President Lincoln's Death Noted in Special Collections Diary

Ellsworth Family Papers, University of Arkansas Libraries Special Collections (MC1162)

Diary entry by Sarah Van Patten notes death of President Lincoln, 150 years ago today.

On April 14, 1865, John Wilkes Booth fatally shot President Abraham Lincoln at a play at Ford's Theatre in Washington, D.C., only five days after Confederate General Robert E. Lee surrendered his army at Appomattox Court House, Virginia, effectively ending the Civil War. President Lincoln died in the early hours of April 15, 1865 — 150 years ago today.

Sarah Van Patten (Ellsworth) was living in Maryland as the war came to a close. After their marriage in 1873, Sarah and her husband, Dr. Prosper Ellsworth, a Union veteran, moved to Arkansas, eventually settling in Hot Springs. Sarah Ellsworth went on to be president of the Arkansas Federation of Women's Clubs and was a leader in the effort to protect the Old State House in Little Rock from demolition. In her diary begun at Mount White, Maryland, she recorded her impressions of the capture of Richmond, surrender by Lee, and other important events in the winter and spring of 1865.

On April 15 she wrote: "Alas! I have sad news to record. Mr. Lincoln died this morning. He was shot last night while in his box at the theatre. Dreadful - dreadful. Great excitement prevails. The city is under martial law. This is a very rainy and disagreeable day. Secretary Seward was also assassinated, but hopes are entertained for his recovery. Vice president Johnson has been inaugurated."

The collection – the Ellsworth Family Papers (MC1162) – includes personal and professional papers from the Van Patten family, Sarah, and her husband, as well as numerous 19th and 20th century photographs, including a portrait of Jefferson Davis and his wife.  

For more information on President Abraham Lincoln, view the newly opened The Papers of Abraham Lincoln, a massive online archive containing 99,525 documents related to Lincoln. A joint digitization project sponsored by The University of Illinois and the Abraham Lincoln Association, it identifies, images, transcribes, annotates, and publishes all documents written by or to Abraham Lincoln during his lifetime.

Information about the Ellsworth Family Papers (MC1162) is available in the Libraries' finding aid. More background on the Ellsworths and their Hot Springs home is available from the Arkansas Historic Preservation Program. Contact Joshua Youngblood in Special Collections to make an appointment to view the diary, email specoll@uark.edu.