The death of an 11-year-old boy sent waves of grief and sorrow pulsating through the White House. Willie Lincoln was gone, just days after his father’s birthday, casting a dark shadow over his parent’s grieving hearts. It is suspected that Willie likely succumbed to typhoid fever, contracted through the contaminated water systems of the White House, made sick by the boy’s own home.
Today, we are sharing the story of the Lincoln’s who were wrapped in tragedy, spiritualism, ghosts, and shocking premonitions. My name is Birdie, I’m a psychic medium who has told my story of growing up psychic and continue to share strange encounters I’ve had. These stories have been written and recorded, just like the ones I am sharing with you…together let’s delve into these written records and stories from beyond. Welcome to Spirit Diaries.
After the death of Willie, three long years would pass, each filled with the weight of sorrow, before another shadow would fall upon the Lincoln family. This time, the death would not claim another son, but instead claimed the President himself.
MIRROR, MIRROR ON THE WALL
To truly fathom the chilling and uncanny events that enshrouded Lincoln’s death, we must journey back to the days following his election in 1860. Lincoln gazed upon his reflection in a looking glass. But something was horribly amiss. Instead of seeing his face staring back at him, his gaze fell upon two images looking back at him, a sinister duality that chilled him to the core.
One of these faces appeared ghostly and pallid, sharply contrasted to the other.
Lincoln was recounted to have stated:
“That one of the faces was a little paler, say five shades, than the other.”
Disturbed by this enigmatic occurrence, he stood up, leaving behind the ghostly reflection, and sought solace in the excitement of his election.
However, the eerie reflection haunted Lincoln in the days that followed and he is recounted saying:
“When I went home, I told my wife about it, I tried the experiment again, when [with a laugh], sure enough, the thing came again; but I never succeeded in bringing the ghost back after that, though I once tried very industriously to show it to my wife, who was worried about it somewhat. She thought it was a ‘sign’ that I was to be elected to a second term of office, and that the paleness of one of the faces was an omen that I should not see life through the last term.”
However, it is reported that Lincoln dismissed the omen and brushed off the unexplained experience to nothing more than an optical illusion though those close to him would report that he remained bothered by the experience.
And Mary couldn’t shake the feeling that this duality in the mirror held an ominous omen, because Mary knew Lincoln’s dreams that he reportedly had throughout his life held verifiable truths, and surely this otherworldly experience did too.
I SEE DEAD PEOPLE
While this disturbed Lincoln, he was able to laugh it off as an illusion and dismiss any further pondering of the phenomenon, often adopting the stance of a skeptic in his encounters with the unexplained.
In 1862, President Lincoln engaged in a conversation with Colonel Cannon and other unidentified officers during the Civil War and asked them:
“Did you ever dream of some lost friend, and feel that you were having a sweet communion with him, and yet have a consciousness that it was not a reality?”
“I think all of us have some such experiences,” Cannon replied.
Lincoln stated: “That is the way I dream of my lost boy Willie.”
Before an overwhelming sense of sadness wrapped around the President as he wept over the death of his son and Cannon even wept for the boy too.
Other versions report that Lincoln further clarified his communications as:
“Do you ever find yourself talking with the dead? Since Willie’s death I catch myself, every day involuntarily talking with him, as if he were with me.”
While speaking to the dead is not a unique phenomenon and many of us speak to our lost loved ones out loud, or in our minds, it brings us to question if Lincoln ever felt he had communication back from his son in the form of his psychic dreams.
YOU BETTER RUN, BETTER RUN, FASTER THAN MY BULLET
These unusual encounters didn’t stop here and though Lincoln would admit not believing in his dreams, another one plagued him.
His son Tad had wanted a gun and Lincoln had written to a colonel commanding the Washington Arsenal asking the officer to “let Tad have the pistol, big enough to snap caps—but no cartridges or powder.”
However, a month later on June 9th, 1863 Lincoln wrote from the White House to Mary who was in Philadelphia. The letter contained two short sentences:
“Think you better put [Tad’s] pistol away. I had an ugly dream about him.”
This was enough for Mary to understand that this was a premonition that was to be taken seriously, as Lincoln’s earlier dreams, including many more dreams shared with the Cabinet about the war, had come true.
This is a strange and foreboding sentiment to send to Mary, because as we can surmise, Tad did not have access to a real pistol, only one that mimicked gunfire with empty blanks, so why was Lincoln so disturbed, enough to write a letter, warning Mary of a dream that was so horrific and devastating?
