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Lincoln's assassination - from Lincoln's home town...
Lincoln's assassination - from Lincoln's home town...
Item # 701644
April 17, 1865
ILLINOIS STATE JOURNAL, Springfield, April 17, 1865 Serious collectors have always been keen to seek out historic events in newspapers from where the event happened, and they continue to demand the most interest and highest prices. For Lincoln's assassination the several Washington, D.C. newspapers are among the best.
But an equally desired report is one from Lincoln's hometown, where he lived & worked before becoming President of the United States--and where he was buried. Only once before have we offered a newspaper from Springfield, Illinois, likely because it was a much smaller town than the nation's capital, and had few newspapers with much smaller circulations. But here is one.
This newspaper published daily, tri-weekly, & weekly, and given the headlines we believe this to be the trip-weekly edition. It reads as a first report, but an inside page mentions dispatches contained in their Saturday morning paper.
The front page heads near the top of the 2nd column include: "THE NATIONAL CALAMITY" "The Assassination Of President Lincoln" "How Received Throughout The Country" "Attempt to Assassinate Secy. Stanton" "Andrew Johnson Sworn In As President" "Reported Capture of J.W. Booth, The Assassin" "The Whole People In Mourning" and more.
The text begins with an April 15 dateline: "President Lincoln was shot through the head last night at Ford's Theatre & died this morning. The assassin is supposed to be J. Wilkes Booth...". Another report: "Abraham Lincoln died this morning at 22 minutes after seven o'clock." but then another report has: "The President continues insensible and is sinking..." and another: "The 'Star' Extra says: 'At 7:30 o'clock the President breathed his last, closing his eyes as if falling to sleep...There were no indications of pain..." and a Proclamation by the governor of Illinois adds a hometown touch: "Abraham Lincoln has fallen by the hands of an assassin...Illinois mourns the loss of her noblest son & the nation weeps...".
Page 2 has with an editorial headed: "The Great National Calamity" with the text beginning: "Abraham Lincoln is dead! These portentous words, as they sped over the wires throughout the length & breadth of the land...sent a thrill of agony through millions of loyal hearts....". Another column has heads: "Demonstrations of the Respect To President Lincoln" "Mr. Seward's Condition--President Johnson's Speech" "The Assassinations--Six Persons Implicated--Rumored Arrests--$10,000 Reward" "Evidence of An Extensive Plot" "Incidents of the President's Last Day" "His Remains to be Brought To this City" and another column has: "The Death of President Lincoln" "Receipt of the News In Springfield" "A Day of Gloom" and more.
Complete in four pages, 19 3/4 by 26 inches. The photos give good evidence of the condition with various tears, small holes, some archival repairs, the loss of some text at the top half of the vertical fold.
Category: The Civil War
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