Lincoln’s Obol: COL Rutherford Guards a Fallen President (Iris Nelson) - a podcast by Rob Mellon

Historian and Librarian Iris Nelson details the interesting story of COL George V. Rutherford and his duties on the night that Abraham Lincoln was shot by John Wilkes Booth.  After being called to the house of Secretary of War Edwin Stanton, COL Rutherford was ordered to the Peterson House where Lincoln was dying from his wound.  Nelson discusses the night of April 14, 1865 and the early morning hours of the next day.  Rob and Iris detail the assassination attempt on Secretary of State William Seward and the gruesome scene left by the assailant Lewis Powell.  The discussion covers COL Rutherford being ordered by Stanton to place silver half-dollars on Lincoln's eyes after his death at 7:22 am on April 15, 1865 and the COL accompanying the body of the President to the White House.  The talk includes the history behind the ancient funerary tradition of placing obols (coins) on the eyes of the dead.  Iris also speaks about the military tribunal that convicted Mary Surratt and the other conspirators.  Mary Surratt was the first woman in the history of the United States to be executed by the U.S. Government.  She explains the connection of Orville Hickman Browning of Quincy to Lincoln and his role after the assassination in the Surratt case.

HOST:  Rob Mellon

FEATURED BREW:  Newcastle Brown Ale (Lagunitas Brewing Company, California)

MUSIC:  Bones Fork

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