THE THEFT THAT ALMOST WAS

(This is an excerpt taken from my book, "Farewell To The Chief." It's available on Apple and Amazon.)

For the next two years, Lincoln rested peacefully in his marble sarcophagus on the cold, crypt floor and the only barrier that separated him from the outside world was a locked iron door. At the time, an iron door seemed sufficient. Who would dare journey to the memorial to vandalize and desecrate Lincoln’s sarcophagus, even possibly steal his remains? Concern over anyone attempting to defile his coffin, or his remains, was minimum. There simply was not a need for a more secure room. But at the time of its construction, who could have predicted the nefarious plot that was nearly successful in stealing Lincoln’s remains in the fall of 1876; however, prior to this attempt there were two failed attempts and one plot revealed.

The first plot was hatched by a lawyer and originated in Springfield who devised a scheme to steal Lincoln’s body, “conveying it to the South” or beyond, and hoping for a ransom to return the body. The lawyer attempted to involve two local men, one a mechanic, the other a telegraph operator, but the men backed out and the lawyer along with his plot faded into obscurity. The second plot involved a man by the name of James B. Kinelly, a counterfeiter known by some as “Big Jim Kinelly,” who had recently served time at Joliet Penitentiary just outside of Chicago. After his release, he moved to St. Louis where he joined a livery shop, partnering with counterfeiters and engravers. It was during this period Kinelly came up with an idea to come into a hefty monetary sum by scheming to have Lincoln's remains taken out of the memorial and hiding them. An accomplice would then locate the body, provide an alibi, claim the ransom, and divide it among the members of Kinelly's counterfeit gang and then use an escape route “across the Sangamon river bottoms” of central Illinois to a house with a shallow grave under the floor, presumably where Lincoln’s body would be held, reached by a hidden door covered by a rug.

In early 1876, Kinelly’s gang moved their base of operations to Lincoln, Illinois, thirty-two miles north of Springfield. In March, five members of the gang relocated to Springfield and opened a saloon and chose July 3, 1876 to carry out the plot. A few weeks before they carried out the plan, Kinelly, excited at the prospect of scoring a huge ransom, drank to the point of excess. In one of those fortunate twists of fate he recited his plan to a local brothel madam. Word of the plan made it to the editor of a Lincoln, Illinois paper who relayed the information to Springfield's Chief of Police, Abner Wilkinson. The chief reported the plot to the memorial custodian, John Carroll Power, who in turn relayed it to the executive members of the NMLA. They dismissed the claim on grounds of it being simply too unbelievable to take seriously. For reasons unknown Kinelly left town and the plot faded away. However, it did bring to light another plot to steal Lincoln's remains with the coffin being taken to a cave located in Illinois’ Salt Creek Hills, known as “a wild, weird place, where many murders had been committed,” using three relay teams.

In August of 1876, a man by the name of Lewis Swegles, an informant of U.S. Secret Service agent Patrick D. Tyrrell, informed him of the location of a counterfeiter by the name of Jack Hughes. Two days later, Hughes was arrested at Chicago’s Hub Saloon but was released on bond one month later. Swegles began to spend time at the Hub Saloon talking to Hughes and saloon operator Terrence Mullens. Swegles hinted to the men that he was involved in horse theft but felt that counterfeiting was a more viable and lucrative enterprise. The two men told Swegles about their plot to a steal a body from a Wisconsin cemetery in exchange for money from a wealthy family and their friends and had Swegles check into the possible consequences of their crime; he told them their plan was not worth the effort and eventually it was dropped.

Comfortable with Swegles as their new friend, the nearly successful plot to steal Lincoln’s body was born. Hughes and Mullens told Swegles about their plot to steal Lincoln's remains with the intent of using it to bargain for the release of their associate and master engraver, Benjamin Boyd, who was serving time at Joliet Penitentiary; as an added bonus a ransom of $200,000 to $300,000 would be demanded in exchange for the remains. Once secured, the coffin would be taken by carriage, driven by Billy Brown who was also a paid informant, to the Indiana sand-hills along the shores of Lake Michigan where it would be hidden until Boyd was released and the ransom received.1 Boyd would be made aware of the plot and talk to the Illinois governor to negotiate his release. In late October 1876, Swegles relayed the plot to Tyrrell, who then relayed the plot to James Brooks, head of the Secret Service. After divulging the plot, Tyrrell had Swegles return to the Hub Saloon and agree to join the men in their plot.

