THE DEATH OF LINCOLN

By CLARA E. LAUGHLIN
Felicity
When Joy Begins
Divided MiLADI
The Evolution of a Girl's Ideal
Stories of Authors' Loves
The Lady in Gray

Copyriglit, 1891, by M. P. Hice- Abrahaai Lincoln
"With malice toward none, with charity for all."

The Death of Lincoln
The Story of Booth's Plot, His Deed
and the Penalty
By
CLARA E. LAUGHLIN
Illustrated from Photographi

New York
Doubleday, Page & Company
1909

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED, INCLUDING THAT OF TRANSLATION
INTO FOSEIGN LANGUAGES, INCLUDING THE SCANDINAVIAN

COPYRIGHT, 1909, BY DOUBLEDAY, PAGE & COMPANY
PUBLISHED, JANUARY, 1909

CoPM

%

TO
FRANCES BENJAMIN JOHNSTON

CONTENTS

Part One. The Plot
Part Two. The Deed
Part Three. The Penalty

3
67
119

APPENDICES

L Feeling Against Lincoln
II. Booth in Canada
III. Confederate Complicity
IV. The Leenea Letters .
V. Dr. Mudd's Statement
VI. Rockville Lecture of John H. Surratt
VII. The Possibility of Capture
VIII. John Y. Beall .
IX. Lincoln's Last Journey
X. Lincoln's Last Speech
XI. Lincoln's Forebodings of a Tragic Death
XII. Lincoln and the Negro Messenger .
XIII. Dana and Thompson ....
XIV. Mr. George Ashmun ....
XV. "Our American Cousin" .

201203
205 211214
222 250256257 259262
266267269270

viu

THE DEATH OF LINCOLN

XVI. Atzerodt's Statement . . . .283
XVIL The Trial of John Surratt . . .286
XVIII. Major Rathbone's Statement . . 289
XIX. Harry Hawk's Account . . .293
XX. Affidavit of Miss Harris . . .294
XXI. Booth in Boston  296
XXII. Letter of William T. Clark . . .298
XXIII. Despatches of the Night . . .301
XXIV. Statement of Mr. Field, Assistant Secre
tary of the Treasury . . . 303
XXV. Southern Horror of Booth's Deed . . 309
XXVI. The Awards  312
XXVII. Trial Attendance  316
XXVIII. Spangler's Statement . . . .317
XXIX. Mrs. Surratt and John Nothey . . 322
XXX. JohnP. Brophy  324
XXXI. The Holt-Johnson Controversy . . 327
XXXII. Johnson's Order for the Execution of
Payne, Atzerodt, Herold, and Mrs.
Surratt  332
XXXIII. Johnson's Remark About "The Nest
that Hatched the Egg" . . .333
XXXIV. Johnson's Denial of Habeas Corpus
Writ to Mrs. Surratt . . 335

ILLUSTRATIONS
Abraham Lincoln  Frontispiece

PAGE

Map ShoAving the Routes of Proposed Abduction of
Lincoln and Actual Flight of Booth .... 4
John Wilkes Booth  6
The National Hotel, Washington, D. C  28
Ford's Theatre, Washington, D. C  50
Mrs. Abraham Lincoln  74
Play Bill of Ford's Theatre  78
Laura Keene  90
Abraham Lincoln about 1865  92
Contemporary Print of the Assassination of Lincoln . . 96
Lincoln and His Son, Tad  104
The Death of Abraham Lincoln  114
The House in which Lincoln Died  120
The Alley Behind Ford's Theatre  122
Lincoln's House at Springfield, 111., Draped at Time of
His Death  126
Lincoln's Funeral Car and Hearse  130
ix

ILLUSTRATIONS

PAGE

New York City HaU when Lincoln's Body Lay There in
State  134
Contemporary Print of General U. S. Grant at the Tempo
rary Tomb of Abraham Lincoln  140
The Lincoln Monument at Springfield, 111. . . .144
Catacomb and Sarcophagus  144
Booth's Escape  150
The Capture and Death of Booth  150
Boston Corbett  152
The Military Court that Tried the Assassins . . . 172
Four Conspirators Who Were Hanged . . . .190
Four Conspirators Who Were Not Hanged . . .192
Execution of the Four Conspirators  194

PART I
THE PLOT

THE DEATH OF LINCOLN

THE PLOT
A BOUT the twelfth of September, 1864, a young man
^ helping to thresh wheat in a field near Hookstown,
Maryland, had a letter brought to him. In it was either
a twenty-dollar or a fifty-dollar bill.' After reading the
letter and pocketing the money, the young man remarked
laughingly, but not without a bit of swaggering importance,
that he was "flush," and that something big would be
heard of one of these days.
It was! The young man was in "a plot" which at that
time would have seemed to any sober-minded person who
might have known of it about as serious as the back-lot
' " The Assassination of President Lincoln, and the Trial of the Conspirators," com
piled and arranged by Benn Pitman, Recorder to the Military Commission. Pub
lished by Moore, Wilstach & Baldwin, Cincinnati and New York, 1865. The Pitman
record of the Conspiracy Trial is the one hereinafter referred to, as that to which
most persons have access. The record made for the Philadelphia Inquirer and pub
lished by T. B. Peterson, Philadelphia, in 1865, and the report made for the Associated
Press and published by Barclay & Co., Philadelphia, 1865, are " unedited " by the Bureau
of Military Justice, and show some sharp discrepancies from the Pitman version; but
for the reason that they are not everywhere available they have not been made the basis
of most of these citations. For authority on Samuel Arnold's letter, and its enclosure,
see the testimony of Littleton P. D. Newman, Conspiracy Trial, page 239.

4 THE DEATH OF LINCOLN
plottings of exuberant boys bent on the extermination of
Indians; it was a plot to kidnap the President of the
United States and hold him for a ransom. Nobody knows
how nearly the absurd plot came to accomplishment, but
all the world has heard of the conspiracy which resulted
in the death of Lincoln. The young man who got that
letter was sufficiently connected with the President's death
to pay a hideous penalty for it. Just how he and his
fellows came into their connection with the great tragedy
of the nation we shall now try to see.
The young man's name was Samuel Arnold, and he
had been a soldier in the Confederate Army. After a long
illness, however, he did not return to the service, but stayed
with his people in and near Baltimore. Sam was a clerk
when he could get clerical work to do, but either the times
were bad for obtaining work of that sort or Sam was bad at
finding it, for in the summer ot '64 he was unemployed
except for the desultory help he gave a farmer-brother
near Hookstown.
Early in September, Sam and two old schoolmates of
his had met at Barnum's Hotel in Baltimore. ' One of the
schoolmates was a small, quiet, rather delicate-looking
young man, with thick black hair, heavy black moustache,
• Arnold's statement to Eaton G. Homer C. T. p. 235, It was written and delivered
by William McFhail to Stanton (C. T. p. 236), who did not allow it to be put in
evidence.

THE DEATH OF LINCOLN 5
a small black imperial, and nervous black eyes that often
looked sad. He, also, had been a Confederate soldier,
but had taken the oath of allegiance in June, 1863, and
since then had been in the feed and produce business with
his brother William, in Baltimore and Washington. His
name was Michael O'Laughlin.
The third of these young fellows, who had been close
friends for a dozen years or more — ever since their little-
boy days — was grown quite out of the class of the other
two. He was briUiantly beautiful, very talented, very suc
cessful, very much sought after.' Although barely twenty-
six years old, he had an income from his profession of about
twenty thousand dollars a year. He was tall and full of
slender grace; his features were classic in their perfectness;
his big black eyes were teasing, tender, laughing, bewitch
ing; a crown of slightly curling jet-black hair was worn
pushed boyishly back from a brow of rare intellectual and
physical beauty. He was elegant in his dress, blithe and
winsome in his manner. Indeed, he was only too winsome
— too easy to love and too hard to scold; too quick to charm
and too charming to be judged. He was generous and kind,
affectionate and gay. His name was John Wilkes Booth.

* During a successful engagement of John W. Booth's in Boston, " women of all ages,
and degrees pressed in crowds before the Tremont House to see him depart." " Life
of J. W. Booth," by George Alfred Townsend, published by Dick and Fitzgerald, New
York, 1866, p. 24.

6 THE DEATH OF LINCOLN
John, the youngest but one of the ten children born to
the celebrated tragedian, Junius Brutus Booth and his
wife, Mary Ann, was named for his paternal great-grand
mother's cousin, John Wilkes, parliamentarian, lord
mayor of London, and political agitator. Junius Brutus
the elder died in 1852. He acted up to the very last, and
died on tour in the West, but for years before his death his
great mind had been unbalanced by his intemperate habits,
so that the only father little John Booth ever knew was a
madman, the wreck of a splendid genius, a lovable
personality. Of the six children who survived their father, three
became famous members of his profession, but John
Wilkes was universally considered the most gifted of the
family, though a severe bronchial affection threatened his
voice and, consequently, his future on the stage. He was
the idol of his mother's heart and was, in turn, exceedingly
fond of her — so fond that he made her a promise it was
very hard for him to keep : a promise that he would never
take up arms against the Union she and all her other
children stanchly upheld.
John had spent the happiest, most Impressionable years
of his young professional life In the South, notably at
Richmond, Virginia, where he was a member of John T.
Ford's stock company and a warm favourite in and out of

Collection of Americana, F. PI. Meserve.
John Wilkes Booth

THE DEATH OF LINCOLN 7
the theatre. In 1859 he had been a volunteer soldier and
did his part to put down treason by standing guard at the
foot of the scaffold whereon John Brown was hanged.
Four years later the Government that had put Brown to
death for attempting to free the slaves made a new defini
tion of treason : made It treasonable to resist the freeing
of the slaves. John Booth did not accept the new defini
tion. For him, despite the tears and protests of his family,
right remained with the South; and although he had
promised his dear mother he would not take up arms
against the Union, John did not try to stifle his passionate
sympathy with the Southern cause, his burning ardour to
do something toward Its success.
In Barnum's Hotel, Baltimore, that September day in
'64, the three young men talked of the war and soberly
discussed the repeated reverses of the Confederate armies,
the steady swelling of Northern prisons with thousands
upon thousands of Southern prisoners.'
It was then that John unfolded a stupendous scheme.
So far as we know, he had conceived It quite recently and
had not mentioned it to any one until that day. It was a
plan to seize the President of the United States, hurry him
out of Washington, down through intensely disloyal
counties of Maryland to the Potomac, ferry him across Into

' See Appendix I: Feeling about Lincoln in the North.

8 THE DEATH OF LINCOLN
Virginia, and carry him to Richmond, there to turn him
over to the Confederate authorities to be held on their
own terms — either the termination of the war, or the
exchange of one President for all Southern prisoners held
by the North.
The two young men to whom this wild scheme was
unfolded, and who were then and thereupon invited to
become party to it, must have gasped at its audacity. But
John explained how easy it would be. The President was
impatient of being guarded,and often went about Washing
ton unattended or with a single guard. It would be the
easiest thing in the world for three or four fellows to seize
him — say on one of his visits to the Soldiers' Home, out
Seventh Street — thrust him Into a closed carriage, drive
rapidly into Maiyland, and hasten to Richmond. Or, the
capture might be made on one of his returns, unguarded,
from the War Office to the White House, late at night.
If seized then, he could be hurried down through the
gardens of the White House to an old house on Seventeenth
Street near the confluence of the Tyber and Potomac rivers.
This house, built in 1820, had a cellar, reached by a trap
door, which was once used for a slave prison. There
were "two acres of grounds around the house, filled with
high trees and close shrubbery, and a high brick wall along
the street, and any cries from it would be effectually

THE DEATH OF LINCOLN 9
drowned long before reaching the street."' Even the
President of the United States, It seemed, might have been
held prisoner there, close under the shadow of the White
House, and spirited thence when opportunity offered. It
was a daring plan, of course. But think of the glory there
would be in it! Tt would probably end this hideously
bloody war; and when the grateful Confederacy found
itself victorious, there would surely be handsome rewards
for the brave boys who had saved it. John was eloquent,
enthusiastic, seemed to understand the situation thor
oughly; of course the other boys "joined." And of course,
after that, Sam Arnold was less and less inclined to look
for steady employment and more and more disturbingly
given to talk of certain "prospects" about which he was
mysteriously vague. The money in his letter of a week
later was doubtless from his friend John, In consideration
of Sam's temporary need while great fortune awaited him.
On the twenty-seventh of September John went to
Franklin, in the oil region of Pennsylvania, where he had
invested six thousand dollars.' Every young man in those
days speculated in oil. A few "struck It rich," most of
them sunk their money in wells and got nothing out but
experience. John was one of the latter. For nine or ten
' The trial of the assassins, as reported for the Philadelphia Daily Inquirer and
published by T. B. Peterson and Brothers, Philadelphia, 1865, p. 17.
' C. T. p. 4S, Joseph H. Simonds.

10 THE DEATH OF LINCOLN
months he had been dabbling in oil, but now he was
determined to stop; so he closed up his interests by con
veying part of his land to his brother, Junius Brutus, and
part to his business agent, Joseph H, Simonds.
Just a month later John was in Montreal. A great
deal of testimony offered at the trial of his fellow-con
spirators In May, '65, in the effort to prove Confederate
complicity in the murder of President Lincoln, made it
appear that John Booth, John Surratt, Lewis Payne,
Davy Herold, spent much of the fall and winter of '64-'65
In Montreal. But there is no reliable evidence that Booth
was there after October' — the register of St. Lawrence
Hall does not once contain his name after that date — and
neither Is there reliable evidence that any of the other
conspirators was there at all, except John Surratt, who
went there In April.
St. Lawrence Hall was then the leading hotel of Montreal
and was, as such, liberally patronized by actors and by
those prominent. Southerners who, by their authorized
activity In the Confederate cause, were known as the
"Canada Cabinet" of the Confederacy. John Booth
knew these men well, naturally; they had many sympathies
In common. His conversations with some of them were
excitably described at the time of the conspirators' trial
• See Appendix II: Noje summarizing evidence about Booth in Canada.

THE DEATH OF LINCOLN 11
as "confidential," but whatever the confidence may have
been about there is not a scintilla of reliable evidence
that It had anything to do with a plot against President
Lincoln.' If the men of the Canada Cabinet listened to John
Booth's plans for the release of the Southern prisoners,
they evidently told him nothing of their own plans to the
same end. They and the "Sons of Liberty" (a secret
organization of Northern Democrats who hated the war
and urged resistance to the draft) had conspired to make
a raid on Camp Douglas in Chicago, where nearly nine
thousand rebels were imprisoned. This raid was to have
occurred on the twenty-ninth of August, the day of the
Eissembling in Chicago of the National Democratic Con
vention. That plan had come to nothing, owing to the
Government having been forewarned. But on the night
of Election Day there was to be an attack made on Camp
Douglas, the intent being to release and arm the prisoners,
"cut the telegraph wires, burn the railroad depots, seize
the banks and stores containing arms and ammunition,
take possession of the city, and commence a campaign for
the release of other prisoners of war in Illinois and
Indiana."' This, If successful, would rather have fore-
' See Appendix III: Note on Southern complicity.
2 Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Series' I, vol. xxxix, part
iii, p. 69S; vol. xiv, part i, p. 1078.

12 THE DEATH OF LINCOLN
stalled John's little plan, but it, too, fell through because
word of it had "leaked" and the Government was
prepared. The Confederacy's Canada Cabinet — or part
of it, at least — had other plans, too, for ending the
war in November, '64, of which John Booth does
not seem to have been appraised. But of those, more
presently. In October, John was in Montreal. We know that for
a certainty because on the twenty-seventh he bought at the
Ontario Bank of Montreal a bill of exchange on Messrs.
Glyn, Mills & Co., London, England, for sixty-one
pounds twelve shillings and ten pence sterling. This
left him a balance of four hundred and fifty-five dollars in
the bank, where he kept a small account. He told the
teller of the Ontario Bank, when he bought the bill of
exchange, that he was going to run the blockadie.' He
never ran it, the bill of exchange was found on him when he
died, just six months later, and the four hundred and fifty-
five dollars were still to his credit, untouched. What he
seems to have been providing against was the possibility
of the Confederate Government refusing to take advan
tage of his "capture " and his having to flee to the British
West Indies or to Europe.
John was a favourite in Montreal and always had a good
' C. T, p. 46, Robert Anson Campbell; p. 93, Everton J. Conger.

THE DEATH OF LINCOLN 13
time there. When he played in the old Theatre Royal
on Cote Street, he used to hurry away from the theatre
after the performance, and make all possible haste back
to St. Lawrence Hall, where he always found a little
crowd of good fellows waiting for him. The billiard-room
of the St. Lawrence was run by Joe Dion, the champion
blUiardist of America, and evening after evening he and
John Booth were wont to play before an enthusiastic httle
"gallery" of newspaper men, actors, and men about town.'
The Southern gentleman is usually a good billiard player,
and without doubt the "Canada Cabinet" contributed to
the "gallery" on nearly every occasion. If "conspiring"
was done, it must have been in two rival camps, curiously
at cross purposes.
Where John Booth was on Election Day, November 8th,
we do not know, but on the evening of the next day he
arrived in Washington and registered at the National Hotel
on Pennsylvania Avenue, not far from the Capitol. He
must have been brimming full of bitterness that day over
the news of Lincoln's re-election, but if he so expressed him
self to any one we do not know it. He was universally
known as a Southern sympathizer, but even to his closest
associates, with the exception of those few he took into his
plans, he seems never to have delivered himself of any
> Told the present writer by Mr. William Jarris of (he Montreal Star, who was
usually present at these games.

14 THE DEATH OF LINCOLN
sentiments which prepared them In the least degree for
the awful deed his plotting finally led him to.
It W£is probably on Saturday, the twelfth of November,
that John went down into Charles County, Maryland, with
a letter of introduction to a Dr. Queen living there. Dr.
Queen's son-in-law, when examined about it months after
ward, thought that the letter was from a man In Montreal
named Martin. No one was able to remember the exact
date of that fateful visit to Charles County, but every one
agreed that it was early in November. We know that
John was there Saturday — In part, at least — and Sunday
and Monday morning. And we know that he left the
National Hotel early on Friday morning, the eleventh, and
returned early Monday evening.' If he had lived to be
tried for the outcome of his plotting, the date of that first
visit to Charles County would have been of sensational
importance. Even as It is, the date was crucial, as we shall
see.' John may have gone to Baltimore on Friday, or he
may have been "prospecting around" In other parts of
Charles and Prince George counties before hunting up
Dr. Queen. Somewhere In the neighbourhood of Dr.
Queen's house, John seems to have encountered the
doctor's son, Joseph Queen, who took the stranger home.'
' C. T. p. 46, G. W. Bunker.
' See Appendix IV. Note on the "Leenea" letters.
» C. T. p. J78, John C. Thompson.

THE DEATH OF LINCOLN 15
After John's letter had been presented and he had been
introduced to the members of Dr. Queen's family, he told
them he was in Maryland looking over farm lands with a
view to purchase. He asked, also, about horses for sale
in that neighbourhood.
The Queens liked him, of course ; everybody liked him.
And they asked him to stay with them over Sunday. He
accepted, and on Sunday morning went to church with
them. In the dooryard of the little country church —
St. Mary's Catholic Church, near Bryantown — they met
a neighbour of the Queens', Dr. Samuel A. Mudd, a young
physician and a member of one of the prominent families
of the county. Mr. John C. Thompson, Dr. Queen's
son-in-law, Introduced their guest to Dr. Mudd. It was
a fateful meeting for the young physician. John — whose
beauty and fame created quite a stir In the little congre
gation — asked Dr. Mudd If he knew of any one who had
a good riding-horse for sale; and Dr. Mudd replied that
his next neighbour, George Gardiner, had one, which he
offered to take Mr. Booth to see." John accepted, and on
Sunday evening, just after the family and guests of Dr.
Mudd had finished supper, John arrived from Dr. Queen's
house, seven or eight miles away. Mrs. Mudd hospitably
got a special supper for Mr. Booth — who doubtless pro-
'C. T. p. 71. Thomas L. Gardiner.

16 THE DEATH OF LINCOLN
tested very charmingly at the trouble he was making —
and after he had eaten, John joined the family circle in
the parlour and remained there in general conversation
until bedtime.' He stayed at Dr. Mudd's that nighty
and after breakfast the next morning, host and guest went
over to Squire Gardiner's, a quarter of a mile away. John
asked the squire for a good driving-horse, saying he desired
to go about the country in a buggy and look at land. But
Gardiner had only one good driving-horse, and that he
would not part with. He had, though, a fairly good saddle-
horse, a large, dark bay, blind of one eye, which he would
sell at a bargain. John bought that, saying it would do,
as he would need it for only a short time, anyway.' The
horse was delivered to him at Bryantown that afternoon,
and he may have ridden it into Washington, or he may not;
we do not know anything more about that one-eyed horse
until January, when we have trace of it in a livery stable on
Sixth Street, Washington.
On Wednesday, the sixteenth of November, John went
to New York, where he remained for nearly a month.*
Edwin Booth and his brother-in-law, John Sleeper
Clarke, the eminent comedian who married Asia Booth,
• "The Life of Dr. Samuel A. Mudd," edited by his daughter, Miss Nettie Mudd,
published by the Neale Publishing Company, New York and Washington, 1906, p. 29.
Mrs. Mudd's statement.
' C. T. p. 71, Thomas L. Gardiner.
' C. T. p. 46, Bunker, also p. 44, Samuel K. Chester.

THE DEATH OF LINCOLN 17
were then in the second season of their joint management
of the Winter Garden Theatre on Broadway, opposite
Bond Street. Clarke was playing his engagement there
in the early fall, and Edwin was preparing his notable
version of "Hamlet," with which he was to open his season
on November 26th. On Friday evening, November
25th, Edwin Booth gave a performance for the benefit
of the fund to raise a statue of Shakespeare In Central Park.
The play selected was " Julius Csesar," and announce
ments of the event promised that "the evening will be
made memorable by the appearance in the same piece
of the three sons of the great Booth, Junius Brutus,
Edwin, and John Wilkes." Junius Brutus appeared
as Cassius, Edwin as Brutus, and John Wilkes as Marc
Antony. It was, so far as is known, the only occasion
on which the three brothers ever appeared together,
and their proud mother watched them from a stage
box.' She was a happy mother, just then, for she was seeing
more of her children than at almost any other time since
they were all too little to leave her.
During the performance there was a cry of fire, smoke
began to fill the theatre, and the pleading of Edwin barely
averted a panic in the audience of three thousand persons
1 " Life of Edwin Booth," by William Winter, published by the Macmillan Company,
New York, 1894, p. 34,

18 THE DEATH OF LINCOLN
or more.' The Winter Garden was not on fire, but the
Lafarge House, next door, was. It was one of the centres
of a vast Incendiary plot to burn New York City. The
Astor House, the Fifth Avenue, Metropolitan, St. Nicholas,
United States, Everett, Lafarge, Howard, Hanaford,
Belmont, New England, St. James, and Tammany
hotels, and Barnum's Museum, were prepared for destruc
tion with phosphorus and turpentine, but the fires were,
happily, soon put out. Months afterward, John Booth
must needs be charged with complicity in this atrocious
business — charged with bringing fire and hideous death
upon the building where his Idolized old mother sat
beaming with pride and happiness on her three gifted
boys — but he might as justifiably be charged with the
burning of Rome while Nero fiddled. What is, however,
unhappily almost beyond doubt, is the guilt of Jacob
Thompson, of Mississippi, who had been Secretary of
the Interior In Buchanan's Cabinet, and was the Con
federacy's most active agent at large. In a letter of
December 3rd to J. P, Benjamin, Confederate Secretary
of War, Thompson lamented the failure to burn New
York and admitted his complicity In the attempt. Thomp
son may have argued that this was in retaliation for the
Dahlgren affair; but if Colonel Ulric Dahlgren, who
1 O. R. Series i, vol. xliii, part ii, p. 934.

THE DEATH OF LINCOLN 19
was killed in command of a detachment of cavalry in an
unsuccessful raid on Richmond, March 4, '64, had any
high Federal authority for his plan, as outlined in papers
found on him, to "release the Federal prisoners on Belle
Isle and in Richmond, and furnish them with oakum and
turpentine to burn 'the hateful city,' while his own men
were employed in killing Jefferson Davis and his Cab
inet," there is no proof of It; and one can only feel that
to Davis and Lee, and the real leaders of the Confederacy,
the contemplated deed of November 25th, In New York,
was as "barbarous and Inhuman a plot" as Lee charac
terized Dahlgren's.' No sane historian of to-day believes
that the leaders of either side were capable of such bar
barian warfare; but then, In the heat of war, men believed
anything of other men opposing them. New York was
a wildly excited city on the morning of November 26th,
and the position of John Booth in his Intensely loyal
household could not have been a pleasant one at break
fast that day. As a rule, politics were tabooed In Edwin's
house when John was there, but It Is hardly likely that
the news of that morning passed without comment;
that the Southerners were not charged with plotting, and
that John Indignantly denied It. This we may surmise,
but all we know of the political talk between the brothers
1 "History of the United States from the Compromise of 1850," by James Ford Rhodes,
published by the Macmillan Company, New York, vol. v, pp. 514, 515.

20 THE DEATH OF LINCOLN
during that visit is that Edwin told John he had voted
for Lincoln's re-election, and John said he feared that
Lincoln — probably in the event of the war's successful
termination — would be made "King of America."'
What John could not say he wrote. Some time during
his stay In New York he wrote a long letter, which he
left for safe keeping with his brother-in-law, John Sleeper
Clarke :  ,  , 1864.

My DEAR Sir: You may use this as you think best.
But as some may wish to know when, who and why, and
as I know not how to direct, I give it (in the words of
your master) " To whom it may concern":
Right or wrong, God judge me, not man. For be my
motive good or bad, of one thing I am sure, the lasting
condemnation of the North.
I love peace more than life. Have loved the Union
beyond expression. For four years I have waited, hoped,
and prayed for the dark clouds to break, for the restora
tion of our former sunshine. To wait longer would be
a crime. All hope for peace is dead. My prayers have
proved as idle as my hopes. God's will be done. I
go to see and share the bitter end.
I have ever held the South were right. The very
nomination of Abraham Lincoln, four years ago, spoke
plainly of war — war upon Southern rights and institu
tions. His election proved it. "Await an overt act."
Yes, till you are bound and plundered. What folly.
The South was not wise. Who thinks of arguments
' " Letters'of Edwin Booth,'' edited by Edwina Booth Grossmann, published by the
Century Company, New York, 1894, p. 237.

THE DEATH OF LINCOLN 21
and patience when the finger of his enemy presses on
the trigger? In a foreign war I, too, could say, "country,
right or wrong." But In a struggle such as ours (where
the brother tries to pierce the brother's heart) for God's
sake, choose the right. When a country like this spurns
justice from her side she forfeits the allegiance of every
honest freeman, and should leave him untrammelled by
any fealty soever, to act as his conscience may approve.
People of the North, to hate tyranny, to love liberty
and justice, to strike at wrong and oppression, was the
teaching of our fathers. The study of our early history
will not let me forget this, and may it never.
This country was formed for the white, not for the
black, man. And looking upon African slavery from the
same standpoint held by the noble framers of our Consti
tution, I, for one, have ever considered it one of the
greatest blessings (both for themselves and us) that
God ever bestowed upon a favoured nation. Witness
heretofore our wealth and power, witness their elevation
and enlightenment above their race elsewhere. I have
lived among it most of my life, and have seen less harsh
treatment from master to man than I have beheld in the
North from father to son. Yet heaven knows, no one
would be more willing to do for the Negro race than I,
could I but see a way to better their condition.
But Lincoln's policy is only preparing the way for
their total annihilation. The South are not, nor have they
been, fighting for the continuation of slavery. The first
battle of Bull Run did away with that idea. Their
causes since the war have been noble and greater far
than those that urged our fathers on. Even should we
allow they were wrong at the beginning of this contest,
cruelty and injustice have made the wrong become the
right, and they stand now (before the wonder and admi-

22 THE DEATH OF LINCOLN
ration of the world) as a noble band of patriotic heroes.
Hereafter, reading of their deeds, Thermopylae would
be forgotten.
When I aided in the capture and execution of John
Brown (who was a murderer on our western border, and
who was fairly tried and convicted before an impartial
judge and jury of treason, and who, by the way, has
since been made a god), I was proud of my little share
In the transaction, for I deemed it my duty, and that I
was helping our common country to perform an act of
justice. But what was a crime in John Brown Is now
considered (by themselves) as the greatest and only
virtue of the whole Republican party. Strange trans
migration! Vice to become a virtue, simply because
more indulge in It.
I thought then, as now, that the Abolitionists were the
only traitors in the land, and that the entire party deserved
the same fate of poor old Brown; not because they wished
to abolish slavery, but on account of the means they
have ever used to effect that abolition. If Brown were
living I doubt whether he himself would set slavery
against the Union. Most, or many, in the North do, and
openly curse the Union, if the South are to return and
retain a single right guaranteed by every tie which we
once revered as sacred. The South can make no choice.
It is either extermination or slavery for themselves (worse
than death) to draw from. I know my choice.
I have also studied hard to discover upon what grounds
the right of a state to secede has been denied, when our
very name. United States, and the Declaration of Inde
pendence, both provide for secession. But there Is no
time for words — I write in haste. I know how foolish
I shall be deemed for undertaking such a step as this,
where, on the one side, I have many friends and every-

THE DEATH OF LINCOLN 23
thing to make me happy; where my profession alone
has gained me an income of more than twenty thousand
dollars a year, and where my great personal ambition
has such a great field for labour. On the other hand,
the South have never bestowed upon me one kind word;
a place where I have no friends, except beneath the sod ;
a place where I must become either a private soldier
or a beggar. To give up all of the former, besides my
mother and sisters, whom I love so dearly (although they
so widely differ from me In opinion), seems Insane, but
God Is my judge. I love justice more than I do a country
that disowns It; more than fame and wealth; more
(heaven pardon me If wrong) than a happy home. I
have never been upon a battlefield; but, O my country
men! could you all but see the reality or effects of this
horrid war, as I have seen them (In every state, save
Virginia) I know you would think like me, and would
pray the Almighty to create In the Northern mind the
sense of right and justice (even should It possess no
seasoning of mercy), and that He would dry up this sea
of blood between us, which is daily growing wider. Alas,
poor country, is she to meet her threatened doom ?
Four years ago I would have given a thousand lives
to see her remain (as I had always known her) powerful
and unbroken. And even now I would hold my Hfe as
naught to see her what she was. O my friends ! If the
fearful scenes of the past four years had never been enacted,
or If what had been, had been but a frightful dream from
which we could now awake, with what overflowing of
hearts could we bless our God and pray for his continued
favour. How I have loved the old flag can never now be
known. A few years since and the entire world could
boast of none so pure and spotless. But I have of late
been seeing and hearing of the bloody deeds of which

24 THE DEATH OF LINCOLN
she has been made the emblem, and would shudder to
think how changed she has grown. Oh how I have
longed to see her break from the mist of blood and death
that circles around her folds, spoiling her beauty and
tarnishing her honour! But no, day by day she has
been dragged deeper and deeper into cruelty and oppres
sion, till now (in my eyes) her once bright-red stripes look
like bloody gashes on the face of heaven. I look now
upon my early admiration of her glories as a dream.
My love (as things stand to-day) is for ,the South alone.
Nor do I deem it a dishonour in attempting to make a
prisoner of this man, to whom she owes so much of her
misery. If success attends me, I go penniless to her
side. They say she has found that "last ditch" which
the North have so long derided, and been endeavouring
to force, her in, forgetting they are our brothers, and that
it 's impolitic to goad an enemy to madness. Should I
reach her In safety and find it true, I will proudly beg
permission to triumph or die in that same "ditch" by
her side.
A Confederate Doing Duty upon His Own Respon
sibility
J. Wilkes Booth.'
There was only one person in all New York to whom,
so far as we know, John made any mention of his plans
for ending the war. That one was Samuel Chester, a
member of Edwin's company, and a man John had known
well for years. To Chester, John said he was not going
' "Reminiscences of the Assassination of Lincoln," by J. E. Buckingham, doorkeeper
of Ford's Theatre, pp. 53-37 (press of Rufus H. Darby, Washington, 1894); " Life of
Lincoln," by Henry J. Raymond, pp. 793-796 (published by Derby & Miller, New
York. 1865).

THE DEATH OF LINCOLN 25
"to act in this portion of the country again; that he had
taken his wardrobe to Canada, and Intended to run the
blockade." Chester thought John named a man, Martin,
in Montreal as having charge of his theatrical wardrobe,
which was a valuable one.' John told Chester he had
a big speculation on hand, and Invited him to go Into It.
Some friends who were present, joked John about his
oil lands, but after he and Chester had left the others,
John said he had a better thing than oil, and "one they
would n't laugh at."'
Even with Chester, though, he was vague — " feehng
his way." Just before he returned to Wa.shington on
the eleventh of December, John told Chester he was
speculating in farm lands In lower Maryland and Vir
ginia, and that he was "sure to coin money." He urged
Chester to join with him, but Chester said he had n't any
means. Whereupon John said that "that didn't mat
ter; he would furnish the means." But he did not say
further what the sensational nature of the speculation
was. He was back In Washington on Monday, the twelfth
of December, and stayed until Saturday morning, the

'In the American Magazine for November, 1908, Otis Skinner gives a pathetic
account of the burning of that wardrobe by Edwin Booth, during the dead of a stormy
winter night in 1873.
' C. T. p. 44, S. K. Chester.

26 THE DEATH OF LINCOLN
seventeenth, when he went down agam to Charles County,
was a guest at Dr. Queen's, and may have seen Dr.
Mudd — probably did, because he went again to St.
Mary's Church, which Dr. Mudd attended.
He was most anxious to learn about roads between
Washington and the Potomac, and some one evidently
told him that a good man for him to see would be John
H. Surratt, who had done a lot of going back and forth
between Richmond and Washington for the Confederate
Secret Service.
John returned to Washington on Thursday, and on
Friday evening he ran Into Dr. Mudd on the Avenue
in front of one of the hotels. The doctor and his brother
Jeremiah had come to the city to do some buying.' They
had arrived toward evening of the 23rd, and registered
at the Pennsylvania House. After taking supper at a
restaurant on the Avenue, they went about seeing the
holiday sights. In the lobby of the National Hotel there
was a great crowd, and when Jere stopped to speak to
a friend, the brothers became separated. A few moments,
later Dr. Mudd was hailed on the Avenue by John, who,
after a little general conversation, asked for an Intro
duction to a young man named John Harrison Surratt,
whose family had lately moved into Washington from
1 C, T, p, igo, Jeremiah T. Mudd.

