps he, or someone else at the site can provide you with more information:
Beyond that, my only other suggestions would be to contact the Illinois State Historical Society, Illinois Historic Preservation Agency, or the Abraham Lincoln Association. Hopefully, one of these organizations can be of more help to you with your search.
Thank you so very much for providing information to me. You have really helped to keep me to my task. I will do what you have suggested with hopes of someone being able to help.
My GG Uncle James Hosmer Andrews was also a pallbearer but I don't see him mentioned. He fought with the 25th Michigan Infantry Co. B under Col. Moore.
RE Pallbearers for Abraham Lincoln. We are looking for decendents who wants to participate in the funeral reenactment in 2015 in Springfield, IL. Contact Linda Mason Armstrong linda_armstrong47@yahoo.com Thank you.
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