160 Years Ago, President Lincoln's Death Brought Grief to Miami Countians
By Judy Deeter
MIAMI COUNTY - On April 15, 1865, United States President Abraham Lincoln was assassinated at Ford’s Theater
in Washington, DC. Because our education about Lincoln comes from national sources, we have little knowledge of what happened in Troy and Miami County when area residents heard of his death. How did local people react when they learned of his tragic passing?
In mid-April 1865, there was great joy among the people of Miami County. After nearly four years of fighting, the American Civil War had finally ended with Confederate General Robert E. Lee’s surrender to Union General Ulysses S. Grant on April 9, 1865.
Though there had been no wartime battles in Miami County, everyone throughout the area seemed to have been touched by the war. A particular hardship was the absence—and sometimes death—of 500 local men who served in the war. Jubilation filled the streets of towns throughout Miami County when word came that the fighting was over. Unfortunately, that happiness lasted only a short time. Within hours of hearing the war was over, people learned that US President Abraham Lincoln had been assassinated. Their new-found joy suddenly turned to unspeakable grief.
The announcement of President Lincoln’s death came at the end of a great celebration in Troy. The celebration was held on Friday, April 14, 1865. It started at 4 a.m. with gunfire in the Public Square. Following the gunfire, all the bells in town were rung for an hour—bells at churches, schools, the fire station and the Miami County Courthouse. Troy was in a festive mood! American flags filled the town from windows to doorways. At 10 a.m., a religious service was held at the Presbyterian Church on Franklin Street. (Ohio Governor Brough had asked that the day be one for prayer and thanksgiving.) At noon, a local militia fired 100 guns, followed by a parade of military men, the fire department and school children. The Troy band played from its new bandwagon, which was pulled by four fine horses. At the courthouse, there were both speakers and singers. The celebration lasted into the evening with more guns, bells and fireworks. The Troy Times newspaper of April 20, 1865 wrote: “The celebration on Friday was a complete affair from the morning gun till the last rocket at night.”
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Then early on Saturday morning (April 15) word was received in Troy that President Lincoln had been assassinated at Ford’s Theater in Washington, DC. A veil of sadness seemed to suddenly cover the town. The Miami Union newspaper of April 22, 1865 says, “Scarcely had our last week’s issue reached the hand of our town readers last Saturday morning when the sad and astounding news flashed over the wires from one end of the Union to the other that Mr. Lincoln had just died from the effect of a shot received from a pistol in the hands of a cowardly
assassin (actor John Wilkes Booth).”
(The term “flashed over the wires” infers that the word of Lincoln’s death came to Troy by telegraph.)
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Troy and Miami County immediately went into mourning. At 2 p.m. on April 15th, a public meeting was held in Troy at the courthouse to plan for an appropriate local response to the President’s death. (In those years, the Miami County courthouse was on the south side of West Main Street between Cherry and Plum Streets.) A committee was established to make resolutions regarding the President’s death. Sunday the 16th was set aside as a day of mourning.
The Troy Times of April 20, 1865 states: “On Saturday morning came the terrible news and grief and horror reigned supreme. Tolling bells and draped flags then. A public meeting was immediately called and a programme agreed upon for the morrow. Every pulpit was dressed in mourning and the pastors and people united in grief over the great calamity of the nation.”
It should be remembered that a second terrible event took place the same night as the Lincoln assassination. Though nearly forgotten today, it was known to local people at the time of Lincoln’s death and added to their grief. That night there was also an attempted assassination on the life of US Secretary of State William H. Seward. Seward had been involved in a carriage accident a few days earlier and was recuperating in his apartment bedroom. A would-be assassin named Lewis Paine entered the Seward apartment on the pretext that he had an urgent message from Seward’s doctor. Seward’s son Frederick told Paine that he could not see Seward, Paine
put a pistol to Frederick Seward’s head and tried to shoot him. The two struggled and Paine made it to the elder Seward’s bedroom where he slashed at the head of Seward with a bowie knife. Seward’s daughter screamed for help and a nearby male nurse tried to drag Paine away from Seward. Paine soon ran out of the bedroom slashing those in the room as he left. Frederick Seward, who received a fractured skull in the incident, was credited with saving the life of his father.
The Troy committee decided that a service for Lincoln would be held at the Presbyterian Church in Troy for people of all faiths on the evening of Sunday April 16th . The Miami Union newspaper of April 22, 1865 says that the church “was densely filled with citizens of the town and vicinity of both sexes.” Local attorney James T. Janvier, who attended the Presbyterian Church, wrote a hymn titled “Our Nation’s Sorrow”, which was sung by a choir at the service.