THE DEATH OF LINCOLN 27
Charles County. Dr. Mudd said he was not aware that
the Surratts hved In Washington, but John had the
address of their new home — 541 H Street, N. W.,
between Sixth and Seventh — written on a card. He
told Dr. Mudd that he wanted to consult with young
Surratt about Maryland lands, and had been told that
Dr. Mudd knew him.
Dr. Mudd said he had not time to go to H Street, aS
he must be at the Pennsylvania House at eight o'clock
to meet some friends. But while they were talking,
John Surratt came down Seventh Street toward the
Avenue, accompanying his friend, Louis Weichmann,
who boarded with Mrs. Surratt. Weichmann wished
to buy some Christmas presents for his sisters In Phila
delphia, and he and Surratt were bound on that errand
when Dr. Mudd hailed Surratt, and Introductions fol
lowed. The four then went, on Booth's Invitation, to
his room at the National, a block away, where he ordered
a milk-punch apiece, and four cigars.'
It seems that Dr. Mudd never liked Booth, never
trusted him. He saw him only a few times — not more
than three times before John came to his house disabled
in his flight — but they seem to have been temperament
ally antagonistic.

' " Life of Dr. Mudd," p. 42. Dr. Mudd's sworn statement, see Appendix V.

28 THE DEATH OF LINCOLN
On this evening of the meeting in Washington, Dr.
Mudd took Surratt into the passage-way outside Booth's
room and apologized, he said, to Surratt for Introducing
to. him a man he knew so little of. This was whispered
in the passage, and it was what Weichmann afterward
described, under oath, as "conspiring" to which he was
not admitted. The rest of the "conspiracy" was when
Booth, saying he had been lost when down In Charles
County a few days before, took an old envelope out of
his pocket and, sitting down by Surratt, began to draw
roughly the location of sundry roads. The entire
stay in John's room was about fifteen minutes, after
which they all walked up to the Pennsylvania House,
where Dr. Mudd was staying.
The next day the Mudds returned to Bryantown and
Booth went over to New York to spend Christmas with
his family. It was during this visit that he made his
chief effort to get Chester into the plot. He called at
Chester's house in Grove Street, and asked him to take a
walk. They went to "The House of Lords" on Houston
Street, a favourite resort of actors, and afterward for a
stroll up Broadway, stopping at the Revere House, then
going on as far as the corner of Bleecker Street where
Chester turned to go home. Booth had not yet named
his "speculation," although he had seemed on the verge

Collection ot Americana, F. H. Meserve.
The National Hotel, Washington, D. C.
Booth invariably stayed here during his visits to Washington. In the passageway, outside of Booth's room, '
occurred the trivial incident between Dr. Mudd and Surratt which Weichmann afterward described, under
oath, as "conspiracy" to which he was not admitted.

THE DEATH OF LINCOLN 29
of .doing so. When Chester turned to go, John restrained
him and asked him to walk up to Fourth Street where
there were not so many people. When they reached
the unfrequented portion of that street, John stopped
and told Chester he was "in a large conspiracy to capture
the heads of the Government, Including the President,
and to take them to Richmond." The abduction, John
thought, might take place In Ford's Theatre, and some
one was needed who would get employment at the theatre
and at a given signal open the back door so the captors
with their captured might rush quicky out. Chester
refused to have anything to do with so mad a scheme.'
John Booth was back In Washington from New York
on the last day of the year, and probably soon saw John
Surratt, and was introduced to the pleasant household
on H Street.
Mrs. Mary E. Surratt was a kind, comely, motherly
woman of forty-five. As Miss Mary Jenkins she had
been a belle, if not the belle, of Prince George County,
Maryland. But she married very young and settled on
a farm near Washington. Later, her husband, John
Harrison Surratt, made some money as a railroad contrac
tor, and purchased a place twelve miles from Washington
where he kept a small tavern and discharged the duties

1 C. T. p. 44, S. K. Chester.

30 THE DEATH OF LINCOLN
of postmaster. They had three children : Isaac — who
entered the Confederate army, went to the far southwest,
and was not heard from for years; Anna, and John H., Jr.
Mr. Surratt died In '62, and his widow kept the tavern until
the fall of '64, when she rented the property to John M.
Lloyd, and with her son and daughter moved Into the
house on H Street, where she expected to support herself
by keeping boarders. One of the first of these to take up
his home with her was Louis J. Weichmann, who had
gone to school at St. Charles College, Howard County, Md.,
with John Surratt. The two boys entered and left the
college at about the same time and were there three years.'
John Surratt's father dying soon after he left school,
young John, though but nineteen, was appointed United
States postmaster In his father's place. It seems that, even
while employed by the Government at Washington, Sur
ratt must have worked for the government at Richmond
which would, of course, put him in the "spy" class. But
spies are as necessary in war as artillery, and as common
to one side of every struggle as to the other, and we may not
hold a man a villain because he serves his cause under
cover. "We had a regularly established line from Wash
ington to the Potomac," said Surratt, describing It, years
afterward, "and being the only unmarried man on the
* C, T. p. 113, Louis J. Weichmann.

THE DEATH OF LINCOLN 31
route I had most of the hard riding to do. I devised vari
ous ways to carry the despatches : sometimes In the heels
.of my boots, sometimes between the planks of my buggy.
. . . It was a fascinating life to me. It seemed as
if I could not do too much or run too great risk."'
Weichmann, meanwhile, had become a teacher, first in
the country near Baltimore, then in the city of Washington;
and In the beginning of the year '64 he was appointed to a
clerkship in the War Department, In the office of the
Commissary-General of Prisoners. He had visited the
Surratts In their country home several times and had been
delightfully treated, so that when he heard, on the occasion
of his last visit there, of their intended move to Washington,
he made arrangements to become a part of the family
circle In the new home.' Miss Honora Fitzpatrlck
became a boarder at the same time ; and on the seventh of
February, Mr. and Mrs. John T. Holohan and their two
children took the big second-story front room. Distinctly
it was a household of Southern sympathies, and as such one
in which many tears may well have been shed during that
winter of '64-'65.
To this household came, early In January, John Booth,
with his charm and his fame and his flaming purpose to
right the wrongs of the South. On the twenty-ninth of
1 Rockville Lecture of John H. Surratt, December 8, 1870. See Appendix VI.
' C. T. p. 113, Weichmann.

32 THE DEATH OF LINCOLN
December John Surratt had gone to work for the Adams
Express Company, but Booth seems to have persuaded him
to leave, and on the fourteenth of January Surratt gave up
his job and began to give his entire time and attention to
the abduction plot.'
One of the first things he did was to go down to the
neighbourhood of Port Tobacco, Md., where he was intro
duced by a man named Harborn to a carriage-painter,
George A. Atzerodt. Through Atzerodt, Surratt bought
of James Brawner, the hotel keeper at Port Tobacco, a
lead-coloured, fiat-bottomed boat which would hold about
fifteen persons. This was to ferry the abductors and the
President across the Potomac, and for that purpose it
was kept In readiness, first at the head of Goose Creek,
then at Nanjemoy Creek. Atzerodt was to do the
ferrying.' About that time, too, Edward Spangler, a rough
carpenter and scene-shifter employed at Ford's Theatre,
Washington, and "a man by the name of George" (prob
ably Atzerodt, who began going frequently to Washington
as soon as he joined the conspiracy) re-fitted for John
Booth a small stable in the alley immediately behind Ford's
1 See Appendix VII: Note on possibility of abduction.
' Statement by George A. Atzerodt made in his cell July 6, 1865, " The Assassmation
of Abraham Lincoln," by Osbom H. Oldroyd, owner of the Oldroyd Lincoln Memorial
Collection and Curator of the House where Lincoln died. O. H. Oldroyd, Washing
ton, igoi, p. 113.

THE DEATH OF LINCOLN 33
Theatre.' The stable belonged to a Mrs, Davis, of whom
it was rented for Booth by Maddox, the property-man at
Ford's.' Spangler and " George " raised the roof a little to
accommodate the buggy Mr. Booth wished to keep there,
and put in two stalls.
This Is, also, the probable date of the urgent letter Booth
wrote Chester, telling him he "must come," and sending
fifty dollars with injunctions to "be there by Saturday
nlght."« This, in all hkellhood. Indicated an Impending
visit of the President to Ford's Theatre, probably to see
Forrest, of whose acting he was extremely fond. But
Chester did not go, although neither did he at once return
John's fifty dollars.
Nothing came of the "Saturday night" possibility, and
on the twenty-eighth of January Booth went to New
York, where he may or may not have stayed until
February 22d, when he was back in Washington.* He
called again on Chester while in New York and renewed
his urging that Chester join the plot. He told Chester
then that he had tried to get John Matthews into it, but
Matthews was very much frightened and would not join,
which marked him a coward. Booth thought, and "not fit

' C. T. p. 75, Joseph Burroughs.
'C. T. p. 75, James L. Maddox.
« C. T. p. 44, S. K. Chester.
' C. T. p- 46, G. W. Bunker.

34 THE DEATH OF LINCOLN
to five." Matthews was a member of the stock company
at Ford's, and up to within a very short time before the
murder of the President occupied that httle hall-room in
the Peterson house, across the street from the theatre,
where Lincoln died; and there, it is quite probable.
Booth often visited him, urging him to join the plot.
After Chester's final refusal, in February, to have
anything to do with the plot, and his return of the fifty
dollars, which John said he would not have taken back
had he not been short of funds, Chester heard nothing
more of John Booth for a couple of months.
About the tenth of February, Sam Arnold probably
came over from Baltimore; if he had been living In Wash
ington before that date we do not know It, but on February
10th or thereabouts he and Michael O'Laughlin engaged
a room with Mrs. Mary Van Tine at 420 D Street. Booth
sometimes called on them there after his return to Washing
ton, and Mrs. Van Tine thought that once there had been
another man to see them.' In consequence, her room
has been hectically described as "the den where the murder
was hatched."
John and Anna Surratt had in New York City a young
lady cousin whom they had never seen, but with whom
they kept up a more or less desultory correspondence.
' C. T. p. 222, Mrs. Mary Van Tine.

THE DEATH OF LINCOLN 35
This young lady was Miss Belle Seaman, and on the sixth
of February John wrote her a letter which was, in part, as
follows :
I am happy to say we are all well and in fine spirits.
We have been looking for you to come on with a great deal
of impatience. Do come, won't you? Just to think, I
have never yet seen one of my cousins. But never fear,
I will probably see you all sooner than you expect. Next
week I leave for Europe. Yes, I am going to leave this
detested country, and I think, perhaps, I may give you all
a call as I go to New York. . . . Cousin Bell, try and
answer me in a few days at least, as I would hke very much
to hear from you before I leave home for good. . . .
I have just taken a peep In the parlour. Would you like
to know what I saw there ? Well, ma was sitting on the
sofa, nodding first to one chair, then to another, next the
piano. Anna is sitting in a corner, dreaming, I expect, of
J. W. Booth. Well, who Is J. W. Booth ? She can answer
the question. Miss Fitzpatrlck, playing with her favourite
cat — a good sign of an old maid — the detested old
creatures. Miss Dean fixing her hair, which is filled with
rats and mice.
But hark! The door-bell rings and Mr. J. W. Booth is
announced. And listen to the scamperlngs. Such brush
ing and fixing.'
Evidently John Booth was not without his fluttering
admirers In the house on H Street where he had been
known only about a month If the date of the letter Is correct.
According to the register of the National Hotel, where
' " History of the United Sfafes Secret Service," by Lafayeffe C. Baker, published
bj L. C. Baker, Philadelphia, 1867, p. 562.

36 THE DEATH OF LINCOLN
Booth invariably, so far as we know, stopped when in
Washington, he was not in the city on February 6th nor
at any time between January 28th and Washington's
Birthday;' nor does the abduction plot seem to have
promised at any time, during that interim, to come to a
"head." On the other hand, John Surratt did go to New
York in February. He called on John Booth at Edwin
Booth's house, the elegance of which he never tired of
describing to the Interested group at H Street.' Whether
he called also on his cousin Belle we do not know, but he
probably did. He did not, however, "leave this detested
country," but soon returned to Washington and, with the
others, went on biding his time impatiently.
The plot at that time embraced, besides John Booth:
Surratt, Sam Arnold, Michael O'Laughlin, Atzerodt,
and possibly Davy Herold. Surratt was giving his entire
time to the plans, with the exception of an occasional
errand between Washington and Richmond for the Con
federate government. O'Laughlin was doing a little
business, taking orders in Washington which his brother
supplied from Baltimore." Arnold was idle, to the great
disapproval of his people who thought — and reasonably

'See Appendix VIII: Note on John Y. Beall.
' " Trial of John H. Surratt," published by the Government Printing Office, Wash
ington, 1867, vol. i, p. 375,
•C. T. p. 232, P. H. Maulsby.

THE DEATH OF LINCOLN 37
— that gay, handsome, spendthrift John Booth, with his
easy ways, his multitude of acquaintances, his celebrity,
his large Income, and expensive tastes, was no helpful
company for a boy who had only hard work to look to for
a plain hvlng. Arnold belonged In the small-salaried class,
and was a youth who would probably grow old within the
$100-a-month limit; all questions of treasonable mischief
aside, there was no possible good for him In loafing about
Washington with John Booth. But Arnold, flattered, was
loath to believe this.
Atzerodt, too, had stopped working at his trade and was
waiting to achieve fortune In a single bold coup.
Davy Herold was a boy of nineteen or thereabouts whose
father, recently deceased, had for twenty years been princi
pal clerk of the store at the Navy Yard. Davy had seven
sisters, and the family was of the most unquestionable
gentility and good report. The only boy was a bit spoiled,
but a nice boy withal. He was trifling rather than serious
in disposition, fond of outdoor sport, and not at all fond of
application to a humdrum business, but In no way base.
Just when he first came under the spell of John Booth
we do not know, but It was probably In January, '65,
through the Surratts, whom Davy knew slightly before they
moved Into town.
There Is, as a matter of fact, very httle to connect Davy

38 THE DEATH OF LINCOLN
with the conspiracy. He was seen twice or thrice at the
Surratts' after they moved to H Street; he was with John
Surratt, Weichmann, Atzerodt, and Holohan at Ford's
Theatre on March 18th, when John Booth played Pescara
for McCullough's benefit;' and a half-witted negro boy
who did chores for Mrs. Surratt told Weichmann that
Davy was with Booth, Payne, Atzerodt, Surratt, Arnold,
and O'Laughlin on the afternoon of March 16th when they
attempted to capture the President. Besides these things,
and the fact that Davy sometimes called on Booth at the
National Hotel, and sometimes hung around the stable
where Booth kept his horse, there is nothing to implicate
him except with guilty knowledge, after noon of April 14th,
of what was to be done that night.
After an early breakfast on the last day of February,
Booth closed his account to date at the National Hotel
and took the 8.15 train for Baltimore.' That was the
Tuesday before Lincoln's second Inauguration. In Balti
more, later in that day, Booth was standing on the steps
of Barnum's Hotel when he saw a wretched-looking
young fellow dragging himself miserably by. The
youngster was magnificently built, with a breadth of
shoulders and a bull-hke thickness of neck which recalled
to John Booth some one he had once seen. He called
' C. T. p. IIS, Louis Weichmann.
'C. T. p. 46, G. W. Bunker.

THE DEATH OF LINCOLN 39
out, and. the shambling young giant turned. Then
John knew him. Nearly four years before, in the late
spring of '61, when Richmond was full of martial stir,
there had sat high up in the cheaper seats of Ford's
Theatre one night a gawky, overgrown country lad, a
Baptist preacher's son, who, although he was only sixteen,
had hastened to enlist In the Second Florida Infantry.
The lad had never been to a theatre before, and he was
entranced with all he saw and heard, but chiefly with
John Booth. And although he was unused to stage-
doors he had found his way to the back of Ford's Theatre,
and waited in the dark for his enchanter to come out.
When Booth came, and the country lad stepped timidly
up to speak to him, that love of being loved which was
the foundation of John Booth's charm was instantly
appealed to, and the brilliant young actor and the raw
young recruit left the alley together, chatting pleasantly.
Before the recruit went to war in Lee's army to fight in
the bloodiest battles straight through to the bloodiest
angle of Gettysburg, where he fell, wounded, he saw
John Booth several times; but their ways never crossed
again until that day In '65. In the meantime, the Florida
boy had fought, had fallen, had served as a prisoner-
nurse in hospitals at Gettysburg and Baltimore, had
escaped and, failing to rejoin his old regiment, had

40 THE DEATH OF LINCOLN
enlisted with a regiment of Virginia cavalry with which
he stayed until January, '65, when he became disheart
ened over the Confederate cause, went to Baltimore, sold
his horse — his sole possession — and started out to
look for work. He had not been successful, his little
funds were all gone, and when Booth met him he was
deeply discouraged. His two brothers had been killed
at Murfreesboro, he had not heard from home in a long
time; and he felt — this boy of twenty who had spent the
last four years in scenes of carnage and devastation —
that life was worth mighty little to him.'
To this desperate and blindly adoring young giant, John-
of-the-many-charms unfolded his wild scheme of cap
turing the President. And the very next evening,
probably, the Florida boy, Lewis Payne, rang the bell
at 541 H Street and asked Weichmann, who opened the
door, for John Surratt. When told that Surratt was not
In, Lewis asked for Mrs. Surratt, and she went to the hall
to speak to him.' What he told her we shall never know,
but it was probably this: That he was an ex-soldier of
the Confederate army, a stranger newly come to Wash
ington, and a friend of John Booth, who had told him
to seek out John Surratt. This was more than enoush to
get the hospitality of Mrs. Surratt, and she asked the big
' C. T- p- 313, argument of W. E- Doster-
2 C. T, p- 114, Weichmann; p- 132, Miss Honora Fitzpatrlck; p- 132,'Mrs. Holohan.

THE DEATH OP LINCOLN 41
youth to stay. Supper was over and her dining-room was
in some disarrangement,' so she prepared a tray which
she asked Weichmann to carry up to the big stranger,
who gave the name of Wood. "Wood" was quartered
for the night In Welchmann's room and there he ate
voraciously of the supper carried to him, and, immediately
it was eaten, went to bed. In the morning when Welch-
man rose — or so he testified — "Wood" was gone.
On Friday evening, March 3d, Booth was in Mrs.
Surratt's parlour for a while in company with John Surratt,
Weichmann, and the ladles of the household. Miss
Anna Surratt played the piano, they sang, probably
Booth did some hugely comical "imitations," or In some
other wise lent his mimetic gift to the fun of the occasion
— and thus passed a happy hour or two. Then, while
the evening was still young, the three men went up to
the Capitol to witness the closing scenes of a memorable
Congress, '
The next day Booth was at the inauguration, and
afterward walked down the Avenue to the hotel with
Walter Burton, the night clerk of the National, an enthu
siastic Lincoln-lover who in all his association with John
Booth never knew that the actor was not also a loyal
admirer of the President. On the way from the Capitol
1 Surratt Trial, vol, i, p. 376-
2S- T- vol- i, p. 380.

42 THE DEATH OF LINCOLN
after the ceremonies Booth said nothing to dampen the
ardour of his companion, nor to indicate that he had been
charging so wildly about during the inaugural as to excite
suspicion and even — according to some reports — to
get himself briefly locked up.'
It was at this time that an incident occurred which has
been related by John McCuUough: Booth had returned
to the National late in the day of March 1st, and was
there uninterruptedly for the next three weeks. On
or about the fourth of March, McCullough went over
from New York, registered at the National, and went
up to Booth's room, which he entered without knocking.
"At the first wink," he said, "I saw Booth sitting behind
a table, on which was a map, a knife, and a pistol. He
had gauntlets on his hands, spurs on his boots, and a
military hat of a slouch character on his head. As the
door opened he seized that knife and came for me. Said
I: 'John, what in the name of sense is the matter with you
— are you crazy?' He heard my voice and arrested
himself, and placed his hands before his eyes like a man
dissipating a dream, and then said: 'Why, Johnny,
how are you?' "•
On Monday, March 13th, Booth telegraphed to
' Told the present writer by Mr. Walter Burton, night clerk of the National Hotel,
Washington, in 1865, now manager of the Oxford Hotel, Washington,
' Oldroyd, p, 93,

THE DEATH OF LINCOLN 43
O'LaughUn in Baltimore saying: "Don't fear to
neglect your business. You had better come at once."'
That Monday evening the household of Mrs. Surratt —
John excepted — was again In the parlour, passing the
time with music and euchre, when the door-bell rang
and Weichmann, going to the door, admitted "Wood" —
this time well dressed and well groomed. When told
John Surratt was not at home, he asked for John's mother
to whom he gave his name as Lewis Payne. Mrs. Surratt
took Mr. Payne into the parlour and introduced him
to her household. He spent the evening with the family,
and at bedtime was shown to Welchmann's room. Noth
ing was said about "Wood," and if Payne was recognized
as identical with the guest of nearly a fortnight before,
no comment was passed upon it. He went out after
breakfast the next morning, and returned late in the
afternoon. John Surratt was at home, lying on the bed
in Welchmann's room, and Payne asked the man on the
bed if he were Mr. Surratt. On being answered in the
affirmative, Payne expressed a wish to talk privately
with Mr. Surratt — or so Weichmann said.' Weich-
mann's attitude in the whole matter of the conspiracy is,
however, so inexpHcable, his testimony is so full of state
ments easily proved untrue, that anything attributed to
' C. T. p. 223, John Hapman.
' C, T. p. 115, Weichmann,

44 THE DEATH OF LINCOLN
him must be taken with reservation, and nothing he says
must be credited unless it is well supported by other
evidence. That particular statement about Payne's
meeting with Surratt is probably true. It is probably
true, too, that on returning from work in the War Depart
ment on Wednesday the fifteenth, about five in the
afternoon, Weichmann found a false moustache on his
table ^ and hid it; also that, not seeing Surratt or
Payne about, he went up to the attic over his room and
saw them "sitting together on the bed surrounded by
spurs, bowie-knives, and revolvers," and that he went
down and told Mrs. Surratt what he had seen, only to be
reminded by her that, as John Surratt was In the habit
of "going Into the country he had to have these things
as a protection." Weichmann must certainly have
known that John Surratt was a bearer of secret messages
for the Confederate government, going often to Rich
mond through the thick of Federal detectives, vnth des
patches In his boots and elsewhere. And his knowing
this — he, a supposedly loyal clerk of the War Depart
ment — Is what makes us doubt his horror of the Surratt
disloyalty when S25,000 was the price on John Surratt's
head. Weichmann was not so shocked by the bowie-
knives, however, that he was not anxious to accompany
Surratt to Ford's Theatre on a pass John Booth had

THE DEATH OF LINCOLN 45
given him. But Surratt took Payne and two of his
mother's boarders — Miss Fitzpatrlck and little nine-
year old Appolonia Dean.'
Weichmann said that toward the close of the play
Booth came to the box — which was box 7, part of what
was known as the President's box — and called Payne
and Surratt out, talking to them excitedly. He did not
say how he knew this. He also said that after Surratt
and Payne brought Miss Fitzpatrlck and little Appolonia
home In a hack, they went away again and stayed away
all night. This Is probably true, for that seems a likely
time for the meeting at the LIchau House whose exact
date no one seems to have remembered.
. What excited Booth may have been the news that on
the next day there was to be a performance at the Sol
diers' Home of "Still Waters Run Deep," with Lester
Wallack, E. L. Davenport, and a special company Includ
ing John Matthews. The President was expected to
attend this performance and It was Booth's plan to lie In
wait for the President's carriage as It was returning^
spring from the bushes by the roadside at a lonely spot,
overpower the men on the box, gag and bind them, and,
turning right-about-face, drive the captured with all
speed toward the Potomac at Nanjemoy Creek; there,
• C. T. p. 121, Miss Fitzpatrlck; S. T. vol. i, p. 378, Weichmann.

46 THE DEATH OF LINCOLN
on the waiting boat secured by Atzerodt, he was to be
ferried across to Virginia and hurried to Richmond.'
O'Laughlin had arrived in Washington in response to
Booth's telegram' on Tuesday, and he was at this meet
ing. Arnold was there;' Surratt and Payne were there;
Atzerodt was there; Davy Herold may or may not have
been there.
It seems to have been a stormy meeting, v.'hatever it was
about. John Surratt says that the news of the Soldiers'
Home play reached the conspirators only about three-
quarters of an hour before the time appointed; if this is
true, the meeting of the night before was probably that
one — the date of which no one was able to remember
exactly — at which John Surratt told the others that their
plot was known In Washington and steps were being taken
to thwart it. He said the best thing they could do would
be to throw up the whole project, and every one but Booth
seemed Inclined to agree with him. The arch-conspirator
listened in silence to the murmurs of withdrawal, and then
rose, smote the table with his fist and exclaimed : " Well,
gentlemen, if the worst comes to the worst I shall know
what to do." Four of the six others then rose to go, one

' John Surratt's Rockville Lecture (see Appendix VI.), Atzerodt's Statement (see
Appendix XVI.).
' C. T. p. 223, John Hapman.
' C. T. p. 235, Eaton G, Homer.

THE DEATH OF LINCOLN 47
saying: "If I understand you to intimate anything more
than the capture of Mr. Lincoln I, for one, will bid you
good-bye." The others nodded their acquiescence and they
put on their hats and moved toward the door. Then
Booth asked pardon, disavowed any more sinister intention
than the one originally agreed upon, and the meeting was
resumed, to last until five o'clock In the morning. Arnold,
however, said that If nothing was done that week he
would withdraw from the plan entirely.
On Thursday afternoon, when the virtuous Mr. Weich
mann reached home, he found nobody about. A ring of
the service-bell brought from the kitchen a mulatto boy,
Dan, who said that Massa John had gone horse-back riding
with six or seven other gentlemen, including Mr. Booth,
Payne, Atzerodt, Dave Herold, and two others Dan did n't
know. According to Welchmann's story, when he went down to
dinner he met Mrs. Surratt In the hall. She was weeping
bitterly and said:
"Mr. Weichmann, go down to your dinner and make the
best of It you can — John is gone away! John Is gone
away!"' John had probably left a note for his mother telling her
that he had gone to abduct the President and would go
1 C. T. p. ii8, Weichmann.

48 THE DEATH OF LINCOLN
from Richmond to Europe. Weichmann felt that Mrs.
Surratt's upset condition was evidence of her complicity;
whereas it looks to the unprejudiced mind as if she would, if
previously aware of the plot, have by this time learned to
control herself, and if she approved of it could only have
rejoiced that her boy was to play a leading part in the
great coup of the long, bitter war.
About half-past six, after Weichmann and the other
boarders had eaten their dinner, Surratt, Payne, and Booth
came one at a time into Welchmann's room, dressed as
from riding, and all seemed greatly excited and
disappointed. Chief Justice Salmon P. Chase had gone
to the Soldiers' Home In Mr. Lincoln's stead, and as they
wanted, in Surratt's words, "a bigger chase," nothing
was accomphshed.
According to Weichmann, It was Surratt who got home
first. "My prospects are gone," he declared to Louis,
"my hopes are blasted. Can you get me a clerkship?
I want something to do."
In about half an hour, Weichmann says, Payne, Booth,
and Surratt left the house — Payne to return there no
more until the night of his arrest a month later. Then
Weichmann, brimming with suspicion, went to call on
Captain D. H. Gleason, a fellow clerk In the office of the
Commissary-General of Prisoners. Captain Gleason was

THE DEATH OF LINCOLN 49
not at home, but Weichmann told him the neif day what
had happened. At least, Weichmann said he did, and
that they agreed things looked strange, and perhaps the
Secretary of War ought to be told; but they decided after
all not to tell — only " to keep an eye on them [the con
spirators] and If anything again came up to report It
promptly to the authorities, secure horses if need be, and
pursue them." This was a good deal of responsibility
for two young men to take who were busy in a department
all day long, but Weichmann says they took it. It was
Captain Gleason who told the Secretary of War, after the
President's assassination, to summon Weichmann as a
witness, but Captain Gleason was never himself called to
the stand to say whether he and Weichmann had or had
not previously conferred and decided not unnecessarily
to alarm the Government.'
Shortly after the fiasco of March 16th, Arnold and
O'Laughlin returned to Baltimore. Arnold had heark
ened to the entreaties of his family about the evils of idling,
and determined to go to work. He applied for a clerkship
In the store of John W. Wharton, a sutler, outside Fortress
Monroe, and while waiting to hear from his application
lived at home and with his brother at Hookstown, six
miles in the country.' O'Laughlin returned to Baltimore
' C. T. p. 119, Weichmann.
' C. T. p. 240, William S. Arnold; Frank Arnold.

50 THE DEATH OF LINCOLN
on March 18th, and went to five vdth his brother-
in-law, P. H. Maulsby, at 57 North Exeter Street.' He
had done some business for his brother in Washington on
March 14th, and continued working for him after returning
to Baltimore.
" Benefits " were still the order of the theatrical world —
not for sick, aged, or disabled actors, as now, nor for the
families of actors recently deceased, but as a regular,
stipulated part of a popular actor's Income; a contract
always called for so much salary and so many benefits,
and on the occasions of the latter a favourite Thespian's
professional friends tendered their services to make a "big
bill," and his non-professional friends made a point of
buying seats and being enthusiastically In evidence. A
large share of the proceeds went to the beneficiary. On
Saturday night, March 18th, John McCullough had
a benefit at Ford's Theatre, and for that benefit "the
eminent young American tragedian, Mr. J. Wilkes Booth,"
was announced to present his "great character of Pescara
In 'The Apostate.' " Booth had given Surratt two tickets
for the performance and Surratt invited Weichmann to go
with him. Atzerodt and Davy Herold were there, too, and
after the play they joined the other two and Mr. Holohan
at supper In an oyster bay on Seventh Street. Booth was

» C. T. p. 232, p. H. Maulsby.

Collection of Americana, F. H. Meserve.

Ford's Theatre, Washington, D. C, in Which Lincoln
Was Shot by Booth

THE DEATH OF LINCOLN 51
not with them — he probably supped with McCullough —
though he saw Herold and Atzerodt for a few moments in
the restaurant next to Ford's.'
On the Tuesday following, Booth paid ,|50 on account
at the National Hotel and left on the 7.30 p.m. train for
New York, where he stayed till Saturday morning.' On
Thursday he telegraphed Weichmann at Mrs. Surratt's
saying: Tell John telegraph number and street at once.
J. Booth.
Mrs. Holohan, thinking the telegram might be of an
urgent nature, took it to Weichmann at the War Office.
Nobody knows what the telegram meant — or, If anyone
knows he has never told — but Weichmann insisted It was
sent to him to implicate him in the plot. And If Surratt
telegraphed In reply anything about a number and street
no one was able to remember It.'
On his return to Washington, Booth seems to have
stopped over In Baltimore where he saw O'Laughlin but
not Arnold. The latter was out at Hookstown with his
brother, and though he went in to town when he heard
Booth was there, it was too late to catch him. So Arnold

' C. T. p. IIS, Weichmann.
'C. T. p. 46, Bunker.
» C. T. p. 118, Weichmann.

52 THE DEATH OF LINCOLN
wrote to him from Hookstown on Monday the 27th as
follows :
Dear John: Was business so Important that you
could not remain in Balto. till I saw you ? I came in as
soon as I could, but found you had gone to W — n. I called
also to see Mike, but learned from his mother he had gone
out with you, and had not returned. I concluded, there
fore, he had gone with you. How inconsiderate you have
been! When I left you, you stated we wquld not meet in
a month or so. Therefore, I made application for employ
ment, an answer to which I shall receive during the week.
I told my parents I had ceased with you. Can I, then,
under existing circumstances, come as you request ? You
know full well that the G — ^t suspicions something Is going
on there; therefore, the undertaking is becoming more
complicated. Why not, for the present, desist, for various
reasons, which, if you look into, you can readily see, with
out my making any mention thereof. You, nor any one,
can censure me for my present course. You have been
its cause, for how can I now come after telling them I had
left you? Suspicion rests upon me now from my whole
family, and even parties In the county. I will be compelled
to leave home anyhow, and how soon I care not. None,
no, not one, were more in favour of the enterprise than
myself, and to-day would be there, had you not done as you
have — by this I mean, manner of proceeding. I am, as
you well know, In need. I am, you may say, in rags,
whereas to-day I ought to be well clothed. I do not feel
right stalking about with means, and more from
appearances a beggar. I feel my dependence ; but even all
this would and was forgotten, for I was one with you.
Time more propitious will arrive yet. Do not act rashly or
in haste. I would prefer your first query, 'go and see how

THE DEATH OF LINCOLN 53
It will be taken In R — d,' and ere long I shall be better
prepared to be with you again. I dislike writing; would
sooner verbally make known my views; yet your non-
writing causes me thus to proceed.
Do not In anger peruse this. Weigh all I have said, and,
as a rational man and a friend, you cannot censure or
upbraid my conduct. I sincerely trust this, nor aught else
that shall or may occur, will ever be an obstacle to obliter
ate our former friendship and attachment. Write me to
Balto., as I expect to be in about Wednesday or Thursday,
or. If you can possibly come on, I will Tuesday meet you
in Balto., at B  . Ever I subscribe myself.
Your friend, Sam.'
This letter may have preceded or may have been in
answer to a telegram of that same date which Booth sent to
O'Laughlin saying:
Get word to Sam. Come on, with or without him,
Wednesday morning. We sell that day sure. Don't fail.
J. Wilkes Booth.'
It is difficult to guess what plan this refers to, for the
President was at City Point with General Grant, and there
was no thought of his return by Wednesday nor for days
thereafter. He had gone down the Potomac on the
River Queen, convoyed by the little steamer Bat, and
arrived at City Point, at the junction of the Potomac and
the James, on Friday evening the twenty-fourth of March.
1 C.T. p. 235, Lieutenant William H. Terry.
' C.'T. p. 223, Edward C. Stewart.

54 THE DEATH OF LINCOLN
Mrs. Lincoln and Tad were with him, and Grant was
there to greet him. On Monday, Sherman came up from
Goldsborough, N. C, and the President and his two
leading generals had two long interviews whereat Lincoln
and Sherman did most of the talking and Grant the
"heaviest listening." The two generals seemed agreed
that in all probability one or the other of them would have
to fight another big and bloody battle, but that it would
be the last. Lincoln begged to know If further bloodshed
could not possibly be avoided and Sherman assured him
it rested with Jefferson Davis and General Lee.'
It was an anxious time: the South was practically
beaten but it had not yet bowed. The ragged, starving,
desperate army of Lee had two alternatives, and two
only: The Union army encircled Richmond and Peters
burg, except on the west and southwest; if Lee should
abandon his defence of those cities he might either join
.Johnston In North Carolina or retreat by way of Lynch
burg into the mountains and indefinitely prolong the
bloodshed of a war already ended in effect.
Lincoln felt that every life henceforth laid down in
this war was a sacrifice which ought to be prevented, and
it was probably his earnest pleading which hastened
1 Rhodes, vol, v., pp. 107-108; " Sherman's Memoirs," vol, ii,, pp. 326-331; "Cam
paigning with Grant," by General Horace Porter, p. 417 (published by the Century
Company, 1897).

