American folk figure. Clara was the daughter of US Senator Ira Harris of New York. After her mother died, her father married a widow whose son, Henry Rathbone, would grow up to be a Union soldier during the Civil War. Clara and Rathbone were engaged at the time they accompanied President and Mrs. Abraham Lincoln to Ford's Theater in Washington, DC, on the President's last night alive (April 14, 1865). Clara and Rathbone married 2 years later, on July 11, 1867. They had 3 children, the oldest of whom, Henry Riggs Rathbone, would grow up to represent Illinois in the US House of Representatives. After Henry Rathbone Sr was appointed US Consul to Hannover, Germany, in 1882, his mental health deteriorated rapidly and he murdered Clara. He lived out his remaining years in a mental institution, and their children were returned to the United States to be raised by an uncle. Clara was buried in Germany, and her husband was buried in a grave next to hers following his death in 1911. But the graves, lacking visitors for the next 4 decades, were reused in 1952 for burials of others.
PLEASE NOTE: Although I posted this page itself, I did NOT post any of the photos here & therefore cannot remove them. If there is any question of the identity of the subject of any photo, please contact the contributor whose name is below said photo.
PLEASE NOTE: Although I posted this page itself, I did NOT post any of the photos here & therefore cannot remove them. If there is any question of the identity of the subject of any photo, please contact the contributor whose name is below said photo.
American folk figure. Clara was the daughter of US Senator Ira Harris of New York. After her mother died, her father married a widow whose son, Henry Rathbone, would grow up to be a Union soldier during the Civil War. Clara and Rathbone were engaged at the time they accompanied President and Mrs. Abraham Lincoln to Ford's Theater in Washington, DC, on the President's last night alive (April 14, 1865). Clara and Rathbone married 2 years later, on July 11, 1867. They had 3 children, the oldest of whom, Henry Riggs Rathbone, would grow up to represent Illinois in the US House of Representatives. After Henry Rathbone Sr was appointed US Consul to Hannover, Germany, in 1882, his mental health deteriorated rapidly and he murdered Clara. He lived out his remaining years in a mental institution, and their children were returned to the United States to be raised by an uncle. Clara was buried in Germany, and her husband was buried in a grave next to hers following his death in 1911. But the graves, lacking visitors for the next 4 decades, were reused in 1952 for burials of others.
PLEASE NOTE: Although I posted this page itself, I did NOT post any of the photos here & therefore cannot remove them. If there is any question of the identity of the subject of any photo, please contact the contributor whose name is below said photo.
PLEASE NOTE: Although I posted this page itself, I did NOT post any of the photos here & therefore cannot remove them. If there is any question of the identity of the subject of any photo, please contact the contributor whose name is below said photo.
Gravesite Details
The grave was reused in 1952 for the burial of the Rensen family. The remains of Clara and Henry were buried deeper in the same plot under the new burials.