A resolution written to honor Lincoln was read during the service. Point 3 of the resolution is particularly interesting. It compares Lincoln to the Biblical character Moses. It reads: “That inasmuch as Moses, after having led the children of Israel from Egypt through the wilderness to the borders of the promised land, was not permitted to pass over to the goodly inheritance, so also, Abraham Lincoln, after having led the American people, under Divine guidance, through perils and trials of stupendous magnitude, to the bright dawn of peace, was not permitted to enter upon its enjoyment….”
The following Wednesday, a funeral for Lincoln was held in Washington, D.C. Locally, businesses and offices closed for a portion of the day and services for Lincoln were again held in local churches.
According to newspaper accounts of the time, not everyone grieved for Lincoln. There are reports of people who had often cursed Lincoln during the war; they kept quiet during the town’s time of mourning for fear of retaliation. A few days after the assassination, a public meeting was called at the Miami County Courthouse to decide what should happen to those who had spoken against Lincoln. One man, who had supposedly rejoiced over Lincoln’s death, was brought before the townspeople. The accused man gave an explanation of what he had said and
convinced the gathered crowd that he had not meant anything offensive. He was let go.
At the end of April 1865, Lincoln’s body was taken by train from Washington, D.C. to his home in Springfield, Illinois. On April 29th, his funeral train traveled through northern Miami County.
It is said that people gathered along the railroad tracks from Conover to Bradford to see the train. In Piqua, bands played, hymns were sung and there was a torchlight procession. As the train slowly went through Piqua, some spectators cut pieces from the crepe bunting on the train. The cutting of the crepe angered many who had come to see the train.
April 1865 was a very emotional for the citizens of Troy and Miami County. Within a few hours, their feelings gone from the heights of joy to the depths of sorrow. It is a time in history that has not been forgotten.
Microfilmed copies and digital copies of the Miami Union and Troy Times newspapers, which give accounts of the events of April 1865, are available for public viewing at the Troy-Miami County Public Library Local History & Genealogy Center, 510 W. Water St., Suite 210, Troy.
Libraries and museums throughout southwest Ohio also have Civil War artifacts, books and photographs. For more information about the events mentioned in this story, contact The Troy Historical Society at (937) 339-5900 or by email at tths@frontier.com.
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Read about President Lincoln and his Miami County connections below these
photographs from 2015, by Matt Bayman.
President Lincoln and His Miami County Connections
By Judy Deeter
Throughout the summer of 2015, people were expected to visit Seward Johnson’s sculpture “Return Visit” at the Miami County Courthouse in Troy (pictured above). The artwork depicted US President Abraham Lincoln with a modern man—as though the two had met to discuss their lives and the events of their times. A little known local history fact is that several 19th century Miami County residents did come in contact with Lincoln—some saw him from afar while others knew him personally.
The Luther Hill family of Piqua and Fletcher is believed to have had the most extensive contact with Lincoln. In the early 1800s, the family lived in Knox County, Ohio, but in 1848 they moved west to Logan County, Illinois, not far from Springfield, Illinois where Abraham Lincoln grew up and spent his early years.
In 1905, Luther Hill’s son Josiah told the editor of the Miami Union newspaper about how his parent’s friend Circuit Court Judge and Illinois Senator David Davis once brought Lincoln to the Hill’s Illinois home. Through that visit, Luther Hill and then lawyer Lincoln became good friends.
As a boy in Illinois, Josiah Hill heard Abraham Lincoln try many legal cases in the nearby courts. A manuscript regarding the Hill family’s relationship to Lincoln at the Troy-Miami County Public Library Local History Library reads: “That Mr. (Josiah) Hill did hear Lincoln make a hundred speeches is no exaggeration. Every litigant in Logan County that had an important case, and many who had only justice of the peace cases, tried to get Lincoln for his side, consequently there were few cases that Lincoln was not employed on. He used to drive over to Mt. Pulaski in an open buggy, usually some lawyer friend with him, throw the reins to the waiting landlord and with light overcoat thrown over his arm (never wearing it) stroll to the courthouse. (Mt. Pulaski was the county seat for Logan County, Illinois. County court was held there.) The room was always crowded, the minute recess for dinner came, Lincoln would be surrounded by everybody anxious for a handshake and a friendly greeting.”
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Luther Hill moved his family to Piqua in the fall of 1856. (Son Josiah remained in Illinois to teach school in a town named Salt Creek.) On September 8, 1856, Abraham Lincoln wrote a letter to Luther Hill regarding the Presidential race between Millard Fillmore, John C. Fremont, and James Buchannan. Lincoln urged Luther Hill to vote for Fremont and outlined why he should do so. The Lincoln letter became a Hill family heirloom.
In the fall of 1858, Josiah Hill heard Lincoln speak as a candidate for the US Senate from Illinois. Lincoln ran against incumbent Senator Stephen A. Douglas and lost. Even into his later years in life, Josiah Hill remembered much of that Lincoln campaign speech.
