150 years ago, Lincoln was shot and The Enquirer missed it (2024)

150 years ago, Lincoln was shot and The Enquirer missed it (1)

For the past four years, this nation, undivided, has been noting the sesquicentennial of the greatest conflict this nation has ever faced. This week marks 150 years since the conclusion of the Civil War.

On April 9, 1865, after four long years of bloodshed that nearly tore the nation apart, Gen. Robert E. Lee surrendered his Confederate troops to Union Gen. Ulysses S. Grant, a Clermont County native, in the town of Appomattox Court House, Virginia, effectively ending the war.

A few days after the surrender, Cincinnati Enquirer editors, who had been openly critical of the war, nonetheless granted the newspaper staff a holiday to celebrate the end of the fighting.

That was the day President Abraham Lincoln was assassinated. And The Enquirer missed it.

On April 14, Lincoln was shot in the head while watching a production of the comedy "Our American Cousin" at Ford's Theatre in Washington, D.C.

150 years ago, Lincoln was shot and The Enquirer missed it (2)

The assassin, actor John Wilkes Booth, then jumped from the presidential box to the stage below, breaking his leg in the process, and posed for the audience, shouting, "Sic semper tyrannis!" meaning "thus always with tyrants," which is also the Virginia state motto.

Booth, a Confederate sympathizer, was part of a conspiracy plot to kill Lincoln, Grant, Vice President Andrew Johnson, and Secretary of State William H. Seward. Other than the president, only Seward was attacked but he survived stab wounds to his throat and face.

Lincoln died at 7:22 a.m. the next morning.

News in those days had to be sent via telegraph wire. Amazingly, the New York Herald, the biggest-circulation newspaper in the nation, published seven separate editions throughout the night and early morning updating the story as it developed. Their 8:45 a.m. edition on April 15 was the first to declare Lincoln dead.

The Enquirer, having sent the staff home, had no paper on April 16 and had to play catch up.

Booth's acting family on stage in Cincinnati

At the time of Lincoln's murder, Junius Brutus Booth Jr., the elder brother of the assassin, was finishing a two-week engagement in the play "The Three Guardsmen" at Pike's Opera House, Cincinnati's famous theater on Fourth Street between Vine and Walnut streets.

Junius Booth was unaware of what had happened and reported to the theater that morning while crowds clamoring for his head ripped down his playbills. When the acting manager told Booth that his brother had killed the president, Booth reportedly swooned and cried, "My God, can it be possible!"

Junius Booth quickly left town. A few days later in Philadelphia he was arrested and sent to Washington where he was interrogated and released.

John Wilkes Booth, part of the celebrated Booth acting family, had also appeared on stage in Cincinnati in the early 1860s at the National Theater and Wood's Theatre.

On Nov. 14, 1862, The Enquirer reported on Booth's appearance at the National Theater on Sycamore Street, north of Third: "Mr. J. Wilkes Booth will appear to-night for the second and last time in his great impersonation of 'Richard III.' This is Mr. Booth's masterpiece. No actor now upon the stage can render the character of the hump-backed tyrant with equal effect. In short Booth out-Richards Richard."

After a 12-day manhunt, U.S. troops tracked down the fugitive assassin to a farm in Virginia on the morning of April 26, 1865, and John Wilkes Booth was killed. (There are conflicting reports of whether he was shot by a soldier or himself.)

The news of Booth's demise overshadowed a tremendous tragedy that occurred the next day.

On April 27, the steamship S.S. Sultana, which had been built at the John Lithoberry Shipyard in Cincinnati in 1863, exploded and sank on the Mississippi River near Memphis. The ship traveling from Vicksburg, Mississippi, to Cairo, Illinois, had been carrying Union soldiers, many of them recently freed from Confederate prison camps, when the overworked boilers blew up.