The answer lies with Mary, and her belief in her husband’s abilities.
It turns out that Mary had confided Lincoln’s chilling warning with Julia Taft Bayne.
Julia, who knew of this ominous vision, watched as Tad and two Taft boys, Bud and Holly, played soldiers with real guns. After insistent pleas from Tad to play with a real gun, Julia relented, permitting Tad to play soldiers with her real revolver. Julia, however, heeding Lincoln’s warning and made sure that she unloaded the gun.
Tad, taking the revolver in hand, aimed it at Bud and squeezed the trigger. It was a moment where fate teetered on the precipice of life and death. Had it not been for Lincoln’s warning, Bud would likely be dead.
The chilling warning from that letter echoed as anger arose at the boy who was to never aim a gun at someone.
This dream deeply impacted Lincoln to the point where he was compelled him to take precious time away from the war to pen those words. As if he knew, deep within his being, that it was a matter of life and death.
RED ROOM SEANCES
Mary came from a past spotted with darkness and grief. As a child, she lost her mother and throughout her lifetime, she gave birth to four children only to see death claim three of them in her lifetime. As if that were not enough, her beloved husband, Abraham, met a brutal end, torn from her grasp in a shocking assassination that unfolded before her very eyes.
But before the assassination, Mary sought solace in practicing spiritualism after the loss of Willie.
While I don’t advise seeking readings or attempting contact with another shortly after the loss of a loved one, I understand the drive to do so. People are in vulnerable places looking desperately for a sign that their loved one is okay and the Lauries, a group of mediums stepped in to console the grieving mother.
In the dimly lit corners of the White House’s Red Room, as many as eight seances were conducted. Even the President, himself, attended a few of these eerie gatherings.
After endless seances Mary reported that she absolutely felt that she had contact with Willie and proclaimed this heart-felt statement to her sister:
“Willie Lives. He comes to me every night and stands at the foot of the bed with the same sweet adorable smile that he always has had. He does not always come alone. Little Eddie is sometimes with him.”
Eddie was another son of the Lincoln’s who perished at the young age of four. Yet, just as paranormal investigating and ghost enthusiasts are often seen as foolish and with a large part of the community being accused of presenting and reporting false experiences, Mary was also seen as foolish and laughable back then as well.
Mary was rumored to have felt pressured to take a step back from the seances due to societal pressures pushing upon her to behave more “normally” as seen by the public.
But what I love about Mary’s statement is that a medium wasn’t the one telling Mary about these experiences, but Mary herself who was seeing the ghostly apparitions of her sons, and that is nothing to be laughed at.
LINCOLN’S PREMINITION
But the paranormal experiences didn’t stop here.
Lincoln, who still profusely proclaimed that he did not believe in dreams, was haunted by yet another, even claiming that the thought of it was possessing his every thought.
Gathered with friends and family, Mary noticed that her husband had a “solemn look” about him to which he is reported to have responded:
“I fear I have done wrong to mention the subject at all, but somehow or other the thing has gotten possession of me. About ten days ago, I retired very late. I had been up waiting for important dispatches from the front. I could not have been long in bed when I fell into a slumber, for I was weary. I soon began to dream. There seemed to be a death-like stillness about me. Then I heard subdued sobs, as if a number of people were weeping. I thought I left my bed and wandered downstairs. There the silence was broken by the same pitiful sobbing, but the mourners were invisible. I went from room to room; no living person was in sight, but the same mournful sounds of distress met me as I passed along. I saw light in all the rooms; every object was familiar to me; but where were all the people who were grieving as if their hearts would break? I was puzzled and alarmed. What could be the meaning of all this? Determined to find the cause of a state of things so mysterious and so shocking, I kept on until I arrived at the East Room, which I entered. There I met with a sickening surprise. Before me was a catafalque, on which rested a corpse wrapped in funeral vestments. Around it were stationed soldiers who were acting as guards; and there was a throng of people, gazing mournfully upon the corpse, whose face was covered, others weeping pitifully. ‘Who is dead in the White House?’ I demanded of one of the soldiers, ‘The President,’ was his answer; ‘he was killed by an assassin.’ Then came a loud burst of grief from the crowd, which woke me from my dream. I slept no more that night; and although it was only a dream, I have been strangely annoyed by it ever since.”
