Description

This lithograph shows this artist's version of the visitors to President Abraham Lincoln's deathbed in the room at the Peterson house in the early morning of April 15, 1865. Lincoln's head is shown with eyes closed resting on a pillow. Surgeon General Barnes is shown seated to the right of the bed and holding a glass with what looks to be a straw in it. Robert Todd Lincoln is depicted weeping into a handkerchief while standing near the head of the bed. Mrs. Lincoln is portrayed kneeling with her upper body lying near the foot of the bed while Tad is shown kneeling behind his mother with his right hand at his face. (It is documented that Tad was actually not allowed to visit his father on his deathbed.) Miss Clara Harris is shown seated at the foot of the bed weeping into a handkerchief. Eight other men are shown standing near the bed and are identified in the margin just below the image: Mr. Ulke, Mr. Chase, C.J., Sec. Welles, Sec. McCullough, Sec. Stanton, Gen. Halleck, Hon. Chas. Sumner, and one other unidentified man. There are two framed pictures shown on what looks to be a paneled wall in the background. A small round table is near the doctor's chair. For more information on other Lincoln deathbed prints with various numbers of visitors present, see Lincoln Lore, number 1517, July, 1964. Copy and paste the following URL into a browser to read the issue online: https://archive.org/details/assassix00linc Part of the Lincoln Financial Foundation Collection, courtesy of the Indiana State Museum