Fort Wayne Gazette-Extra

Many Americans learned of the assassination through “extra” broadsides published and distributed by local newspapers. The news arrived in pieces as events unfolded, and original reports were not always correct, as is evident in this April 15th Gazette-Extra from Fort Wayne, Indiana. The broadside mistakenly announced the assassination of both Lincoln and William Seward. Seward and his son Frederick both survived the attack on the Secretary of State. The Gazette-Extra accurately portrays the public’s overwhelming response to “this dreadful calamity to the country,” however: “Every loyal heart is bowed in sorrow, and a profound gloom envelops the land.”