When abraham lincoln died what was in his pocket

In , they were handed over to the Library of Congress for preservation. When Lincoln was assassinated, he had two pairs of glasses, an ivory pocketknife, a handkerchief, a pocket watch fob, a lens polisher, nine newspaper clippings, a leather wallet, and a Confederate five dollar bill on him.

The multiple pairs of glasses, according to US News, were for the president's failing vision. He needed lenses for both reading and seeing at a distance, especially while watching a play. The president also had strabismus, which prevented him from focusing both eyes on the same object at once. Lincoln's possession of a Confederate bill remains a mystery.

Aside from the fiver, Lincoln had no other money on his body, from either the Union or the Confederacy. The bill was likely a souvenir from the president's victorious visit to the Confederate capitol of Richmond, Virginia only ten days earlier. Although Lincoln is now represented on the five dollar bill, he was not placed on the bill until Until then, the bill went through a series of redesigns featuring Andrew Jackson, Ulysses S. Grant, and Christopher Columbus. And it has also been the site of an interesting rediscovery.

In another newly sworn-in Librarian of Congress, Daniel J. How did they end up there? The seemingly mundane, everyday items we carry in a purse or in our pockets can reveal much about us. The articles charted the course of the war and may have been selected for the solace and support they provided Lincoln.

Two articles detailed the passage of a new state constitution in Missouri, a crucial border state that had considered seceding but had ultimately remained in the Union. The constitution called for the emancipation of enslaved Black people, who had not been freed under the Emancipation Proclamation.

Two other clippings contained excerpts from letters, purportedly written by disgruntled southern soldiers expressing their anger at Confederate President Jefferson Davis.

Several articles were complementary pieces about Lincoln and his performance as president, which likely bucked up his often-sagging spirits. Which, of course, was not to be.

Lincoln likely got the Confederate money less than two weeks before his death. In early April, Confederate forces abandoned their capital, and two days later, on April 4, Lincoln and his son Tad visited Richmond.

They were followed by crowds of former slaves as they traveled through the nearly destroyed city, including a stop at the Confederate White House. Lee surrendered to Union General Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox, ending the bloody, four-year war. While some worried that Lincoln was not moving quickly enough with regards to Black rights, one onlooker who heard the speech was shocked.