Petersen House
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Washington, DC: Across the street from Ford’s Theatre is the Peterson Boarding House. The Peterson House will always have a place in history as being the house where Lincoln died following the presidential assassination in 1865.Built by William Petersen in 1849, the boarding home entered the national spotlight following the assassination of President Lincoln. It was within the walls of this home where the president took his last breaths.
Following the shooting at Ford’s Theatre, doctors feared the President was too weak to survive the trip back to the White House. Boarder Henry Safford directed the attendants into the boarding house and the President was placed in a second floor bedroom.
The house quickly filled with political powers of the Lincoln cabinet. The boarding house became the center of the country. Mary Lincoln and family grieved in the front parlor while Secretary of War Edwin Stanton and other members of the cabinet conducted the investigation and ran the country from the back parlor under the watchful eye of armed soldiers outside.
Meanwhile the team of physicians including Anderson Ruffin Abbott continued to work on the President. However the efforts taken to save the President failed and President Lincoln died at 7:22 am on April 15, 1865.
The Federal government purchased the home in 1896 for $30,000. In 1933, the house reopened as a museum by the National Park Service to recreate the events following the assassination. Much of the belongings were sold to the Chicago Historical Society so the items in the home are replicas of the actual items that were in the home in the 1860’s.
Today the Petersen House is operated by the National Park Service as part of the Ford’s Theatre Historic Site. Guests can tour the entire site from the theatre to the boarding house and take a look back at the events of that fateful evening.
For more photos, please visit my Petersen House photo gallery.
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Ok -I dont get it?
ReplyDeleteI visited the Peterson house when I was 13 years old 1972
At that time I would swear that the room which Lincoln died in was what is refered to today as the back parlor,in fact the bed and pillow were sealed in glass,visitors viewed the room from the front parlor room.They told us there were divider doors to split the room,which were ordered closed due to Mary Todd Lincoln having fits and not letting the doctors do their job,I dont ever remember viewing the back room in which it is refered to the room he died in?
Am I crazy??--did anyone eles ever report this or simular experience?
From the accounts from the guide during our visit last year, President Lincoln died in a bedroom of the Peterson House. The room is available to view from the hallway and is restored to period furnishings.
ReplyDeleteThe story we were told during the visit was that the back parlor became the temporary command center for the investigation by the local police and Secretary of War Stanton and other members of Lincoln's cabinet met here to oversee the investigation and run the government.
Mary Todd Lincoln was reported to have spent her time in the front parlor. Distraught by the mortal wounds to her husband, she tried to seperate herself from the doctor's tending to her husband in the bedroom and the flurry of activity from the temporary seat of government in the back parlor.
So not sure which one is more accurate but that was the account that was given during our visit. I did a little research and the stories are somewhat similar.
Not saying that what you remember is wrong, maybe some documents have been found since 1972 that help to clarify the accounts of that fateful night.