On Thursday, October 26, 1876, Tyrrell, Swegles, and attorney C.W. Dean discussed additional details of the plot. Swegles informed them that one of the gang members had gone to St. Louis to work on arrangements while two other men had gone to Springfield to survey the memorial to assist them by gathering intelligence on the exact location of Lincoln’s remains and the layout of the memorial grounds. Tyrrell later spoke with Leonard Sweet, friend of the former president, and Robert Lincoln. One of the two men sent a telegram to John Stuart, chair of the NMLA’s executive committee, detailing the plot to steal Lincoln’s coffin and remains and recommended that the memorial be guarded. Stuart, in turn, had memorial custodian Power station watchmen at the memorial. Hughes and his men settled on Tuesday night, November 7 to carry out the plot to steal the body using the national election as a distraction in Springfield to draw attention away from them. Later, on Thursday night, October 26, Tyrell met with Robert Lincoln, Dean, and ex-secret service agent Elmer Washburn to secure their assistance to foil the plot. Tyrrell later hired John McDonald, a detective from the Illinois Humane Society, and John McGinn and George Hay of Pinkerton detectives. On Monday morning, November 6, Hughes, Mullens, and Swegles, along with an associate, left Chicago for Springfield via train. Little did Hughes and Mullens know that Tyrrell and two of his men were riding on the same train, sitting in the last car; McDonald and Washburn left the next morning.

In Springfield, the Hughes gang took up residence at the St. Charles Hotel while Tyrrell and his men stayed at the nearby St. Nicholas Hotel. Stuart and Tyrell then went to the Lincoln memorial and informed Power to assist Tyrell by answering any questions brought up by Hughes’ men in their quest to find out the particulars of the memorial. For Hughes, the plan was simple. Break in the crypt room, open up the sarcophagus, take out the coffin, load it onto a carriage, and disappear into the night. Swegles’ role involved bringing additional help and a carriage to the memorial. On Monday afternoon, Hughes and one of his assistants visited the memorial while Mullens gathered tools needed to break open the sarcophagus. Later that day, Washburn, his secretary, John English, and John McDonald arrived in Springfield. Tyrrell's team, along with Swegles, met at the St. Nicholas Hotel to discuss plans for later that night. The plan would be as follows: Tyrrell's team would be stationed at the memorial inside the front hall, waiting for Hughes’ team to arrive. Once Hughes and his assistants entered the crypt room and began their work on extricating the coffin from the sarcophagus, Swegles would then walk to the memorial hall door and give the code word “wash,” signaling to Tyrrell that Hughes and Mullens were working on the sarcophagus. Then, at a select time, Tyrell and his men would exit the hall, walk around the memorial to the crypt room, and subdue Hughes and Mullens. As an added degree of security, Washburn's secretary, English, would be positioned within the memorial’s inner halls, under the terrace, next to the crypt room, to alert the rest of the party to any noise coming from Hughes’ team while they attempted to break into the sarcophagus. For all intent and purposes, the plan was solid.

By 6:00 PM, Tuesday night, November 7 Oak Ridge Cemetery was cast in darkness. At this time, Tyrrell had already sent Swegles to meet up with Hughes and Mullens. At 7:00 PM, Hay and Powers arrived at the memorial, joining English who was positioned in the memorial’s service area. Shortly thereafter, Tyrrell and the rest of the team entered the memorial mall. Once the men were inside Powers fastened the doors, composed of two shutters, one of iron rods the other of wood and glass, covered with a “white cloth screen” to lessen their chances of being discovered. They then formed a human chain of sorts and walked through the memorial’s inner hallways under the terrace. At the end of their brief walk, they found English sitting against a two-foot-thick wall listening for any sign of the Hughes gang at work. After the men examined the spot where English was positioned, they returned to the memorial mall, leaving the lamps behind to light the way for English. They then took a position on the floor and waited. Tyrrell waited by the front doors, careful to remain shielded from detection but still able to look outside.

Nearly three hours later, the soft light of a lantern could be seen swinging back and forth through the white cloth over the glass portion of the memorial mall doors. It was one of Hughes’ men checking to see if anyone was inside. Then, as soon as the light appeared, it vanished, but the sound of footsteps could be heard walking to the north side of the memorial. Once the Hughes gang entered the crypt, they wasted no time in beginning their devilish work. Swegles stood off to the side of the crypt entrance holding a lantern, while Mullens and Hughes worked on the sarcophagus, the air soon filled with the hard, sharp sound of metal striking marble. When the dust settled, Mullens had broken off the foot of the sarcophagus, exposing the coffin, but its removal would not be easy (a bag was made ready in case the coffin proved too heavy and the remains had to be removed). The coffin was slowly jerked back and forth, inching out of its marble case. When the coffin was half-way out, Swegles left to retrieve the wagon and the team of men he supposedly had waiting nearby. Once out of site Swegles ran down the north side of memorial hill, rounded his way back towards the south side of the memorial and headed towards the memorial hall doors. By this time the front doors had been unlocked. Swegles appeared at the door, gave the password “wash,” and told Tyrrell that Hughes and Mullens were hard at work. Minutes later, English appeared in the hall and confirmed that Hughes and Mullens were indeed working on the sarcophagus.

