After several days in Washington, D.C., Abraham Lincoln’s body was moved to a funeral train, and sent on to a final destination of Springfield, Illinois. The first stop along the route was Baltimore, where his body was on display for about an hour and a half. Those who accompanied the president on his final journey remarked on the sheer outpouring of grief, and to demonstrate just how devastated they were, the city offered an additional $10,000 to the reward that had been put out for the apprehension of those involved in the assassination. Adjusted for inflation, that’s about $202,000 in 2023. 

From there, it was on to Pennsylvania, where all state governors began opting to ride along on the train. The somber procession headed through New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Indiana, and on to Illinois, and throughout the journey, eyewitness reports were very similar.

Entire cities — even those that the train only passed through — were draped in mourning colors, the tolling of bells and the singing of dirges filled the air, and crowds were eerily silent … save for the sobs. Mourners arranged themselves in an orderly fashion, and in some places — like Buffalo, New York — mourners even marched in a procession that just sort of happened. Interestingly, the passage of the train even occasionally changed history in a big way. In Albany, legislators who had remained steadfastly opposed to emancipation changed their vote in honor of the fallen president.