THE DEATH OF LINCOLN 55
Grant into the field on Wednesday the 29th, to begin his
last, or Appomattox, campaign, the object of which was
to intercept Lee's retreat toward the west or southwest,
and force an early peace.
Throughout the eleven days of that campaign Lincoln
sat at City Point headquarters, tensely waiting. Those
were the days when he was so often seen playing with
the three motherless kittens whose orphaned crying he
hushed with the stroking of his big gentle hands.' Mrs.
Lincoln returned to Washington on Saturday, the first
of April — the day Sheridan was fighting the battle
of Five Forks — leaving little Tad with his father.
The next day a messenger from the War Department
tiptoed down the aisle of St. Paul's Church, Richmond,
where Jefferson Davis was attending service,' and
handed him I^ee's telegram saying: "I see no prospect
of doing more than holding our position here till night.
I am not certain that I can do that. If I can I shall
withdraw to-night north of the Appomattox, and. If pos
sible, It will be better to withdraw the whole line to-night
from James River. ... I advise that all preparations
be made for leaving Richmond to-night."'

J " Campaigning with Grant," p. 410.
""Life of Jefferson Davis " by Mrs. Davis, vol, ii, pp, 655, 667; " From Manassas to
Appomattox," by General Longstreet, p. 607 (published by Lippmcott & Co., Phila.).
3 O. R., Series I, vol. xlvi, part i, p- 1264.

56 THE DEATH OF LINCOLN
That night Richmond and Petersburg were evacuated,
and the next morning the Union troops marched in.
Grant, hot in pursuit of Lee's army, had no time to
ride victorious Into the conquered capital, but Lincoln
knew that If he moved expeditiously he might see his
Lieutenant-General before he left Petersburg; so he
telegraphed Secretary Stanton that he was going to the
front to see Grant. To this Stanton hastened to reply
most characteristically: "Allow me respectfully to ask
you to consider whether you ought to expose the nation
to the consequence of any disaster to yourself in the pur
suit of a treacherous and dangerous enemy like the rebel
army." This caution did not reach the President until
late in the afternoon when he wired: "Thanks for your
caution, but I have already been to Petersburg. Stayed
with General Grant an hour and a half, and returned
here. It Is certain now that Richmond is in our hands,
and I think I will go there to-morrow. I will take care
of myself."'
Richmond was indeed In our hands. Davis with his
Cabinet and his staff and other officials left their capital
at eleven o'clock Sunday night, and at the time Lincoln
was telegraphing Stanton as above, had reached Danville
in safety. Under Lee's orders, all tobacco in the city
' O. R., Series 1, vol. xlvi, part iii, pp. 508, sdo.

THE DEATH OF LINCOLN 57
and all stores which could not be removed were set on
fire before the evacuation, and that Sunday night was
marked by conflagration and rioting. By seven in the
morning the Union soldiers began coming In, bands
playing, banners unfurled, throats splitting with cheer
on cheer.' The next day Lincoln entered most
modestly, with a tiny escort, and remained over night,
returning to City Point Wednesday. He found good
news from Grant awaiting him, and was anxious to go
forward upon the trail of that victorious general, and be
present at the surrender which was now imminent. But
on Thursday came from Washington the news of Secre
tary Seward's injury In being thrown from his carriage —
he sustained fractures of the arm and of the jaw — and
the President felt that he ought to get back to his post
at the White House. On that day, though, Mrs. Lincoln
returned to City Point accompanied by Senator and Mrs.
Harlan and Senator Sumner, all anxious to go to Rich
mond. This delayed the return to Washington until
Saturday,' and when the River Queen reached her dock
at nine o'clock Sunday night, the President was greeted
with the news of Lee's surrender to Grant at Appomattox
that afternoon.'

1 Rhodes, vol. v, p. ii8.
' See Appendix IX: Note on Lincoln's Last Journey.
' Col. W. H. Crook, who accompanied the President to City Point, as body guard,

58 THE DEATH OF LINCOLN
Meanwhile, the fall of Richmond had been celebrated
in Washington on April 3rd, with great rejoicing. And
toward evening of that day John Surratt came home
from the fallen capital, whither he had gone with some
despatches, arriving there the night of Friday, March
31st. He was told that Benjamin, the Confederate
Secretary of War, wanted to see him, and he reported
to that gentleman at the Spotswood Hotel where, on his
agreeing to carry some despatches to Canada, he was
given the despatches and two hundred dollars in gold to
p.ay his expenses. He left Richmond Saturday morning,
and arrived in Washington about four o'clock Monday
afternoon. He went home, but did not stay except to
change his underclothing. This he accounts for by saying
that a detective had been to his house inquiring of a
servant his whereabouts. He asked his chum Weichmann
to go down town with him and have some oysters, and
after they had eaten these in an oyster bay on the Avenue,
Surratt bade Weichmann good-bye, saying he would sleep
at the National Hotel that night and leave by an early
morning train for Montreal.' That was the last they
relates (Harper's Magazine, September, 1907, p. 532) that when the carriage contain
ing the President's party left the wharf in Washington, Sunday evening, the "streets
were alive with people, all very much excited. There were bonlires everywhere. . . .
We halted the carriage and asked a bystander, 'What has happened?' He looked at us
in amazement, not recognizing Mr. Lincoln. 'Why, where have you been? Lee has
surrendered.' "
1 Surratt's Lecture. See Appendix VI.

THE DEATH OF LINCOLN 59
saw of each other until more than two years later, when
Weichmann, having sworn away the life of John Surratt's
mother, stood on the witness stand prepared to do the
same by his heavily manacled friend in the prisoner's
dock. Booth was not at the National that night of April 3rd.
He had gone to New York on Saturday, leaving word
with Atzerodt to sell his horse and buggy. If he had
had any scheme for Wednesday, March 29th, it fell
through; and It seems highly probable that when Booth
left Washington three days later It was in disgust with
the whole affair. Surratt was away; Arnold had left the
whole business; O'Laughlin was working In Baltimore
and paid no attention to his urgent telegram of Monday;
their victim was at City Point and seemed likely to stay
there. So Booth went to New York, and when Surratt
called on him at Edwin's house on Tuesday afternoon,
he was told that John had that morning left suddenly
for Boston where Edwin was acting in "Hamlet." Whether
he was really out of town or not seems Impossible to
determine. Certainly he was in New York on Friday,
for on that night he was at "The House of Lords" and
was seen and talked with for the last time by a number
of his actor friends playing in New York. Samuel Chester
was one of these, and to him John said he had been very

60 THE DEATH OF LINCOLN
close to Lincoln on inauguration day, and had had "an
excellent chance to kill the President if I had wished."'
The next day he returned to Washington, and there,
on Sunday night, he must have heard of Lee's surrender.
Monday evening he called at Mrs. Surratt's where he
found, besides the members of the little household, a
friend of the fainlly. Miss Anna Ward, who had received
a letter from John Surratt and taken it to his mother
and sister to share Its contents with them.
After the guests had gone, Mrs. Surratt told Weichmann
It would be necessary for her to drive to Surrattsvllle
the next day to see about some money due her from a
Mr. Nothey for land purchased by him from her husband.
She asked Weichmann If he thought he could get leave
from his office and drive her there. This leave he obtained
without difficulty on Tuesday morning when he reported
at the War Department, and he then went, on Mrs.
Surratt's suggestion, to John Booth at the National Hotel
to ask for his horse and buggy. Booth told Weichmann
he had sold his horse and buggy only the day before, but
gave him ten dollars to hire one — which was very charac
teristic of open-handed John, who never refused any one
a favour if he could possibly help it; but this helped to
hang Mrs. Surratt because the prosecution contended

1 C . T. p. 44, Chester,

THE DEATH OF LINCOLN 61
Booth could not conceivably have been so courteous
except for a fell purpose.
So Weichmann drove Mrs. Surratt into the country
where the early spring was reigning in delicate beauty, and
after Mr. Nothey had been seen and arrangements made
with him they started cityward and reached home about
six o'clock.' That night at the White House' Lincoln
made his last public address in which he said of the
seceded states now conquered that "finding themselves
safely at home, it would be utterly immaterial whether
they had ever been abroad."' He was deeply anxious
to press home upon his people, even in the first flush of
their rejoicing, their sober responsibilities toward the
conquered states, and he was grieved rather than gratified
by any demonstrations of joy which took no account of the
sorrow of the defeated, showed no sign of gentle intent
toward them.
Thursday, General Grant, who had gone modestly from
Appomattox to City Point, arrived In Washington and was
greeted tumultuously. That night the city was en fete,
and there were Illuminations and speeches and receptions
and band concerts, and everybody who was n't glad for

' C. T. p. 113, Weichmann.
2 See Appendbt X: Note on Lincoln's Last Address.
" " Lincoln's Complete Works," vol. ii, pp. 672-673, edited by Nicolay and Hay,
published by the Century Company, New York, 1894.

62 THE DEATH OF LINCOLN
peace had at least to hold his tongue, for the Capital —
notwithstanding its large disloyal population — was drunk
with the joy of victory.
About half-past five that evening Michael O'LaughUn
and three other young men came over from Baltimore to
see the celebration — and O'LaughUn to sacrifice his life.
Shortly after arriving Mike stopped in at the National to
see John Booth; but John was not there.'
Nobody knows where Booth was that evening of the
13th, or that night. He was not at the National after
Thursday noon, so far as any one knows. During the
afternoon he dropped In at Grover's Theatre and asked
Manager Hess if he were going to invite the President to
the play the following night when the fall of Sumter would
be celebrated.' After that we have no trace of him until
about noon on Friday.
Friday morning early Mr. Burton, the night-clerk of the
National, going off duty, met Davy Herold in the hall.
"Going to see Booth?" he asked the boy. Davy said
he was.
"Well, I don't think he 's In," said Burton, "I did n't
see him come in last night, and he always stops for a chat
with me before he goes to bed. But you 'd better look in
his room and see."

' C. T. pp, 228-230, Early, Murphy, Henderson, et al.
'C. T. p. 99, C. D. Hess.

THE DEATH OF LINCOLN 63
Davy went to 228 and knocked, but got no response;
and when the room was opened It was found to have been
unoccupied. Nor was John Booth ever again seen
by any one about the hotel — which disposes of the widely
current story of his throwing his key on the counter about
eight o'clock Friday night and announcing that there was
to be "some good acting at Ford's" that night.'
At noon on Friday he sauntered up to Ford's Theatre,'
on Tenth Street between E and F, where he frequently got
mail, and as he came up the street in the bright April
sunshine he looked so handsome that young Harry Ford
could not resist a little good-natured banter about "the
best-looking man In Washington."
There was one long letter for Booth that morning, and
he smiled repeatedly as he sat on the steps reading It.
When he had finished, some one said teaslngly — John
was an excellent subject to tease, quick with his retorts
but always good-natured vrithal — "Your friends Lincoln
and Grant are coming to the theatre to-night, John, and
we 're fixin' to have Lee sit with them."
"Lee would never do that," John replied with spirit.
"He would never let himself be paraded, Uke a conquered
Roman, by his captors."'
Then he got up, thoughtfully, and walked away.
1 Told the present writer by Mr. Burton.
' C. T. p. 99, H. Clay Ford.
• Told the present writer by Mr. H. Clay Ford.

PART II
THE DEED

II
THE deed
rriHE rejoicing throughout the North on Monday the
tenth of April was such as our nation had never seen
and, it is to be hoped, will never see again, for only such
horrors as marked four years of civil strife could bring
such glad relief as the news from Appomattox.
In the morning papers was printed Stanton's order
suspending the draft, stopping the purchase of military
supplies, and removing the military restrictions from trade.
During the day the Inman Line despatched a special
steamer to carry the peace news across the ocean. Busi
ness was at a standstill, courts adjourned, houses and
shops and Government buildings were decorated, flags
floated from every mast, cannon were fired, bells were
rung, whistles were blown, the streets of every town and
village swarmed with laughing, crying, shouting people
who vented their feehngs according to their sorts. Bar
rooms were full and peace was toasted. Churches were
full and God was praised. Prayer-meetings were held in
churches. Ih schools, even in the marts of trade — yes,
67

68 THE DEATH OF LINCOLN
in bar-rooms, sometimes — men broke into the universal
psalm of thanksgiving: "Praise God from Whom all
blessings flow." And over the western portico of the
Capitol was a motto: "This is the Lord's doing; it is
marvellous in our eyes."
Toward nightfall illuminations and bonfires began to
blaze from sea to sea — or to the uttermost limits of the
telegraph — like the victory-fires of the ancient Greeks;
and the air was full of songs of patriotism exultant.
This was the atmosphere to which Lincoln returned from
the seat of war. This was the spirit to which he addressed
that last public utterance of Tuesday evening, so full of
magnanimity that Sumner thought it augured "confusion
and uncertainty in the future, with hot controversy. Alas,
alas!"' On Thursday Washington went vdld over the coming of
Grant, the shy, silent, stooping little victor. There was a
grand reception for him that night at the home of the War
Secretary Stanton ; and on the morrow — Good Friday —
the fall of Fort Sumter, four years ago, was to be celebrated.
On Friday morning, while the President's family were
at breakfast, young Captain Lincoln came home. He
was twenty-two years old and less than a year out of
Harvard. For the last two months he had been a member

' " Life of Charles Sumner," by E. L. Pierce, vol. iv, p. 236.

THE DEATH OF LINCOLN 69
of General Grant's staff and as such with Grant at Appo
mattox. He had last seen his father on Monday of the
week before, when he accompanied the President to
Petersburg and back to City Point. That night he left
headquarters to ride after Grant's army which was moving
westward In two divisions, north and south of the
Appomattox River, with Lee's army in between.
There was a great deal the President wanted to ask
young Robert about those last days of the campaign, and
particularly about the events of Palm Sunday afternoon In
the sitting-room of the little McLean house at Appomattox;
so breakfast was a chatty meal. Little Tad was present,
and excitedly Interested; he had been with his father at
City Point and Richmond and he felt personally concerned
in all that had gone on after he left.
After breakfast the President received Schuyler Colfax,
Speaker of the House, who was to start on Saturday on
a long western trip In which the President was deeply
interested.' When he was gone, the President took his
usual way to the War Department, following in a spirit of
joy and thanksgiving the old trail he had worn for himself
in some thousands of goings and comings made In tense
anxlousness and in deep sorrow. Johnston's army was
I " Lincoln and the Overthrow of Slavery," by Isaac Arnold, President (for many years
before his death in 1SS4) of the Chicago Historical Society, p. 661. Published by
Clarke & Co., Chicago, 1866.

70 THE DEATH OF LINCOLN
still in the field against Sherman, and there was the possi-
blUty of another dreadful battle before the last rebel laid
down his arms. It was his anxiety about this that took
the President to the War Office to hunt, as usual, through
the telegraph files.
While he was there something was said about his going
to the theatre that evening. Stanton characterized the
intention as "crazy," and In his blunt, grim way inveighed
against it with all his might. But the President, who had
never listened willingly to such cautlonlngs, contending
that to die once were far better than to die a thousand
deaths through fear, felt sure that there could not now be
any cause to be afraid. It had never seemed likely to him
that any enemy could desire his death, since that would
only leave his power in the hands of another; and of all
those to whom any share of it might fall, he knew that
none had half his mercy for the South. That Washington
and, indeed, the whole North, not to mention the South,
was full of his enemies he had every reason to be aware.
He is even said by some to have been convinced that he
would be assassinated. Others say he believed in a fore
boding that he should die in the hour of his greatest
triumph. If he did have that apprehension, it is quite
compatible, nevertheless, with his dIsUke of being con
stantly guarded. For he was a fataUst; he believed

THE DEATH OF LINCOLN 71
that what was to be, must be. "If It is to be done," he
argued, " it Is Impossible to prevent It." So he went about
his business quietly, and endured only when he must the
futile guardianship of a special policeman.'
When, therefore, Stanton began again to remind him of
the risk In exposing himself to a "treacherous and danger
ous enemy" he humoured his iron chancellor by proposing
to take as special escort Major Eckert of Stanton's office,
whose strength was prodigious and whose alertness was
as great.' But Stanton declined to spare Eckert from the
busy War Office that evening. And, nothing daunted
thereby, the President good-humouredly took his departure
to the White House to preside at the regular weekly meet
ing of the Cabinet.
General Grant was present at that meeting, and much
of the talk turned, naturally, on military affairs. The
President said he thought they would hear soon of John
ston's surrender to Sherman, "for," said he, "I had last
night my usual dream which has preceded nearly every
important event of the war. I seemed to be in a singular
and indescribable vessel, but always the same, and to be
moving with great rapidity toward a dark and indefinite
shore." The dream did not always prevision victory, he
' See Appendix XII: Note on Lincoln's Forebodings of Tragic Death.
' " Lincoln in the Telegraph Office," by David Homer Bates, published by the Century
Company, New York, 1907, p. 366.

72 THE DEATH OF LINCOLN
admitted, but "this time it must relate to Sherman;
my thoughts are in that direction, and I know of no
other very important event which is likely just now to
occur.' When the great subject of reconstruction was
approached, the President said: "I think it providential
that this great rebellion is crushed just as Congress has
adjourned and there are none of the disturbing elements
of that body to hinder and embarrass us. If we are wise
and discreet we shall reanimate the states and get their
governments in successful operation, with order prevailing
and the Union established, before Congress comes together
in December. . . . I hope there will be no persecution,
no bloodshed, after the war Is over. No one need expect
me to take any part In hanging or killing those men, even,
the worst of them. Frighten them out of the country
open the gates, let down the bars, scare them off [throwing
up his hands as if scaring sheep]. Enough lives have
been sacrificed. We must extinguish our resentments If we
expect harmony and union. There Is too much of a desire
on the part of some of our very good friends to be mas
ters, to interfere with and dictate to those states, to treat
the people not as fellow-citizens; there is too little
1 Gideon Welles, in the Galaxy for April, 1872. Stanton came in as Lincoln was
discussing his dream, and Lincoln stopped abruptly and said, " Let us proceed to busi
ness." Arnold, p. 429.

THE DEATH OF LINCOLN 73
respect for their rights, I do not sympathize In these
feelings."' He was said by Stanton to have been "more cheerful
and happy" that morning than he had ever seen him.
"He rejoiced in the near prospect of durable peace at
home and abroad, and manifested In marked degree the
kindness and humanity of his disposition and the tender
and forgiving spirit that so eminently distinguished him."'
While the Cabinet meeting was In session a White
House messenger went to Ford's Theatre with word that
the President and Mrs. Lincoln, accompanied by General
and Mrs. Grant, would occupy the state box that night.'
The box tendered by Grover's Theatre for that same
gala night was also accepted and given to little twelve-
year old Tad to entertain a party of his friends.
Early in the afternoon, however, it became apparent to
General Grant that he could get away from his duties In
Washington quite as well on Friday as on Saturday,
and as he and Mrs. Grant were Impatient to get to Bur
lington, N. J., to see their daughter Nellie, who was at
school there, they excused themselves to Mrs. Lincoln
and prepared to take the six o'clock train for Phila-

1 Welles, in the Galaxy.
' Stanton's letter to Charles Francis Adams, United States Minister to Great Britain;
the letter is dated April isth, 11,40 a.m. O. R. Series I, vol. xlvi., part iii., p. 785.
' C. T. p. 100, James R, Ford.

74 THE DEATH OF LINCOLN
delphia.' In their stead, Mrs. Lincoln invited Miss
Clara Harris, daughter of Senator Ira Harris,of New York,
and her fianc^. Major Henry Rathbone. The White
House carriage, she sent word, would call for the young
people a little after eight.
In the early afternoon,' the President and Mrs. Lincoln
went for a long drive out in the direction of the Soldiers'
Home. Washington was very beautiful just then, with
that mid-April beauty of hers which seems to be quite
unapjproachable. The dogwood and the lilacs were in
bloom, the bright green, plumey willows swished softly
on the banks of the shining Potomac, the air was redolent
of sweet scents and warm with the breath almost of sum
mer. The capital looked very gay, with its fluttering
flags and its gay buntings, but the country looked even
sweeter to this tired man who was the centre of the nation's
joy. He talked to Mrs. Lincoln of what they would do
when this term of office was over and they could take up
a quiet life again. "We have saved some money," he
said, "and ought to be able to save some more. And
with that and what I can earn from my law practice, we
can settle down in Springfield or Chicago, and live cozily
to a green old age."'
^ Grant's "Memoirs," vol. ii., p. 508.
' See Appendices XII and XIII.
'Arnold, p, 661,

GoUeotion of Americana, F. H, Meserve.
Mrs. Abraham Lincoln

hJ§,

THE DEATH OF LINCOLN 75
When they returned from the drive the President saw,
as they approached the portico of the White House, a
group of gentlemen leaving and starting across the lawn
to the east. Among them was Richard Oglesby, War
Governor of Illinois.
"Come back, boys, come back!" the President shouted,
waving his long arm in emphatic invitation.
They came back, and went with him upstairs to his office,
and there stayed, laughing and talking and swopping stories
and listening to him read from a book of humour he was
enjoying, until he had to be thrice summoned to dinner.'
After dinner. Speaker Colfax called again and brought
with him Mr. Ashmun of Massachusetts. These gentle
men were shown Into one of the parlours and talked
briefly with the President. While they were there the
card of Senator Stewart of Nevada was brought in. The
Senator had taken a friend. Judge Searles, to call on the
President, and in about five minutes the usher came back
with a card from Mr. Lincoln who had written:
I am engaged to go to the theatre with Mrs. Lincoln.
It is the kind of an engagement I never break. Come
with your friend to-morrow at ten and I shall be glad to
see you. A. Lincoln.'
' " Life of Lincoln," by Ida M. Tarbell, vol. iv., p. 31. Published by the McClure
Company, New York, 1900.
2 " Reminiscences of Senator William M. Stewart," published by the Neale Publishing
Company, 1908, p. 190.

76 THE DEATH OF LINCOLN
At the door of Captain Lincoln's room, which was
over the entrance, the President had stopped as he went
downstairs and said: "We're going to the theatre.
Bob, don't you want to go ?"'
But Captain Robert had not slept in a bed for nearly
two weeks, and he said that if his father did not mind he
would rather stay at home and "turn In early." His
father did not mind at all, and they parted with cheery
"good-nights." Mr. Ashmun was disappointed at the short time he had
with the President, and Mr. Lincoln urged him to come
back in the morning. "Come as early as nine, if you
vnll," he said. And lest there be any difficulty about
gaining admittance an hour before the official day began,
the President stopped at the door as he was going to his
carriage, picked up a card and wrote on It : ¦
Allow Mr. Ashmun and friends to come in at 9 a.m.
to-morrow. A. Lincoln.'
This he gave Mr. Ashmun as he bade him good-night.
Outside, on the broad stone flagging beneath the por
tico, as the President went out to hand Mrs. Lincoln
into their carriage, were Senator Stewart and Judge
Searles. The judge was introduced, spoke briefly to
^ Related to the present writer by Mr. Robert Lincoln.
2 Tarbell " Lincoln," vol. iv., p. 32. See Appendix XIV; Note on George A. Ashmun.

THE DEATH OF LINCOLN 77
the President, and in a minute the carriage drove rapidly
away. The young sweethearts were in festive mood at the
evening's prospect, and the President responded to it
with much happiness in their care-free company.'
The play of the evening was Tom Taylor's eccentric
comedy, "Our American Cousin," which Miss Laura
Keene had put on in her New York theatre In 1858, scoring
immediate success not only for herself but for Mr. Joseph
Jefferson and Mr. E. A. Sothern of her company, each of
whom laid the foundation of fame and fortune In their
rendition of the r61es of Asa Trenchard and Lord Dun
dreary, respectively. In the Intervening years the play
had continued to be a tremendous favourite, Sothern
playing it here and abroad as " Dundreary," Jefferson tak
ing it to Australia and South America, and Miss Keene
playing It nearly a thousand times In the United States.
She was appearing In It In Chicago in June, 1860, during
the sessions of the Republican Convention, and on the
night of Lincoln's nomination most of the delegates went
to see her.'
The company at Ford's was, in accordance with the
custom of the times, a resident stock-company, and travel-
Ung stars came from time to time to play with it. Miss
' Told the present writer by their son, Mr. Henry R. Rathbone, of Chicago.
2 Chicago Tribune, June ig, iS6o. Also, Appendix XV; "Our American Cousin."

78 THE DEATH OF LINCOLN
Keene was fortunate in having a benefit that night,
although it was Good Friday, ordinarily the poorest night
in the theatrical year; for in addition to the advertised
presence' of the President and "lady" and General
Grant and " lady," the town was full of strangers bent on
entertainment. At ten o'clock that Good Friday morning there was read
in the office of the Commissary-General of Prisoners a
letter from the Secretary of War granting a holiday to all
employees whose churches had divine service on that day.
One of the promptest to take advantage of that permission
was Louis Weichmann, who attended service at St.
Matthew's Church, remaining until 12.30, when he joined
the H Street household at luncheon."
At two o'clock or thereabouts, as he was sitting in his
room, Mrs. Surratt came to the door, knocked, and told him
she had another letter imperatively requiring her immediate
presence at Surrattsvllle; she asked him if he would be
willing to drive here there again. The young department
clerk was delighted at the opportunity to get out into the
country on this beautiful afternoon, and he took the ten
dollars that Mrs. Surratt gave him to hire a horse and
buggy, and went at once to Howard's stable on G Street.'
'Washington Star, April 14, 1865.
'S. T. vol. I, p.. 390, Weichmann.
' C. T. p. 113, Weichmann.

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Which announced that the performance would be
honored by the presence of President Lincoln.

THE DEATH OF LINCOLN 79
As he was opening the front door of the Surratt house
to go down the steps, he encountered John Booth standing
with his hand on the bell in the act of ringing. The two
men exchanged greetings, and Booth entered the parlour,
Weichmann going on about his errand. When he
returned. Booth was just leaving, and in a few minutes
Mrs. Surratt and Weichmann started on their two-hour
drive to Surrattsvllle. Before leaving, however, Mrs.
Surratt exclaimed: "Oh, wait! I must get those things of
Booth's."' She returned to the house and brought out
a small package which she put in the bottom of the buggy.
After leaving Ford's at a little after noon, Booth went
(probably) to the Kirkwood House, now the Raleigh, at
Twelfth Street and the Avenue, and sent up to Vice-
President Johnson's room a card on which he had written:
Don't wish to disturb you; are you at home?
J. Wilkes Booth.*
At any rate, such a card, in Booth's writing, was sent up
to the Vice-President's room some time previous to five
o'clock, and was returned to the office, as Mr. Johnson
was not in. Instead of being put In Johnson's box in the
office, it was put by mistake into the next box, which waa
that of his private secretary, WiUiam A. Browning. Mr.
• S. T., vol. i, p. 391, Weichmann.
2 C. T. p. JO, William A. Browning.

80 THE DEATH OF LINCOLN
Browning got the card about five o'clock and thought it
had been left for him, as he had a slight acquaintance
with Booth. Whether Booth left the card, or whether he
wrote it and Atzerodt left It, no one could say. Booth
must have known the Vice-President would hardly be in
his room at that time of day, so what he hoped to gain by
sending the card is difficult to guess. Perhaps Atzerodt,
who took a room at the Kirkwood about one o'clock that
day, was given the card and told to send it — possibly
to implicate Johnson in the crime Booth had just decided
to perpetrate that night ; possibly to determine for Atzerodt
that the Vice-President was out and so make him feel free
to explore the neighbourhood of Johnson's room. This
latter assumption is ridiculous, however, for Atzerodt was
a guest of the hotel and could have prowled about the Vice-
President's room all he wished without exciting suspicion,
and in the event of his discovering by this elaborate ruse
that Johnson was out (which he could easily have done
without giving his name or Booth's) he could do no more
than that. There is a mystery in that card which has
never been cleared, and perhaps never will be.
After leaving the Kirkwood (if he went there) Booth
dropped into Grover's Theatre for a few minutes and
chatted with Mr. C. D. Hess,' the manager, and with Mrs.
> C. T. p. 99, C. D. Hess.

THE DEATH OF LINCOLN 81
Hess and her sister, who happened to be present. It was
he who told Mr. Hess that the President was going to
Ford's that night, and therefore would not occupy the box
at Grover's tendered him to see Lester Wallack and
E. L. Davenport. Some time during the lunch hour,
vaguely described by everybody as "about noon," Booth
went to Pumphrey's stable on C Street, back of the
National Hotel, and hired a horse, for which he said he
would call at 4.30.' Then, apparently, he went up to
Mrs. Surratt's, and left there about half-past two.
Two coloured women living in the alley back of Ford's
Theatre said they saw Mr. Booth in the alley during the
afternoon. One said It was between two and three o'clock,
the other did not remember the time; but as coloured
people of their class are notoriously "wild" in all their
estimates of time and dates, nothing can be argued there
from. Both of them were sure, though, that he was
"talking to a lady," and one of them said "he and this
lady were pointing up and down the alley as if they were
talking about it." She added that she knew it was Mr.
Booth because she remembered looking "right wishful at
him."' The lady might have been Miss Keene, who
probably rehearsed with the resident company during the
day, and would have been particularly likely to do sq
' C, T. p. 72, James W. Pumphrey.
' C. T. p. 75, Mary Ann Turner, Maiy Jane AndersoQ.

82 THE DEATH OF LINCOLN
after hearing of the distinguished guests who were
expected. Ferguson, keeper of one of the restaurants which flanked
the theatre on either side, also saw Booth in the alley dur
ing the afternoon, but testified that he was talking to
Maddox, the property-man of the theatre.' The time
was probably between 4.30 and 5, after Booth had got his
horse from Pumphrey's and brought it to his stable in the
alley back of Ford's. Edward Spangler, the scene-shifter
and rough carpenter who helped to fix over the stable for
Booth in January, and who did chores thereabouts for the
actor, took the horse, and on being asked for a halter sent
Jake Ritterspaugh, another scene-shifter, to get a rope from
the theatre. Spangler wanted to take the saddle and
bridle off the horse, but John told him not to; Spangler,
however, did take them off when Mr. John was gone.'
After putting up the horse, John went with Maddox,
Spangler, the stage-door keeper named John Burroughs
and nicknamed "Peanuts," and another young man, into
one of the restaurants next the theatre, and each took a
drink. Between that time and eight o'clock in the evening
we have no absolute knowledge of John Booth's move
ments, but he was probably in the auditorium of Ford's
Theatre for a while — possibly between 5.30 and 6 when
' C. T. p. 76, James P. Ferguson.
•C. T. p. 74. Joseph Burroughs.

THE DEATH OF LINCOLN 83
most of the theatre employees would be at their early
dinner. Now to go back a little : Not long after John's departure
from the theatre at the noon hour, young Harry Clay Ford
— Mr. John T. Ford's twenty-year-old brother — who was
treasurer of the theatre, spoke to Thomas Ray bold, the
purchasing agent of the house, about decorating the Presi
dent's box. Mr. Raybold was suffering from a neuralgic
stiff neck that day and was not able to do any active work
in decorating, but he advised and directed, and Mr. Harry
Ford did the actual labour with the assistance of Spangler
and "Peanuts."
There were two American flags which had been used on
other occasions to decorate the state box, and in addition to
these it was decided — since General Grant was expected
to attend — to send to the Treasury Department and bor
row the Treasury regimental flag, a blue flag with white
stars. This was draped in the centre of boxes 7 and 8
and the American flags were disposed above; on the pillar
in the middle a framed picture of Washington was hung.'
The two boxes thrown into one for the President's use
by the removal of the partition between them, were balcony
boxes on the right-hand side of the house facing the stage.
(And right here is a good place to remind readers unused

'C, T. pp. 99, no, H. Clay Ford, Thomas J. Raybold.

84 THE DEATH OF LINCOLN
to theatre terminology that people habitually in the front
of the house speak of the stage right and left as the play
goer would — and as he sees them — while those who
habitually see the theatre from the other side of the foot
lights mean, of course, exactly the opposite when they say
right or left. The President's box was on the right as the
audience sat, on the left or "opposite prompter" side In
the players' and stagehands' parlance.)
The boxes were reached In this way: On entering the
main door, near the south end of the theatre on Tenth
Street, one traversed a lobby the whole width of the
theatre to its north end, ascended a stairway, passed along
an upper lobby to the extreme south of the building again,
and went down the outside aisle to the door of the right-
hand private boxes. This door opened into a small
passage-way behind the two boxes, and into each of the
boxes there was, instead of the portiferes now common for
that use, a door which locked, and which was kept locked
when the box was not in use; the key to it was kept by the
usher. The first door was at the left of persons entering
the passage; the second was facing them.
The ordinary chairs were removed that day, and in their
place were put some crimson velvet easy chairs out of the
reception-room, a chair and a sofa from the property-
room on the stage, a large rocker that belonged to the

THE DEATH OF LINCOLN 85
reception-room set, but which Mr. Harry Ford had removed
to his bedroom on the third floor of the connecting building
on the south; the room under Mr. Ford's bedroom was the
reception-room, opening into the dress-circle or first
balcony. Mr. Ford had sent the rocker upstairs because the
ushers of the dress circle used to sit on it when not busy,
and "had greased it with their hair." Joe Simms, a
coloured boy who worked "on the flies" went up to Mr.
Ford's room, on his order, and brought the chair down.
It being the most comfortable chair available, it was set
in the corner of the box the President would inevitably
occupy, farthest from the stage and nearest to the
audience. Then the other furniture was arranged by Mr.
Ford, the sofa at the end of the box nearest the stage,
the other chairs between that and the rocker.'
It was about three o'clock when these preparations
were complete. Spangler and "Peanuts" attended solely
to the removal of the partition, and while they were
working at their job Spangler — so "Peanuts" testified
— said: "Damn the President and General Grant."
Asked why he damned "a man that had never done any
harm to him," he said "he ought to be cursed when he
got so many men killed."'
» C. T. p. 99, H. C. Ford. '
' C. T. p. 74, Burroughs.

86 THE DEATH OF LINCOLN
When everything was in readiness the men left the
box, and the auditorium lapsed again into that ghostly
stillness of the theatre in daytime — the shadowy reaches
of it full of phantom forms, the intense silence of it loud
with echoes of dead eloquence.
Then into the draped and decorated box stole a man!
God knows who the man was — no one else does know.
The man stooped down and "sighted" for the eleva
tion of a tall man's head above the top of the rocker,
and on a line with that elevation he cut in the door behind
the chair a hole big enough to admit the passage of a
bullet; the hole was apparently bored with a small gimlet
then cut clean with a sharp penknife. This was, presum
ably, in the event of the assassin getting Into the passage
way behind the boxes, but finding the doors to the boxes
locked for the distinguished occupants' safety. It was,
however, an unnecessary preparation, for the lock on
box 8 (in which was the President's chair) had been burst
on March 7th, when some late comers found their
seats occupied and were shown by Mr. Raybold to this
box, the key of which had been taken away by the usher
after the first act. So Mr. Raybold burst the lock.'
Another thing the man did was to set one end of a bar
of wood three feet six inches long against the inside of
¦ C. T. pp. I09, III, Thomas J. Raybold, Henry E. Merrick, James O'Brien.