The men poured out of the memorial hall (except for Powers who remained inside unaware they had left) and quickly made their way down the side of the memorial with guns drawn. All was going swimmingly well, and the element of surprise was theirs to lose. Well, it so happened they lost the all-important element of surprise when, all of a sudden and quite unexpectedly, one of the guns carried by the furtive men was accidentally fired causing Hughes and Mullens to drop their tools, run out of the crypt, down the hill, and into the night. When Tyrell reached the crypt, he slowly, and cautiously, peered inside. He drew his gun, cocked the hammer, and called out for Hughes and Mullens to surrender. There was no response. He called out again but there was no response. He lit a match and walked inside to find the sarcophagus lid resting against the wall. The foot end of the sarcophagus, having been hacked off, was resting on the floor. Near the entrance were an ax, chisel, pincers, and a broken lock from the gate that guarded the crypt. Incredibly, the coffin was hanging out of the sarcophagus. Once Tyrell discovered that Hughes and Mullens were gone, he headed outside and told Hay and McGinn to search the grounds on the north side of the memorial. Tyrrell then ran back to the memorial hall entrance, put on his boots, told Powers to bring some lanterns, and both men headed out into the cold fall night to help with the search.

* * *

Standing out front of the memorial, Tyrrell ran up one of the staircases to the terrace and made his way to the southwest corner thinking that perhaps Hughes and Mullens were hiding on the terrace. Aided by the moonlight, Tyrrell spotted the outlines of two men on the northwest corner of the terrace. He drew his gun and fired, instantly shattering the stillness of the cemetery air. The two men on the opposite side fired back. Then they ran to the northeast corner and Tyrrell followed to the southeast. The two parties then raised their guns, fired, and ran back to the other side.

Tyrrell yelled down to Washburn telling him that Hughes and Mullens were trapped on the terrace, hiding by a pedestal, perhaps readying for another round of gunfire. McDonald joined Tyrrell on the terrace, who, thinking the rest of the party had joined, told his men to surround Hughes and Mullens. A voice then came from the pedestal, “Tyrrell, is that you?” No answer. The voice spoke up again, “Tyrrell, for God's sake, answer, is that you shooting us?” The two men who engaged Tyrrell in gunfire were George Hay and John McGinn. As it turns out, when Tyrrell ran back to the memorial hall to retrieve Powers and his boots, McGinn, and Hay, unsuccessful in their search of the grounds, felt the terrace would provide a better vantage point. After the gun battle atop the memorial, Tyrell and his men conducted a two-hour search but came up empty. At this point, there was little Tyrell and his men could do but they were successful in foiling the attempt to steal Lincoln's body.

What happened to Hughes and Mullens? According to Powers, when Swegles left to get the non-existent wagon, the two men left the crypt and headed down the hill to an oak tree some thirty yards northwest of the memorial. From that spot, the two men saw an outline of what they thought were two men moving against the memorial wall. Hughes and Mullens, thinking this was the team Swegles had mustered to help load the coffin onto the wagon approached the memorial. As they drew closer, they realized the outline of two men was that of several men. Having no other recourse, Hughes and Mullens retreated into the cemetery, made their way down to a ravine at the base of memorial, headed off into the night and made their way to Chicago. They were home bound, but Tyrell was not far behind.

Just how did Hughes and Mullens manage to remove the heavy sarcophagus lid, break off the end, and pull the coffin halfway out? According to Swegles, the marble topper on the lid was first removed, and then placed against the wall; however, despite removing this heavy piece, the lid could not be slid off or turned around because of six rods, three per side, which fit in holes underneath the lid that held it in place even though the cement used to secure the lid had crumbled and cracked. To solve the problem Hughes, Mullens, and Swegles lifted the lid over the rods, and turned it crosswise. Mullens then attempted to break off the end of the sarcophagus using an ax but Swegles told him the cemetery sexton might hear the noise. Using other means, Mullens eventually broke off the end. Ten days after the attempt, a warrant was issued for the arrest of Hughes and Mullens, who were apprehended at their Hub Saloon hangout in Chicago by Tyrrell and his men. They were sentenced to one year each of hard labor at Joliet Penitentiary. Swegles, though not implicated in the attempted theft, came under a cloud suspicion that he was the mastermind of the plot and Mullens and Hughes were a ruse. Two days after the attempt on Lincoln's coffin the marble sarcophagus was fixed and resealed.

On Wednesday, November 15, the coffin was removed, and the empty sarcophagus was then sealed and left in place in the middle of the crypt. Later that night the coffin was carried from the crypt to the memorial hall and into the fusty inner realm of the memorial. It was placed into a wood box and set into a shallow grave, covered with boards to protect it from water that leaked through the terrace floor (Springfield has a high-water table). Three years later the state of Illinois passed a law formerly penalizing the act of grave robbing. At the time of the theft, grave robbing was a misdemeanor, punishable by a one thousand dollar fine and one-year incarceration.

1- Mullens offered to sink the Lincoln’s coffin in the Sangamon River or bury it in sand on the riverbank.

Pictures of the men (Terrance Mullens and Jack Hughes) who attempted to steal Lincoln’s coffin and the alleged tools used in the attempt to break open the sarcophagus.