President LincolnPresident Lincoln's Adventures in Weatherford, TX


Weatherford, Texas is a small community located a few miles west of Fort Worth.  It's a place known for its long history of rich folklore and mythology.  Among the stranger tales to come out of this area is a legend about the United States President Abraham Lincoln.

The local belief is that President Lincoln faked his death in 1865 in order to start a simple life away from politics and his wife.

At once this sounds outrageously stupid, but before passing judgment let's review the whole story.


President LincolnWhat most of us have been taught is that President Lincoln was assassinated by an actor named John Wilkes Booth shortly after the Civil War had ended.

The official record says that Abraham Lincoln died on the morning of April 15, 1865. A hearse carried his body back to the White House around 9:00 A.M. The cavalry provided an escort to the procession which moved up 10th Street to G Street and then slowly to the White House. The temporary coffin of Abraham Lincoln was covered by an American flag. The body of the President were placed in the Guest Room which was on the second floor.
There were nine men present for the autopsy. Among these were the Surgeon General Dr. Joseph K. Barnes, Lincoln family physician, Dr. Robert King Stone, Dr. Charles Sabin Taft, Assistant Surgeon General Dr. Charles H. Crane, Army Assistant Surgeon William Morrow Notson, General Rucker of the Army's Quartermaster Department, Lincoln's friend, Orville H. Browning, Army Assistant Surgeon (pathologist) J. Janvier Woodward, and Army Assistant Surgeon (pathologist) Edward Curtis. Lincoln's widow, Mary Todd Lincoln sent a messenger to request a lock of hair from the President's head (as if she needed proof that it was in fact her husband). The autopsy itself was done by Dr. Curtis and Dr. Woodward.



However some classrooms in Weatherford, TX have a twistedly different version of this event.  Many local historians claim that the body examined by these men could not have been that of President Abraham Lincoln. Their problem with the official record of the Lincoln autopsy comes in the form of a man named Alexander ( Billy Bob ) Hamilton who lived in Weatherford from 1865 to 1881.  

Alexander (Billy Bob) Hamitlon 

Only known photo of Alexander ( Billy Bob ) Hamilton taken in the Spring of 1869 in Weatherford, TX

The strange theory coming out of Parker County, Texas is that Alexander ( Billy Bob ) Hamilton was in fact former President Abraham Lincoln.  Because he saw no way for a man of his public stature to end his marriage, President Abraham Lincoln decided to fake his own death and flee to Texas. Changing his name to Alexander (Billy Bob) Hamilton,  he took a job at a feed store. Clues to his true identity included his love of quoting from the Gettysburg Address (after all he wrote it ), his hat ( it was just like the one Lincoln wore ), and he went around telling everyone he was really President Lincoln and that he was sure sorry about that little war (The Civil War).


Was Alexander ( Billy Bob ) Hamilton just an ordinary man who had an uncanny resemblance to President Lincoln?  Did he decide to use this resemblance as a prank on the citizens of Weatherford, maybe to the full extent of quoting lines from the Gettysburg Address? Would such a man then go as far as to claim that he actually was Abraham Lincoln?

That would certainly be the logical conclusion. . .but things are not always so logical here in Weatherford.


The real controversy began several years after Alexander ( Billy Bob ) Hamilton had died, when a young C.L. Lennon first heard about the story.  Lennon, a failed Baptists Preacher was intrigued by the tale and set out to learn more about it.. The shadow of a conspiracy filled his mind.

Lennon devoted several hours a day to his research, interviewing members of the Parker County community, as well as attempting three trips to Washington DC, to try and find answers to the situation which he found so perplexing.

After committing a number of years to the painstaking study of this chapter in history, Lennon planned to publish his notes in book form, so that the public might have a greater understanding of the event. However Lennon's manuscript was rejected by every publishing house and editor he contacted.  

Frustrated and heartbroken, Lennon decided he would have to use his own money to publish the book himself. But he was a man of limited funds, so he decided to organize a number of tent revival meetings around the Parker County area as a way to raise the cash he needed. The crowds that attended these revivals were treated to Lennon's sermons about the conspiracy, and how no God fearing man or woman should ever trust the federal government.

However all of Lennon's efforts would ended up in tragedy. Shortly after the first pressing of his book began, a fire destroyed the subsidised publisher's printing press, along with Lennon's original manuscript and most of his research notes.

Shortly thereafter Lennon himself disappeared, with some people believing that the government kidnapped and murdered him because he was too close to the truth.  However others simply think that Lennon skipped the country with the money he had earn from his heated government blasting revivals.

Rumors persist to this day that a handful of books survived the fire, but no one has presented physical evidence of this.


Another strange Texas story claims that John Wiles Booth escaped death also and made his way to another small Texas town. To read the full story just click Granbury
For more information and resources about this chapter in history, please review these links
If you feel the need to voice you opinion on this subject then you can e-mail me at

Waylon_Halen@yahoo.com



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