American Historical Ephemera and Early Photography

Autograph letter signed "Liamer," addressed to "Miss A.O. Briggs" of Portage City, WI. Springfield [IL], 8 May 1865.

4pp., 7 3/4 x 5 in., creased along folds and other areas. Accompanied by postally used envelope cancelled at Springfield.

Writing about the final stop of the Lincoln funeral train in Springfield, Liamer declares: "Truely [sic], it has been a 'city of Mourning.' Those were sad days when the Remains of Mr. Lincoln lay here in state. The whole city both public and private buildings were completely shrouded in gloom. There was not a yard of black to be found in the stores...I wish you could have seen our State House. I wish too, I could describe to you how beautifully it was draped..."

Lincoln's body was placed in the State House for public viewing, but many mourners were surprised by what they saw. As Liamer writes: "Mr. Lincoln did not look exactly as I had expected, his face seemed so much smaller and his features more regular than I had supposed - but oh! It was a sad sad sight. His face was very much discolored, but the embalmers said that would all pass off in a short time."

In fact, after such a long journey, Lincoln's face had turned black in color, to the great shock and distress of the embalmers. The courtesy undertaker, Thomas Lynch, ended up purchasing rouge chalk and amber to thickly coat the president's face in hopes of hiding the discoloration. Clearly, his work only served discolor the face in a slightly less stark color, but the strangeness of it was noticed all the same. (Twenty Days, p. 256).

Liamer describes her successful attempt to procure a relic to send to her friend in the form of a sprig of evergreen from the catafalque (not included here). She writes: "I had to steal it when the Guard's back was turned, and was greeted by a hearty laugh from a group of soldiers at the door, who I had not noticed."

Lincoln's body was finally laid to rest in Springfield's Oak Ridge Cemetery, at Mary Todd Lincoln's behest, as she believed it was a proper representation of the "quiet place" Lincoln had referenced a few weeks before his death. Liamer writes: "I wish you could see our beautiful Cemetery, where he now lies - Oak Ridge, it will be 'hallowed ground' from this times [sic] forever!"