THE PLOT TO ROB LINCOLN'S TOMB

LINCOLN'S GRAVE

• Lincolns body was burried and reburied 4 times by 1874
• Lincoln had been relocated 13 times before 1901

"CONEY MEN"

• Gang missing Boyd
• Boyd on 10 year sentence
• $200,000 ransom for Lincoln's remains
• Plan made by Big Jim, plan center in Chicago
• Grave robbers needed help

Grave robbers plan was to sneak into Lincoln monument after dark, lift body out of coffin, load body into a wagon, and drive to the sand dunes of Indiana.

PEOPLE FOR PLAN

• Billy Brown: handle wagon (undercover detective)
• Cornelius: negotiated ransom and body return
• Swegles: adopted to gang (undercover detective)
• Hughes & Mullans: original gang members
• Tyrell: secret service detective

TRAP/PLAN IN ACTION

• Secret service hid in monument waiting for Hughes and Mullen
• Rifles in hand, they tried to put a stop to the grave robbing
• Men were ordered to search outside premises
• Shoot out began

GRAVE ROBBERS ESCAPE

• Coneyman escape without being seen
• Grave robbers were not caught until several months later

PUNISHMENT FOR THEIR CRIME

• Men were only indieted for conspiring to steal a coffin
• Sentenced to one year each
• Served with Boyd

LINCOLNS COFFIN

• Coffin was priced at 75$
• Lincoln was not secure until 1901
• Casket encased in steel and concrete