The Death Of Willie Lincoln

5fish

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I like to point this out this is the one place you know Lincoln once stood a many times and it is accessible to all... If you go to Washington D C and stand in front of that door you. You are standing were Lincoln stand sadly a many times...

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Oak Hill Cemetery is located in Georgetown along Rock Creek Park. The cemetery was founded by Mr. William Wilson Corcoran, a banker and co-founder of what was The Riggs National Bank. The cemetery itself is a major example of the 19th Century Romantic movement. The iron enclosure and historic Chapel, built in 1849, were designed by James Renwick, Jr., architect of the Smithsonian Building.

William Thos. Carroll Crypt
It was in this crypt that Abraham Lincoln’s son, Willie, was temporarily laid to rest after he died at the White House in 1862. Abraham Lincoln visited the Carroll crypt often, even going as far as to open the casket to view his son. The crypt is located in the very back of the cemetery where the land slopes to Rock Creek. There are several old mausoleums along this walkway

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diane

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By the way, Willie's death led his mother on a very weird journey through spiritualism. Interest in this was growing during the CW and continued for some time. One of the many mediums Mary consulted was a con artist of considerable ability who also happened to be drinking buddies with John Wilkes Booth...who was also into spiritualism. While Lincoln was rumored to attend these White House seances, he actually only attended one. After it was done he took his wife gently by the arm to a window and pointed out the insane asylum. "If you continue with these seances," he said, "you will end there!" And...years later we have a connection to Harry Houdini, the original ghost buster - he loved Abraham Lincoln and had a huge collection of Lincoln stuff. He was good friends with Robert Todd Lincoln, who spoke to him about his mother's near obsession with mediums. One had sent him some eery information - Harry visited the medium and outed him as a fraud. And he was off nailing them left and right! There was only one he couldn't get and he remarked, "She's either a far better magician than I am or she's the real thing!"

For Mary, however, she was convinced her son visited her every night, sometimes bringing other family members and his little brother. She lost a lot of loved ones during the war.
 
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