THE DEATH OF LINCOLN 87
the outer door, and cut to fit the other end of It a mortise
in the plaster of the passage-way. This mortise was cut
by some sharp instrument, the plaster removed was taken
carefully away (probably in a paper which had received
it as it fell), the brace was set in an obscure angle behind
the door — and the job was done! There was no lock
on the outer door, and this brace must be the assassin's
sole protection against interference from the house until
his deed was done and his leap accomplished.'
Edward Spangler was suspected of this preparation,
but the job looked less like a carpenter's than like the
work of some one who had no kit of tools. There was a
gimlet found In Booth's trunk at the National next day,'
but he was not at the National after this work was done,
if it was done Friday afternoon. It may possibly have
been done earlier, when the abduction plan was upper
most and Ford's Theatre was considered a likely place
from which to make the seizure. No one knows; but the
hole in the door was said to look as If very recently done,
and the probability is that Booth himself did the work
that afternoon between five and six o'clock.
Somewhere about one o'clock Atzerodt and Davy
Herold went to Naylor's stable, Atzerodt taking a dark-
^ C. T. pp. 77, 78, 82, III, James J. Gififord, Major Henry E, Rathbone, Isaac Jac-
quette. Judge A. B. Olin, Thomas J. Raybold, Joseph T. K. Plant.
'C. T. p. 112, Bunker.

88 THE DEATH OF LINCOLN
bay mare which he had just hired from Keleher's stable
at Eighth and E streets, a few squares away. Atzerodt said
he wanted to put the mare up. Herold engaged a horse
which he said he would call for at four o'clock. At
4.15 Herold got his horse and left, saying he would be
back by nine. At half-past six Atzerodt called for his
mare and rode her until 7.15, when he returned her to
Naylor's, asking, however, that she be kept saddled and
bridled until ten.' At 7.30 he went to an oyster bay
for supper and was summoned thence by some messenger
of Booth's who knew his haunts' — probably Davy
Herold. Booth was at the Herndon House (where
Lewis Payne had been rooming since March 27th.'), and
there, doubtless in Payne's room, he had at eight o'clock
a meeting of conspirators. Payne was there, and he was
"told off" for the assassination of Secretary of State
Seward. Atzerodt was there, and he was assigned to
despatch the Vice-President Davy Herold may have
been there* — probably was. John Surratt was not
there," he was in Elmira, N. Y. Arnold was not there.

»C. T. p. 83, John Fletcher.
' Atzerodt's statement, see Appendix XVI.
• C, T. p. 154, Mrs. Martha Murray. Payne told Mrs. Murray, whose husband kept
|he Herndon House, that he was going to leave about four o'clock, April 14th; probably
in the hope of establishing an alibi. But Atzerodt swore Payne was at the Herndon at
eight o'clock and after, and Payne seems to have told his counsel he was, C. T. p, 314.
* Atzerodt does not mention Herold as present.
' Surratt Lecture, see Appendix VI: Note on John Surratt's Trial, see Appendix XVII.

THE DEATH OF LINCOLN 89
he was clerking at Fortress Monroe.' O'Laughlin was
not there; he was in Washington for the celebration, but
he was fully accounted for all through the evening by
many witnesses.' Mrs. Surratt was not there; she did
not return from the country until 8,30, and was not out
of the house after that.' Dr. Mudd, of course, was not
there; he was not in Washington.* And Edward Spang
ler was not there; he was busy at the theatre." So far
as we know, only Booth and Payne and Atzerodt were
present. Payne agreed to do the deed apportioned to
him. Atzerodt refused to do the deed he was told to do,
and was reviled by Booth, who called him a fool and
said he would "be hung anyway." "And so," said
Atzerodt, "we parted." Atzerodt then went to an
oyster bay on the Avenue above Twelfth Street, where he
stayed until about ten o'clock."
This left only Booth and brawny young Lewis Payne
to strike for what they believed "the cause." We can
imagine the scene as John Booth, with frenzied eloquence,
urged his few followers to their respective parts in his

^ C. T. 234, 240, 241, Eaton G. Homer, William S. Arnold, Frank Arnold, John W,
Wharton. ' C. T. pp. 228, 232, Early, Murphy, Henderson, Loughran, Grillet, Purdy, Fuller,
GDes. ¦ C. T. p. 116, Weichmann.
* C. T. p. 200, Thomas Davis.
" C. T. pp, 105, 109, James, Debonay, Gifford.
" Atzerodt's statement, see Appendix XVI.

90 THE DEATH OF LINCOLN
awful plans — probably quoting for them the lines he
so often spoke as Cassius: . . . How many ages hence.
Shall this our lofty scene be acted o'er.
In states unborn, and accents yet unknown ?
Atzerodt, listening unmoved, sullen — personal safety his
only thought; and Payne, the young gladiator, dogged,
determined, caring little for fame but everything for
his adored John Booth and much for the lost cause of
his Southland; and Davy Herold, if he was there, prob
ably excited — he was an excitable boy and would have
been appealed to by the danger and daring of the thing
and the mad flight for life which he was to share.
The play was well under way when the Presidential
party got to the theatre. The scene on the stage as they
entered represented the after-dinner hour in an English
country house. The drawing-room was full of volumi
nously crinolined ladles whose ennui had just been
relieved by the arrival of the gentlemen from their post-
prandlals in the dining-room. Miss Keene, as Florence
Trenchard, was trying to explain a joke to the dull Dun
dreary. "Can't you see it?" she asked. No; he
couldn't. " You can't see it ? " No. There was a slight
commotion as she spoke, and as Dundreary assured her for

Collection of Americana, i\ H. JVleserve.

Laura Keene
Who was making her last appearance in Washinfrton, in "Our American
Cousin," presented at Ford's Theatre on the evening Lincoln was
assassinated.

THE DEATH OF LINCOLN 91
the second time that he couldn't "see it," she looked
up and saw the Presidential party entering the state box.
"Well, everybody can see that!" she said, quickly im
provising and looking meaningly at the Chief Executive
as she made a sweeping curtsey.' Then the orchestra
struck up "Hail to the Chief," the audience cheered and
cheered, and for several moments the play was at a
standstill, while Mr. liincoln bowed and smiled his
appreciation of the ovation.
When the party sat down, Mrs. Lincoln was on the
President's right; Miss Harris next to her on her right;
and nearest to the stage, sitting on the end of the sofa,
was young Major Rathbone.'
During the next two hours the President moved from
his seat but once, and that was to rise and put on his
overcoat. The night was warm; no one else seemed to
feel any chill; but something that did not strike the
bared shoulders of the ladles in the box, made the tall,
gaunt man in black broadcloth shiver — and he got up
and put on his overcoat.
Between 9.30 and 10 John Booth appeared at the
stage-door leading his horse which he must have had to
< Told the present writer by Mr. George C. Maynard, then of the War Telegraph
Office, now of the National Museum, who made a note of Miss Keene's interpolation
on his programme at the time.
' C. T. p. 78, Major Rathbone. -See Major Rathbone's statement, Appendix XVIII.

92 THE DEATH OF LINCOLN
saddle lor himself, since all the theatre hands were busy
at their respective posts. At the door he ' saw J. L.
Debonay, who played what was called "responsible
utility" at the theatre, taking the part that night of
John WIgger, the gardener. To Debonay, John said:
"Tell Spangler to come to the door and hold my horse."
Debonay went across the stage to Spangler's position,
which was on the same side with the President's box,
while the stage-door was at the "prompt side," and said
to Spangler: "Mr. Booth wants to see you." Spangler
went to the stage door and explained to Mr. Booth that
he could not hold his horse because Mr. Gifford, the
stage-carpenter, was out in front and had left the respon
sibility of the next change on Spangler. "Tell Peanut
John to come here and hold this horse," Spangler called
to Debonay, "I haven't time." So Debonay called
Peanuts, who was on duty at the stage door. Peanuts
objected that he had his door to tend, but Spangler said
It would be all right to hold the horse, but if there was
anything wrong about It to lay the blame on him. Pea
nuts had a bench In the alley by the door, and as he sat
there on guard he held the bridle-rein of Mr. Booth's
horse. When he had left the horse in charge of Peanuts, John
Booth went on the stage and Inquired of Debonay if he

Collection of Mr. Robert Coster.
Abraham liiNCOLN about 1865

THE DEATH OF LINCOLN 93
could cross it. Debonay said No; the dairy scene was
on, and he would have to go down under the stage and
come up on the other side. This Booth did, Debonay
going with him under the stage, through the little side
passage on the south end of the basement floor, and out
on to Tenth Street.'
Now, Booth knew perfectly the situations of the play
in progress — knew that In the second scene of the third
act there was a brief time when only Asa Trenchard was
on the stage and few of the other players were in the
wings awaiting cues. This was his time to strike, and
it occurred about twenty minutes past ten.
After the curtain went up on the third act. Booth
stepped to the front door where Buckingham, the door
keeper — his attention being directed for the moment
to something in the house — had placed his right arm
as a barrier across the doorway so that none might pass
without his knowledge. Some one came up behind him,
took two fingers of that hand and shook them, and Buck
ingham turned to look. It was Mr. John, smiling his
boyish smile. "You don't want a ticket from me, do
you?" he asked jocularly. And Buckingham smiled
back at him and said he "guessed not" — just as he
would have said to young Harry Ford.

» C. T. pp. 74, 8i, los. Burroughs, John Miles, J. L. Debonay,

94 THE DEATH OF LINCOLN
Booth went into the house, looked around, and came out
almost immediately. When he returned to the door,
Buckingham was talking to some out-of-town acquain
tances who were in the audience, and when the dis
tinguished young tragedian passed bim the popular
doorkeeper halted him and introduced his acquaintances,
to whom, even in that awful hour, John made some
genial remarks.
He seems to have hovered about the door, nervously, for
a quarter of an hour or more. Once he asked Buckingham
the time; once he asked for a chew of tobacco and was
accommodated. About ten minutes past ten he went into
the restaurant on the south and took a drink of whisky,
came quickly out, passed Buckingham at the door, hum
ming a tune as he went, ascended the stairs to the dress
circle, and walked down along the south wall of the
theatre close to the entrance of the President's box.'
One or two persons said they saw him standing there.
One man (Captain Theodore McGowan) actually thought
he saw Booth take out a visiting-card and hand it to the
"President's messenger";' he so testified at the conspiracy
trial. There was, of course, no sentry at the door; no
one was there. John Parker, who had gone to the theatre

* C. T. p. 73, John E. Buckingham. Buckingham's book, p. 13. Also Mr. Buck
ingham's statements to the present writer.
'C. T. p. 78, Captain McGowan.

THE DEATH OF LINCOLN 95
as the President's guard, had left his post at the door to
the passage-way, and gone to a seat in the dress circle,
whence he could better see the play. Booth had no one to
elude, no one to make pretext to; his movements were
entirely unchallenged. The play waxed funnier and
funnier, more and more absorbing. Every eye in the
house was fixed otherwise than on that door — every eye
but John Booth's.'
On the stage, there was a tart dialogue going on between
Asa Trenchard and a designing old woman, Mrs. Mount-
chessington, who presently flounced off with a taunt about
Asa's unaccustomedness to society.
"Society, eh?" said Asa, looking after her. "Well, I
guess I know enough to turn you inside out, you darned old
sockdolaging man-trap!"'
Shouts of laughter greeted this characteristic defence of
"Our American Cousin," and while they were rolhng across
the footUghts there mingled with them a sharper sound —
a pistol report. Booth had stepped Into the passage
way, dropped the bar of wood In place to hold the door
against Ingress, entered the box and, shouting "Sic semper
tyrannis," fired a Deringer pistol a few Inches from the
President's head. For a second or two the audience

' " Lincoln's Last Day," by Colonel W. H. Crook, Harper's Magazine. September,
1907. p. 527-
' Statement of Haay Hawk (Asa Trenchard), see Appendix XIX.

96 THE DEATH OF LINCOLN
thought the shooting was behind the scenes, a part of the
play; not an eye turned toward the state box where Major
Rathbone was grappUng with the assassin. Booth
had dropped his pistol when It was fired and drawn a
large knife with which he slashed Major Rathbone, strik
ing for his breast but gashing instead the left arm which
the major thrust up to parry the blow. Notwithstanding
his wound, the major grabbed at the assassin as he was
preparing to leap from the box to the stage fourteen feet
below, but he was unable to hold him. All this happened
in far fewer seconds than it takes to tell it, and almost
before any one could realize that there was something
wrong. Booth had jumped and fallen, his left leg doubled
under him, was instantly up again and running across the
front of the stage. Almost simultaneously, Mrs. Lincoln's
heart-rending cry rang out and Major Rathbone shouted
" Catch that man! " But, for a paralyzed moment, no one
stirred.' Impeded in his jump — which ordinarily would have
been nothing to one of his athletic training — by Rath
bone's clutch. Booth had caught his spur in the Treasury
flag, gashed the frame of Washington's picture, and broken
the small bone of his left leg in the heavy fall. But he was
* C. T. pp. 76, 78, 79, Ferguson, Withers, Stewart. Statements of Major Rathbone
and Miss Harris before Judge Olin, April 17th, see Appendix XX, " Diary of Booth,"
see Part III., p. 132.

Collection of Mr. Robert Coster.

The Assassination of President Lincoln at Ford's Theatre
Washington, D. C, April 14, 1865
From a contemporary print

THE DEATH OF LINCOLN 97
down scarcely an appreciable moment, and before any one
in the house or on the stage could realize what he had done,
he had reached the prompt entrance and was running
through the cleared passage leading to the stage door.'
Some of the spectators, when they got to thinking about
it afterward, felt sure Booth stopped in the centre-front
of the stage, brandished his dagger, and yelled "The South
is avenged!" Some thought he shouted "Sic semper"
as he struck the stage; some that he shouted It as he ran.
Nobody really knows whether he said anything as he ran —
certainly he did n't stop to say it! He was fleeing for his
life and he wasted no time on speeches. He crossed the
stage some feet In front of Harry Hawk (Asa Trenchard),
ran between Miss Keene and W. J. Ferguson standing
in the passage near the prompt entrance,' rushed past
Withers, the orchestra leader, who was on his way to the
stairs close by the back door, and as Withers stood stock
still in his way. Booth struck at him with the knife, knock
ing him down, made a rush for the door, and was gone.'
Joseph B. Stewart, who sat in the front row on the right
hand side of the orchestra almost directly under the Presi
dent's box, was the first man on the stage. He thought he
was there a very few seconds after the shot was fired and
* C. T. p. 76, Ferguson; Buckingham, p. 13.
' Interview with W. J. Ferguson, by Ada Patterson, in Theatre Magazine for May,
Z908. 'C. T. p. 79, William Withers.

98 THE DEATH OF LINCOLN
that he pursued Booth closely, being within thirty feet of
him when he went out of the door. Others present felt
equally sure that Stewart was not on the stage until Booth
was off It, and no other testimony corroborated Stewart's
account of the immediateness of his pursuit. He did, how
ever, rush after the fleeing assassin, shouting "Stop that
man ! " and whether he came as near to grasping Booth's
bridle as he thought he did, he was In the alley soon after
Booth had left it.' But before any one seemed to have
sense to think of pursuit, the clattering of hoofs on the
stone-paved alley had died away, and the President's
murderer was swallowed up In the night.'
Meanwhile, in that upper box, the tall, gaunt man in
the rocking-chair had not changed his position, the smile
he wore over Asa's last sally had not even given place to
a look of pain — so lightning-quick had unconsciousness
come. The head was bent slightly forward, the eyes were
closed; Mrs. Lincoln had clutched his arm, but had not
moved from her seat; neither had Miss Harris. At the
barred door to the passage-way many persons were pound
ing frantically, and Major Rathbone, staggering to the
door, found the bar, removed it, and of those seeking
admittance allowed several who represented themselves
to be surgeons to come in. Another surgeon was lifted
1 C. T. p. 79, Joseph B. Stewart.
'See Appendix XXI: Note about Edwin Booth in Bosfon.

THE DEATH OF LINCOLN 99
up into the box from the stage,' and almost as soon as
any to reach the scene of tragedy was Miss Keene, who
took the President's head into her lap.
There was a slight delay in locating the wound; some
looked for it in the breast and tore open the President's
shirt. Dr. Charles Taft, who had been lifted into the box,
located the wound behind the left ear, and countermanded
the order just given for the President's carriage. The ride
over the then cobble-paved streets of Washlngt6n was not
to be thought of, and Dr. Taft directed that instead the
nearest bed be sought. He lifted the President's head
from which the blood and brain tissue was oozing rapidly,
and, others helping with the rest of the long, inert body,
a shutter was impressed for service as a litter, and the
horror-stricken little procession went along the upper
lobby toward the stairs. At the head of the staircase.
Major Rathbone, who was assisting Mrs. Lincoln, had to
ask Major Potter to help him, as he was fainting from the
loss of blood from his arm.'
Across Tenth Street from the theatre was the four-
story brick house of William Peterson, a tailor, who sub
let most of the rooms to lodgers. The front door of the
house was open when those bearing the dying President
reached the street, and a man was standing on the steps.
' Dr. Charles Taft. See his statement in the Century Magazine, Feb. 1893, p. 634.
'C. T. p. 78, Rathbone.

100 THE DEATH OF LINCOLN
Dr. Taft directed the other bearers thither and the man
— Peterson — rushed in and shouted "The President is
coming!"' Then he disappeared. He was a drunken,
cruel fellow whose much-abused v?ife was on a brief visit
to Baltimore.
Down the stairs from the floors above came several
young men lodgers, meeting the bearers as they entered the
hall with their burden. At the end of the haU was a long,
narrow bedroom whose tenant, a young soldier named
WiUIe Clark, was not in.' On Willie's neat little bed the
President was laid — cornerwise, as only that way could
his great length be accommodated — and messengers
were sent In every direction, for Captain Lincoln, for the
members of the Cabinet, for the Surgeon-General, for the
President's private physician. Dr. Stone, for his pastor.
Dr. Gurley, of the New York Avenue Presbyterian Church,
and for others whose right it was to share in the closing
scenes of the great Emancipator's life.
Up at the White House the evening passed quietly after
the President and Mrs. Lincoln left for the theatre. An
old college chum had called on Captain Robert and stayed,
^ Statement to the present writer by Mr. Heru-y Ulke, portrait painter, vfho was then
one of the lodgers in the Peterson house. Mr. Ulke and his brother went up and down
the basement stairs all night, carrying bottles which they constantly re-filled with hot
water; the surgeons laid these bottles along the President's limbs in the hope of relax
ing their rigour.
'See WiUie Clark's letter, Appendbt XXII.

THE DEATH OF LINCOLN 101
talking and smoking in the captain's room, until about
ten o'clock. He had just gone when one of the sergeants
of the InvaUd Corps, who was doing duty at the White
House, rang the bell and told Tom Pendel, who opened the
door, that an attempt had been made to kill Secretary
Seward by cutting his throat. Pendel thought the rumour
a false one, arising with some person who did not know of
the Secretary's broken jaw. In a few minutes, however,
the sergeant returned, rang again, and said it was true
about Mr. Seward.'
It was a little after half-past ten when Pendel, looking
out, saw a number of excited persons hurrying toward the
east gate of the White House. In the lead were Senators
Sumner, Stewart, and Conness, who had just come from
Secretary Seward's house on a run.' Sumner asked
Pendel, who went out to see what the matter was, for news
of the President, and Pendel said: "Mr. Senator, I wish
you would go down to the theatre and see if anything has
happened." Just then there was the sound of furious driving;
a carriage turned in at the north gate of the White House
grounds and hardly slackened speed as it approached
the portico. Captain Robert Lincoln, who had not yet
retired, heard the approach of the carriage and stepped
' " Thirty-six Years in the White House," by Thomas C. Pendel, pp. 40-43.
^ " Reminiscences of W. M. Stewart," p. 191.

102 THE DEATH OF LINCOLN
to the open window of his room to look out. He saw
several persons alight in evident excitement, and his
immediate thought was that they were come on one of
those Ufe or death errands which brought so many frantic
petitioners to the White House at aU sorts of hours; it
being a strict rule of the President that they were to be
admitted without delay and brought to him, no matter
what time they came. Not many ever came in vain,
and Captain Lincoln felt regretful that this time anxious
petitioners for a Ufe must turn away disappointed — or
wait.' No one knows, to this day, who was in that carriage,
or if any one does he has not gone on record. Pendel
says it was Isaac Newton, 'the Commissioner of Agricul
ture; Senator Stewart says "one of the attaches of the
White House"; Captain Lincoln says he has n't the least
idea who It was. But somebody, fresh from Tenth
Street, brought the news of the assassination, and Senator
Conness said: "This Is a conspiracy to murder the entire
Cabinet."' And he ordered the sergeants on duty to
"Go immediately to Secretary Stanton's house and
prevent his assassination if possible." The soldiers
started Instantly and ran at top speed until they reached
Stanton's house where, according to Senator Stewart,
^ Told by Mr. Robert Lincoln to the present writer.
2 Stewart, p. 191,

THE DEATH OF LINCOLN 103
they saw "a man on the steps who had just rung the
bell. Seeing them he took fright and ran away and was
never afterward heard of. When the soldiers ran up the
steps Stanton himself had come to the door in response
to the ring. Had the soldiers been a few minutes later I
have no doubt that Stanton also would have been one of
the victims of the plot."
The three Senators went directly to Tenth Street.
The messengers, accompanied by Pendel, went upstairs to
break the news to Captain Lincoln and get him to go
immediately to the Peterson house. Pendel says It was
he who told, and that what he said was: "Captain, there
has something happened to the President. You had
better go down to the theatre and see what It Is." Captain
Lincoln understoood that his father had been shot.
"Where?" he asked. "In the arm," he thought some
body told him. "That is nothing," he said. "I am
grateful that he got off so easy." And he quite cheer
fully made ready to go to his father. Major Hay, who
roomed at the White House, was also Informed, and
immediately made ready to obey the summons to Tenth
Street. As he was leaving, he gave Pendel orders to
allow no one to enter the White House.
Pendel knew the seriousness of the President's con
dition, If not the hopelessness of It, and it was with stream-

104 THE DEATH OF LINCOLN
ing eyes and a breaking heart that he took up his position
at the door. Presently there was a sound of some one
coming to the east door downstairs and up the inner
stairway from the basement. Pendel turned to look,
and In a moment a small figure rushed at him In a wild
abandon of grief. It wg,s poor little Tad, who had heard
the awful news at Grover's Theatre. He buried his
head in the breast of his kind crony, the doorkeeper,
and sobbed, "O Tom Pen! Tom Pen! they've killed
my papa dead — they 've killed my papa dead!"
It was almost midnight when Pendel got the little lad
sufficiently pacified to go upstairs to bed. Up there, in
the room that seemed so empty of the great, kind presence
that was always, no matter what sorrows oppressed it,
full of tender playfulness with Tad, the doorkeeper
undressed the inconsolable boy and helped him into
bed, then lay down beside him soothing him and talking
to him till he fell asleep.'
It was a little before ten o'clock when a man came
hurriedly to the door of Justice Cartter, who lived on
Fifteenth Street near H, and asked if Surgeon-General
Barnes were there. The messenger had come from
the Surgeon-General's residence in all haste to fetch
the doctor to Secretary Seward's. The Surgeon-General
^ Told by Pendel to the present writer.

Collection of Americana, F. H. Meserve.
Lincoln and His Son, Tad
Said to have been made shortly before the assassination.

THE DEATH OF LINCOLN 105
had been playing whist in the library, and hearing the
inquiry for him he came into the hall and asked what
was the matter. When told that an attempt had been
made to assassinate Secretary Seward, he and Justice
Cartter at once went around the corner to Mr. Seward's
house, where they found a scene of indescribable horror
and confusion.'
Less than half an hour ago Lewis Payne had come to
the Seward house. William Bell, a coloured boy who was
"second waiter," went to the door, and when it was
opened Payne stepped inside. "He had a little package
in his hand; he said it was medicine for Mr. Seward
from Dr. Verdi, and that he was sent by Dr. Verdi to
direct Mr. Seward how to take it." Bell told him he
could not go upstairs — that it was against orders for
anybody to be allowed up — but if Payne would give
him the medicine and tell him the directions, he would
take it up and tell Mr. Seward's nurse. All the time
Bell was expostulating Payne was walking along the
hall toward the stairs, the medicine in his left hand and
his right hand in the pocket of his light overcoat. His
manner was so convincing that the coloured boy began
to believe himself wrong in barring the way, and followed
Payne up the stairs, begging pardon for having told him
•Buckingham, p. 19.

106 THE DEATH OF LINCOLN
he must not go up. "Oh, I know, that 's all right!"
Payne assured him, and went on — Bell at his heels en
treating him not to walk so heavily.
At the top of the stairs Payne encountered Mr. Fred
erick Seward, a son of the Secretary, and when the mes
sage about the medicine was repeated to Mr. Frederick
he went into his father's room, coming out almost imme
diately with word that the Secretary was asleep and the
medicine could not be delivered to him now. There was
an argument lasting perhaps five minutes, then Payne
turned on his heel saying : " Well, if I cannot see him  "
and started down the stairs preceded by Bell. They
had gone but a few steps when Payne turned back, made
a rush at Mr. Frederick, severely wounding him in the
head with the butt of a pistol which broke in the furious
blows. Mr. Frederick fell back into his sister's room.
She screamed, and aroused another brother. Major
Augustus H. Seward, who had retired at 7.30, expecting
to be called at eleven to sit up with his father. Sergeant
George F. Robinson, who was acting as nurse to the
Secretary, opened the door of the Secretary's room at
the sound of the scuffle in the hall, and was immediately
struck in the forehead by Payne's heavy knife, and held
aside while Payne rushed into the dimly-lighted room
and threw himself upon the prostrate Secretary, striking

THE DEATH OF LINCOLN 107
wildly at his victim's neck with the knife. When Major
Seward reached his father's room and saw the "two
men, one trying to hold the other," his first thought was
that his father had become delirious and attacked his
nurse. So he seized the uppermost man and dragged
him off, but soon discovered from the man's size and
strength that he was not the Secretary. Then Major
Seward thought Sergeant Robinson had gone out of his
mind, and he made a heroic effort to get this Infuriated
person out of the room so as not further to endanger or
alarm the Secretary.
While this encounter was in progress the assailant
kept striking at Major Seward's head and repeating in
an intense voice "I 'm mad! I 'm mad!" On reaching
the hall he gave a sudden turn and sprang away, disap
pearing down the stairs, but not before he had also
wounded Emrick W. Hansell, another nurse.
During those few bloody minutes that Payne was
upstairs. Bell had run to give the alarm, and was just
returning to the house when he saw Payne rush down
the steps, spring on to a horse, and ride north to I Street,
west to Fifteen-and-a-half Street, and thence at a
gallop into Vermont Avenue.
When General Barnes and Justice Cartter got to the
house they found Dr. Verdi already there attending to

108 THE DEATH OF LINCOLN
the five wounded men, of whom the Secretary was the
least seriously hurt, because the assailant's knife had
struck the steel frame binding the fractured jaw, and
glanced off without inflicting the mortal hurt it must
otherwise have accomplished.'
General Barnes was occupied with the Secretary and
his gravely wounded son, Mr. Frederick, Dr. Verdi
dressing the hurts of the others, when a "night liner"
(hack) was driven rapidly to the door and the bell was
violently pulled. Justice Cartter went to the door and
found the negro hackman who said that the President
had been shot and taken to a house on Tenth Street, and
that he had been sent to fetch General Barnes to the
President's bedside The hackman had been sent to
General Barnes's house, thence to Justice Cartter's, where
he was told of the assault on Secretary Seward, and was
now here and very thoroughly frightened.
Justice Cartter went to Mr. Seward's room, called
General Barnes aside, and told him of the demand for his
presence at another bedside. Explanation was then
made to Major Seward for their abrupt leaving, and
Justice and Surgeon-General hurried into the hack
telling the driver not to spare his horses. But the negro
was so panic-stricken that he declared he would n't drive
' C. T, pp. 154, 157, W. H. Bell, George F. Robinson, Major Augustus Seward, Sur
geon-General Barnes, Doctor T. S. Verdi.

THE DEATH OF LINCOLN 109
back into that crowd around Tenth Street for all the
money in Washington. Whereupon Justice Cartter, a
powerful man, jumped out of the carriage, seized the
negro from the box, thrust him inside with General
Barnes, mounted the driver's seat, and drove furiously
toward Tenth Street. At Eleventh and F, the guard
already in effect to keep back the frantic populace from
the scene of the tragedy attempted to hold them, but
the Justice, shouting that the Surgeon-General was
inside, never slackened until he pulled up in front of the
Peterson house.'
Secretaries Stanton and Welles were already there, as
were Captain Lincoln and Major Hay, and all looked
anxiously to the Surgeon-General to see if he could not
give some more hopeful diagnosis than that already given
by Dr. Taft and Dr. Stone. But the Surgeon-General,
carefully and tenderly noting where the ball had entered
and the course it took (obliquely upward to a point
behind the right eye), could only shake his head sadly.
He could not say how long the President's great vitality
might fight off dissolution, but there was no possible
hope — ; none.'
Soon Senators Sumner, Stewart, and Conness came,
and General Barnes told them that while they were
1 Buckingham, p. 20.
' C. T. p. 81 Dr. Stone.

no THE DEATH OF LINCOLN
privileged to enter the President's death-chamber, being
Senators, "there are too many people in there hastening
the President's death." Whereupon Senators Stewart
and Conness retired, but Sumner rushed into the little
room declaring: "I will go in. Nothing could keep
Charles Sumner out."'
Outside, the city seethed with excitement. Rumours
grew wilder and wilder as the night grew old. When
the papers went to press at two o'clock it was impossible
for them to say just what had really happened' except
that a man, declared by some to be John Wilkes Booth,
an actor, had fatally shot the President, and a man
believed to be John H. Surratt had stabbed the Secretary
of State. Rumours of Grant's assassination on the train
which was carrying him north were rife. Rumours of a
vast conspiracy to kill all the heads of Government, to bum
and sack Washington, to Install Jefferson Davis in the
White House, were passing from mouth to mouth and
growing, as they passed, like genii out of a bottle. There
was a frenzy of feeling against the South, against actors,
against Copperheads.
The panic-stricken mob in Ford's Theatre had begun
* Stewart, p. 192,
'The National Intelligencer, Washington, when it went to press at 2 A, m., said:
"Rmnours are so thick, the excitement of this hour is so intense, that we rely entirely
upon our reporters to advise the public of the details and results of this night of horrors.
Evidentlyconspirators are among us." Appendix XXlII: Note on despatches of the night.

THE DEATH OF LINCOLN 111
to shout: "Burn the theatre!" when they realized that it
was the assassin of the President who had fled across
the stage. And the same unthinking fury characterized
many of the mobs that surged through the streets all night.
The one voice that hushed them, that stayed violence, was
the voice of that man in any crowd who would climb
anything that might elevate him where he could be heard,
and entreat: "Hush! Stop! What would Mr. Lincoln
say if he could talk to you ?"'
The proprietor of the National Hotel, who had been In
the audience at Ford's Theatre, was a noted shot. When
he saw the man leap from the President's box he stood up
and cried : ' ' That man has shot the President ' Somebody
give me a pistol." But before any one could get a pistol
to him, the mad rush across the stage was over — the man
had gone. Into the office of the National Hotel about two
in the morning, came soldiers saying the man — the
assassin — was John Booth. "Impossible !"they told the
soldiers — these men who knew John Booth so well.
And all night long, that night of terror, they watched the
door for John to come In — to come walking blithely In as
was his wont, and give the lie to this foul story.'
Up on Tenth Street It was quiet. Cavalry patrolled E
and F Streets as far as Ninth Street on the east and

• Stewart, p. 193.
'Told the present writer by Mr. Burion.

112 THE DEATH OF LINCOLN
Eleventh Street on the west, and kept at bay every one
who had not urgent business within those lines.
The parlour floor of the Peterson house had a front and
a back parlour and a bedroom at the end of a long, narrow
hall. In the front parlour, on a sofa, Mrs. Lincoln sat,
comforted as best he could by young Captain Lincoln, who
came from time to time from his mother's side into the
chamber of death. At long intervals Mrs. Lincoln went
into the room where her husband lay, but was unable to
stay for more than a few moments at a time."
In the back parlour, which was often used as a bedroom
and then had in it a bed not made up. Secretary Stanton
sat at a small table commanding a view of the hallway
and all who approached the little room at the end. There
he wrote despatches announcing the tragedy, there he sat
and questioned the first obtainable witnesses — Corporal
James Tanner taking down the testimony, and Assistant-
Secretary of War Charles A. Dana directing the sending
of orders for precaution (particularly in the case of General
Grant) and for the arrest of persons mentioned as likely
to have complicity in the two murderous deeds.'
Through the house, above the soft footfalls of those
ministering to the dying, above the hushed tones of Stanton
' Statements of Mr. Field, Major Rathbone, Miss Harris. See Appendices
XXIV, XVIII, XX.
' Oldroyd, pp. 35-37-

THE DEATH OF LINCOLN 113
and Dana, above the sobbing of Mrs. Lincoln, sounded the
incessant moaning, the stertorous breathing of the Pres
ident. He was entirely unconscious, not the faintest
glimmer of understanding had come to him since the bullet
ploughed its way through his brain. He never knew what
sped him hence. He was here, smiling at long-delayed
peace, and then he was There, smiling iu peace never-
ending. In the interval his long, gaunt body — aged by
the four years of war more than most men age in a score
of years' — lay diagonally across the low-posted walnut
bed in Willie Clark's little 9 x 17 foot room. There was
striped wall paper on the walls, and a few pictures: a
cheap copy of Rosa Bonheur's "Horse Fair," a copy of
Herring's "The Village Blacksmith," and copies of "The
Stable" and "The Barnyard" by the same artist, also a
photograph of Ida, Clara, and Nannie Clark — Willie's
sisters. On the table were cushions worked for Willie
by his sisters Ida and Clara.
At a quarter before two Mrs. Lincoln went into the Uttle
room. The President was quiet then — the moaning,
the struggling motion of the long arms, were over. She

• No words could tell the story of those years as do the life and death masks of Lincoln,
the one made in Chicago, by Volk, shortly after Mr. Lincoln's election, and the other
in the White House, soon after his death. The present writer, holding a copy of one in
each hand, in the magnificent Lincoln library of Major W. H. Lambert, of Philadelphia,
felt as never before what the war must have meant to the man whose face it so awe
somely altered.