Of the 2,300 on board, six times the ship's legal capacity, 1,547 perished, according to the official number from the U.S. Custom Service, making it the worst maritime disaster in U.S. history, with a larger death toll than the R.M.S. Titanic. Of those who perished, 791 were from Ohio, about 50 from Cincinnati.

The Sultana tragedy was overshadowed by news of the war and Booth's death, and is still largely overlooked, although there is a historical marker at Sawyer Point.

150 years ago, Lincoln was shot and The Enquirer missed it (3)

Ulysses S. Grant hailed as American hero

In the 20th century, scholars criticized Grant for his drinking and high casualties on the battlefield, but until his death on 1885, Grant, perhaps more so even than Lincoln, was regarded as an American hero who saved the Union.

Grant rode his popularity to two terms in the White House. Although his administration was marred by scandals and corruption, Grant himself was never implicated.

He was a frequent visitor to the Queen City since his parents had relocated to Covington and are buried in Spring Grove Cemetery. Whenever Grant was in town, he enjoyed playing billiards at the Grand Hotel on the southwest corner of Fourth Street and Central Avenue.

150 years ago, Lincoln was shot and The Enquirer missed it (4)

Gus Hobelman, manager of the hotel's billiard room, recalled, "I don't believe I saw President Grant during his entire stay here without a long black cigar clamped between his teeth. He did not remove it even when bending over the table to make a shot. Every shot seemed as important to him as Lee's surrender and he executed a difficult one successfully."

After his presidency, Grant embarked on a world tour and wrote a best-selling memoir published by Mark Twain.

Grant's birthplace house in Point Pleasant, 25 miles east of Cincinnati, was carefully uprooted and carried by raft to be displayed Downtown for the Centennial Exposition of the Ohio Valley and Central States, commemorating Cincinnati's centennial, in 1888.

The small frame house then went on a tour of the country by train before it was relocated to the state fairgrounds in Columbus until 1936. The house was then restored and returned to Point Pleasant, where it remains a local historic landmark.

150 years ago, Lincoln was shot and The Enquirer missed it (2024)

FAQs

150 years ago, Lincoln was shot and The Enquirer missed it? ›

That was the day President Abraham Lincoln was assassinated

Abraham Lincoln was assassinated
On April 14, 1865, Abraham Lincoln, the 16th president of the United States, was shot by John Wilkes Booth while attending the play Our American Cousin at Ford's Theatre in Washington, D.C.
https://en.wikipedia.org › Assassination_of_Abraham_Lincoln
. And The Enquirer
The Enquirer
The Cincinnati Enquirer is a morning daily newspaper published by Gannett in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States.
https://en.wikipedia.org › wiki › The_Cincinnati_Enquirer
missed it. On April 14, Lincoln was shot in the head while watching a production of the comedy "Our American Cousin" at Ford's Theatre in Washington, D.C.

What did John Wilkes Booth say when he shot Lincoln? ›

John Wilkes Booth Famously Shouted “Sic Semper Tyrannis” After Shooting President Lincoln. By using the phrase while killing Lincoln, he would – in his mind – be the hero who saved the United States from tyranny in the same way Brutus did for Rome.

What was the newspaper about Lincoln's death? ›

The New York Herald of Saturday, April 15, 1865, carried a thorough account of the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln, and for this reason it has been reprinted many times. President Lincoln was shot at 9:30 p.m., Friday, April 14, 1865, while seated in a box at Ford's Theater.

What was Lincoln's premonition of death? ›

The final straw in this death premonition of Lincoln came when his cabinet reported that on the morning of his assassination, the president told them he'd dreamt of sailing across an unknown body of water at great speed - hence referring that life was coming to a close for him.

Did Lincoln know he was going to be assassinated? ›

It is widely believed that Lincoln anticipated his assassination, as three days before his death he discussed with Ward Hill Lamon, his friend and biographer, a dream he had in which he was assassinated.

Where is John Wilkes Booth buried? ›

Today, John Wilkes Booth is buried in an unmarked grave in the Booth family plot at Green Mount Cemetery in Baltimore, Maryland.