Tad, who was present for this retelling was visibly shaken and asked his father if the dream had meant anything. Perhaps his son was aware that his father experienced visions in his sleep. But Lincoln assured him:
“No, no, my son…it is only a dream.”
Mary stepped in to say that it was nothing more than “horrid” dream that that everyone should promptly forget about it, though we are all aware that Mary truly believed in her husband’s premonitions and surely she was horrifically shaken by the story, knowing full well what her interpretation of the double image Lincoln had seen years ago would mean.
Not even a few days later Lincoln was assassinated. A gruesome letter describes the scene as such.
Dear Uncle,
Mr. Lincoln had been pressed on several occasions to make a speech and finally did, taking for his subject the future prospects of the Country… I was present and heard it although it was raining, and now when I think of it I can almost see him delivering his address. On last Friday, just one week ago, I was told that Grant & wife would accompany the President to the Theatre[.] I must confess that I never yet have seen Grant, and as I was anxious for a glimpse[,] I accompanied a couple of friends to the theatre[.] Considering the object of our going we took greater pains in trying to get a full view of the box and its contents, than in getting a good position for witnessing the performance. At about half past eight the President entered accompanied by his wife, Miss Harris and Major Rathbone.
We were all very much disappointed on not seeing General Grant but we certainly had good cause to be thankful afterwards. The assassination took place I think shortly after ten o’clock. Shortly after the shot was heard Booth sprang to the stage. As soon as he recovered himself he drew a large knife. Looking up to a man seated near me, who afterwards proved an acquaintance, he said “I have done it.” By that time he had crossed the stage and partly turning he waved his dagger on high and shouted, “The South’s avenged!” This was the last we saw of him.
His face is impressed on my mind so strongly that I think I never will forget it. His eyes gleamed like fire, his skin almost white to transparency and his jet black hair waving in accordance with his motions … I with the rest rushed to the box. Such a sight as I saw there was enough to touch the heart of a savage.
Mr. Lincoln was stretched on the floor with his head pillowed in the lap of Miss Laura Keene. His brains were slowly oozing out into her lap. Mrs. Lincoln was frantic, screaming “O my God! They have killed him, they have killed him!” He was taken to a house opposite where everything was done but to no avail. Hour after hour the crowd wailed and lingered thinking perhaps he might be spared, but when they were told “he is dead” they all turned away each to his home. Some crying, some praying but most of them cursing the wretch who took his life.
Good bye
Your loving nephew
J. E. Bingham
CURRENT HAUNTING
Since the very moment of Lincoln’s passing, Lincoln joined the many ghost stories that live within the halls of the White House. Reputable reports of the president have been claimed to be seen by First Lady Grace Coolidge, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, and Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands who have witnessed his ghost inside of the Lincoln Bedroom and the Yellow Oval Room.
I’ve personally walked through the halls of the White House as a child and felt the uncanny, eerie feeling of being watched, although that could have been from the secret service who stood on guard but maybe, just maybe it was ghost of president’s past.
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I leave you all with this question…Was Lincoln a psychic? Did Mary know that Lincoln was in denial of his gifts which is why she was so fast to take action in their significance and search for life beyond death? Perhaps we will never know, but I know as a self-doubting science-minded psychic medium know what my suspicions are on the matter.
I’d love to hear your thoughts, until next time.
Story written, edited, and produced by me, Birdie Bones.
SOURCES
p. 116-117 of Recollections of Abraham Lincoln 1847-1865 by Ward Hill Lamon (Lincoln, University of Nebraska Press, 1994).
digitalcommons.wku.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2528&context=theses
pbs.org/wgbh/roadshow/stories/articles/2018/4/9/lincoln-assassination-eyewitness-letter/
Ward Hill Lamon, Recollections of Abraham Lincoln, 18471865. Edited by Dorothy Lamon Teillard. Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press, 1994.
Don E. Fehrenbacher and Virginia Fehrenbacher, comp. and ed., Recollected Words of Abraham Lincoln. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1996.
Dwight G. Anderson, “Quest for Immortality: A Theory of Abraham Lincoln’s Political Psychology.” In The Historian’s Lincoln: Pseudohistory, Psychohistory, and History, edited by Gabor S. Boritt and Norman O. Forness. Urbana, IL: University of Illinois Press, 1988.
Haunted America by Michael Norman and Beth Scott