150 Years Ago: April 28

After leaving Buffalo at 10 p.m. on April 27, 1865, the funeral train made one more stop in New York before going on to Cleveland. At 1 a.m., the train stopped briefly in Westfield. There five young women brought a cross of flowers into the funeral car and placed it on the coffin.  

The Town of Westfield in Chautauqua County, which became known as "The Grape Juice Capital of the World" in 1893, when Dr. Charles Welch built the world's first large grape juice plant there, had a special connection with Abraham Lincoln. This is explained on the town's website:

Westfield is home to the Westfield Republican, the first Republican newspaper established soon after the Republican Party formed in 1854. Westfield also was the home of Grace Bedell, a young girl who changed the face of the 1860 Presidential campaign, or, more accurately changed the face of Republican candidate Abraham Lincoln. Grace went to see Candidate Lincoln at a campaign stop and later sent him a pithy letter suggesting that he could garner more votes by growing whiskers. Lincoln took the message to heart and began to grow a beard immediately and just a few weeks later won the election. President-Elect Lincoln later stopped in Westfield and specifically asked to meet the young lady who had advised him to grow whiskers. Their meeting is depicted in statues adorning a small park in the Village of Westfield.

After its brief stop in Westfield, the train went on the Cleveland, arriving at the Euclid Street Station at 7 a.m. on April 28. At Cleveland, the Committee on Arrangement decided that there was no building in the city that was large enough to accommodate the multitudes wanting to view Lincoln's remains, so they decided to construct an elaborate pagoda in the Public Square where the body would lie in state. The pagoda had open sides, so that mourners could pass the coffin in two columns.

Photo: Encyclopedia of Cleveland History

Cleveland was the only city along the route where the viewing took place outdoors, and the committee's worst fears were undoubtedly realized when it rained that day. Despite the constant rain, a reported 150,000 people passed by the coffin during the 15 hours it was on view in Cleveland.

At around 11 p.m., the coffin was returned to Euclid Street Station, and at midnight the funeral train left Cleveland bound for Columbus, on the Cleveland, Columbus, and Cincinnati Railway.
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