Lincoln’s Death, New Nation: April 1865 to 1877Lincoln’s Assassination |
Who spoke at Lincoln’s funeral? |
The service was held in the East Room of the Executive Mansion on April 17. Several men of the cloth spoke, but the most significant words were uttered by George Bancroft. Secretary of the Navy under James K. Polk, a former preparatory school teacher and now the most prominent historian in the United States, Bancroft gave a lengthy eulogy that culminated with these words:
The “Old Nashville” train carried Abraham Lincoln from Washington, D.C., to his burial place in Springfield, Illinois.