Secret Service agents, however, infiltrated the gang and were lying in wait to disrupt the operation.
Their scheme was to hold the corpse for a ransom of $200,000 and obtain the release of the gang’s best counterfeiter from prison. In 1876 a gang of Chicago counterfeiters attempted to snatch Lincoln’s body from his tomb, which was protected by just a single padlock, in Oak Ridge Cemetery in Springfield, Illinois. Secret Service did come to Lincoln’s protection, but only in death. Grave robbers attempted to steal Lincoln’s corpse.
