Mind If We Dig You Up, Mr. Lincoln?
Why the 16th President Can’t Be Left in Peace
Election night 1876 arrived full of uncertainty. The presidential race was something of a referendum on Reconstruction, and the results were so tight that the winner was unknown. It would be months before a special commission awarded 20 disputed electoral votes, and the presidency, to Rutherford B. Hayes.
With all the attention on the election, it was the perfect night to pull off a crime. In the town of Springfield, Illinois, several thieves went to work on stealing a body from the local cemetery.
And not just any body.
It was the body …