The E-Sylum:  Volume 10, Number 17, April 29, 2007, Article 6

NEW BOOK: 'STEALING LINCOLN'S BODY' BY THOMAS CRAUGHWELL

What does a book about grave-robbing have to do with numismatics? 
In this case, the link is counterfeiting. A new book details the 
actions of a band of counterfeiters who hatched a scheme to steal 
and ransom the body of slain President Abraham Lincoln. The Washington 
Post published a review on April 24 of "Stealing Lincoln's Body" by 
Thomas Craughwell (Belknap/Harvard Univ. 250 pp. $24.95):

"Grave-robbing is rather a lost art. It is hard to recall a single 
well-publicized instance since thieves snatched Charlie Chaplin's 
remains in Switzerland 30 years ago."

"But Abraham Lincoln, the object of one kidnapping plot in life 
(Thomas J. Craughwell doesn't mention it, but John Wilkes Booth 
resorted to assassination only after abandoning his original plan 
to capture and ransom the president for imprisoned Confederate 
soldiers), proved an irresistible candidate for kidnapping in death."

"Body snatchers finally violated Lincoln's tomb on election night 
1876 -- But politics played no role. The grave robbers were low-life 
counterfeiters who hoped only to make quick cash -- of the authentic 
kind -- by holding Lincoln's corpse for a $200,000 payoff. In the 
bargain, they would demand that a notoriously skillful bank-note forger 
be sprung from the penitentiary so he could rejoin their once-prosperous 
gang.

"In the end, their caper turned into black comedy. The conspirators 
managed to disturb the tomb but lacked the strength to pull Lincoln's 
heavy casket from its sarcophagus. Caught in the act, they fled the 
scene so quickly that pursuers nearly shot each other in a vain attempt 
to capture them. Only later were the failed grave robbers arrested, 
tried and sent off to prison, serving brief sentences before 
disappearing from history."

[The review notes that the book includes a chapter on the history of 
counterfeiting, and summarizes it as follows: "Summoning the raw spirit 
of crime novels and horror stories, as well as the forensic detail of 
a coroner's inquest, Thomas J. Craughwell has turned the eerie final 
chapter of the Lincoln story into a guilty pleasure." -Editor]

To read the complete review, see: Full Story

  Wayne Homren, Editor

	coinbooks.org Web

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