Lincoln 150 honored

April 14-15 2015

150 years after Elizabeth L.C. Dixon
witnessed Lincoln's death

To commemorate the 150 year anniversary of the death of President Abraham Lincoln Fords Theater partnered with National Portrait Gallery and National Park Service and hosted around-the-clock public events.

The grandchildren of Elizabeth L.C. Dixon

James Dixon, Francis S. Dixon, Marguerite Dixon Clark, William Corcoran Welling

In attendance, anonymously, were the great-great grandchildren of Elizabeth L. C. Dixon. She was the close friend of Mary Lincoln, who also witnessed President Lincoln's final hours of life. After his death, it was she who brought Mary Lincoln, now a lonely widow, back to the White House alone. Mrs. Elizabeth L.C. Dixon shunned all publicity and never wished to be associated to the night Lincoln died. 

In honor of her personal strength and the loving kindness shown to Mary Lincoln throughout the tragic event, the grandchildren of her grandchildren anonymously, with no fanfare, stood among the throngs of spectators in attendance during Fords150 events. 

During the 150Lincoln commemoration the Dixon cousins assembled for private viewing of Elizabeth LC Dixon's collection of letters and Civil War relics shared for the first time in 150 years. These artifacts were preserved by grandchildren so that their grandchildren may also be given a glimpse into the lives of the Lincoln's and their personal  friendships.

Who was Elizabeth L.C. Dixon? You can read about her life in Washington by reading her diary written twenty years before the assassination. Elizabeth L. C. Dixon Washington diary 1845-47 was published in 2013 in White House History, issue 33 by great-great granddaughter, Caroline Welling Van Deusen.

Online Version: http://www.whitehousehistory.org/introduction-to-the-transcription-of-the-washington-diary-of-elizabeth-l-c-dixon

In progress: the complete transcription of Elizabeth Dixon diary 1840-41 European Honeymoon Diary to be published by Caroline Van Deusen

Images of the diary by James Welling: http://jameswelling.net/projects/10