After Lincoln was elected, Fido cowered from the crowds who greeted the president-elect, the fireworks, and the increased attention surrounding his master.

Knowing the bustle of Washington, the number of people who would be going through the White House, and the social scene surrounding it, Lincoln and his wife, Mary, decided to leave Fido in Springfield, where the family had lived.

The dog, which was a yellow fellow of moderate size, ran against Charlie Plank, who was whittling a stick with a sharp, long bladed knife.

His body was found about a month afterwards where he had lain down to die behind the chimney of the old Universalist church.The Illinois State Journal would also report a different account several decades later on February 3, 1931, attributed to John L. Roll, son of John E., that Fido had been killed: "Charlie Plank, a half-drunken man, was one day whittling a pine stick when Fido came bounding along and, as usual, sprang forward with his fore feet raised.

In drunken rage, the man thrust his knife into the animal, and poor Fido ran away, not to be found for a month after, when his lifeless body was discovered under an old church.