114 THE DEATH OF LINCOLN
stayed until ten minutes after two, when she returned to her
sofa in the parlour. At three o'clock she went In again
for a few moments. At 3.35 Dr. Gurley knelt by the bed
side and prayed. At six o'clock the pulse began to fail.
At 6.30 the laboured breathing was heard again. At 7
the physicians announced signs of immediate dissolution,
and at 7.22 the faint pulse ceased,' the last breath fluttered
from between the parted Ups, and Stanton's voice broke
the unbearable stillness saying: "Now he belongs to the
ages."' Dr. Gurley knelt again and prayed, after which he went
into the front parlour and prayed with Mrs. Lincoln,
presently assisting her to enter the death-chamber and,
leaning upon her son, look on the .still face of the dead
Chief. Three squares away, in a small bedroom in the
Kirkwood House, sleeping in a drunken stupor, lay the
unshaven, unkempt, unheeding man into whose hands the
deed of mad John Booth had given the reins of
government.' At nine o'clock the body of the President was placed in
a temporary coffin, wrapped in an American flag, and

1 Minutes of Dr. Ezra W. Abbott, attending physician.
2 "Life of Lincoln," by Ida M. Tarbell, vol. iv., p. 40; Nicolay and Hay, "Life of
Lincoln," vol. x, pp. 285, et seq. O. R. Series I, vol. xlvi., part iii., pp. 780, 784.
' Stewart, p. 94.

Collection oi" Mr. Robert Coster.

The Death of Abraham Lixcoln"

THE DEATH OF LINCOLN 115
borne by six soldiers to a hearse. Then, very quietly, with
only a tiny escort, moving through to G Street, the return
to the White House was made. A spring rain had been
falling since early morning, and the gay buntings that
were so soon to be replaced with the trappings of woe
wore a bedraggled look as the hero of peace went past.

PART III
THE PENALTY

m.
THE PENALTY
VI7"HEN Booth left th'e alley behind Ford's Theatre
and dashed Into F Street, he probably rode down
F to Seventh, along Seventh to the Avenue, down the Ave
nue (afterward It was said the horse had been heard gallop
ing past the National Hotel) to the Peace Monument, and
around the south side of the Capitol, then south and east
to the Navy Yard bridge over the eastern branch of the
Potomac. At the bridge he was halted by Sergeant SUas T. Cobb,
who detained him for three or four minutes while he asked
his name, residence, and destination. Booth gave answers
that satisfied the sergeant, even when asked why he tried
to get out of town when he must know that no one was
allowed to pass after nine o'clock; to this Booth said that
as it was a dark night he had thought to wait a little later
than the usual time and have the light of the moon to ride
home by. The moon was just rising as they parleyed, and
the sergeant told Mr. Booth — who gave his right name
— to pass. 119

120 THE DEATH OP LINCOLN
In ten minutes or thereabouts another man rode up and
was challenged. He said his name was Smith, that he lived
at White Plains, and that the reason he was late was, he
had been in bad company. This was Davy Herold, and
he was close under the shadow of his own home where his
mother and sisters were sleeping.'
Soon a third horseman rode furiously up and inquired if
a man riding a roan horse had gone that way. This was
Fletcher, the liveryman, who had chased Davy Herold thus
far from the corner of Fourteenth and the Avenue, to de
mand the Immediate return of his horse which Davy was
riding. The sergeant told this man he might pass if he
insisted, but that he could not return until morning; so
Fletcher turned reluctantly back, and at the corner of E
and Fourteenth Streets, where he stopped to speak to the
foreman of another stable, he was told that "President
Lincohi is shot and Secretary Seward Is almost dead,"
and advised that he would "better keep in." It was then
after one o'clock, he said. If it was, he must have
loitered, for he had ridden only about six miles.'
After leaving the bridge in Anacostia, Maryland (the
south end of the Navy Yard bridge). Booth turned to the
left and rode up a hlU called Good Hope Hill, half way up
the ascent of which he stopped PoUi Gardiner, a farmer
1 C. T. p. 84, Silas T. Cobb.
'C. T. p, 83, John Fletcher.

Collection of Americana i II Meserve.

The House on Tenth Street, Washington, D. C, in Which
Lincoln Died

THE DEATH OF LINCOLN 121
lad hastening to the bedside of his dying father, and asked
if a horseman had passed. Half a mile nearer to the
bridge Gardiner passed Davy. There were several team
sters in the road just then, and Davy directed a general
inquiry at them as to whether a horseman had passed. He
probably overtook Booth in ten minutes or thereabouts.'
Booth, It must be remembered, had broken the fibula
or small bone of his left leg, in his fall to the stage and was
suffering the most excruciating torture as he rode, the
splintered bone tearing into the flesh at every move.
Polk Gardiner told Booth the road to Marlboro was the
straight road ahead, but at the top of Good Hope Hill
Booth and Herold turned to the right into the road to
Surrattsvllle, thirteen miles southeast of Washington.
Here they roused the tavern-keeper — Mrs. Surratt's
tenant — from a drunken stupor and Herold went into the
bar-room where he called for the carbines he and John
Surratt and Atzerodt had left there five or six weeks before
in their preparations for the President's abduction on
March 16th. Herold got a bottle of whisky and took it out
to Booth as he sat on his horse In the yard; the second
carbine, however, Booth refused to take, saying he could
not carry it. Herold got, too, the field-glasses belonging
to Booth, which were the contents of the smaU package
• C. T. p. 85, Polk Gardiner.

122 THE DEATH OF LINCOLN
Mrs. Surratt had left there that afternoon. Herold paid
Lloyd for the whisky and as they were leaving (they stayed
only about five minutes) the man who had not come in
said — or, so, at least, Lloyd swore, although he
admitted he was "right smart in liquor that afternoon, and
after night I got more so " — "I will tell you some news if
you want to hear it: I am pretty certain that we have
assassinated the President and Secretary Seward."'
When soldiers, on Saturday and Sunday, asked Lloyd
if two men had stopped there or passed that way Friday
night, he said he had not seen them; but the following
Saturday, when the Secretary of War's bulletin was out
announcing $100,000 reward for the apprehension of
Booth, Herold, and John Surratt, Mr. Lloyd began to have
a squeamish conscience and hastened to put the Govern
ment In possession of his valuable knowledge.
Booth and Herold rode away from Surrattsvllle in the
bright moonlight, and Instead of turning to the west at the
cross-roads and taking the much-nearer road to Port
Tobacco, where they hoped to cross the Potomac on Atze
rodt's boat and get into Virginia, they were obliged to turn
eastward to Upper Marlboro, for Booth had determined
to go to Dr. Mudd's house to get his broken bone set.
Five miles from Surrattsvllle they galloped through the
>C. T. p. 8s, John M. Lloyd.

The Alley Behind Ford's Theatre, Washington, D. C.

THE DEATH OF LINCOLN 123
little village of T. B. out of which six roads branch in as
many directions. If they roused any one here, at one
o'clock, to Inquire their way, we do not know it. The
next we know of them is at four o'clock Saturday morning,
when Davy Herold stood knocking at Dr. Samuel Mudd's
front door. Dr. and Mrs. Mudd were sleeping In a back
room downstairs, and Dr. Mudd, who was not feeling
well, asked Mrs. Mudd if she would mind seeing who it
was — a knock at a country doctor's door at that hour
being, doubtless, much less alarming than a knock at an
ordinary residence door would have been. Mrs. Mudd
replied: "I would rather you would go and see for your
self." So the doctor got up and went to the door in his
night clothes. In the yard were two men and two horses ;
one man was mounted and the other, who had knocked,
was holding both horses by the bridles. The dismounted
man said the other had broken his leg and desired medical
attendance, to which the doctor readily acceded and
returned to his room to put on some clothing and ask Mrs.
Mudd to tear bandages for him. While she was doing this,
the doctor and the uninjured man got the injured man off
his horse and carried him Into the parlour, where the doctor
cut the long riding-boot off the swollen foot — or, rather
cut a slit about twelve Inches long from the Instep upward,
so the boot would come off over the swollen ankle — and

124 THE DEATH OF LINCOLN
found that the fracture was about two inches above the
instep. After dressing the injured leg. Dr. Mudd granted
the man's request for a little rest, and helped his compan
ion to carry him upstairs and put him to bed. Then the
horses were put up, and Dr. Mudd went back to bed and
to sleep.
At 7.30, breakfast being ready, the doctor sent a servant
upstairs to tell the uninjured young man, who said his
name was Tyson, that he was asked to join the family at
table. Mrs. Mudd, meanwhile, was busying herself in the
kitchen with a tray for the sick man which she sent up to
him by a servant.
At breakfast "Tyson" asked the doctor some questions
about people in lower Maryland, and betrayed so much
acquaintance with the region that Mrs. Mudd asked him
if he were a native of it. He replied: "No, ma'am, but
I have been frolicking around for five or six months."
Whereupon Mrs. Mudd reminded him that "all play and
no work makes Jack a bad boy. Your father ought to
make you go to work." "My father is dead," he
answered, " and I am ahead of the old lady." He seemed,
Mrs. Mudd said, "not to have a care in the world." He
told the doctor he and his companion, whom he called
Tyler, were on their way to the river, and asked which was
the nearest road. The doctor took him out into the yard

THE DEATH OF LINCOLN 125
and pointed the road out to him. Then "Tyson" went
upstairs and probably slept, for nothing further was heard
of the strangers till dinner-time. " Tyson " ate dinner with
the family and seemed to relish it keenly, but the man
upstairs sent back untouched all the food that went to him
for breakfast and for dinner. At dinner "Tyson" asked
the doctor If he could get a carriage In the neighbourhood
to carry his friend away, and the doctor replied that he
was going to Bryantown after dinner to get the mail and
see some patients, and if " Tyson " cared to go with him he
would see what could be done about a carriage. After
they left, Mrs. Mudd, having asked If she might go up to
see the sick man and received cordial permission, took to
his room a tray with some cake, a couple of oranges, and
a glass of wine, and asked the man, whose face was turned
to the wall. If there was anything she could do for him.
He asked for brandy, but there was none In the house, and
as he showed no disposition to talk, Mrs. Mudd went down
stairs and busied herself In the preparations for Easter
then going on in her kitchen.
In a little while "Tyson" came back and rapped on the
kitchen window. He said he and the doctor had gone to
the home of the doctor's father and asked the loan of the
family carriage; but the morrow being Easter the carriage
was needed to take the ladles to church. So "Tyson"

126 THE DEATH OF LINCOLN
concluded to try the horses and, leaving Dr. Mudd on the
road to Bryantown, returned. He went upstairs, and
Mrs. Mudd heard him and his companion moving around
the room. In a short time they came dovrastairs, the
injured man hobbling on a stick which "Tyson" had
obtained of the Mudds' gardener. Mrs. Mudd was
standing in the hall at the foot of the stairs when they came
down, and she noticed that the heavy whiskers "Tyler"
wore were false, for they became partially detached as he
hobbled painfully down the stairs. Above the heavy
whiskers the black eyes bespoke such agony that Mrs.
Mudd begged "Tyson" not to take his suffering friend
away. "If he suffers much we won't go far," said
" Tyson." " I will take him to my lady-love's, not far from
here." He helped the crippled man into the saddle,
mounted his own horse, and they rode away.
An hour later Dr. Mudd returned from Bryantown and
told his wife he had heard there of the assassination of the
President, and that there were soldiers in Bryantown and
all about looking for the assassin, who was believed to
have crossed the Navy Yard bridge into Maryland. As
he talked he said: "Those men who were here were
suspicious characters. I will go to Bryantown and
tell the officers." But Mrs. Mudd, although she agreed
with him about the men and told him of the false whiskers.

Collection of Americana, F. H. Meserve.
Lincoln's House, Springfield, III., Draped at the Time of His Death

THE DEATH OF LINCOLN 127
begged him not to go and leave her alone — to send word
to the soldiers from church to-morrow. This he did,
tellmg his distant cousin. Dr. George A. Mudd, under
whom he had studied medicine, about the circumstances
of the two men's stay at his house; and Dr. George Mudd
told Lieutenant Dana on Monday morning — a degree of
unhaste which is the worst thing wherewith Dr. Samuel
Mudd is chargeable.'
At that time it was said the assassin of the President
"was supposed to be a man named Booth," but he was
believed by many not to have got out of Washington. The
assailant of Secretary Seward was reported to be a noted
desperado and guerrilla named Boyle. Dr. Samuel Mudd
was quoted as having said, on hearing Booth mentioned In
connection with the murder, that he believed he could
recognize the Injured man who had been at his house as
John Booth, whom he had last seen in Washington on the
twenty-third of December.'
On Saturday, the 15th, after leaving Dr. Mudd's, Booth
and Herold were able to proceed but slowly, owing to
Booth's extreme weakness and suffering. They lost their

1 *' Life of Dr. Mudd," pp. 30-32, 46. Lieutenant David Dana reached Piscataway at
seven Saturday morning, and shortly afterward telegraphed the War Ofl&ce that he had
-'reliable information that the person who murdered (?) Secretary Seward is Boyce or
Boyd, the man who killed Captain Watkins in Maryland." O. R. Series I, vol. xlvi.
part iii, p. 767.
' " Life of Mudd," pp. 46-47.

128 THE DEATH OF LINCOLN
way once, and Herold went to a negro cabin and got its
occupant, Oswald Swann, to go with them as guide to the
house of Colonel Cox, which they did not reach until one
o'clock. Colonel Samuel Cox was a man whose Confederate
sympathies were at least sufficiently ardent and dependable
for him to have been apprised of the plot to abduct Presi
dent Lincoln. Dr. Mudd seems also to have known of
that plot, and he may have told Colonel Cox. Also, if
the abduction scheme were ever talked over between
Booth and Dr. Mudd, the doctor may have told Booth that
Colonel Cox was one of the men on the way to the Potomac
who could be relied on for assistance. Or Herold may
have heard something to that effect in his "skylarking"
about that country.
At any rate Colonel Cox, who had heard when the mail
came, toward evening on Saturday, of the President's
assassination, and who was deeply horrified thereby, was
roused from his sleep about one o'clock Sunday morning
by loud rapping with the old brass knocker on his front
door. On the porch, or gallery, stood a young man who
asked hospitality for himself and his wounded companion.
The youth refused to give their names, and Colonel Cox
told him he could not take in strangers of whom he knew
nothing, because the assassin of the President was at large

THE DEATH OF LINCOLN 129
and the country thereabouts was beginning to be searched
by soldiers.
So Davy went back and reported this to John, who was
waiting in the yard, and Colonel Cox's usually hospitable
door was shut and bolted, and the Colonel went back to
bed. Out in the moonlit yard the two fugitives consulted
desperately. Then they paid Oswald Swann ten dollars
and dismissed him; and when he was gone, back toward
Bryantown, they found their way to a gully about half a
mile from Colonel Cox's house, and there lay, trembling
with apprehension.
Sunday morning — Easter Sunday morning — as
Colonel Cox was riding about his farm, he came upon them.
They must have recognized him from afar, for they did
not shoot. When he saw the helplessness and the acute
suffering of Booth his heart was touched, and It was when
he saw that, probably, that Booth disclosed their Identity
and threw himself and his companion on the colonel's
mercy. Cox's reprehension of Booth's awful deed was
the first shock the mad, misguided young murderer had,
his first bitter taste of the world's malediction instead
of that grateful praise he had so confidently expected.
Colonel Cpx agreed, nevertheless, to give them the protec
tion he had promised before their revelation, and con
ducted them to a pine thicket about a mile and a half from

130 THE DEATH OF LINCOLN
his home. Returning to the house, he sent a white farm
hand to Huckleberry Farm to fetch Thomas A. Jones, his
foster-brother.' Jones said afterward that he suspected something
wrong,as he had heard the evening before of the President's
assassination; but he was hardly prepared to be told that
the assassin was there and that he was to take care of him.
Colonel Cox directed him to the thicket and told him to
give a certain whistle as a signal, so he might reach the
men without being shot.
Herold came out of the dense pines on hearing the
whistle, and when he had received Jones's explanations
conducted him to where Booth lay on the ground wrapped
in blankets, his face drawn with great pain. Booth asked
Jones a great many questions as to what people thought
of the assassination, and appeared, Jones thought, to be
proud of what he had done. "I at the time," Jones
afterward admitted, "thought he had done a great act;
but, great God! I soon saw that it was the worst blow
ever struck for the South."
Jones carried food to the fugitives and took them the
papers.' He told them he would let them know the minute
1 For details of Booth's fiight after leaving Dr, Mudd's, up to the time he crossed the
Rappahannock, the writer is indebted chiefly to the painstaking research of Mr. Osbom
H. Oldroyd who, in 1901, walked over the entire ground traversed by Booth and Herold,
and talked with many surviving persons who had assisted them in their fiight.
' See Appendix XXV: Note on Southern horror of Booth's deed.

£?j.w„ ^---is-^ ?i-.'-^v-t , '/*-r*»s

Lincoln's Funeral Car

. K.,

Collection of Americana, F. H. Meserve.
President Lincoln's Hearse

THE DEATH OF LINCOLN 131
it was safe for them to emerge from their thicket and
attempt to cross the Potomac. And there, on the property,
not of Colonel Cox, but of Captain Michael Stone Robert
son, Booth and Herold lay until the night of Friday,
April 21st, just a week after Booth's crime.'
It was while he lay there and knew the surrounding
country to be full of soldiers searching for him — while
he could hear the neighing of the cavalry horses ridden
in hot pursuit of him, and had to order his own horse
and Herold's sent away and shot by Cox's overseer,
Franklin A. Roby, lest their answering neigh betray
the hiding-place — that he made two entries In his litttle
red-leather-bound diary which he carried in an Inner
pocket and In the back of which he had the photographs
of half a dozen pretty girls. He dated the first entry
"April 13, 14, Friday the Ides," writing that date around
the words "Te amo," evidently of long previous inscrip
tion at some happier time when he was practising love
messages in Latin.
"Until to-day," that first entry says, "nothing was
ever thought of sacrificing to our country's wrongs. For
six months we had worked to capture. But our cause
being almost lost, something decisive and great must be
done. But its failure was owing to others, who did not
strike for their country with a heart. I struck boldly,
' Buckingham, pp. 64-63.

132 THE DEATH OF LINCOLN
and not as the papers say. I walked with a firm step
through a thousand of his friends, was stopped, but
pushed on. A colonel 'vvas at his side. I shouted Sic
semper before I fired. In jumping broke my leg. I
passed all his pickets. Rode sixty miles [sic] that night,
with the bone of my leg tearing the flesh at every jump.
" I can never repent it, though we hated to kill.
Our country owed all her troubles to him, and God
simply made me the instrument of his punishment.
"The country is not what it was. 'This forced Union
is not what I have loved. I care not what becomes of
me. I have no desire to outlive my country. This
night (before the deed) I wrote a long article and left it
for one of the editors of the National Intelligencer in
which I fully set forth our reasons for our proceeding.
He or the gov'n  "'
Here, either from weakness, or perhaps with a sudden
alarm, the diary abruptly breaks. And there is but one
more entry, dated "Friday 21."
On the night of the assassination, shortly before ten
o'clock, WilUam Williams, a captain of police cavalry in
Washington, passed Ford's Theatre, and seeing John
Booth on the street in front of the theatre asked him to
take a drink. John declined, pleading some good-
natured excuse, and Captain Williams went on toward
the Avenue and entered Doc Claggett's restaurant at the
1 Suppressed by the War OflBce for two years, and finally introduced in evidence,
on the demand of the defence, at the trial of John Surratt in 1867. (S. T. vol. i, p 310)
This copy was made especially for this book, direct from the original in the office of the
Judge-Advocate-General, War Office, Washington, D. C.

THE DEATH OF LINCOLN 133
corner of Tenth Street and the Avenue. He was there,
less than half an hour later, when some one rushed in
and said the President had been shot at Ford's. Captain
Wnilams ran to the theatre, and there some one in autho
rity told him to bring his cavalry quickly to the scene.
This he did, and spent the night guarding the Kirkwood
House where Johnson lay. Early on Saturday morning,
Provost-Marshal O'Beirne went to the hotel with a
cavalry squad under Lieutenant Alexander Lovett, and
ordered Williams to join them In the hunt for the assassin,'
In a few minutes the pursuers were clattering down the
Avenue toward the Capitol, on their way to the Navy
Yard bridge. A little later. Major A. C. Richards,
Superintendent of the Metropolitan Police, crossed the
bridge with his mounted squad. All day Saturday,
indeed, pursuers poured Into Maryland, until by nightfall
there were nearly two thousand of them galloping madly
around, doing doubtless rather more harm than good.
On Tuesday, a detective party under the command of
Major James R. O'Belrne started down the river by
steamer, arriving at Port Tobacco that night. Here
there was a great meeting of the searching squads. Major
Walte, of the 8th Illinois Cavalry, was there when the
detectives got there; he had been as far south as Leonards-
1 Buckingham, pp. 61-63.

134 THE DEATH OF LINCOLN .
town and had returned because he could get no trace of
the fugitives down that way. So It was determined to
sweep the swamps around Port Tobacco and also to
send a posse to the river, four miles away. Accordingly,
fourteen hundred cavalrymen there collected were ordered
to dismount and search the swamps. These men were:
700 men of the 8th Illinois, 600 men of the 22nd Coloured
Troops, and 100 men of the 16th New York Cavalry.
But no trace of the assassin could be found, although
the whole searching party doubtless passed him once,
and small detachments of It probably repassed him many
times. On Wednesday, at the bar of Brawner's Hotel in Port
Tobacco, Captain Williams stood next to a lean, inscru
table man who could. If he would, Williams felt, tell
something about the man they sought. So Williams
announced that he would give $300,000 for information
leading to the capture of Booth — keenly eyeing the lean
man as he said it. But the lean man's face never changed
its blank expression; his name was Thomas A. Jones.'
On Friday, Jones, was at Allen's Fresh, and heard the
discouraged officers of the searching squad order their
men down Into St. Mary's County, where they then
began to believe the assassin must be. Mounting his
1 Buckiugham, pp. 63, 64.

Collection of Americana, F, H, Meserve.
New York City Hall When Lincoln's Body Lay There in State

THE DEATH OF LINCOLN , 135
horse, Jones made good time to the pine thicket, where
he announced that the crossing of the river might be
attempted that night.
No move could be made until after dark, and It was
doubtless while waiting for this cover of the moonless
night that Booth made the second and last entry In his
diary. From the first sentence of this it would seem that
on Thursday night Booth and Herold must have made
a desperate and unadvised attempt to get away. The
entry reads:
Friday, 21. — After being hunted like a dog through
swamps and woods, and last night being chased by gun
boats till I was forced to return, wet, cold, and starving,
with every man's hand against me, I am here In despair.
And why ? For doing what Brutus was honoured for —
what made William Tell a hero; and yet I, for striking
down an even greater tyrant than they ever knew, am
looked upon as a common cutthroat. My act was purer
than either of theirs. One hoped to be great himself;
the other had not only his country's, but his own, wrongs
to avenge. I hoped for no gain; I knew no private wrong.
I struck for my country, and her alone. A people ground
beneath this tyranny prayed for this end, and yet now
see the cold hands they extend to me! God cannot
pardon me if I have done wrong; yet I cannot see any
wrong, except In serving a degenerate people. The
little, the very little, I left behind to clear my name, the
Government will not allow to be printed. So ends all!
For my country I have given up all that makes Ufe sweet
and holy — to-night misfortune upon my family, and

136 THE DEATH OF LINCOLN
am sure there Is no pardon for me In the heavens, since
man condemns me so. I have only heard of what has
been done (except what I did myself), and It fills me with
horror. God, try and forgive me and bless my mother.
To-night I will once more try the river, with the intention
to cross; though I have a greater desire and almost a mind
to return to Washington, and In a measure clear my name,
which I feel I can do.
I do not repent the blow I struck. I may before my
God, but not to man. I think I have done well, though
I am abandoned, with the curse of Cain upon me, when,
if the world knew my heart, that one blow would have
made me great, though I did desire no greatness. To
night I try once more to escape these bloodhounds. Who,
who, can read his fate? God's will be done. I have
too great a soul to die Uke a criminal. Oh! may He
spare me that, and let me die bravely. I bless the entire
world. I have never hated nor wronged any one. This
last was not a wrong, unless God deems it so, and it Is
with Him to damn or bless me. And for this brave boy,
Herold, here with me, who often prays (yes, before and
since) with a true and sincere heart, was it a crime m
him ? If so, why can he pray the same ? I do not wish
to shed a drop of blood, but I must fight the course.
'T is all that 's left me.
When the darkness permitted, Jones went to the
thicket and with Herold's help lifted Booth to his
(Jones's) horse. Then, Herold leading the horse and
Jones waUiing a little in advance to show the way and
to scout, they proceeded to Huckleberry Farm, which
was about three-quarters of a mile from the Potomac.

THE DEATH OF LINCOLN 137
Here Jones hid his men in the orchard while he went In
to get them some food. Booth begged piteously, with
tears in his eyes, to be taken into the house for a cup of
hot coffee, but Jones knew the risk of being seen by some
of the negroes about the place was too great, and refused.
From Huckleberry Farm to the river the road Is a
winding one, through woods much of the way, and Jones
and Herold made but slow progress over it with Booth
on Jones's horse. At the water's edge was a flat-bot
tomed boat in whichHenry Woodland, a faithful coloured
man belonging to Jones, had been fishing for shad that
day. Jones had told him where to leave the boat, and
here he found it when he and the fugitives reached the
river. He and Herold lifted Booth Into the stern of the
boat. Booth paid him all he would take ($17), Herold
took up the oars, and just before he pushed them off
Jones lighted a candle for a moment and showed Booth
how to steer to get Into Machodoc Creek. He gave him,
also, directions to a Mrs. Quesenberry's who, Jones
thought, would harbour them. Booth thanked Jones
profusely as he shoved their little boat out into the rough,
rain-swept river — and In a moment more he and the boy
Davy were alone in the all-enveloping blackness.'
"The night was ink-black," said Jones, describing It
'Buckingham, p. 67.

138 THE DEATH OF LINCOLN
long afterward, "and I could not see either of the men,
but had to feel for them; and as I was in the act of pushing
the boat off Booth said, in a voice choked with emotion :
'God bless you, my dear friend, for all you have done
for me. Good-bye, good-bye!' I pushed the boat off,
and it glided out In the darkness. I could see nothing,
and the only sound was the swish of the waves made by
the little boat. Never in all my life did my heart go out
in more pity and sympathy for my fellow-man than that
night. I stood on the shore and listened till the sound
of the oars died away In the distance, then climbed the
hill and took my way home, and my sleep was more
quiet, and peaceful than it had been for some time."'
It was more quiet and peaceful than it would have been
could he have known what was happening to his late
charges. After long, hard rowing, they found themselves
twelve miles out of their way and obliged to retrace their
course, which they did not dare to do then, lest daylight
find them abroad. So they hid themselves in this strange
place, not knowing what manner of place it was, and
early In the morning Davy ventured cautiously out of
hiding and made his way to the house of Colonel J. J.
Hughes, where he begged food and learned how best to
make their way thence to Machodoc Creek.
'Oldroyd, p. no.

THE DEATH OF LINCOLN 139
AU day Saturday they lay concealed beside Avon Creek,
and in the darkness pushed their boat out again into the
Potomac and made for the Virginia shore. Machodoc
Creek, when they reached It, had so -many small vessels
in it that they would not venture in, but tried Gambo
Creek, a mile distant. Here Herold tied their boat,
helped Booth out, and .settled him under a black-walnut
tree while he sought Mrs. Quesenberry's cottage to ask
for food and directions. He returned, presently, with
Thomas H. Harbin, a brother-in-law of Jones, who lived
in the neighbourhood. Harbin guided them farther up
Gambo Creek and to the cabin of a man named Bryan, who
gave them refuge from early Sunday morning until some
time Sunday afternoon, when he conveyed them through
the woods to the summer home of a Dr. Richard Stuart,
from whom, on account of his well-known ardour for the
Southern cause. Booth hoped to receive a welcome.
But Dr. Stuart was of no mind to put himself In jeopardy
with the Government now that the war was over, and he
refused to harbour the fugitives. He gave them some
food (most of the food received must have been con
sumed by Davy, for whenever Booth was observed It
was noted that he left everything untouched) and
directed them to the cabin of a negro on his place, one
William Lucas.

140 THE DEATH OF LINCOLN
Booth, keenly feeling this rebuff, wrote a note (probably
in Lucas's cabin) and sent it back to the doctor. It read :
Forgive me, but I have some little pride. I cannot
blame you for want of hospitality; you know your own
affairs. I was sick, tired, with a broken leg, and In need
of medical assistance. I would not have turned a dog
away from my door in such a plight. However, you were
kind enough to give us something to eat, for which I not
only thank you; not for the rebuke and manner in which
to [piece torn out]. It is not the substance, but the way
in which kindness Is extended, that makes one happy in
the acceptance thereof. The sauce to meat Is ceremony,
meeting were bare without it. Be kind enough to accept
the enclosed five dollars, although hard to spare, for what
we have had.'
Lucas kept the men Sunday night, and early on Monday
morning took them in a waggon to Port Conway on the
Rappahannock, where they arrived at 9.30. William
Rollins, the ferryman plying between Port Conway and
Port Royal on the opposite side of the river, was sitting at
the door of his little house mending his nets when Herold
asked for water for himself and his lame "brother" who
was across the street. He asked, too, about getting across
the river, and was told he would have to wait a little while
until the tide rose.
While they were waiting, three Confederate officers rode
up to the ferry. They were Captain William M. Jett,
1 S. T, vol. i, p. 402.

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THE DEATH OF LINCOLN 141
Lieutenant A. R. Bainbrldge, and Lieutenant Ruggles,
and when It became evident that they, too, were going to
wait for the ferry, Herold got out of Lucas's waggon and
came toward them. Inquiring of them to what command
they belonged. Ruggles answered : "Mosby's command."
Whereupon Herold ventured: "If I am not inquisitive,
can I ask you where you are going?" Jett told him that
was a secret. Presently Booth got out of the waggon and on
his rude. Improvised crutches approached the officers, to
whom he said he was a member of the corps of A. P. Hill,
the gallant commander whose death In the Appomattox
campaign had brought such sorrow to the Confederacy.
Herold then spoke up and said their name was Boyd,
that his "brother" had been wounded In the fighting
below Petersburg, and that they wanted to get "out of the
lines." He turned to Jett — they were all sitting down,
now, In front of Rollins's house — touched him on the
shoulder and, saying he wanted to speak to him, led him
over to the wharf where he further entreated Jett to take
his "brother" and him south. To this pleading Jett
answered: "I cannot go with any man that I don't know
anything about." And Herold, after a moment's thought,
whispered in great agitation: "We are the assassinators of
the President." Jett was confounded beyond the power
of reply. He saw Ruggles at the river watering his horse

142 THE DEATH OF LINCOLN
and called him to the wharf. There was a consultation in
which Booth presently joined, hobbling down from the
house; and the upshot of it was that when the tide rose
they crossed together, Booth riding Ruggles's horse.
Arrived on the Port Royal side, Jett went to the house of
a lady he knew and asked her if she would entertain two
Confederate soldiers for two or three days. At first she
said she would, then she refused. So the five men went
along the road toward Bowling Green, and about three
miles on the way came to the comfortable farmhouse of a
Mr. Garrett who consented, on solicitation, to shelter
a wounded Confederate for a day or two.
It was about three o'clock Monday afternoon when Jett
— although he did not know Mr. Garrett — undertook
the introduction to him of "John William Boyd," and
asked Mr. Garrett to care for "Boyd" until Wednesday
morning, at which time his companions would call for him.
Thereupon the four others rode off, Herold stopping for
that night with Ruggles at the house of a Mrs. Clark in
the neighbourhood of Bowling Green. Jett had a sweet
heart In the latter village and she was the occasion of his
presence In the vicinity; her father kept the hotel, and
thither Jett made haste as soon as he had safely bestowed
Booth.'

^ C. T. p. 90, Captain William M. Jett; Century Magazine for January, 1890, pp.
443 et seq : "The Pursuit and Death of Booth," by Bainbridge, Jett, and Ruggles.

THE DEATH OF LINCOLN 143
At ten o'clock Monday morning, April 24th, S. H.
Beckwith, General Grant's cipher operator, who had on
the Saturday previous (April 22d) been ordered to the
lower Potomac to establish communication between the
various searching parties, wired as follows from Port
Tobacco :
Major Eckert: Have just met Major O'Beirne, whose
force has arrested Dr. Mudd and Thompson. Mudd set
Booth's left leg (fractured), furnished crutches, and helped
him and Herold off. They have been tracked as far as
the swamp near Bryantown.'
Meantime, on Saturday night, hard on the trail of the
fugitives, O'Belrne and his detectives had crossed the
Potomac, and although most of the party were exhausted
by that time and had to stay behind on the Virginia shore,
the major and one man pushed on all night, going as far
as King George, where they thought they found evidence
that the men they sought were trying to make Port Royal.
On Sunday they returned to Chapel Point, passing their
quarry on the way, and O'Beirne telegraphed Washington
for permission to pursue the chase to Port Royal, This
was refused, and he was ordered home.'

' " Lincoln in the Telegraph Office,'' p. 373.
2 Baker, p. 494, describes how O'Beirne " asked permission to pursue, promising fo
catch the assassins before they reached Port Royal. This the department refused,
and O'Beirne returned to Washington, cheerful and contented." We are glad to have
Baker's assurance about the cheer and content, but O'Beime's would be more convincing.

144 THE DEATH OF LINCOLN
There was a large reward for the capture of Booth and
Herold, and every one in the country, seemingly, was anxi
ous to swear something or do something to get a portion of
it. O'Belrne was undoubtedly entitled to a lion's share.
But up in Washington there was Baker — Lafayette C. —
chief of the Secret Service. Baker was a pious old fraud
who left a most malodorous reputation in Washington,
where he was tried for blackmail and technically acquitted,
although he was very generally believed to be one of the
worst leeches in the Government employ. He stood well
with Stanton, however, and on Monday the 24th, when
Beckwith's cipher message was received at the War
Office, Stanton ordered O'Beirne home and gave the
situation into Baker's hands.
Lieutenant Edward P. Doherty and twenty-six picked
men of the 16th New York Cavalry were ordered to report
to Baker, which they did about two o'clock Monday after
noon. Baker put these men in charge of Colonel Everton
J. Conger and Lieutenant Luther B. Baker, both of his
staff and the latter a cousin of the Secret Service chief.
And about four o'clock — shortly after Booth had been
taken Into the Garrett home — these twenty-nine pursuers
embarked on the steamer John S. Ide and sailed down to
Belle Plain, the nearest landing to Fredericksburg, arriving
at ten o'clock. From Belle Plain they galloped across

Collection of Mr. Robert Coster,
The Lincoln Monument at Springfield, III.

