Jump to Navigation

Lincoln in Kansas - Part 5

He is in Glory

The war was all but over when General Robert E. Lee surrendered on April 9, 1865. Although some Confederate armies remained in the field, Lee's surrender set off celebrations in the North. Abraham and Mary Lincoln attended the theater on April 14, when the unthinkable happened. Lincoln was shot, and the country plunged into mourning.

Blood-stained fragment of Ford's Theatre playbillThis fragment of a program from Ford's Theatre (top, left) is stained with the president's blood. T.D. Bancroft, a Kansan who had been a member of Lane's Frontier Guard four years earlier, was present when Lincoln was shot. As the president was carried away, he left a trail of blood. Bancroft dipped this program in the blood.

Four people--three men and a woman--were convicted in the conspiracy to kill Lincoln. All four were hanged on a gallows at the Old Arsenal Penitentiary in Washington, D.C.

John Wilkes Booth, Lincoln's assassin, was not a Kansan. But as a successful actor, he had performed at the Union Theatre in Leavenworth.

Boston Corbett, the man who killed John Wilkes BoothKansas Connection:  Boston Corbett

Boston Corbett became famous as the man who shot and killed John Wilkes Booth.

After the manhunt for Lincoln's assassin, Corbett moved to Kansas where tried his hand at farming near Concordia.

His fame later helped him secure a position as Sergeant-at-Arms for the Kansas House of Representatives. Corbett pulled a gun in the House chamber and threatened to use it. He was sent to the State Hospital for the Insane in Topeka.

Corbett later escaped from the hospital and disappeared, never to be seen again.

Lincoln's statue at Mount Hope Cemetery, Topeka

Belonging to the Ages

"Now he belongs to the Ages."
--Edwin Stanton, 1865

Since his death in 1865, Lincoln has been revered by Americans and many others around the world.

Sculptors and printmakers have commemorated  Lincoln in stone and metal, and on paper. This practice began shortly after his death and continued well into the 20th century.  This statue of Lincoln (bottom, right) can be found at Mount Hope Cemetery in Topeka.

Lincoln's name is attached to towns, counties, schools, streets, and other public venues. It is a measure of the respect we have for the man's legacy.

How well do you know Abraham Lincoln? Take our quiz.

 

This concludes the Kansas Museum of History's online exhibit, Lincoln in Kansas.

  1. The Back Story - The Lincoln Douglas debates
  2. I Think I Would Go to Kansas - Lincoln's 1859 Kansas trip
  3. Rail Splitter of the West - Presidential campaigns
  4. The War President - Civil War years
  5. He Is In Glory - The assassination and its aftermath
  6. How Well Do You Know Abraham Lincoln? - Take our fun quiz

Contact us at KSHS.KansasMuseum@ks.gov