By Kelly Doran
Sun staff
On April 29, 150 years ago, President Abraham Lincoln’s body passed through Milford on its way to his burial.
“This country has just an incredible, incredible history,” Clermont County Historian Richard Crawford said.
Lincoln’s body did not stop at the Montauk Station in Milford, even though the stop was on the schedule.
The train took a route through Ohio and made so many stops that it began getting behind schedule. Those on the train decided Milford was not significant enough to keep on the schedule, Crawford said.
Half the town showed up at Montauk, ready to see Lincoln’s casket, but then those on the train made the last second decision to keep going, Crawford said.
After passing through Milford, the train went to Cincinnati and then to Illinois for the burial, Crawford said.
When Lincoln was shot, Dr. Charles Davenport Gatch, who was born in Milford, climbed an American flag up to the balcony where Lincoln was shot, because John Wilkes Booth, his assassin, had locked the doors, Crawford said.
Gatch was the first doctor to get to Lincoln in the theater, Crawford said. Gatch spent the rest of the night with Lincoln and other doctors, and contributed the decision to pronounce Lincoln dead.
“There’s not much in this country that’s gone on that there hadn’t been somebody from Clermont County there,” Crawford said.
Lincoln and his wife also stopped at Montauk Station to talk to the people of this area on his way to his inauguration in 1860, Crawford said. He gave a speech on High Street.
“He considered this place special because this was his only stop in Clermont County,” Crawford said.
Crawford gives tours of the county, including haunted tours, and on the second Saturday of every month he gives a free historical tour of Union Township.
To reserve as spot for the Union Township tour, call Corey Wright at 513-752-1741.