President
Lincoln's Adventures in Weatherford, TX
President
Lincoln's Adventures in Weatherford, TX
The local belief is that President Lincoln faked his death in 1865 in order to start a simple life away from politics and his wife.
At once this sounds outrageously stupid, but before passing judgment let's review the whole story.
What
most of us have been taught is that President Lincoln was assassinated by
an actor named John Wilkes Booth shortly after the Civil War had ended.
The official record says that Abraham Lincoln died on the morning of April
15, 1865. A hearse carried his body back to the White House around 9:00 A.M.
The cavalry provided an escort to the procession which moved up 10th Street
to G Street and then slowly to the White House. The temporary coffin of Abraham
Lincoln was covered by an American flag. The body of the President were placed
in the Guest Room which was on the second floor.
There were nine men present for the autopsy. Among these were the Surgeon
General Dr. Joseph K. Barnes, Lincoln family physician, Dr. Robert King Stone,
Dr. Charles Sabin Taft, Assistant Surgeon General Dr. Charles H. Crane, Army
Assistant Surgeon William Morrow Notson, General Rucker of the Army's
Quartermaster Department, Lincoln's friend, Orville H. Browning, Army Assistant
Surgeon (pathologist) J. Janvier Woodward, and Army Assistant Surgeon
(pathologist) Edward Curtis. Lincoln's widow, Mary Todd Lincoln sent a messenger
to request a lock of hair from the President's head (as if she needed proof
that it was in fact her husband). The autopsy itself was done by Dr. Curtis
and Dr. Woodward.
Only known photo of Alexander ( Billy Bob ) Hamilton taken in the Spring of 1869 in Weatherford, TX
The strange theory coming out of Parker County, Texas is that Alexander ( Billy Bob ) Hamilton was in fact former President Abraham Lincoln. Because he saw no way for a man of his public stature to end his marriage, President Abraham Lincoln decided to fake his own death and flee to Texas. Changing his name to Alexander (Billy Bob) Hamilton, he took a job at a feed store. Clues to his true identity included his love of quoting from the Gettysburg Address (after all he wrote it ), his hat ( it was just like the one Lincoln wore ), and he went around telling everyone he was really President Lincoln and that he was sure sorry about that little war (The Civil War).
That would certainly be the logical conclusion. . .but things are not always so logical here in Weatherford.
Lennon devoted several hours a day to his research, interviewing members of the Parker County community, as well as attempting three trips to Washington DC, to try and find answers to the situation which he found so perplexing.
After committing a number of years to the painstaking study of this chapter in history, Lennon planned to publish his notes in book form, so that the public might have a greater understanding of the event. However Lennon's manuscript was rejected by every publishing house and editor he contacted.
Frustrated and heartbroken, Lennon decided he would have to use his own money to publish the book himself. But he was a man of limited funds, so he decided to organize a number of tent revival meetings around the Parker County area as a way to raise the cash he needed. The crowds that attended these revivals were treated to Lennon's sermons about the conspiracy, and how no God fearing man or woman should ever trust the federal government.
However all of Lennon's efforts would ended up in tragedy. Shortly after the first pressing of his book began, a fire destroyed the subsidised publisher's printing press, along with Lennon's original manuscript and most of his research notes.
Shortly thereafter Lennon himself disappeared, with some people believing that the government kidnapped and murdered him because he was too close to the truth. However others simply think that Lennon skipped the country with the money he had earn from his heated government blasting revivals.
Rumors persist to this day that a handful of books survived the fire, but no one has presented physical evidence of this.
