Jesse Arnott, who has a place in history because he buried President Lincoln, has many relatives In Lawrence and Gallia Counties, especially In the Waterloo area. Among them are the Handleys, Stewarts, Wisemans and Nulls.


"Jesse Arnott, born in 1812 in Monroe County when that state was still a part of Virginia, was married to Mary Elizabeth Handley, a sister of his stepmother, Lucinda Handley.
Arnott was living in Missouri where he had a successful livery and undertaker’s business at the time Lincoln was assassinated in 1865. At first, Arnott, being a staunch Democrat, refused the assignment of burying Lincoln at nearby Springfield, Ill., but reconsidered and accepted the honor.
According to a book written about Lincoln by John Carroll Power, "As soon as the funeral car came alongside of the depot, the coffin was transferred to the beautiful hearse which had been tendered for the occasion by Messrs. Lynch & Arnott of St. Louis through Mayor Thomas of that city and accepted by Mayor Dennis of Springfield.
"The hearse was built in Philadelphia at a cost of about six thousand dollars, and was larger than ordinary size. After the offer was accepted, the proprietors had it additionally ornamented with a silver plate engraving of the initials 'A.L.' around which was a silver wreath, with two inverted torches and thirty-six silver stars, representing the Union. It was drawn by six superb black"

LINCOLN'S UNDERTAKER
Jesse Arnott

According to Dr. Maggie Ballard, who wrote the Arnott history for local relatives it was Jesse Arnott who drove the horses, not Mr. A. Arnott. The confusion was understandable since Jesse's brother Anderson Arnott had his own livery business in same area.

Dr. Ballard writes that Arnott was a deeply religious man and that family devotions were never neglected in his house. "His conversations were of most entertaining chain and on religious topics were simply soul thrilling," Ballard writes.

Arnott died May 11, 1896 at the home of his sister in Monroe County and he was buried at St. Louis.

He was a Free Mason, Odd Fellow, a member of Merchants Exchange, and a life long Methodist. He was very charitable especially toward Orphans and Aged, and Friendless. It was through his exertion that the Methodist Orphans Home St. Louis was established 1883, and he was a heavy subscriber to the fund for its maintenance.