Courtesy of Leet Brothers
FORD’S THEATER
THE HOUSE IN WHICH PRESIDENT LINCOLN DIED
Mr. Oldroyd gathered in the course of 50 years upward of 3,000 articles pertaining to the martyred President. These can be seen by visitors to the house. The room in which Abraham Lincoln died has been kept as nearly as possible as it was when Lincoln passed away and when Stanton said, “Now he belongs to the ages.”
The following are some of the articles that can be seen: Wreaths that lay upon the casket in Washington and at the final burial in Springfield, Ill., and a rose taken from his bosom just before the casket was closed—faded, but hermetically sealed in a small glass case, it still appears a rose. There is also in the house furniture used by Mrs. Lincoln in Springfield, including her cookstove; the plain office desk and chair Abraham Lincoln used while practicing law with William H. Herndon; a plain black and white shawl that he wore in place of an overcoat, as men did in those days; the last bit of writing he did; the Bible his mother, Nancy Hanks, gave to him before she died, when he was not yet 9 years of age, and from which he was taught to read; the desk upon which much of the Emancipation Proclamation was written; also many documents, prints, and books describing his life.
Chapter XXI
PUBLIC AND SEMIPUBLIC BUILDINGS
THE CAPITOL
The site for the Capitol, or the Federal House, as selected by L’Enfant, is on what was then known as Jenkin’s Hill, 88 feet above the level of the Potomac River.
The northwest cornerstone of the main building was laid on September 18, 1793, by President Washington with Masonic ceremonies. The building is of Virginia sandstone from quarries on Aquia Creek.