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TITLE: April 25, 1865. Albany NY
EXT. A RAILYARD, DAYTIME.
A TRAIN WITH A RAILCAR DRAPED IN BLACK BUNTING IS STANDING IN THE RAILYARD, GUARDED BY UNION SOLDIERS. A SOMBER, CRYING CROWD WATCHES. THIS IS THE FUNERAL TRAIN OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN, CARRYING HIS BODY BACK TO SPRINGFIELD ILLINOIS FOR BURIAL.
A GROUP OF RAILYARD WORKERS SLOWLY APPROACHES THE TRAIN. THEY START INSPECTING IT TO MAKE SURE THERE'S NO PROBLEMS.
WORKER 1
Austin, check the bunting on the funeral car and make sure it's all securely fastened.
AUSTIN
Will do, Joe
AUSTIN BREAKS FROM THE GROUP AND WALKS TO THE FUNERAL CAR. HE STARTS EXAMINING THE BLACK BUNTING. HE FINDS A SECTION THAT'S LOOSE. HE PULLS A NEW TACK FROM A POUCH AT HIS WAIST.
CLOSEUP ON HAMMER IN AUSTIN'S HAND AS HE CAREFULLY TAPS THE TACK INTO THE BUNTING, SECURING IT.
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This is the tack hammer that belonged to my 2nd great Grandfather Austin J. Fitzgerald. Family lore says that Austin, who lived from 1843 to 1923, worked for the railroad and he used this hammer to nail the bunting on Abraham Lincoln’s funeral train.
I was unable to verify the family legend, but it could be possible. 16-year-old Austin was living in Schenectady NY, a suburb of Albany NY, training as an apprentice machinist, according to the 1860 New York census. Austin married Mary Fitzgerald (yes, she had the same last name as her husband) in 1870. Their marriage notice in the Rochester newspaper said he was from Schenectady, so it’s reasonable to assume he had been living in Schenectady for 10 years.
Their five children were born in various cities and states in the upper Midwest between 1871 and 1879; these cities and states correspond to where the railroad lines ran, including the Great Western and the Central Illinois lines. The family is listed in the 1880 census in Sanborn, Iowa. Although no occupation is listed for Austin, Sanborn was a village mainly populated by railroad workers and their families. This is a strong indication that Austin worked for the railroad.
Abraham Lincoln’s funeral train left Washington DC April 21, 1865, retracing his 1861 route to Washington when he was elected president. The train stopped in Albany NY April 25th and 26th.
The funeral train had to change engines and crews frequently as it switched through multiple rail lines; I assume each change required the attachment of the bunting and other mourning symbols.
So if Austin was working for the railroad in 1865 and was on a route that included the Albany line, it's possible he did nail the bunting on Lincoln’s funeral train.
Austin's tack hammer is in the possession of his great-great granddaughter (and my cousin) Mary McGreal Murillo.