Cat.vcomb and Sarcophagus

THE DEATH OF LINCOLN 145
country, riding all night and all day Tuesday. At three
o'clock Tuesday afternoon they arrived at the Port Conway
ferry, found Rollins, showed him photographs of Booth
and Herold, and learned from him that the men wanted
had been ferried across the Rappahannock by him just
about twenty-four hours before. Rollins said they had
started for Bowling Green, In company with three Con
federate officers. He was arrested and taken as guide, the
river was ferried again, and about sundown the posse
galloped past Garrett's, where Booth and the family
were seated on the porch.' Herold was there, too. He
had come to the house during the afternoon with Jett and
Bainbrldge, who left him there and rode off. Later they
came riding back and gave Booth the alarm, telling him
of the presence of Federal troops at the ferry. When
Booth saw the troops go by, he and Herold retired pre
cipitately to a thicket behind the barn, not venturing
thence until summoned to supper. Asked why they
feared the Federal troops now that the war was over.
Booth said they had been " in a little brush over in Mary
land " and thought best to Ue low for a few days.
The Garretts suspected their guest. He had offered to
buy the horse of Jack Garrett for $150, but young Garrett
refused because the horse was one he had ridden through

1 C. T. pp. 91, 95, Everton J. Conger, Edward Doherty,

146 THE DEATH OF LINCOLN
the late campaigns of Lee's army and was given him by
the magnanimous terms of Grant's peace compact at
Appomattox. Booth then offered Garrett ten dollars to
take him the next morning to Guinea Station, eighteen
miles away. To this Garrett agreed, and Booth paid the
money then and there.
When bedtime came, Booth manifested strong reluctance
to go upstairs, and on insisting that he would rather sleep
anywhere else, even In a barn, was conducted to a large
tobacco-house in which was stored a lot of valuable old
furniture belonging to wealthy families of Port Royal who
hoped thus to preserve their heirlooms from destruction at
the hands of the Federal soldiers.
Jack Garrett believed this sleeping in the barn was a
ruse; that the strange men would get up In the night and
steal their horses. So he locked them Into the tobacco-
house and gave the key to a Miss HoUoway who boarded
with the Garretts. And he and his brother went to a shed
near the tobacco-house, whence they could keep watch of
their suspicious visitors.'
It was after eleven o'clock that night when the soldiers
Booth had seen passing Garrett's before sundown reached
Bowling Green, surrounded the little tavern, and arrested
Jett, who was In bed. Conger demanded to know where
' Oldroyd, pp. 298-299.

THE DEATH OF LINCOLN 147
the two men Jett had crossed the ferry with were now, and
Jett, very much frightened, told Conger where they were
and offered to go as guide and show the way.
At two In the morning the squad of thirty surrounded
Garrett's farmhouse and Lieutenant Baker rapped loudly
at the kitchen door. Presently the elder Garrett came to
the door in his nightclothes, and was roughly seized by
Baker, who clutched the old man's throat with one hand
and with the other held a pistol to his head. When Mr.
Garrett could speak, he said the men were gone. But
just then Jack Garrett appeared from his shed, and
urged upon his father, whom Conger was threatening to
hang, the need of telling the truth In the matter. A guard
was left to watch the father, and the rest of the posse, led by
Jack Garrett, approached the tobacco-house. The
soldiers were stationed around the building — which was
only about 100 feet from the residence — at a distance
of ten yards, with four of them at the padlocked door.
The key was fetched from the house, and while they were
waiting for it a rustling noise could be heard within the
tobacco-house. Baker spoke to the men inside saying he would send In
to demand their surrender one of the young Garretts.
To this youth he ordered them to deliver their arms, after
which they were to come out and give themselves up.

148 THE DEATH OF LINCOLN
Accordingly, the trembling Garrett boy was sent within,
and soon returned, reporting that Booth had cursed him
for a betrayer and "reached down into the hay behind
him" as If for a weapon — whereupon Garrett waited not
on the order of his going, but went at once.
Then Baker called In to them that if they did not 6ome
out in five minutes he would fire the tobacco-house. To
which Booth replied in a ringing voice : "Who are you;
what do you want; whom do you want?"
"We want you," said Baker, "and we know who you
are; give up your arms and come out."
"Let us have a little time to consider," urged Booth;
and this was granted.
Ten minutes went by in hushed stillness, awaiting the
least sound from within — fifteen minutes. In the yard
the thirty pursuers, including Captain WUUam Jett, who
must have hated himself for his betrayal of a wounded
man; hovering anxiously among them, the Garrett boys,
indignant at the brutal treatment of their father, worried
about the valuables In the tobacco-house,deeply concerned
about the shock to their mother and the fright of their
little sister; on the fringes of the little crowd, wide-eyed,
agitated blacks, shivering with terror and yet appreciative
of the excitement; on the pillared gallery of the home-like
two-storied white house a little group of horror-stricken

THE DEATH OF LINCOLN 149
women, including Mrs. Garrett and Miss HoUoway, her
boarder. And from within the tobacco-house not a sound.
At length, the ringing voice again:
"Who are you and what do you want?"
And from Baker the reply: "We want you; we want to
take you prisoners."
"Captain," said the clear voice, every tone of which
was distinguishable on the gallery, a hundred feet away,
"I know you to be a brave man, and I believe you to be
honourable. I am a cripple; I have got but one leg. If
you will withdraw your men In line one hundred yards from
the door I will come out and fight you."
Baker replied that he had come not to fight but to cap
ture ; to which Booth said : " If you will take your men fifty
yards from the door, I '11 come out and fight you. Give
me a chance for my life!"
Later, he offered to fight all the men singly, and when
Baker again refused, the word came back: "Well, my
brave boys, prepare a stretcher for me."
Then Conger directed the Garrett boys to pile brush
against the corners of the tobacco-house, and passed in and
out among his men giving orders for the capture when the
flames should force Booth and Herold out; above all.
Booth must be taken alive, if possible.
Some one close to the tobacco-house heard Booth say

150 THE DEATH OF LINCOLN
to his companion: "You damned coward, will you leave
me now? Go! Go! I would not have you stay with me."
Booth then came to the door and announced: "There 's
a man in here who wants to come out."
"Very well," said Baker, "let him hand his arms out
and come."
Thereupon Herold came to the door and said: "Let
me out."
"Hand out your arms," ordered Baker, "you carried
a carbine and you must hand it out."
"The arms are mine," called Booth, "and I have got
them. Upon the word and honour of a gentleman, this
man has none. And I declare before my Maker that he
is innocent of any crime whatever."
Herold was then ordered to put out his hands, they were
manacled, and he was quickly dragged out, the door
slammed behind him, and the easy prisoner hurried to a
remote corner of the yard with a couple of cavalrymen to
guard him.
Immediately Herold was secured. Conger went around
to a corner of the tobacco-house, pulled a wisp of hay
through a crack, set fire to it, and stuck it back. The
hay was very dry and blazed almost Instantly. Booth
turned, when he heard It crackling, and seemed to be
looking to see If he could put it out. Then, as if convinced

Collection of Mr. Robert Coster.
The Capture and Death op Booth
Booth and Herold were discovered hiding in the tobacco-house of Mr.
Garrett, on the road to Bowling Green, The building was set
afire to compel Booth to surrender, as it was intended to take him
alive.

Collection of Mr. Robert Coster. Booth's Escape
Booth had a horse waiting for him, near the theatre, which he mounted
and made his escape from the scene of his crime. He must haye
..j<f__.j i.„„„i,. „„(.<, 1,0,1 Kr.^,l.;r>n a boue in his leg in his leap from

THE DEATH OF LINCOLN 151
that he could not, he started toward the door. At that
moment a shot rang out. Boston Corbett, a trooper of
the 16th New York, had lost his head, disobeyed orders,
and fired through a crack with deadly aim.'
"He has shot himself!" was the Instant thought of
every one. Conger rushed into the barn and found
Baker already there and raising Booth up. They dis
covered a wound In the neck, close to the back of the
head, from which the blood was pouring freely.
Out on to the grass beneath the locust trees they
dragged him, and there they left him for dead while they
went back to see If the fire could be put out. It could not,
and Conger left It and returned to Booth, whose eyes
and lips were moving as If he wanted to speak. He was
carried to the gallery. Miss HoUoway fetched a pillow
for his head, and dipped a rag In brandy and water to
moisten his lips.
Presently he was able to articulate^ and Conger bent
over him to hear what he might say. "Tell mother —
I die — for my — country," he gasped. "I did — what
I thought — was — best."
' C, T. pp. 94, 05, Boston Corbett. Corbett was a religious fanatic. According to
Harper's Weekly for May 13, 1865, *'he was a constant attendant of the Fulton Street
Meeting, New York, and greatly annoyed it by what was considered his fanaticism,"
In 1887 Corbett was committed to an asylum for the insane in Kansas, from which he
escaped. In 1901, according to Oldroyd (pp. 100, loi), he had for four years been a
travelling salesman for a Topeka patent medicine concern, and "covered" Texas and
Oklahoma, having his headquarters at Enid, Okla.

152 THE DEATH OF LINCOLN
Conger repeated it after him and asked him if he had
got it right, and Booth whispered "Yes." He motioned
to Conger to put his hand on his throat, as If to help him
cough, which Conger did, but Booth was unable to
cough. Conger told him to open his mouth, and Booth,
with difficulty, did; Conger looked in and said: "There
is no blood in your throat."
Conger then searched the dying man's pockets and
took all they contained — the diary, a knife, a pipe, a
little file, a pocket-compass smeared with candle-drip
pings, the bUl of exchange bought In Montreal in October,
etc. Booth whispered pleadingly, "Kill me, kill me."
"We don't want to kill you," Conger assured him,
"we want you to get well."
Conger then left, telling Baker If Booth was not dead
in an hour "to send over to Belle Plain for a surgeon
from one of the gunshlps; if he died, to get the best
conveyance he could and bring him on." Conger was
in mad haste to get to Stanton and tell him that $75,000
had been earned. He reached Washington at 5 p. M.,
and with Chief Baker went at once to Stanton to tell him
the news. They thought to excite the grim war minister
for once, but they were mistaken, he took the announce
ment quite stolidly.'
*C, T. pp. 91-93, Conger.

Collection of Mr. Robert Coster.

Sergeant Boston Corbett, 16th N. Y. Cavalry
Who fired the shot that killed John Wilkes Booth.

THE DEATH OF LINCOLN 153
Corbett fired about 3.15 a.m. that Wednesday, the
twenty-sixth of April. Booth lingered until half -past
five; conscious to the last he must have been, the doctors
who knew the nature of the wound said afterward, and
suffering the most excruciating agony a human being
can know.
Toward the end, as the dawn was breaking into bril
liant day, he indicated by a look, a feeble motion, that
he wanted his paralyzed arms raised so he could see his
hands. This was done, and he said, very faintly, as he
looked at them: "Useless — useless!"' Those were his
last words. Whether he bemoaned the uselessness of
his hands to fight for him, or the uselessness of their mad
crime, God only knows. But he could not more accu
rately have epitomized his Insane deed. Never —
except Once — was vengeance so misdirected. Never
was sacrifice of a brilliant young life so worse than "use
less." Five minutes after Booth died a country doctor
arrived — In time to pronounce him dead. Very shortly
thereafter the body was sewed up in an army blanket,
strapped to a board, and put In the dilapidated old cart
which a coloured man of the neighbourhood had used as an
ambulance after the many bloody battles fought there-
' Baker, p, 604; "The Assassin's Death" by George Alfred Townsend (Dick and
Fitzgerald, New York, 1S95), P- 37-

154 THE DEATH OF LINCOLN
abouts. This decrepit vehicle, with its ghastly freight,
was ferried across the Rappahannock at Port Royal and
headed for Belle Plain where the Ide lay; Herold, man
acled, rode behind his comrade's body.
About nine miles from Port Conway the old waggon
broke, and was abandoned by the roadside; a new con
veyance was procured. Belle Plain was reached, and
the Ide got under way for Alexandria, where it arrived at
twenty minutes to eleven that night.'
A tug was there, by Stanton's orders, to meet the Ide;
on It were Conger and his chief, and to it were trans
ferred the body of Booth and the person of Herold. At
a quarter to two in the morning the tug came alongside
the monitor Montauk, anchored off the Navy Yard;
and Herold was put In double Irons and placed in the
hold, while the body of Booth was, on Baker's orders,
kept on deck under a guard. The body was noted by
the Commandant of the Navy Yard, when he saw It
in the morning, to be changing rapidly, and he so apprised
Secretary of the Navy Welles.
Secretary Welles accordingly Issued an order per
mitting the following persons to board the Montauk and
' Baker, pp. 505, 506. Baker copied extensively from the writings of Townsend,
who as"Gath" was the newspaper correspondent most widely read of any who wrote
of events connected with the assassination. Townsend was connected with the New
York World, and as he seems to have taken stock in Baker (which few persons did)
Baker's book is copiously drawn from Townsend's writings. Oldroyd also quotes
extensively from Townsend.

THE DEATH OF LINCOLN 165
see the body: Surgeon-General Barnes and his assistant,
Judge-Advocate-General Holt and his assistant, Hon.
John A. Bingham, Major Eckert and WiUiam Moore,
of the War Department, the two Bakers and Conger,
Gardner, the official photographer and his assistant,
O'SuUivan, Dr. May, a Washington physician who two
years before had removed a tumour from Booth's neck,
and others.' One of Baker's men took on board a girl
who had known Booth, and she cut a lock of hair from
the dead man's head, but Baker, coming upon her, saw
her, and took the hair away.='
"Immediately after the Surgeon-General has made
his autopsy," Commandant Montgomery's orders read,
"you will have the body placed In a strong box and
deliver it to Colonel Baker, the box being carefully
sealed." Thereupon the commandant gave orders
to have the box made, and there was a scramble among
the Navy Yard workmen for the privilege of driving a
nail in the coffin of the President's murderer."
It was about two o'clock In the afternoon when General
Barnes and his assistant cut from Booth's neck a small
section — two spools — of the spine, through which

' James Croggon in the Washington Star, January 5, 1907.
2 Baker, pp. 507, 508.
3 Told the present writer by Captain Beacham, an old employee of the Arsenal; also
see Croggon in Star as above.

156 THE DEATH OF LINCOLN
Corbett's ball had passed' and — the body having been
fully identified, photographed, and officially attested
dead — left the ironclad, together with most of those
who had attended the autopsy.
At a quarter to three, without waiting for leave or
licence, without stopping for the strong box or the seal.
Colonel Baker lowered the limp body into a small row-
boat and took it away, leaving the officers at the Navy
Yard astonished at Its sudden disappearance.
The boat was rowed down the Eastern branch and up
the main stream of the Potomac, which bounds the city
on the south. At the foot of Four-and-a-Half Street, on
the river, was the Arsenal inclosure, with an old-fashioned
penitentiary building, then used as an ordnance store
house, midway of the grounds. The party In the small
boat steered for the Arsenal wharf and there, about four
o'clock, the body of Booth was landed and laid on the
wharf in charge of a sentry. It lay there until after
nightfall, during which time Baker and Major Eckert,
representing Stanton's office, conferred with Major Ben
ton, Commandant of the Arsenal, about its disposition.
During the night it was carried Into one of the cellar
' This section of spinal column, and the bit of spinal cord, are now in the National
Medical Museum, Washington, They are not marked with Booth's name, but were
shown to the present writer by Dr. Lamb, of the museum. Dr. Lamb also answered
the question of the skeleton in the Museum cellar, sometimes said to be that of Booth;
it is Guiteau's.

THE DEATH OF LINCOLN 157
storerooms of the old penitentiary, some bricks were
removed from the floor, a grave was dug, the body was
put in a gun box and covered with a blanket, the earth
and then the bricks were hastily replaced, and the room
was locked, the key being taken to Stanton by Major
Eckert. That was where John Booth lay while rumours
of his incineration, his burial at sea, his dismemberment,
filled the air.'
A little after one o'clock on the morning of April 15th,
Lieutenant John F. Toffey, going to the Lincoln Hos
pital where he was on duty, saw a dark-bay horse with
saddle and bridle on, standing at Lincoln Branch Bar
racks, about three-quarters of a mile east of the Capitol
and a mile west of the Navy Yard bridge. The sweat
was pouring off the horse and had made a puddle on the
ground; a sentinel at the hospital had stopped him, and
when Lieutenant Toffey came he took the horse dovra
to the Old Capitol Prison and thence to General Augur's
headquarters where the animal was found to be blind of
one eye.'
' Baker, p. 703; Croggon in the Washington Star, April 28, 1865, also January 5,
1907. Croggon's veracious account of Booth's burial was almost lost sight of in the
wild stories that filled the public prints. Frank Leslie's Weekly for May 20, 1865, con
tained a full-page picture of the sinkmg of Booth's body in mid-Potomac at night, accom
panied by the following note:
"The sketch below was furnished by one of the two officers employed in the duty
of sinking the body of Booth in the middle of the Potomac Although not authorized
lo divulge his name, I am able to vouch for the truth of the representation. F. Leslie."
^C. T. pp. 159-160, John F. Toffey.

158 THE DEATH OF LINCOLN
It was the horse John Booth had bought in November,
of George Gardiner, Dr. Mudd's neighbour. It had carried
Lewis Payne to Secretary Seward's house on the night
of the 14th, a little before ten o'clock; had ridden off at
a mad gallop with him up Vermont Avenue and thence,
by some route we cannot trace, toward the Navy Yard
bridge. Somewhere or other the horse threw its rider
and went galloping on until stopped by the hospital
guard. Sunday afternoon, in a piece of woods between Fort
Bunker HIU and Fort Saratoga, three miles from the
Eastern Branch of the Potomac, Thomas Price picked
up Payne's coat.' Where the boy was between midnight
or earlier on Friday and midnight on the Monday follow
ing, we do not know, but no one seems to have seen him
in that time. He does not seem to have made any
effort to escape, nor could it be learned that he had
applied to any one for food. He was probably lying
in the bushes, somewhere within a very few mUes of the
scene of his crime. And after nightfall on Monday he
got up and wandered back Into Washington.
About three o'clock Saturday morning, while the
President lay dying, detectives James DeWitt, John
Clarvoe, and others, pulled violently at the door-bell of
' C. T. p. 158, Thomas Price,

THE DEATH OF LINCOLN 159
Mrs. Surratt's house, and after a brief wait on the steps
the door was opened by Louis Weichmann, to whom the
detectives said they had come to search the house for
John WlUies Booth and John H. Surratt.'
Weichmann said he didn't inquire why they were
searching until they reached his room, when they told
him that Booth had murdered the President and Surratt
the Secretary of State; to which Weichmann replied that
the latter, at least, must be a mistake, for Surratt was in
Canada, and had been for ten days. He then went
downstairs with the detectives, he said, and met Mrs.
Surratt coming out of her room, which was the back
parlour. Weichmann told her about Booth, and said she
exclaimed: "My God, Mr. Weichmann! you don't tell
me so." She told the detectives her son was In Canada,
whence she had received a letter from him only the day
before. On Welchmann's promise to report at detective
headquarters at eight o'clock, the detectives left.
Immediately after breakfast Weichmann went to
police headquarters on Tenth Street near E, only a
stone's throw from Ford's Theatre." He did not again
return j;o the Surratt house, except to get his personal
belongings. Later In the day he went over into Mary
land with the detectives, and was close on the trail of the
'C. T. p. ii6, Weichmann; p. 140, Holohan, James McDevitt.
'C. T. p. 119, Weichmann.

160 THE DEATH OF LINCOLN
fugitives without knowing it. Sunday he accompanied
the detectives to Baltimore, returning that night. WhUe
they were in Baltimore, the War Department issued an
order for them to go to Montreal to see If they could
find Surratt. It was AprU 29th when they returned,
Weichmann going to a boarding-house close by the War
Office which kept In constant communication with him.
Sunday morning, the thirtieth of April, Weichmann was
taken to see Stanton, who subjected him to a cross-
questioning lasting two hours, at the conclusion of which
Weichmann was told he would have to be held in
custody. He was turned over to Baker, who took him
to Carroll Prison. On May 13th he took the stand
at the trial and swore away the life of Mary E. Surratt.'
Welchmann's testimony at police headquarters on
Saturday morning must not immediately have impli
cated Mrs. Surratt, for no attempt to arrest her was made
until midnight on Monday. If what he said of her was
true, he must have managed to guard it against the
"sweating" of Major Richards, Superintendent of
Police; if It was concocted, he evidently did not feel the
pressure which made a false witness of him until after
ward. If he did not see Stanton until April 30th, he quite
certainly saw on April 17th some one representing
'S. T. vol. i, pp. 395-399.

THE DEATH OF LINCOLN 161
Stanton's office, and on that night the War Department,
not the city police, arrested Mrs. Surratt.
It was 11.20 that Monday night when Colonel Olcott,
special commissioner of the War Department, ordered
R. G. Morgan of the department to go to Mrs. Surratt's
house and superintend the seizing of papers and the
arrest of the household. He arrived there about half-past
eleven, and found Major W. H. Smith, Lieutenant John
W. Dempsey, Captain W. M. Wermerskirch, and others,
already there; they had arrived about ten minutes before.
When Major Smith rang the bell, Mrs. Surratt came
to the parlour window and asked: "Is that you, Mr.
Kirby?" She was told It was not Mr. Kirby, and or
dered to open the door, which she did. Asked If she
were the mother of John H. Surratt, Jr., she said "I
am." Whereupon Major Smith said: "I come to arrest
you and all In your house, and take you for examination
to General Augur's headquarters.'
Incriminating circumstance was made of her failure
to ask the reason for her arrest, but as she knew her son
was suspected of the attempt to murder Secretary Seward,
and that her household was under suspicion on account
of Booth's visits there. It hardly seems very damning
that the frightened woman asked no questions.
' C. T. pp. 121, 124, Smith, Morgan, Wermerskurch, Dempsey.

162 THE DEATH OF LINCOLN
It was a household of women solely, including Miss
Anna Surratt, Miss Olivia Jenkins — Mrs. Surratt's
sister, who had been visiting her for some time — and
Miss Honora Fitzpatrick, a boarder. The Holohan
family had taken fright at the detectives' appearance
Saturday morning, and had moved to other quarters on
Sunday. As soon as Morgan arrived he sent out for a carriage
to take the four agitated women to General Augur's
headquarters, and while they were waiting for this there
came a knock and a ring at the door. Morgan and
Wermerskirch opened the door, and Lewis Payne stepped
into the haU. He was grimed and fouled from his three
days and three nights in hiding — unshaven and wild-
eyed, and mud to his knees. He had been hatless since
he left Seward's house, and over his matted hair had
drawn a piece of gray knitted wool evidently torn
from a sleeve of his shirt or a leg of his under-drawers.
On his shoulder he carried a pick.
When he saw the officers Payne said quickly: "I guess
I am mistaken." Asked whom he wished to see, he
said Mrs. Surratt, and was told he was in the right place
and bidden to walk In. Morgan asked him what he
came there at that time of night for, and he said Mrs.
Surratt had sent for him to dig a gutter. He was re-

THE DEATH OF LINCOLN 163
minded that this was a strange hour to come to work,
and he said he had not come to work, only to inquire
at what hour he would be wanted in the morning. Mor
gan asked him a number of questions to which Payne
returned faltering, evidently fabricated, answers. Major
Smith then called Mrs. Surratt to the parlour door and
asked her if she knew this man. She peered short
sightedly into the dim hall, scanning the rough-looking
man, then raised her hand and said: "Before God, I
never saw him before." Payne said nothing. Major
Smith then told Payne he was a suspicious character and
must be placed under arrest.
The carriage had come, and Mrs. Surratt was ordered
to fetch the bonnets and shawls of the women; which she
did, under guard. When she had returned to the parlour
and they were ready to go, she asked permission to kneel
down and pray.' This was granted, and she knelt for a
minute or two. Then she and the others went quietly
down the steps, entered the carriage, and were driven to
General Augur's headquarters, and from there, after a long
cross-questioning, to the square containing Carroll and
Old Capitol Prisons. Mrs. Surratt was confined tempo
rarily in the latter, and transferred thence to one of the .
monitors; the three other women were assigned to CarroU.

' C. T. pp. 121-124.

164 THE DEATH OF LINCOLN
Miss Anna begged piteously to be allowed to share her
mother's prison, but was refused.
When the carriage that took them away returned to
H Street, Morgan put Payne into it. In charge of Thomas
Samson and Charles N. Roach, and it was again driven
to General Augur's, whence Payne was taken, later that
morning, to the monitor Saugus, where he was put in
double irons in the hold.'
Sam Arnold was arrested at Fortress Monroe on Mon
day morning, being the first conspirator captured. He
had been clerking In a sutler's store outside the fort for
two weeks, and sleeping in a room back of the store.
He had not been away from the store since April 1st,
but he was hurried to Washington, heavily Ironed, and
on Wednesday was put In the hold of the Saugus along
with Payne. Any remote likelihood of the prisoners
communicating with each other was reduced to impossi
bility by "a canvas bag put on the head of each, and
tied around the neck, with a hole for proper breathing
and eating, but not seeing."" All the prisoners with the
exception of Mrs. Surratt wore these bags during their
confinement on the monitors and In the penitentiary,
through the hot days of spring and summer; all wore
double irons, and. In addition to these, Payne was chained
' Report No. 99, 39th Congress, First Session; see Appendix XXVI: Note on Awards.
' Leslie's Illustrated Weekly, May 27, 1865.

THE DEATH OF LINCOLN 165
down. No one was allowed to communicate with any
prisoner, except on order signed by both the Secretary
of War and the Secretary of the Navy.
O'Laughlin was also arrested on Monday, in Balti
more, though not at his home. He had gone to Wash
ington on Thursday to see the illumination and parades,
and returned to his home (which was with his brother-
in-law, P. H. Maulsby, at 57 North Exeter Street) about
seven o'clock Saturday evening. Detectives had already
been there looking for him, and when O'Laughlin heard
this he told Maulsby that he would not stay at home to
be arrested as it would kill his mother, but would go to
the house of a friend named Bailey, on High Street,
whither Maulsby took the detectives on Monday morn
ing.' On Wednesday O'Laughlin joined the hooded,
manacled colony on the Saugus; on the seventh of July he
went to the Dry Tortugas for a life term; and on the
twenty-third of September, 1867, he died there of yellow
fever. On what information Arnold and O'Laughlin were
arrested so promptly the records do not tell us; but
John Surratt's explanation makes It clear; he said, in his
Rockville lecture of December 8, 1870, that the abduction
plot was known to the Government detectives, who quite
' C. T. p. 232, Maulsby; p. 221, Wallace.

166 THE DEATH OF LINCOLN
naturally jumped to the conclusion that the men involved
in it were those implicated in the President's murder.
Edward Spangler, the scene-shifter, was also in Mon
day's drag-net. He was arrested late in the day at the
house on the southeast corner of Seventh and H Streets,
where he took his meals. Spangler slept at the theatre,
but he had a carpet-bag at the boarding-house. This,
when taken In evidence by the detectives, revealed damag
ing contents as follows: One piece of rope eighty feet
long (probably purloined from the theatre for the pur
pose of crab-fishing, which was Spangler's favourite
pastime), some blank paper, and a dirty shirt-collar.'
What landed Spangler In irons was the excited statement
of two coloured women living In the alley back of the
theatre, to the effect that Booth had called "Ned" when
he brought his horse to the stage-door on the fateful
night; also the story of "Peanuts," John Miles, a coloured
boy, and Slelchmann, a stage-hand, about "Ned" hand
ing over Booth's horse to Burroughs; and the charge of
Jake Ritterspaugh, another scene-shifter, that when
Booth made his flight across the stage and out the door
into the alley, Spangler said to Ritterspaugh: "Don't
say which way he went.""
' C. T. p. 98, William Eaton, Charles H. Rosch.
" C. T. pp. 73-76, 81, 97, Slelchmann, Burroughs, Turner, Anderson, Miles, Ritteia-
paugh.

THE DEATH OF LINCOLN 167
Spangler was taken first to the Old Capitol Prison,
along with the other Ford's Theatre folk herded there
on general suspicion; but as the story of what he said to
Ritterspaugh grew and grew with every re-telling, it
began to look as If the scene-shifter who had done hostler
work for "Mr. John" must be a very bad man Indeed,
and he was transferred to the monitor and ironed and
hooded like the rest.
At ten o'clock Friday night, April 14th, Atzerodt left
the oyster bay to which he had returned after the meeting
at the Herndon House whereat he had refused to kUl
Johnson, and went to Naylor's stable for his horse. He
asked foreman Fletcher to go with him to the Union
Hotel near by — at E and Thirteen-and-a-Half Streets —
and take a drink. This they did, returning afterward
to the stable, where Fletcher complained to Atzerodt of
Davy Herold staying so late with the horse he had hired.
"Oh, he '11 be back after a while," said Atzerodt, and
left, going to the Kirkwood House where he had regis
tered that morning. He stayed there but a few moments,
came out and mounted his horse and rode it to Keleher's
stable at Eighth and E Streets, where he had hired it
earlier In the day. It was about eleven o'clock when he
returned the horse, and between 11.30 and twelve he
got on a Navy Yard car at Sixth Street and the Avenue

168 THE DEATH OF LINCOLN
and was spoken to by Washington Briscoe, who had known
him for seven or eight years. Briscoe asked Atzerodt if he
had heard the news (meaning, of course, the news of the
President's assassination) and Atzerodt said he had; he
seemed very much excited, and begged Briscoe to let
him sleep with him at the Navy Yard, where Briscoe had
a store in which he lived. This Briscoe refused, and
Atzerodt got out of the car with him at Garrison and
I Streets and waited with him till the car came back on
its return trip, when Atzerodt boarded it.'
Where he was for the next two hours we do not know,
but about 2.30 a. m. he went to the Pennsylvania House
where he had stopped several times, the last time so lately
as Wednesday night. With him, either by accident or by
design, was a rather small, shabby, weather-beaten man,
quite dark-complexioned, who gave his name as Samuel
Thomas, paid In advance for a night's lodging, and was
shown with Atzerodt to a room with six beds in it. At
four o'clock another lodger was brought to this room —
No. 53 — and went to bed; his name was Lieutenant
W. R. Kelm, and as he was undressing he spoke to Atzerodt,
with whom he had shared a room at this house before,
asking if he had heard of the assassination. Atzerodt said
yes, and added that It was "an awful thing."

' C. T. p. 146, Washington Briscoe, John Fletcher.

THE DEATH OF LINCOLN 169
The man Thomas left the hotel at five in the morning,
asking the way to the depot and apparently bound for the
6,15 A. M. train. Atzerodt left about six.' At eight, or
thereabouts, he was in Georgetown, where he borrowed of
John Caldwell, a man he knew, ten doUars, giving his
revolver (bought only a month ago) as security." At ten or
eleven Sunday morning Atzerodt had reached the neigh
bourhood of BarnsvUle, Montgomery County, Maryland,
about twenty-two miles from Washington. Here, when the
rumoured assassination of General Grant was mentioned,
Atzerodt is reported to have said something that sounded
like "If the man that was to follow him has followed him,
It Is likely to be so." This was said In the house of a man
named Hezeklah Metz, to whose daughter Atzerodt had
been paying his addresses. That day, however. Miss
Metz turned such a cold shoulder on her admirer that he
did not stay long, but went, about two o'clock, to the
house of his cousin, Hartman RIchter, who lived near by.
There he stayed until he was dragged out of bed and
arrested at four o'clock In the morning of Thursday, April
20th; RIchter was also arrested.'
The arrest was made by Sergeant L. W. Gemmill of the
First Delaware Cavalry, with a detail of six men from his

' C. T. pp. 146-147, John Greenwalt, James Walker, Lieut. Keim.
" C. T. p. 148, John Caldwell.
' C. T. p. 149, Hezekiah Metz, Sergeant L, W. Gemmill.

170 THE DEATH OF LINCOLN
regiment, and a grateful Government paid $25,000 for
this daring "capture."'
When in irons on the Montauk, to which he was trans
ferred from the Saugus on Stanton's orders, April 21st,
Atzerodt asked to see James L. McPhall, Provost-Mar
shal of the State of Maryland, on whose force was a brother-
in-law of Atzerodt's, while a brother of his had been on it
but was not now. These two men urged on McPhail that
Atzerodt wished to see him, and McPhaU got a pass admit
ting him to the Montauk, where he heard Atzerodt's state
ment.' Atzerodt also made a statement to Captain Frank
Monroe, U. S. N., who had charge of him on board the
monitor. The statements he made were used in the track
ing of Booth and Herold, but were not allowed in evidence
to save his own life.'
Dr. Mudd was arrested on Friday, April 21st, by detec
tives Lovett, Gavacan, Williams, and Lloyd, and taken
to Bryantown; he was allowed to go home that night
on his promise to return the next morning. On Monday
he was taken to Washington, where he was confined first
In Carroll Prison.*
With the arrival in Washington of Herold, in the very
' Report No, 99, 39th Congress, First Session, Committee of Claims.
" C. T. p. 148, Marshal McPhail.
' C. T. p, 150, Captain Monroe, U. S. N.
*C. T. pp. 87-90, 168, Lovett, Dana, Williams, Gavacan, Lloyd, Wells; " Life of Dr.
Mudd," p. 34.

THE DEATH OF LINCOLN 171
early morning of AprU 27th, the rounding up of those
to be tried for conspiracy to murder President Lincoln,
Vice-President Johnson, Lieutenant-General Grant, and
Secretaries Seward and Stanton, was complete. The
prisons were full of suspects who might later be tried as
accessories, but for the present at least trial would proceed
against Herold, Atzerodt, Payne, O'Laughlin, Arnold,
Mrs. Surratt, and Dr. Mudd.
On the first day of May, the Attorney-General (Speed)
having given it as his opinion that these persons were
"subject to the jurisdiction of, and lawfully triable before,
a Military Commission," President Johnson ordered that
the assistant Adjutant-General detail nine competent
military officers to serve as such a Commission; that the
trial be conducted by the Judge- Advocate-General (Joseph
E. Holt) in person, aided by his assistant and such special
Judge- Advocates as he might designate; and that Brevet-
Major-General Hartranft be assigned to duty as special
Provost-Marshal-General for the trial.
On May 6th the assistant Adjutant-General, W. A.
Nichols, appointed Major-Generals David Hunter and
Lewis Wallace, Brevet-Major-Generals August V. Kautz,
Brigadier-Generals Albion P. Howe, Robert S. Foster,
and T. M. Harrb, Brevet-Brigadier-General Cyrus
B. Comstock, Brevet-Colonel Horace Porter, and

172 THE DEATH OF LINCOLN
Lieutenant-Colonel David R. Clendenin, to serve as
Commissioners. May 9th General Comstock and Colonel Porter were
relieved from duty, and Brevet-Brigadier-General James
A. Ekin and Brevet-Colonel C. H. Tompkins assigned
to duty In their places respectively.
On that day the Commission was sworn, various other
legal preliminaries not interesting to the lay mind were
got through with, and the prisoners were arraigned on a
wordy charge and specification, the sum and substance of
which was that they had "combined, confederated, and
conspired," together with John Surratt, John Wilkes Booth
the " Canada Cabinet, " and the President and other high
officials of the Confederacy, and with "others unknown,"
to kill Lincoln, Johnson, Grant, Seward, and Stanton.
All the prisoners at the bar pleaded to this charge and
specification "Not Guilty," whereupon the Commission
adjourned to meet on Thursday morning. May llth, at
ten o'clock A. m.'
On AprU 29th the prisoners on the Ironclads had
been transferred from the custody of Commodore Mont
gomery, Commandant of the Navy Yard, to that of General
Hancock, in command of the defences of the capital.
General Hancock ordered them confined in cells on the

' C. T. pp. 17-23; O. R. Series II, vol. viii, p. 699.

