Lincoln White House Stable Fire

[frontrank2]

OTD - February 10, 1864 The White House Stable catches fire.

A newspaper reports, "[Mr.] Cooper, the President's private coachman, left the stable to get his supper about 8 o'clock, and he was first notified of the fire by the President himself, who discovered the smoke . . . The building . . . contained . . . six horses, all of which were burned to death . . . One of these ponies was all the more highly prized, in consequence of having once been the property of Willie, the deceased son of Mr. and Mrs. President Lincoln."

President's two horses, John Nicolay's two horses, and Tad's two ponies are lost. - Washington Chronicle, 11 February 1864

Hours later, "Lincoln and others were standing in the East Room looking at the still burning stables. Lincoln was weeping. Tad explained it was because Willie's pony was there." - Robert W. McBride, Personal Recollections of Abraham Lincoln (Indianapolis, IN: Bobbs-Merrill, 1926), 44-45.

Rebuilt stables in 1865

 

[Pollaco]

Speaking of horses. That carriage used in the movie "Wizard of Oz" is said to have been Lincoln's carriage. Was it his personal property or was it the property of the U S Government for use by the President?

 

[frontrank2]

Time to bump up this thread.

 

[frontrank2]

A few days later 2/13, Congress appropriates $12,000 to replace the destroyed stable.

 

[35th MA InfRegt]

Speaking of horses. That carriage used in the movie "Wizard of Oz" is said to have been Lincoln's carriage. Was it his personal property or was it the property of the U S Government for use by the President?

I believe the carriage was a gift from friends or supporters. I don't believe the government routinely supplied horses or carriages to the President although they might have been loaned from the Army.