Where did Lincoln get shot? ›

What was in Lincoln's pockets when he died? ›

- When Abraham Lincoln was shot at Ford's Theatre in Washington, D.C. on April 14, 1865, he was carrying two pairs of spectacles and a lens polisher, a pocketknife, a watch fob, a linen handkerchief, a brown leather wallet containing a five-dollar Confederate note, and eight newspaper clippings, including several ...

Why was Lincoln killed in the 100? ›

When Charles Pike kills the army supposedly protected Skaikru, Lincoln gets angry and even more so when the sick grounders are locked up. After an attempt to resist, Lincoln is sentenced to death by Pike.

Why did Lincoln censor newspapers? ›

Both of these newspapers have a history of criticizing the Lincoln administration and were blamed by Republicans (Lincoln's party) for starting the 1863 Draft Riots by publishing anti-war editorials. Government and military officials are alarmed by this fake proclamation, fearing it could provoke unrest.

Did Abraham Lincoln have a wife? ›

Mary Ann Todd Lincoln was the wife of the 16th President of the United States, Abraham Lincoln. She served as First Lady from 1861 until his assassination in 1865 at Ford's Theatre.

What was Abraham Lincoln watching when he was assassinated? ›

On the evening of April 14, 1865, while attending a special performance of the comedy, "Our American Cousin," President Abraham Lincoln was shot. Accompanying him at Ford's Theatre that night were his wife, Mary Todd Lincoln, a twenty-eight year-old officer named Major Henry R.

What was ironic about Lincoln's assassination? ›

In an ironic twist, Lincoln was shot just five days after Confederate General Robert E. Lee surrendered his army at Appomattox Court House in Virginia, effectively ending the war.

What did John Wilkes say after he assassinated Lincoln? ›

Booth stabbed Rathbone. After he assassinated Lincoln and jumped out of the box to the stage, Booth shouted the Latin phrase “sic semper tyrannis,” meaning “thus always to tyrants,” a yet shorter version of “thus always I bring death to tyrants” (sic semper evello mortem tyrannis).

Did Abraham Lincoln see a ghost in the mirror? ›

Lincoln was prone to visions, telling a friend that he looked in a mirror at the beginning of his first term as president and saw his own reflection staring back with a pale, gaunt face. Mary interpreted it to mean that he would not serve a second term. As time would later reveal, she was right.

Where was Abraham Lincoln's bodyguard when he got shot? ›

John Parker, the bodyguard, initially left his position to watch the play, and then he went to the saloon next door for intermission. It was the same saloon where Booth was drinking. No one knows where Parker was during the assassination, but he wasn't at his position at the door to the booth.

What did John Wilkes do after he shot Lincoln? ›

John Wilkes Booth fled after shooting U.S. Pres. Abraham Lincoln. During the massive manhunt he was discovered by Federal troops while hiding in the barn of a Virginia farm.

What happened to John Wilkes Booth's diary? ›

Booth's entries in the diary were probably written between April 17 and April 22, 1865." The diary is now on display in the museum at Ford's Theatre National Historic Site, along with many other artifacts presented as evidence at the trial of the conspirators in June, 1865.

Who caught John Wilkes Booth? ›

Lieutenant Edward Doherty was chosen to lead the group. They were to hunt down Booth and any co-conspirators. Two days later, the men of the 16th NY Cavalry Regiment caught up with Booth and his accomplice David E. Herold in a tobacco barn near Port Royal, Virginia.

Did John Wilkes Booth stab Lincoln? ›

When John Wilkes Booth assassinated President Abraham Lincoln on April 14, 1865, he carried a single-shot deringer pistol and a dagger. Booth used the one shot in the deringer to kill Lincoln, then attempted to fight off Major Henry Rathbone, a guest of the Lincolns in the Presidential Box, with the dagger.

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