As the Civil War ended , Mrs. Lincoln expected to continue as the First Lady of a nation at peace . President Lincoln awoke the morning of April 14 , 1865 in a pleasant mood . Robert E. Lee had surrendered several days before to Ulysses Grant , and now the President was awaiting word from North Carolina on the surrender of Joseph E. Johnston . The morning papers carried the announcement that the President and his wife would be attending the theater that evening . At one point , Mary developed a headache and was inclined to stay home , but Lincoln told her he must attend because newspapers had announced that he would . She sat with her husband watching the comic play '' Our American Cousin '' at Ford 's Theatre . During the third act , the President and Mrs. Lincoln drew closer together , holding hands while enjoying the play . Mary whispered to her husband , who was holding her hand , " What will Miss Harris think of my hanging on to you so ? " The president smiled and replied , " She wo n't think anything about it " . That was the last conversation the Lincolns ever had . Minutes later , President Lincoln was shot by John Wilkes Booth . She was holding Abraham 's hand when Booth 's bullet struck the back of his head . Mrs. Lincoln accompanied her mortally wounded husband across the street to the Petersen House , where he was taken to a back bedroom and laid crosswise on the bed there , where Lincoln 's Cabinet was summoned . Their son Robert sat with Lincoln throughout the night and to the following morning – Saturday , April 15 , 1865 . At one point , Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton ordered Mary from the room as she was so unhinged with grief
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Assassination of Abraham Lincoln
Mary Todd Lincoln