President Lincoln was embalmed so many times during his long train ride back to Springfield that his face was still intact when his coffin was opened in 1901.

Drs. Brown and Alexander, the embalmers, charged the federal government $100 for embalming fees and $160 for 16 days of services from the doctors and their assistant during the 13-day funeral train ride to Springfield, Ill.

In 1865, American dead were not routinely embalmed. The process was used mostly to keep soldiers’ bodies intact so they could be shipped home North or South. Because President Lincoln, the most photographed man in America, was instantly recognizable, his body was a sterling advertisement for the fledgling embalming industry.