The Unusual Life and Afterlife of Abraham Lincoln

Members Editorial

The Unusual Life and Afterlife

of Abraham Lincoln

Members editorials are the expressed personal opinions of the members who wrote them and do not necessarily reflect the beliefs of the Haunt Masters Club as a whole.

By: Justin

Paranormal Research & Investigation

Northeast Tennessee, Southwest Virginia & Western North Carolina

The ghost of President Abraham Lincoln may haunt the White House, but this is only a passing comment that in no way eludes to the supernatural events that surrounded this great man’s life.

In The Hidden Lincoln (1938), author Emanuel Hertz claims that on the eve of the election in 1861, Abraham looked in a mirror and saw his double, a clear warning of impending death.

Shortly after the tragic loss of his second son, Willie in February of 1862, Marry Todd Lincoln began holding séances in the White House. In one session with physical medium Mrs. Miller, the piano rose into the air seemingly by supernatural forces. In a comical reaction, Abraham tried every way he could to bring the piano back down to the floor, even sitting on it, but nothing seemed to work.

The Lincoln's favorite medium was young African American Nettie Colburn Maynard, a trance medium who allowed her control, Daniel Webster, to facilitate contact with souls of the departed. Many Spiritualists believe that this discarnate personality encouraged Lincoln to free the slaves.

In The Man Who Killed Lincoln (1939), author Philip Van Doren Stern wrote that during the Civil War Abraham had prophetic dreams. He records that on the eve before the Battles of Bull’s Run, Antietam (Sharpsburg), Gettysburg, Stones River (Murfreesboro), Vicksburg and Wilmington, he was awoken by a reoccurring dream where he was in a boat headed for a distant shore.

An article about the Lincoln's Spiritualists interests appeared in Cleveland’s Plain Dealer. When Abraham was given a chance to comment on the strange goings-on in the White house, he was quoted as saying, “The only falsehood in the statement is that the half of it has not been told. This article does not begin to tell the wonderful things I have witnessed.”

One night, he allegedly had a dream that he was greeted in the East Room of the White House, where most of the séances were held, by a group of mourners. When he asked what was going on, one of the guests commented that the President had been assassinated. Any apprehensions this dream may have left him were fleeting because Stern asserts that on the night of April 13, 1865, he again had the reoccurring dream of reaching a distant shore. Perhaps since this dream indicated victory every time, he wasn’t cautious when he and Mary Todd went to see the play, Our American Cousin, the next night at Ford's Theatre. This was to be the night John Wilkes Booth assassinated the President.

Abraham was carried across the street to the Petersen House where Doctor Charles Leale tried in vain to save him. After a nine-hour coma, Abraham died. His body was moved to the East Room to be autopsied and laid out for burial, just as Lincoln’s dream had predicted, it would seem.

The loss of both of her children and now her husband obviously sent Mary Todd into a deep depression. Despite all the phenomena she had witnessed attending séances, there must have been some doubt in her mind that her family was still with her in spirit, because she sought out spirit photographer William H. Mumler of Boston under the assumed name of Mrs. Tyndall. When the photographic plate was developed, the picture allegedly shows the spirit of Abraham touching the shoulder of his beloved wife.

In The Complete Book of Ghosts, Paul Roland gives a list of notable people who have had run-ins with Lincoln’s ghost:

Eleanor Roosevelt: President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s wife held séances in the White House during World War II and allegedly got in contact with Abraham Lincoln more than once.

Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands: First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt’s guest was sleeping in Lincoln’s old bedroom when she opened the door and supposedly met face-to-face with his apparition.

Winston Churchill: The British Prime Minister was Lincoln’s apparition standing by the mantle in the bedroom.

Grace Goodhue Coolidge: President Calvin Coolidge’s wife supposedly saw Lincoln pacing in the Oval Office with his hands behind his back, as he is believed to do during times of national crisis.

Harry Truman: The 33rd President confessed he believed every time he would try to draft an important speech, Lincoln’s spirit would knock at the door to keep him distracted.

Jacqueline Kennedy: The former First Lady confessed she had felt Lincoln’s presence often, but was comforted by it.

Lynda Bird Johnson Robb: Eldest daughter of former President Lyndon Baines Johnson and First Lady Claudia Alta Taylor Johnson had a bedroom in the East Room. She believed she heard his phantom footsteps frequently, and the phone would ring in the middle of the night with no one on the other end.

Credits, Links, Resources, Sources and Suggested Reading:

1. Unlocking the Mystery of a Lincoln Relic

A séance being held in the White House's East Room with trance medium Nettie Colburn Maynard.

A photograph of the under-cover Marry Todd Lincoln by spirit photographer William H. Mumler of Boston, allegedly showing the spirit of Abraham Lincoln.