Josiah Hill returned to Ohio in 1860. When the Civil War broke out, he enlisted as a Union soldier for a 90 day term. He later re-enlisted and served in Company E of the 110th Ohio Volunteer Infantry. Two of his brothers also went into the army. A younger brother was killed on Christmas day in 1862 at Nashville, Tennessee. An older brother lost his life in a battle at Vicksburg, Mississippi. Upon hearing of the deaths of the Hill brothers, President Lincoln wrote a letter of condolence to their parents, Mr. and Mrs. Luther Hill. The Hill manuscript at the Local History Library in Troy says the letter was “overflowing with the love and consolation to the bereaved and broken hearts in the terms found only in the word of God.”
It should be noted that eventually Luther Hill moved to Fletcher, Ohio where he operated a saw and grist mill.
On September 17, 1859, Lincoln spoke to a crowd at the Old Montgomery County Courthouse in Dayton. The speech was in preparation for his run for the Presidency in 1860. At the time of the speech Lincoln was not an official presidential candidate. He made the speech between appearances in Columbus (September 16) and Cincinnati (September 17th ). Many Troy Republicans attended the Dayton speech.
An old local legend says that after the speech in Dayton, Abraham Lincoln spent the night at the home of Col. Thomas Smith in Ludlow Falls. Smith was the first Ohio State representative from Miami County’s Union township. Some historians believe that if Lincoln did stay at the Smith home, it was at an earlier time. Lincoln is believed to have been on a tight time schedule in September 1859 and was in Dayton only four hours. According to the history book WEST MILTON 1807-2007 (By The West Milton Lions Club and Darwin Sator), “The legend also has Abe speaking at ‘the Grove,’ where the Missionary Church campgrounds are now.”
In 1860, George Dyer Burgess of Troy was chosen by the Miami County Republican party as a delegate to the 1860 Republican convention representing the 4 th District of Ohio. The convention was held in Chicago, Illinois May 16-18, 1860. It was at this convention that Abraham Lincoln was nominated to run as the Republican Party candidate for President of the United States.
Historian Thomas Wheeler said in his book TROY THE NINETEENTH CENTURY, “As instructed, he (Burgess) voted for Abraham Lincoln.”
Burgess’ obituary in the Miami Union newspaper (December 15, 1877) says of Burgess, “He was a delegate to the Chicago Republican Convention of 1860 and it was a matter of pride that he contributed as much, as any other man, if not more, to the nomination of Abraham Lincoln.”
Burgess was apparently a handsome man. In the book HISTORIC TROY OHIO by the Troy Historical Society it says, “He was said to have been the most handsome man at the Republican National Convention in 1860 when Lincoln was nominated.” Thomas Wheeler also referred Burgess’ fine features in his Troy history book (previously cited): “Burgess was a tall, handsome, distinguished looking man, and is said to have been the most impressive looking
delegate there.” It is not known who determined Burgess was the most handsome man at the convention.
It should be noted that Burgess served as Mayor of Troy in 1851-1852 and 1866, President of the Troy Board 1862-1868 and a Miami County Common Pleas Court Judge in 1877. He also was a speaker at a Troy funeral service for Lincoln in April 1865.
Thomas Wheeler described the excitement in Troy over the election of Lincoln in his book TROY THE NINETEENTH CENTURY: "The jubilation of the Republicans was intense and they planned a celebration which would of course be worthy of the event. Five hundred people from Piqua were to drag a cannon to the Public Square in Troy and an ox was to be roasted over hickory logs burning in a pit. The day of the celebration, however, a blizzard arrived, bringing snow and temperatures below zero. The Piqua people never did appear with the cannon, but the Trojans went ahead, dug a hole in the ground, built a fire and roasted the ox. Before the ox was completely cooked, it gave off such an unpleasant order that no one would venture to eat it, so the carcass was hauled away and hogs and sheep were roasted over the fire instead. The Democrats enjoyed ridiculing the Republicans because their grandiose plans had so miscarried.”
In 1864, the delegate to the Republican National Convention in Baltimore, Maryland was Godwin Volney Dorsey of Piqua. In 1863-1864, Dorsey was the Chairman of the Republican State Executive Committee. It was here that Lincoln was once again nominated for President.
Dorsey’s involvement with the Republicans seems somewhat unusual. He was new to the Republican Party. In 1856 he had been a delegate to the National Democratic Convention in Cincinnati and was the Democratic candidate for State Auditor in 1857. In 1861, he was elected State Treasurer on the Union Party ticket.
While no one knows the number of people whose lives were affected by Lincoln. His words and deeds still give hope to people today. These are a few Miami Countians whose lives were touched by Lincoln.
For more information about Miami County people who knew Lincoln contact The Troy-Miami County Public Library Local History Library at (937) 335-4082 or The Troy Historical Society at (937) 339-5900 or by email at tths@frontier.com.