Copyright, M. p. Rice, Collection uf \niericani F H Me^er\e

The Military Court That Tried the As.sas.sins
(The individual names will be found on pages 171-172.)

THE DEATH OF LINCOLN 173
third floor of the old penitentiary building in the Arsenal
grounds, under the cellar floor of which John Booth had
then for two nights and a day been sleeping. This build
ing, erected in 1 836, had not been used for a prison since
the breaking out of the war, when the convicts then con
fined there were sent to Albany, N. Y.
That there might be as little difficulty as possible in
getting the heavily-manacled prisoners from their cells to
the court room. It was determined to fit up for the trial a
room close by the cells. This room was 30 by 45 feet, with
a celling not more than eleven feet high, and had only four
windows, which were covered with a thick iron grating.
The room was whitewashed for the occasion, new tables
and chairs were bought, and a prisoners' dock was built
along the western end of the room. This dock was a
platform about four feet broad and raised some twelve
Inches from the floor. It had a strong railing In front of it,
entirely separating the prisoners from all in the room.
Near the south end of the wall against which this was built
was the door leading to the corridor on which were the
cells.' Each prisoner was confined in a separate cell under
four guards; all, except Mrs. Surratt, wore bags of rough
gray flannel over their heads — replacing the canvas sacks
'Washington Star, May 12, 1865; Frank Leslies Weekly, May 27, 1865; Harper's
Weekly, June 3, 1865. See Appendix XXVIl: Note on curious crowds at trial.

174 THE DEATH OF LINCOLN
of the monitors — tied under their chins, with a single slit
in them over the mouth. In addition, each wore hand
cuffs fastened together by a bar of Iron fourteen inches
long; and on the left ankle a shackle with a two-foot chain
to the other end of which was fastened a cone-shaped iron
weight of about 75 pounds. This being deemed insuf
ficient in the cases of Payne and Atzerodt, some further
weight and hindrance of ball and chain was attached to
them.' When they shuffled into the prisoners' dock with seven
soldiers, separating each one of them from his nearest
neighbours, they were further restrained by an iron bar
which fastened them all together by passing through a hole
in the apex of each of the 75-pound weights. Their hoods
were removed when they were taken into court.
As they entered the door at the corner of their dock,
Arnold came first, then a soldier, then Dr. Mudd, then a
soldier, then Spangler, a soldier, O'Laughlin, a soldier,
Atzerodt, a soldier, Payne, a soldier, Herold, a soldier;
last came Mrs. Surratt, always heavily veiled. She sat
a little apart from her fellow prisoners, at the extreme left
of the dock as the spectators faced it. As she sat In her
corner this is what she saw: In front of the railing
of the dock two tables, at which the prisoners' counsel

^ Leslie's Weeily, May 27, 1865.

THE DEATH OF LINCOLN 175
sat. Over near a window about the centre of the room's
north side (to her left) the seat of the Judge-Advocate-
General and his assistants. In front of them a long table,
around which sat the nine members of the MiUtary Com
mission, each in the full uniform of his rank. General
Hunter, President of the Commission, at the eastern end
of the table, facing the prisoners. The main entrance to
the court-room was behind General Hunter, in the north
east comer of the room, diagonally opposite Mrs. Surratt.
Down the centre of the room were three wooden pillars
supporting the celling. Between pillars one and two
(reckoning from the dock) there was a table where the
official stenographers sat, and beyond that and very close
to it the witness stand. Then came the second pillar, and
beyond that another table used by the court for various
purposes. Beyond the third pillar was a wooden box In
which were kept various articles used In evidence : Booth's
slit boot found at Dr. Mudd's, his saddle discovered on
Cox's farm where his horse was shot, the things taken from
his pockets by Conger — all but the diary ! — and the little
Deringer picked upoff the floor of the box after he jumped;
Payne's compass seized by his "captors," and his boot
with Booth's name faintly discernible In It; knives which
Payne and Atzerodt threw away; Spangler's piece of crab
bing-rope, etc. Balancing the table of the Commissioners,

176 THE DEATH OF LINCOLN
on the south side of the room, was the press table; at the
far east end of the room were a few chairs for spectators.
Hon. Reverdy Johnson, Maryland's most prominent
lawyer and statesman, volunteered his services in the
defence of Mrs. Surratt, whom he had never seen until he
visited her In prison on May 12th and In a talk with her
became convinced of her Innocence. She was further
represented by Frederick Aiken and John W. Clampltt.
Dr. Mudd had the extremely able counsel of General
Thomas Ewing, a distinguished officer of the Union army,
brother-in-law of General Sherman, and an excellent
lawyer; also the assistance of Mr. Frederick Stone, who
further represented Herold ; while General Ewing was also
chief counsel for Arnold and Spangler. Payne and
Atzerodt were represented by a brilliant legal orator,
WilUam E. Doster. Walter S. Cox had charge of
O'Laughlln's case. Each of the accused made a motion
for a separate trial, but It was In each Instance refused.
The taking of testimony began Friday morning. May
12th, Lieutenant-General Grant being one of the first
witnesses. The penitentiary was nearest to the city side of the
Arsenal grounds, and farthest from the river side. Four-
and-a-half Street ends at the Arsenal gate, and in those
days it ran straight Into the old prison gate and ended there

THE DEATH OF LINCOLN 177
actually though not technically; because In the extension
northward of the Arsenal grounds In '61, the bit of Four-
and-a-half Street which was taken in then became an
Arsenal road.
Not many sounds went floating up to those four grated
windows of the court-room, but the warmth of spring and
presently the heat of summer came stealing through before
the long sessions were over. With anywhere upward of
fifty persons occupying a space 30x45 feet under an 11-foot
ceiling, the air must always have been heavy, drowsy.
Outside, In Washington, was springtime, such riot of
springtime as only the beautiful Capital City knows.
One wonders if, as the long sessions wore on, Davy Herold's
mind did not sometimes wander from these questions of
life and death — practically certain death to him — to
the open country where he so dearly loved to ride; if
Spangler did not think wistfully of the crab-fishing that
was going on pleasurably, unmindful of his changed
estate; if the Florida boy whose life had been lived out of
doors never sighed for a breath of spring, for a smell of
moist, fruitful earth.
And, down beneath the bricks of the cellar floor In this
same grim building, lay all that was mortal of beautiful
John Booth, his clustering curls matted with blood and his
winsome smile forever set In the agony of an awful death.

178 THE DEATH OF LINCOLN
It is doubtful if ever in the history of jurisprudence a
trial has been held in which justice was more difficult to
approximate. First of all, there was sectional feeling,
which had been running high for years, higher for the last
four years, and was now lashed into Its highest fury by
the common belief that the Confederate leaders were
responsible for Lincoln's death. Then there was the
natural rage against the alleged slayers of a beloved ruler,
accentuated by the manner and the moment of that ruler's
taking off. Thirdly, there was politics, by reason of the
fact that the prisoners were believed to be affiliated with
that secret organization known as "Sons of Liberty,"
which was opposed to the war, in league with the
Democrats, supported McClellan, and was deemed by
most ardent Republicans treasonable and treacherous.
There was a religious bitterness, too. The Surratts were
Catholics, Dr. Mudd was a Catholic, O'Laughlin was a
Catholic, and the report gained wide currency that all
of those apprehended were of the Roman communion and
that the Church of Rome had planned the slaughter of the
President. Another factor was the great rewards offered
for the apprehension of Booth, Herold, Atzerodt, Payne,
and John Surratt. And lastly. In addition to all the usual
things which tend to defeat the ends of justice In a criminal
trial, there was the extraordinary notoriety to be gained by

THE DEATH OF LINCOLN 179
sensational testimony at any of the sessions whose least
word (when the court allowed) was published far and wide
and discussed as almost never before or since has trial
evidence been discussed.
There were witnesses who would swear anything to
prove that the crime was chargeable to Jefferson Davis,
to the Democrats, to the Catholics; there were witnesses
who would swear anything to get the rewards or the
notoriety; there were witnesses who were anxious chiefly
to prove the Important parts they played; and witnesses
who, not daring to hope they might prove themselves
important, had perforce to be content with disproving the
fancied importance of some one else. There were excit
able witnesses who thought they saw things we know they
could never have seen; suborned witnesses who were
willing to have seen anything, for a consideration;
intimidated witnesses, anxious to save their own skins;
and so on.
The trial, which seems hideously unfair to us now, was
probably as fair as a trial could be in those circumstances,
in those times. From the point of view of the prisoners
it was Inhuman. But from the point of view of the frenzied
North it seemed quite equitable. There are many things
which may safely be remembered to-day In extenuation of
some at least. If not of all, of the prisoners, that doubt-

180 THE DEATH OF LINCOLN
less had, in the wide interests of the Nation, to be disre
garded then.
It was, for Instance, feared by many in the North that
the war was not really over; that on the slightest relaxation
of severity in the attitude of the victors the vanquished
would again resort to arms — not as Confederate States
again, perhaps, but as separate armed bodies, engaged here
and there, as the spirit of revolt moved them, in guerrilla
warfare. The outraged North cried loudly for vengeance — for
getting how he hated vengeance for whose sake they desired
it — and those In authority had their ears to the ground.
Stanton, the relentless, hated anything that defied his
iron rule, hated the "treacherous and dangerous enemy"
he had worked so ceaselessly to subdue ; he hated Southern
women in particular, and he hated all Catholics in general.
Judge-Advocate-General Holt was an especial alarmist
on the "Sons of Liberty,"' and could never quite forgive
Lincoln for treating them as a joke. Johnson was zealous
to show himself righteously incensed by the crime that
made him President, and the best way he could do this and
"' See Holt's alarmed letter to Stanton, published in the New York Tribune, October 17,
1864, Holt recommended the hanging of Horsey, Milligan,and Bowles, sentenced in the
Indiana Treason Trial, on December 18, 1864; but Lincoln refused to take action against
these "Sons of Liberty," and on April 3, 1866, the United States Supreme Court declared
sentence by a military commission illegal, and the men were freed. See Rhodes, vol.
V,, pp. 316-329. Nicolay and Hay, vol. viii,, pp. 8 et seq. Indianapolis Treason Trials,
reported by Pitman, published by Moore, Wilstach and Baldwin.

THE DEATH OP LINCOLN 181
put down the feeling that his hands were not quite clean,
was to lend what authority of his office was needed to a
rigorous prosecution.
The public prints were full of inflammatory articles —
quite comical to read now — which represented that oddly
assorted little band of prisoners as the most desperate and
bloodthirsty villains that ever menaced the safety of a
nation. Pictures were taken of them as they looked after
days of hideous confinement In the holds of the monitors,
and hair-raising tales were freely circulated about them.
Here and there throughout the country were a few persons
who knew different — who had known these young men
and that motherly, neighbourly matron, and knew that,
whatever might be proved against them In this great crime,
nothing could alter the entire humanness of their simple
lives hitherto. But these were few compared to the
millions who believed, as they were told, otherwise; their
feeble voices of pleading defence were lost In the tumultu
ous crying for blood.
Under these conditions the trial went forward, while the
only heart that could have inspired a great forgivingness
lay stUl in Oak Ridge Cemetery at Springfield, Illinois.
A good part of the first few days was taken up with a weak
attempt to implicate the Confederate leaders. There Is
fair reason to believe that members of the "Canada

182 THE DEATH OF LINCOLN
Cabinet" knew of Booth's plans for the abduction of
President Lincoln, but none whatever to show that they
plotted his death. Much of the testimony that
attempted to prove them guilty of such conspiracy was
later proved perjury.'
Not much could be urged in Davy Herold's behalf, not
much In Lewis Payne's. Davy was with Booth In his
flight, and If he had not conspired with him, at least he
came within the death penalty under Stanton's proclama
tion of AprU 20th, declaring "all persons harbouring or
secreting" Booth, Surratt, or Herold, "or either of them,
or aiding or assisting their concealment or escape, will
be treated as accomplices In the murder of the President
and the attempted assassination of the Secretary of State,
and shall be subject to trial before a Military Commission
and the punishment of death.""
And the Florida boy made no defence, nor could any be
made for him. It was not his fault, but the over-ruling of
Providence, that he did not leave five dead behind him In
the Seward household. Not that five dead were any great
matter, though, to this boy of not quite twenty, who had
been through the carnage of Chancellorsville, Antietam,
' See " The Judicial Murder of Mary E. Surratt," by David Miller DeWitt, published
by J. Murphy, Baltimore, 1895; also Rogers's Minority Report, House Committee on
Assassination, Report No. 104, 39th Congress, First Secsion. See Appendix III:
Note on Confederate complicity.
"OR. Series I, vol. xlvi., part iii., p. 847.

THE DEATH OF LINCOLN 183
Gettysburg; not that It seemed unsoldierlike to him to go
single-handed into the home of one of the nation's heads,
and strike as for four years he had struck in battle at the
nation's defenders. Mr. Doster pleaded eloquently for the
boy; pleaded the responsibility of the Nation that had
allowed him to go to school, first to slavery and then to
war, and that ought to give him one better chance before
sending him out of the world. To all this the boy listened
apathetically. He was willing, yes, eager, to die; his sole
cause for anguish was that he believed himself responsible,
by his midnight return to her house, for the probable doom
of Mrs. Surratt.
It could be said for Atzerodt that if he had undertaken
to "lie In wait for Andrew Johnson with the Intent unlaw
fully and maliciously to kill and murder him," he had not
been very Indefatigable about it, for the said Andrew John
son was lying drunk In his room all evening, and Atzerodt
was not, according to the evidence. In the Kirkwood House
during that whole time except for five minutes.' It could
not, however, be proved that he was without guilty knowl
edge of the plot to kill the President and the Secretary of
State, and while that was not the charge against him it
was probably the charge on which he was actuaUy, though
' The room rented by Atzerodt was in a different wing from that in which the Vice-
President lodged, and removed by many perplexing turns and four flights of stairs from
the quarters of Andrew Johnson.

184 THE DEATH OF LINCOLN
not technically, convicted. For more than two hours
before Booth and Payne committed their crimes Atzerodt,
by his own confession, knew their Intent. Personal
cowardice kept him from performing his allotted share,
and if he hated bloodshed enough to refuse participation
in it, he did not hate it enough to forestall it by giving
warning against the designs of his friends.
There was no great pother about the death sentence
on these three. Lewis Payne was friendless In the
Capital and in all the North, practically. Atzerodt,
the carriage-painter, had none to make violent outcry
over his fate. Davy Herold had a widowed mother and
seven sisters whose hearts broke over him, and a lot of
old schoolmates who marvelled sadly at the awful thing
in which bright, likable Davy was overtaken.' But
there was no loud outcry. That was reserved princi
pally for Mrs. Surratt and, after her, for Dr. Mudd.
Dr. Mudd (who was thirty-two years old, and not
forty-five as commonly represented)" was a cultivated,
kindly Christian gentleman, a hard-working country

' The present writer has talked with many men who knew Davy Herold well, and
liked him well — including Rear-Admiral George N. Baird, U. S. N., Retired, who
went to school with Davy, and Mr. Walter Burton who was a frequent and intimate
caller on Davy's sisters, and saw much of Davy at home as well as at the National Hotel,
" He was bom on his father's large plantation in Charles County, Maryland, on Decem
ber 20, 1833, He was a graduate of Georgetown College and, in 1856, of the school of
medicine and surgery of the University of Maryland, at Baltimore. He was married on
November 26, 1857, to his childhood sweetheart, Miss Sarah Francis Dyer.

THE DEATH OF LINCOLN 185
practitioner, a devoted young husband and father, a
good son and brother. There was not a particle of evi
dence that he knew anything of the plot to kill, although
he probably knew of the earlier plot to capture. If he
recognized Booth when the assassin was at his house,
it was before he had heard of Booth's mad deed; and if
he "aided or assisted" In his "concealment or escape,"
it was five days before Stanton's proclamation made
that treasonable. There was nothing to show that Booth
had told Dr. Mudd of his crime, and everything to show
that he had not. Nevertheless, Dr. Mudd, after suffer
ing all the horrors of brutal imprisonment while trial
was pending and in progress, was sentenced for life to
the Dry Tortugas, an Island of absolute barrenness more
than one hundred miles from the nearest point of main
land In Florida. On this island is the largest, most
expensive, and most useless fortification of masonry the
United States has ever built. Dr. Mudd was allowed to
see his wife but once after his arrest, and that was on the
sixth of July, the day before the execution of four of his
fellows and a day or two before his departure with the
three others for Dry Tortugas. The scaffold was being
erected when Mrs. Mudd entered the penitentiary yard,
and as she was leaving she saw poor Anna Surratt come
to bid her mother good-bye. Guards were present at

186 THE DEATH OF LINCOLN
the brief interview between husband and wife, and in
the presence of soldiers they parted — forever, by the
terms of his sentence.'
Arnold" and O'Laughlin' also received life sentences,
and Spangler was sentenced for six years.*
Mrs. Surratt's case excited the country more than all
the others together. She was a woman, she was widowed
of her natural defender, she was a mother. She was
highly educated, refined, a Christian, and had hitherto
led a blameless Ufe.
The charges against her were made by Weichmann —
whom she had treated as a son and who, by his reputed
confession and by a world of evidence, probably turned
State's evidence In fear and to save his own neck; and by
her tenant, Lloyd, who admitted that he was drunk
on the day when Mrs. Surratt said to him certain things
he repeated against her, a month later, to her undoing,
and who was not able to recall any of these things until
they promised to be worth a part of $75,000;' and by
' " Life of Dr. Mudd," p. 40, Dr. Mudd was pardoned by President Johnson on Febru
ary 13, 1869, released from prison March 8th, reached home March 20th. He was thirty-
five years old then, a frail, broken, almost destitute man. He died of pneumonia on
January 10, 1883, and was buried in St. Mary's Cemetery, at Bryantown Church, where
he first met Booth.
" Arnold was also pardoned by President Johnson, February 13, 1869.
' At the time the pardons were issued to Mudd, Arnold and Spangler, an order was
given for the disinterment of O'Laughlin's remains and their delivery to his mother.
* Spangler lived only eighteen months after his release, being cared for during all
that time by Dr. Mudd. For Spangler's statement, see Appendix XXVIII,
» C. T. p. 87, Lloyd.

THE DEATH OF LINCOLN 187
the officers at her arrest who repeated against her her
declaration that she had never before seen Payne.'
The incontrovertible evidence against Mrs. Surratt
was that for about three months before the assassination
John Booth had been a frequent caller at her house;
that Payne had twice in the month of March stayed there
— once over night only, the other time for two or three
days; that Atzerodt had several times spent a night there."
There was no evidence that Arnold, O'Laughlin, Mudd,
or Spangler had ever been there, and slight evidence to
show that Davy Herold had ever gone there. Incon
trovertible, too, was the fact that Booth called on Mrs.
Surratt soon after he projected the murder, on Friday
afternoon about two o'clock, and that she went soon
thereafter to Surrattsvllle.' But there was nothing In
any of this to hang a woman; and by every count there
was exactly as much against Weichmann as against
Mrs. Surratt. There was no reason why he should not
have been tried and hanged, except that he was given
immunity for his evidence.*
Probable evidence against Mrs. Surratt tends to prove

' C. T. pp. 121-123, Smith, Wermerskirch.
" C. T. pp. 121, 130-135, Miss Fitzpatrick, Anna Surratt, Mrs. Holohan, Miss Anna
Ward. ' C. T. pp. 121, 125, 126, Mrs. Emma Offutt, George H. Calvert, B. F. Gwynne, John
Nothey. See Appendix XXIX.: Note on Nothey.
* See Appendix XXX. : Statement of John P. Brophy.

188 THE DEATH OF LINCOLN
that she knew of the abduction plot, and that if she
deplored Its dangers, she did not deplore Its design.
Not many Northern women would have deplored a plot
to seize Jefferson Davis In Richmond and take him to
Washington In the hope of ending the war, though they
might have been tearfully anxious to think of their own
boys in such a hazardous undertaking. It Is also prob
able that Mrs. Surratt carried, at Booth's request, a small
package to Surrattsvllle the day of the murder and left
it with Lloyd, saying that it would be called for. Even
if she knew what was In the package — a field-glass —
such knowledge would hardly argue her acquaintance
with Booth's Intent to murder. It Is probable that when
Booth learned she was going to Surrattsvllle (and Weich
mann, on whose testimony all this rests, said the journey
was determined on before Booth called) he asked her
to tell Lloyd that the carbines left with him by John
Surratt, Atzerodt, and Herold about five weeks ago,
would be called for that night. Their Immediate readi
ness on demand was not a great matter, but It would
save a few minutes' delay; though, in the event of a
few minutes meaning much, it Is hardly likely that
Booth would stop at all, as his safety would lie
more In flight and concealment than In firearms. But
even if he asked Mrs. Surratt to deliver his message

THE DEATH OF LINCOLN 189
to Lloyd, it is not necessarily Implied that he told
her his reasons.
At least the likelihood of her Innocence was as great
as the likelihood of her cold-blooded guilt,' and feeling
ran high over her case. To their great shame, certain
Protestants believed she must be guilty because she was
a Catholic; while many Catholics, on the other hand,
acted in as mistaken zeal and argued that because she
was a Catholic, she must be Innocent. If some Protestant
zealots charged the Church of Rome with her alleged
crime, some adherents of the Church of Rome were as
foolish In accepting the charge and feeling the Church
Involved In the controversy.
It was not really believed, however, that any extreme
sentence would be pronounced upon Mrs. Surratt In
view of her age, her sex, her previous reputation, and the
character of the evidence against her. And between
the time sentence was pronounced and the time it was
carried into execution the Interval was so brief that
nothing could be done. She was sentenced on July 6th
and hanged on July 7th.
After signing the decree fixing her penalty at death,
five of the nine judges who condemned her petitioned
clemency for her on account of her age and sex. This
'"Any candid person who will review the evidence will be forced to the conclusion
that she was an innocent woman." Stewart, p. 169.

190 THE DEATH OF LINCOLN
petition was taken by Judge-Advocate-General Holt to
President Johnson, who read it in Judge Holt's presence,
and also considered It at a Cabinet meeting. In the
outcry that followed on Mrs. Surratt's hanging, Johnson
tried to disclaim responsibility by swearing he had never
seen the petition for clemency, and Judge Holt was
accused of withholding it. This charge embittered all
the rest of Judge Holt's life, and has given rise to a volumi
nous controversy, the simple truth of which seems to be
that Judge Holt did Indeed present the petition —
whether he argued against It or not — and that Johnson's
disclaimer and the silence of the Cabinet were a rank
injustice to a man who, though narrow and bigoted, did
not merit the charge of dishonour.'
The taking of testimony finished Wednesday, June
14th. The arguments for defence and prosecution,
with some other court matters, occupied very nearly two
weeks. It was ten o'clock Thursday morning, June
29th, when the Commission met, with closed doors,
to deliberate upon the evidence. On Wednesday,
July 5th, the sentences of the court were approved
by the President, who named the Dry Tortugas as
the place of imprisonment for Mudd, Arnold, O'Laughlin
and Spangler, and Friday, July 7th, as the day for
' See Holt-Johnson Controversy, Appendix XXXI.

Davej Herold

George A. Atzerodt

I

Lewis Payne Mrs. Mary E. Surratt
The Four Conspirators Who Were Hanged

THE DEATH OF LINCOLN 191
the execution of Payne, Herold, Atzerodt, and Mrs.
Surratt.' At nine o'clock on Thursday morning, July 6th, General
Hartranft, the special Provost-Marshal, accompanied
by the nine judges of the court and the officers of the
prison, went to the cell of each prisoner and read the
verdict. Later, the four condemned to die next day
between the hours of ten and two, were taken to a large
room on the ground floor, where their friends and spiritual
advisers were allowed to see them. There was no one
to see the Florida boy except a Baptist clergyman, Dr.
Gillette, who was a total stranger to this son of another
Baptist clergyman alike unlinown to him. Atzerodt
was visited by his mother and by a poor. Ignorant woman
who was said to have been his mistress. Dr. Butler,
pastor of a Lutheran church In Washington, and an
army chaplain, was ordered to see Atzerodt and give him
such spiritual comfort as he would take. He found the
condemned carriage-painter reading the Bible at that
passage in Numbers containing the warning: "Be sure
your sin will find you out." Atzerodt entreated Dr.
Butler to preach to young men on that text and to drive
it home to them with the Imploring message of a man
about to die." The saddest scenes were those of which

' O. R. Series II., vol. viii., p, 699; see also Appendix XXXII: Order for execution.
" Told the present writer by Dr. Butler.

192 THE DEATH OF LINCOLN
Davy Herold and Mrs. Surratt were the centres. Davy's
seven sisters clustered around him in grief so piteous that
the guards turned away, unable to bear the sight of it.
And the anguish of poor Anna Surratt moved every one
to tears. Fathers Walter and WIget attended her mother
spiritually, and the frenzied girl went trembling away
to make appeals for her mother's life. She went to
Stanton's office but found it barricaded against her, in
effect, by the War Secretary's strict order that she must
not be admitted.' She went to General Hancock, who
assured her sadly, gently, that he could do nothing. She
went, early on Friday morning, to the White House where
she pleaded In vain to see the President. The nearest
she could get to him was in the person of General R. D.
Mussey, his private secretary, at whose feet she threw
herself begging for mercy. General Mussey said he ha,d
never lived through moments of such distress; but he,
too, had received orders to keep out the supplicant at all
costs." An attempt to stay the execution through a writ of
' Told the present writer by Major A. E. H. Johnson, private secretary to Edwin M.
Stanton, and the man to whose enormous industry we are principally indebted for the
compilation of the Official Records.
" General Mussey was so anxious to help, that he ordered his horse and light buggy
brought into the White House portico, where it stood, waiting the President's possible
relenting, until after the tolling bells assured the general that there would be no eleventh
hour reprieve for him to carry in mad haste to the doomed woman. Told the present
writer by General Mussey's widow, Mrs. Ellen Spencer Mussey. See Appendix XXXIII:
Note on "The Nest that Hatched the Egg."

Michael O'Laughlin

Edward Spangler

Sam Arnold

Dr. Samuel A. Mudd

The Four Conspirators Who Were Not Hanged
Arnold and O'Laughlin received life sentences and Spangler was sen
tenced for six vears. Dr. Mudd was also sentenced for life but was
^./ 13, 1869.

THE DEATH OF LINCOLN 193
habeas corpus failed through suspension by the President
— in whom this power Is vested — an order to that effect
proceeding from the Executive Office at ten o'clock on
Friday morning.' It was confidently believed, almost
up to the hour of execution, that some influence would
avail to save Mrs. Surratt, and the tension at the peniten
tiary was horrible.
Since a little after eight o'clock soldiers, spectators,
newspaper men, clergy, had been assembling at the prison
to wait in the blistering heat — and wait^ — and wait.
Soldiers stood, almost shoulder to shoulder, along the
high wall surrounding the prison yard. Down below,
in the grassy enclosure, were many more soldiers forming
three sides of a large square, the fourth side of which was
the penitentiary's front. Within the square the gallows
stood, its platform, reached by fifteen steps, ten feet above
the ground; the beam, from which four nooses dangled,
ten feet above that again. Down at the gallows' foot
were four new wooden boxes at the edges of four freshly
dug graves.
The wait was long, in the brazen sun, and nearly
every one but the soldiers carried an umbrella. At last,
when it was not far from two o'clock, the barred door
of the penitentiary opened and a woman walked out, a
' See Appendix XXXIV,: Denial of habeas corpus for Mrs, SurraSf.

194 THE DEATH OF LINCOLN
middle-aged woman dressed in black, bonneted and
heavily veiled. On either side of her walked a bare
headed priest, behind her walked four soldiers with
muskets. In the strained silence the low tones of the
priests muttering the service for the dying were audible
to every ear. Then came a sound of clanking chains;
a small, shambling German dragged his fetters toward
the gallows. Two officers walked before him, a Lutheran
clergyman walked beside him, a squad of armed soldiers
brought up the rear. Next came a tottering boy, with
an Episcopalian rector accompanying him. And last
walked in the wasted shadow of a splendid young giant,
with a shock of tawny hair and big blue eyes which
made one spectator say he looked "rather the bar
barian striding in his conqueror's triumph than the
assassin going to the gallows."
The condemned were seated on the gallows while the
warrants were read to them by General Hartranft. When
he had finished. Dr. Gillette spoke on behalf of Payne,
not in pleading nor extenuation, but merely to thank the
prison officials for their kind treatment of him — which
was not so ironical as it sounds, because the boy seems
to have made himself liked, and his attendants, while
they were powerless to mitigate the severity of his irons,
probably did whatever they could to show him kindness.

Collection of Americana, F. H. Meserve.
Execution of the Four Conspirators in the Yard of the Capitol Prison

THE DEATH OF LINCOLN 195
During Dr. Gillette's prayer the boy's big blue eyes
failed with tears, and he followed in the closing sentences
of it with deep emotion — the first he had shown since
his arrest. Dr. Olds then said for Davy Herold that he
tendered his forgiveness to all who had wronged him,
and asked the forgiveness of all whom he had wronged.
He also thanked the officers and guards for kindnesses
rendered him, and said that he hoped he died in charity
with aU men and at peace with God. Dr. Butler spoke
and prayed for Atzerodt, and there was no more to be
said; Mrs. Surratt's confessors, after the custom of their
Church, remaining silent.'
In a few moments the awful preparations were com
pleted, the signal was given, the two traps fell, and four
souls went home to a Tribunal which may safely temper
justice with mercy.
Hardly more than an hour after the appearance of
the black-robed woman at the prison door, four nameless
graves were full and the grassy yard was quiet again under
the fiercely beating rays of the summer sun.
Toward the end of that year there was laid beside
them the body of Wirz, the keeper of Andersonville, who
was hanged for atrocities of which he is now believed
' George Alfred Townsend m New York World, July 8, 1865; also m his book; also
in Baker, p. 508, et seq.; Oldroyd, p. 198, et seq.; Croggon in Washington Star, July 7,
1865.

196 THE DEATH OF LINCOLN
innocent.' In 1867 the five bodies were taken up and
removed to one of the storehouses In the Arsenal grounds.
The body of Booth was laid beside them, and the old
penitentiary where It had for two years had sepulture
was torn down.
Just before Johnson left office. In February, '69, he
yielded to the importunities of the Booth, Surratt, and
Herold families, and allowed the bodies of the conspirators
to be taken away for interment. Mrs. Surratt was buried
in Mount Olivet, northeast of Washington, where her
grave is marked with a modest headstone bearing only the
name "Mrs. Surratt." Herold was burled in the Con
gressional Cemetery, and Atzerodt at Glenwood. Payne's
body was taken to Holmead, a cemetery which was in after
years discontinued; what then became of the Florida boy's
remains Is not known.
In February, when the President's permission was
secured, Mr. Harvey, a Washington undertaker, drove
out to the Arsenal grounds one afternoon and returned
with the gun-box containing Booth's remains.
The establishment of Harvey and Marr was on F
Street near Tenth; and after dark on that short winter
afternoon the little company waiting, tensely, in the back
' "A true sfory of Andersonville Prison: A Defence of Major Henry Wirz," by James
Madison Page, Late 2d Lieutenant Company A, 6th Michigan Cavalry; published
by the Neale Publishmg Company, New York, 1908.

THE DEATH OF LINCOLN 197
shop, heard the sound of hoofs and wheels on the cobble-
paved alley; some one said "There they are!" and in a
moment the waggon was backed into the stable. John
Booth's body had come back, after nearly four years, to
be coffined at a spot not a stone's throw from where his
flight began.
The gun-box was set on trestles in the stable, and a
lantern was called for; this was the light by which the
cover was pried off the box, the gray army blanket lifted,
and the remains disclosed. The head was severed from
the trunk — as it naturally would be by the removal, at
the inquest, of the two spinal spools — and it was passed
from hand to hand and mused upon. Like poor Yorrick,
that long, long ago actor, John Booth was also "a fellow
of infinite jest." In the next room sat the great Hamlet,
waiting.
i The identification being satisfactory — aided by the
dentist who had filled John Booth's teeth — the body, in
a handsome new casket, was sent to Baltimore that night,
and the following day was Interred In the family lot at
Greenmount, where it lies beneath thick ivy under the east
face of the monument reared to the elder Junius Brutus
Booth by his son Edwin in 1858.'
' James Croggon in Washington Star, January s, 1907; also from facts related fo the
present writer by Mr. H. Clay Ford, Mr. Charles Ford (John T. Ford's son), (he Green-
mount Cemetery authorities, and the Booth family.

appendices

APPENDIX I
FEELING AGAINST LINCOLN
It must be remembered that in the summer and fall
of 1864, Lincoln's position in the country seemed, even to
his most sanguine friends, more precarious than it had
ever been. During the first two years of the war, when
the South was winning almost every fight and her armies
seemed Invincible, the feeling against Lincoln in the
Confederate States was more contemptuous than violent.
They thought they "had him licked." But after Lee's
proud army came back from Gettysburg, and Grant's
army marched Into Vicksburg, and Northern prisons
began to swell with tens of thousands of men the South
needed to help her cause, feeling against Lincoln grew
more sullen, vengeful. In the North, the McClellanites
were bitter against him; there were many thousands
of people who hated the war and resented with all their
might being drafted into a fight for which they had no
sympathy. There was so much disaffection for Lincoln,
and his policy of saving the Union at any cost, that there
was taUi of a North-West Confederacy to aid the Southern
201

202 THE DEATH OF LINCOLN
Confederacy. Lincoln's friends did not think he would
get the renomination, but he did. They felt sure he
could not get re-election, and so did he. On the eighth
of September, Leonard Swett wrote from Washington to
his wife: "We are in the midst of conspiracies equal to
the French Revolution." Deep down under all the con
spiring was the feeling that showed itself in the over
whelming returns of Election Day, when the North stood
by Lincoln in a marvellous way. But buzzing about
everybody's ears was the sound of conspiracy and dis
content, and nearly every heart that knew bitterness
blamed Lincoln as its cause.

APPENDIX II
BOOTH IN CANADA
Even if we place any dependence on the testimony of
the men who later confessed themselves or were proved
perjurers, the evidence regarding Booth's presence in
Canada amounts only to the following: Richard Mont
gomery said W. C. Cleary told him that "Booth had been
there, visiting Thompson, twice in the winter; he thought
the last time was in December. He had also been there
in the summer." (C. T. p. 25.) Conover said: "Booth
I saw but once. That was in the latter part of October
last." (C. T. p. 28.) Merritt said he "saw Booth in
Canada two or three times," but did not undertake to say
when. (C. T. p. 36.) John Deveny lived in Montreal
from July, '63, to February, '65. He said he saw Booth
"standing in the St. Lawrence Hotel, Montreal, taUiing
with George N. Sanders. I believe that was in the month
of October." (C. T. p. 39.) Hosea B. Carter " frequently
observed George N. Sanders in intimate association with
Booth" at a time he could not specify, except that it was
between September 10, '64, and February 1, '65. (C. T.
203

204 THE DEATH OF LINCOLN
p. 38.) William E. Wheeler was "at Montreal, Canada,
in October or November last, when I saw John WUkes
Booth." (C. T. p. 39.) Robert Anson CampbeU sold
Booth a bill of exchange in Montreal on October 27th.
(C. T. p. 46.)

APPENDIX III
CONFEDERATE COMPLICITY
The controversy about Confederate complicity in the
murder of President Lincoln has a history too vast to be
entered Into in less than a bulky volume. At the time of
the assassination it is probable that a majority of intensely
loyal Northerners believed the Southern leaders guilty.
To-day only an Inconsiderable remnant of hotheads
believes anything of the sort. The attitude of the historian
writing to-day is well expressed by Professor Albert Bush-
nell Hart, head of the department of history at Harvard.
Answering a query of the present writer as to what con
temporary historical scholarship thinks of the "evidence"
that Davis and his associates plotted or knew of the murder
of Lincoln, Professor Hart wrote : " There is not a scintilla
of reliable evidence proving Confederate complicity in
Lincoln's murder." James Ford Rhodes says: "The
belief that there might be some truth in the charge against
Davis was given up finally by most of the persons who at
first thought It entitled to consideration." ("History of
the United States," vol. v., p. 158.)
205

206 THE DEATH OF LINCOLN
In these days, when we know how most of the "evidence"
against the Confederate leaders presented at the Conspir
acy Trial was obtained, the vindictive bitterness of some
Northern men is interesting as an example of the lengths
to which men can be misled by their frenzy.
A man named John Smith Dye — father of that Sergeant
Joseph M. Dye whose delirious testimony gave the Military
Commission of the Conspiracy Trial so much bootless
bother — wrote a book called "A History of the Plots and
Crimes of the Great Conspiracy to Overthrow Liberty in
America," in which he attempts to prove that William
Henry Harrison and Zachary Taylor died by arsenical
poisoning administered by the friends of slavery (pp.
36, 64), and that on February 23d, 1857, Buchanan,
on the eve of his inauguration, was poisoned at the
National Hotel, Washington, by arsenic put in the sugar
he used for his tea. This was in punishment. Dye thought,
for Buchanan's failure to please the Jefferson Davis faction
in his Cabinet appointments, (p. 91.)
Henry Ward Beecher, in the New York Ledger of May
20, 1865, put forward substantially the same ideas.
John A. Logan In "The Great Conspiracy" — the bit
terest, most ungallant of all the books written by generals
of both armies — says: "That this dark and wicked and
bloody Rebellion, waged by the upholders and advocates

THE DEATH OF LINCOLN 207
of Slavery, Free Trade, and Secession, had descended so
low as to culminate in murder — deliberate, cold-blooded,
cowardly murder — at a time when the Southern con
spirators would apparently be least benefitted by it, was
regarded at first as evidencing their mad fatuity."
("The Great Conspiracy," p. 647.)
Nicolay and Hay write of the Conspiracy Trial: "The
charges against them [the conspirators] specified that they
were ' incited and encouraged ' to treason and murder by
Jefferson Davis and the Confederate emissaries In
Canada. This was not proved on the trial." ("Life of
Lincoln," vol. x., p. 312.)
General T. M. Harris, a member of the Military Com
mission and author of "The Assassination of Lincoln,"
chose to believe — and so late as 1892 to sustain — the
mass of testimony against the Confederate leaders that
"was not proved on trial." General Harris says: "It Is
greatly to be regretted that such popular and usually
reliable authors should have allowed themselves on this
occasion to write thus loosely, and express opinions and
conclusions so much at variance with the testimony."
("The Assassination of Lincoln," by T. M. Harris,
p. 180.)
Now for this testimony : It rested chiefly on the evidence
of one Sanford Conover, one Richard Montgomery, one

208 THE DEATH OF LINCOLN
Dr. James B. Merritt, and one Henry FInegas. It was
Conover, alias James Watson Wallace (tried in Washing
ton for perjury in 1867, convicted, and sentenced to Albany
penitentiary for ten years), who found Merritt, Mont
gomery, FInegas, and the rest and rehearsed them in their
perjuries. (Minority Report of House Committee on
Assassination, by Rogers, Report No. 104, 39th Congress,
First Session, p. 39.) Conover swore at the trial that late in
January and early in February, '65, and every day in
February after an early date, he and Jacob Thompson
talked, at St. Lawrence Hall in Montreal, about the
assassination of Lincoln. January 1st to February 14th,
Thompson, by the sworn testimony of many witnesses,
was in Toronto. And as late as March 20th Conover
was trying to make Thompson's acquaintance. Conover
swore that about April 6th, he, Surratt, and General Carroll
of Tennessee, discussed the assassination of Lincoln in
Jacob Thompson's room. Two citizens of Montreal —
General Carroll's physician and his landlord — swore that
General Carroll was confined to his bed with a very pain
ful disease, from April 1st to April 15th. Conover swore
that other associates of his in Montreal were Captain
Magruder and Dr. Fallen, both of whom swore they had
never known such a person exlsted-
Montgomery had been a frequent prisoner in the Tombs,

THE DEATH OF LINCOLN 209
New York, and had been convicted of robbery in the New
York courts. He said he had talked with Thompson in
Montreal In January, '65 (when Thompson was not in
Montreal), and that Thompson had told him of the plot to
kill Lincoln, Stanton, Grant, and others.
James B. Merritt swore that at a meeting of rebels in
Montreal, about the middle of February, he heard a letter
from Jefferson Davis read approving the assassination of
Lincoln. He said that at this meeting were Captain Scott,
Colonel Steele, and George Young, aU of whom, through
out February, were at Windsor, opposite Detroit, 600 miles
from Montreal; and Merritt himself was not once
during February absent from the village of Ayr, Waterloo
County, Canada, 600 miles from Montreal. He also said
that In February, '65, he had conversation with Clement
C. Clay in Toronto, at which Clay spoke of Davis's letter
approving the assassination, and said he thought " the end
would justify the means." Clement C. Clay left Canada
in November, 1864, and did not return. ("A Belle of the
Fifties," by Virginia Clay-Clopton, p. 237.) At Windsor,
where Merritt lived for years, he was known as a dis
reputable citizen and common liar (eight prominent
citizens swore thereto, and in its issue of June 24, 1865,
The Toronto Globe, a paper conspicuously faithful to the
North, gave the sworn statements of three justices of the

210 THE DEATH OF LINCOLN
peace of Waterloo County, branding Merritt a lying quack).
Yet Merritt got from the War Department for his testimony
$6,000. (Rogers's Report, p. 39.)
Henry FInegas, whose testimony implicated Sanders
and Cleary, was a gambler and prizefighter. (Rogers's
Report, p. 37.)

APPENDIX IV
the LEENEA LETTERS
On Wednesday, the sixteenth of November, John
Booth went to New York where he remained for nearly
a month.
On Monday, November 14th, General Butler left
New York; and that was the day that a Mrs. Mary
Hudspeth, riding on a Third Avenue car in New York
City, overheard the conversation of two men in front of
her. "They were talking most earnestly," she testified.
"One of them said he would leave for Washington the
day after to-morrow. The other man was going to
Newburg, or Newbern, that night." The one who was
going to Washington was educated, Mrs. Hudspeth
said, and had beautiful hands; he had on false whiskers
and wore a pistol In his belt. The other was called
Johnson; he was older and of a rougher sort. They
exchanged letters while In the car, and after they left
Mrs. Hudspeth's daughter picked up an envelope with
two enclosures. One of them began: "Dear Louis,"
and went on to say that the time had come, and "Abe
311

212 THE DEATH OF LINCOLN
must die." The other was a note beginning: "St.
Louis, Oct. 21, 1864. Dearest Husband." It was
signed "Leenea" ; the letter about the killing of the
President was signed "Charles Selby." "Leenea" had
nothing to say of assassination; all she wanted was her
dearest Louis home with his wife and baby.
Mrs. Hudspeth took these letters to General Scott,
who asked her to read them to him and then directed
her to take them to General Dix, which she did. General
DIx sent them, on the seventeenth of November, to
Assistant Secretary of War, Charles A. Dana, saying
that "but for the genuine letter from St. Louis In a female
hand" he "should have thought the whole thing got up
for the Sunday Mercury " — which it not improbably was.
Mr. Dana showed the letters to President Lincoln, who
was used to such communications and "seemed to attach
very little Importance to them."
Nevertheless, much was made of the Selby and Leenea
letters at the trial of the conspirators, Mrs. Hudspeth
even swearing that a photograph of Booth was a likeness
of the younger man she had seen in a Third Avenue car
seven months before. To make the identification com
plete, she spoke of the scar in his neck — not so remark
able a feat of memory when we remember that she testi
fied on May 12th, when the papers were stUl full of Booth's

THE DEATH OF LINCOLN 213
death, his official recognition by means of the scar in
his neck, and other details.
Even if the incident of the Thu-d Avenue car was on
November llth, the day General Butler was ordered to
leave New York, Instead of on November 14th, the day
he actually left, we know that Booth was not there,
because that was the only week end "about the middle
of November" when he could have been in Charles
County, Maryland, as attested by a dozen witnesses.
But the Selby letter was gravely considered against him
in spite of all the strong internal evidence of his having
had nothing to do with it. It was too late, then, to
visit more justice upon John Booth, but if the contention
of the prosecution could be maintained it would show
that what the conspirators were plotting, as early as
November, '64, was not capture, but assassination. (C.
T., pp. 40, 41.)

APPENDIX V
DR. mudd's statement
George W. Dutton, Captain Company C, 10th Veteran
Reserve Corps, commanding the guard that took Mudd,
Spangler, Arnold, and O'Laughlin to Fort Jefferson, Dry
Tortugas, swore that on July 22d Dr. Mudd "con
fessed that he knew Booth when he came to his house
with Herold on the morning after the assassination of the
President; that he had known Booth for some time, but
was afraid to tell of Booth's having been at his house on
April 15th, fearing that his own and the lives of his
family would be endangered thereby. He also confessed
that he was with Booth at the National Hotel on the even
ing referred to by Weichmann in his testimony, that he
came to Washington on that occasion to meet Booth by
appointment, as the latter wished to be Introduced to
John H. Surratt; that when he and Booth were going to
Mrs. Surratt's house to see her son they met, on Seventh
Street, Surratt, who was introduced to Booth, and they
had a conversation of a private nature." (C.T. p. 421.)
To this. Dr. Mudd replied in a sworn statement dated at
Fort Jefferson August 28th: 214

THE DEATH OF LINCOLN 215
1. That I confessed to having known Booth while
in my house; was afraid to give information of the fact,
fearing to endanger my life, or made use of any language
in that connection — I positively and emphatically declare
to be notoriously false.
2. That I was satisfied and willingly acquiesced In the
wisdom and decision of the Military Commission who tried
me, is again notoriously erroneous and false. On the
contrary I charged It (the Commission) with irregularity
Injustice, usurpation, and Illegality. I confess to being
animated at the time, but have no recollection of having
apologized. 3. I did confess to a casual or accidental meeting
with Booth in front of one of the hotels on Pennsyl
vania Avenue, Washington, D. C, on December 23rd,
1864, and not on January 15th, 1865, as testified to
by Weichmann. Booth, on that occasion, desired me to
give him an introduction to Surratt, from whom he said
he wished to obtain a knowledge of the country around
Washington, In order to be able to select a good locality
for a country residence. He had the number, street, and
name of John Surratt written on a card, saying to comply
with his request would not detain me over five minutes.
(At the time I was not aware that Surratt was a resident to
Washington.) I declined at first, stating I was with a
relative and friend from the country and was expecting
some friends over from Baltimore, who Intended going
down with me to spend Christmas, and was by appoint
ment expected to be at the Pennsylvania House by a certain
hour — eight o'clock. We started down one street, and
then up another, and had not gone far when we met Surratt
and Weichmann.
Introductions took place, and we turned back in the
direction of the hotel. Arriving there. Booth insisted on

216 THE DEATH OF LINCOLN
our going to his room and taking something to drink
with him, which I declined for reasons above mentioned;
but finding that Weichmann and Surratt were disposed
to accept, I yielded, remarking I could not remain many
minutes. After arriving in the room, I took the first
opportunity presented to apologize to Surratt for having
introduced to him Booth — a man I knew so little con
cerning. This conversation took place In the passage
in front of the room and was not over three minutes in
duration. Whilst- Surratt and myself were in the hall.
Booth and Weichmann were sitting on the sofa in a
corner of the room looking over some Congressional
documents. Surratt and myself returned and resumed
our former seats (after taking drinks ordered) around a
centre table, which stood midway the room and distant
seven or eight feet from Booth and Weichmann. Booth
remarked that he had been down in the country a few
days before, and said he had not yet recovered from the
fatigue. Afterward he said he had been down In
Charles County, and had made me an offer for the
purchase of my land, which I confirmed by an affirma
tive answer; and he further remarked that on his way
up he lost his way and rode several miles off the track.
When he said this he left his seat and came over and
took a seat immediately by Surratt; taking from his
pocket an old letter, he began to draw lines, in order to
ascertain from Surratt the location and description of
the roads. I was a mere looker-on. The conversation
that took place could be distinctly heard to any part
of the room by any one paying attention. There was
nothing secret, to my knowledge, that took place, with the
exception of the conversation of Surratt and myself,
which I have before mentioned. I had no secret con
versation with Booth, nor with Booth and Surratt together.

THE DEATH OF LINCOLN 217
as testified to by Weichmann. I never volunteered any
statement of Booth ha'ving made me an offer for the pur
chase of my land, but made an affirmative response only
to what Booth said In that connection.
Booth's visit In November, 1864, to Charles County,
was for the purpose, as expressed by himself, to purchase
land and horses; he was inquisitive concerning the politi
cal sentiments of the people, inquiring about the contra
band trade that existed between the North and South
and wished to be Informed about the roads bordering on
the Potomac, which I declined doing. He spoke of his
being an actor and having two other brothers, who also
were actors. He spoke of Junius Brutus as being a good
Republican. He said they were largely engaged in the
oil business, and gave me a lengthy description of the
theory of oil, and the process of boring, etc. He said he
had a younger brother in California. These and many
minor matters spoken of caused me to suspect him to
be a Government detective and to advise Surrat regard
ing him.
We were together in Booth's room about fifteen minutes
after which, at my invitation, they walked up to the
Pennsylvania House, where the conversation that ensued
between Weichmann and myself, as testified to by him,
is, in the main, correct — only that he, of the two,
appeared the better Southern man, and undertook to
give me facts from his office to substantiate his statements
and opinions. This was but a short time after the defeat
of Hood in Tennessee. The papers stated that over
nine thousand prisoners had been taken, and that the
whole of Hood's army was demoralized and falling back,
and there was every prospect of his whole army being
either captured or destroyed. To this Weichmann
replied that only four thousand prisoners had been

218 THE DEATH OF LINCOLN
ordered to be provided for by the Commissary-General
[in whose office, it will be remembered, Weichmann was
a clerk] and that he was far from believing the defeat of
Hood so disastrous. I spoke with sincerity, and said
it was a blow from which the South would never be able
to recover; and that the whole South then laid at the
mercy of Sherman. Weichmann seemed, whilst on the
stand, to be disposed to give what he believed a truthful
statement. I am In hopes the above will refresh his
memory, and he will do me the justice, though late, to
correct his erroneous testimony.
To recapitulate — I made use of no such statement as
reported by the "Washington Correspondent of the
New York Times," only in the sense and meaning as
testified to by Dr. George D. Mudd, and as either misun
derstood or misrepresented by Colonel Wells and others
before the Commission.
I never saw Mrs. Surratt in my life to my knowledge
previous to the assassination, and then only through her
veU. I never saw Arnold, O'Laughlin, Atzerodt, Payne,
alias Powell, or Spangler — or ever heard their names
mentioned previous to the assassination of the President.
I never saw or heard of Booth after December 23rd,
1864, until after the assassination, and then he was in
disguise. I did not know Booth whilst in my house,
nor did I know Herold, neither of whom made
himself known to me. And I further declare they
did not make known to me their true destination
before I left the house. They inquired the way to
many places, and desired particularly to go to the
Reverend Wilmer's.
I gave a full description of the two parties (whom I
represented as suspicious) to Lieutenant Lovett and three
other officers on the Tuesday after the assassination.

THE DEATH OF LINCOLN 219
I gave a description of one horse — the other I never
took any notice of, and do not know to this day the color
or appearance. Neither Booth's nor Herold's name was
mentioned In connection with the assassination, nor
was there any name mentioned in connection with the
assassination, nor was there any photograph exhibited
of any one implicated in the infamous deed. I was
merely called upon to give a description of the men and
horses and the places they Inquired. The evidence of
the four detectives — Lovett, Gavacan, Lloyd, and
Williams — conflicts (unintentionally) on this point; they
evidently prove and disprove the fact, as they have done
in every instance affecting my interest, or upon points
in which my welfare was at issue. Some swore that
the photograph of Booth was exhibited on Tuesday,
which was false. I do not advert to the false testimony;
it is evident to the reader, and bears the Impress of foul
play and persecution somewhere — It may be owing to
the thirst for the enormous reward offered by the Govern
ment, or a false Idea for notoriety. Evans and Norton
evidently swore falsely and perjured themselves. Daniel
I. Thomas was bought by the detectives — likewise
the negroes who swore against me. The court must
certainly have seen that a great deal of the testimony
was false and incompetent — upon this I charge them
with Injustice, etc.
Reverend Evans and Norton — I never saw nor heard
their names in my life. I never knew, nor have I any
knowledge whatsoever, of John Surratt ever visiting
Richmond. I had not seen him previous to the twenty-third
of December, 1864, for more than nine months. He was
no visitor to my house.
The detectives, Lovett, Gavacan, Lloyd, and Williams,
having failed to search my house or to make any in-

220 THE DEATH OF LINCOLN
quiries whether the parties left anything behind on the
"Tuesday after the assassination, I myself did not think
— consequently did not remind them. A day or two
after their leaving the boot that was cut from the in
jured man's leg by myself was brought to our attention,
and I resolved on sending it to the mUItary authorities,
but it escaped my memory, and I was not reminded of
Its presence until the Friday after the assassination,
when Lieutenant Lovett and the above parties, with a
squad of cavalry, came again and asked for the razor
the party shaved with. I was then reminded imme
diately of the boot, and without hesitation I told them of
it and the circumstances. I had never examined the
inside of the boot leg, consequently knew nothing about
a name which was there contained. As soon as I handed
the boot to Lieutenant Lovett, they examined and dis
covered the name "J. Wilkes"; they then handed me
his photograph, and asked whether it bore any resem
blance to the party, to which I said I would not be able to
recognize that as the man (injured), but remarked that
there was a resemblance about the eyes and hair. Herold's
likeness was also handed me, and I could not see any
resemblance, but I had described the horse upon which
he rode, which, one of the detectives said, answered
exactly to the one taken from one of the stables in Wash
ington. From the above facts and circumstances I was enabled
to form a judgment, which I expressed without hesita
tion, and I said that I was convinced that the injured
man was Booth, the same man who visited my house
in November, 1864, and purchased a horse from my
neighbour, Greorge Gardiner. I said this because I thought
my judgment in the matter was necessary to secure
pursuit promptly of the assassins.

THE DEATH OF LINCOLN 221
In May, 1901, Samuel Cox, Jr., told Mr. Osborn H.
Oldroyd that in 1877, when Dr. Mudd and he were the
Democratic candidates for the legislature from Charles
County, Dr. Mudd often talked privately to him about
the assassination, and said that he knew Booth when
he dressed the broken leg, but did not know of Booth's
mad deed. Mr. Cox thought Dr. Mudd had been
aware of the abduction plot, but he was sure the doctor
had no part in the assassination, nor anything but
abhorrence for it. ("The Assassination of Abraham
Lincohi," by Osborn H. Oldroyd, pp. 268, 269.)

APPENDIX VI
ROCKVILLE LECTURE OF JOHN H. SURRATT
Ladies and Gentlemen: Upon entering that door a
few moments ago the impression on my mind was so
strong as to vividly recall scenes of three years ago. I
am not unacquainted with court-room audiences. I
have stood before them before; true, not In the character
of a lecturer, but as a prisoner at the bar, arraigned for
the high crime of murder. In contrasting the two positions
I must confess I felt more easy as the prisoner at the bar
than I do as a lecturer. Then I felt confident of success;
now I do not. Then I had gentlemen of known ability
to do all my talking for me; now, unfortunately, I have
to do it for myself and I feel illy capable of performing
the task; still I hope you will all judge me kindly. I
am not here to surprise you by an oratorical effort — not
at all — but only to tell a simple tale. I feel that some
explanation — perhaps, indeed, an apology — is due you
for my appearance here this evening. In presenting
thb lecture before the public I do it in no spirit of self-
justification. In the trial of sixty-one days I made my
222

THE DEATH OF LINCOLN 223
defence to the world, and have no need or desire to
rehearse it; nor do I appear for self-glorification. On
the contrary, I dislike notoriety, and leave my solitude
and obscurity unwillingly. Neither is it an itching for
fame. I stand here through the force of that which has
obliged many other men to do things quite as distasteful:
pecuniary necessity, for the supply of which no more
available channel presented itself. This is a reason
easily appreciated. So you will take it kindly, I trust,
as the ground we have to go over together will guarantee
sufficient Interest to repay your kind attention.
In this, my first lecture, I will speak of my introduc
tion to J. Wilkes Booth; his plan, its failure, our final
separation ; my trip from Richmond and thence to Canada,
then by orders to Elmira, what was done there; the first
intimation I had of Mr. Lincoln's death; my return to
Canada and my concealment there; and my final depart
ure for Europe.
At the breaking out of the war I was a student at St.
Charles College in Maryland, but did not remain long
there after that important event. I left in July, 1861,
and returning home, commenced to take an active part
in the stirring events of that period. I was not more
than eighteen years of age, and was mostly engaged in
sending information regarding the movements of the

224 THE DEATH OF LINCOLN
United States soldiers stationed in Washington and
elsewhere, and carrying dispatches to Confederate boats
on the Potomac. We had a regular estabUshed line from
Washington to the Potomac, and being the only un
married man on the route, I had most of the hard riding
to do. I devised various ways to carry the dispatches
— sometimes in the heel of my boots, sometimes between
the planks of the buggy. I confess that never in my
life did I come across a more stupid set of detectives
than those generally employed by the United States
Government. They seemed to have no idea whatever
how to search me.
In 1864 my family left Maryland and moved to Wash
ington, where I took a still more active part in the stirring
events of that period. It was a fascinating life to me.
It seemed as if I could not do too much or run too great
a risk. In the fall of 1864 I was introduced to John Wilkes
Booth, who, I was given to understand, wished to know
something about the main avenue leading from Washing
ton to the Potomac. We met several times, but as he
seemed to be very reticent with regard to his purposes,
and very anxious to get all the information out of me he
could, I refused to tell him anything at all. At last I
said to him: "It is useless for you, Mr. Booth, to seek

THE DEATH OF LINCOLN 225
any Information from me at all; I know who you are and
what are your Intentions." He hesitated some time,
but finally said he would make known his views to me
provided I would promise secrecy. I replied: "I will
do nothing of the kind; you know well I am a Southern
man. If you cannot trust me, we wiU separate." He
then said: "I will confide my plans to you; but before
doing so I will make known to you the motives that
actuate me. In the Northern prisons are many thousands
of our men whom the United States Government refuses
to exchange. You know as well as I the efforts that
have been made to bring about the desired exchange.
Aside from the great suffering they are compelled to
undergo, we are sadly In want of them as soldiers. We
cannot spare one man, whereas the United States Gov
ernment Is willing to let their own soldiers remain In our
prisons because she has no need of them. I have a propo
sition to submit to you which I think, if we can carry out,
would bring about the desired exchange."
There was a long and ominous silence which I at
last was compelled to break by asking: " WeU, sir, what Is
your proposition?" He sat quiet for an instant and
then, before answering me, arose and looked under the
bed, into the wardrobe. In the doorway and the passage
way, and then said: "We will have to be careful; walls

226 THE DEATH OF LINCOLN
have ears." He then drew his chair close to me and in
a whisper said, "It is to kidnap President Lincoln, and
carry him off to Richmond."
"Kidnap President Lincoln!" I said. I confess that I
stood aghast at the proposition, and looked upon it as a
foolhardy undertaking. To think of successfully seizing
Mr. Lincoln in the capital of the United States, sur
rounded by thousands of his soldiers, and carrying him
off to Richmond, looked to me like a foolish idea. I told
him as much. He went on to tell with what facility he
could be seized In and about Washington, as, for example,
in his various rides to and from the Soldiers' Home, his
summer residence. He entered into minute details of
the proposed capture, and of the various parts to be per
formed by the actors In the performance. I was amazed
— thunderstruck — and. In fact, I might also say, fright
ened at the unparalleled audacity of his scheme.
After two days' reflection I told him I was willing to
try it. I believed it practical at that time, though now re
gard it as a foolhardy undertaking. I hope you will
not blame me for going thus far. I honestly thought
an exchangfe of prisoners could be brought about could
we have once obtained possession of Mr. Lincoln's
person. I now reverse the case: Where is there a young
man in the North, with one spark of patriotism in his

THE DEATH OF LINCOLN 227
heart, who would not have with enthusiastic ardour joined
in any undertaking for the capture of Jefferson Davis,
and brought him to Washington ? There is not one who
would not have done so! So I was led on by a desire to
assist the South in gaining her independence. I had no
hesitation in taking part in anything honourable that
might tend toward the accomplishment of that object.
Such a thing as the assassination of Mr. Lincoln I never
heard spoken by any of the parties — never! Upon one
occasion, I remember, we had called a meeting in Wash
ington for the purpose of discussing matters In general,
as we had understood that the Government had received
information that there was a plot of some kind on hand.
They had even commenced to build a stockade on the
Navy Yard bridge, gates opening toward the south, as
though they expected danger from within, and not from
without. At this meeting I explained the construction
of the gates, etc., and that the best thing we could do
would be to throw up the whole project. Every one
seemed to coincide with my opinion except Booth, who
sat silent and abstracted. Arising at last, and bringing
down his fist upon the table, he said: "Well, gentlemen,
if the worst comes to the worst, I shall know what to do! "
Some hard words and even threats then passed between
him and some of the party. Four of us then arose.

228 THE DEATH OF LINCOLN
one saying: "If I understand, you to intimate anything
more than the capture of Mr. Lincoln, I, for one, wiU
bid you good-bye." Every one expressed the same
opinion. We all arose and commenced putting our
hats on. Booth, perceiving probably that he had gone
too far, asked pardon, saying that he "had drank too
much champagne." After some difficulty everything
was amicably arranged, and we separated at five o'clock
In the morning.
Days, weeks, and months passed by without an oppor
tunity presenting Itself for us to attempt the capture.
We seldom saw one another, owing to the many rumours
afloat that a conspiracy of some kind was being con
cocted in Washington. We had all arrangements per
fected from Washington for the purpose. Boats were
In readiness to carry us across the river.
One day we received information that the President
would visit the Seventh Street Hospital for the purpose
of being present at an entertainment to be given for the
benefit of the wounded soldiers. The report only
reached us about three-quarters of an hour before the
time appointed, but so perfect was our communication that
we were Instantly In our saddles on the way to the hospital.
This was between one and two o'clock in the afternoon.
It was our intention to seize the carriage, which was

THE DEATH OF LINCOLN 229
drawn by a splendid pair of horses, and to have one of
our men mount the box and drive direct for southern
Maryland via Benning's Bridge. We felt confident
that all the cavalry In the city could never overtake us.
We were all mounted on swift horses, besides having a
thorough knowledge of the country, it being determined
to abandon the carriage after passing the city limits.
Upon the suddenness of the blow and the celerity of our
movements we depended for success. By the time the
alarm could have been given and horses saddled we would
have been on our way through southern Maryland
toward the Potomac River.
To our great disappointment, however, the President
was not there, but one of the Government officials — Mr.
Chase, If I mistake not. We did not disturb him, as we
wanted a bigger chase than he could have afforded us.
It was certainly a bitter disappointment, but yet I think
a most fortunate one for us. It was our last attempt.
We soon after this became convinced that we could not
remain much longer undiscovered, and that we must
abandon our enterprise. Accordingly a separation
finally took place, and I never after saw any of the party
except one, and that was when I was on my way from
Richmond to Canada on business of quite a different
nature — about which presently.

230 THE DEATH OF LINCOLN
Such is the story'of our abduction plot — rash, perhaps
foolish, but honourable, I maintain, in its means and ends;
actuated by such motives as would, under similar cir
cumstances, be a sufficient inducement to thousands of
Southern young men to have embarked in a similar
enterprise. Shortly after our abandonment of the abduction scheme,
some despatches came to me which I was compelled to see
through to Richmond. They were foreign ones, and
had no reference whatever to this affair. I accordingly
left home for Richmond, and arrived there safely on the
Friday evening before the evacuation of that city. On my
arrival I went to the Spotswood Hotel, where I was told
that Mr. Benjamin, the then Secretary of War of the
Confederate States, wanted to see me. I accordingly
sought his presence. He asked me if I would carry some
despatches to Canada for him. I replied "Yes." That
evening he gave me the despatches and $200 in gold with
which to pay my way to Canada. That was the only
money I ever received from the Confederate Government
or any of its agents. It may be well to remark here that
this scheme of abduction was concocted without the
knowledge or the assistance of the Confederate Govern
ment in any shape or form. Booth and I often consulted
together as to whether it would not be well to acquaint the

THE DEATH OF LINCOLN 231
authorities in Richmond with our plan, as we were sadly
in want of money, our expenses being very heavy. In fact,
the question arose among us as to whether, after getting
Mr. Lincoln, if we succeeded in our plan, the Confederate
authorities would not surrender us to the United
States again, because of our doing this thing without their
knowledge or consent. But we never acquainted them
with the plan, and they never had anything In the wide
world to do with it. In fact, we were jealous of our under
taking and wanted no outside help. I have not made
this statement to defend the officers of the Confederate
Government. They are perfectly able to defend them
selves. What I have done myself I am not ashamed to let
the world know. I left Richmond on Saturday morning
before the evacuation of that place, and reached Washing
ton the following Monday at 4 o'clock p. m., AprU 3, 1865.
As soon as I reached the Maryland shore I understood
that the detectives knew of my trip South and were on the
lookout for me. I had been South several times before for
the Secret Service, but had never been caught. At that
time I was carrying the despatches Mr. Benjamin gave me
in a book entitled "The Life of John Brown." During
my trip, and while reading that book I learned to my utter
amazement that John Brown was a martyr sitting at the
right hand of God. I succeeded in reaching Washington

232 THE DEATH OF LINCOLN
safely, and in passing up Seventh Street met one of our
party, who inquired what had become of Booth. I told
him where I had been; that I was then on my way to
Canada, and that I had not seen or heard anything of
Booth since our separation. In view of the fact that
Richmond had fallen, and that all hopes of the abduction
of the President had been given up, I advised him to go
home and go to work. That was the last time I saw any
of the party. I went to a hotel and stopped over that
night, as a detective had been to my house inquiring of
the servant my whereabouts. In the early train next
morning, Tuesday, AprU 4, 1865, I left for New York,
and that was the last time I ever saw Washington until
brought there by the U. S. Government a captive In irons
— all reports to the contrary notwithstanding.
The United States, as you wUl remember, tried to prove
my presence in Washington on April 14th, the day
on which Mr. Lincoln met his death. Upon arriving In
New York, I called at Booth's house, and was told by
the servant that he had left that morning suddenly, on the
ground of going to Boston to fulfil an engagement at the
theatre. In the evening of the same day I took the cars
for Montreal, arriving there the next day. I put up at
the St. Lawrence Hotel, registering myself as "John
Harrison," such being my two first names. Shortly after-

THE DEATH OF LINCOLN 233
ward I saw General Edward G. Lee, to whom the
despatches were directed, and delivered them to him.
Those despatches we tried to Introduce as evidence on my
trial, but his Honour Judge FIsher,ruled them out, despite
the fact that the Government had tried to prove that they
had relation to the conspiracy to kill Mr. Lincoln. They
were only accounts of some money transactions — nothing
more or less.
A week or so after my arrival there, General Lee came
to my room, and told me he had a plan on foot to release
the Confederate prisoners then In Elmira, N. Y. He
said he had sent many parties there, but they always got
frightened and only half executed their orders. He
asked me if I would go there and take a sketch of the
prison, find out the number of prisoners, also minor de
tails in regard to the number of soldiers on guard, cannon,
small arms, etc. I readily accepted these new labours,
owing to the fact that I could not return to Washington
for fear of the detectives. The news of the evacuation
of Richmond did not seem to disturb the general much
In his plan, as he doubtless thought then that the Con
federacy wanted men more than ever, no one dreaming
that it was virtually at an end. I was much amused at
one expression made use of by an ex-reb with regard
to the suddenness of its demise: "D — n the thing, it

234 THE DEATH OF LINCOLN
did n't even flicker, but went right out!" In accordance
with General Lee's order, I went to Elmira, arriving
there on Wednesday, two days before Mr. Lincoln's
death, and registered at the Brainard House, as usual,
as "John Harrison." The following day I went to work,
and made a complete sketch of the prison and surround
ings. About ten o'clock on Friday night I retired, Uttle
thinking that on that night a blow would be struck
which would forever blast my hopes, and make me a
wanderer in a foreign land. I slept the night through,
and came down the next morning little dreaming of the
storm then brewing around my head. When I took my
seat at the table about nine o'clock A. m., a gentleman
to my left remarked: "Have you heard the news?"
"No, I've not," I replied. "What Is it?" "Why,
President Lincoln and Secretary Seward have been
assassinated." I really put so little faith in what the man said that I
made a remark that it was too early in the morning to
get off such jokes as that. " It 's so," he said, at the same
time drawing out a paper and showing it to me. Sure
enough, there I saw an account of what he told me, but
as no names were mentioned it never occurred to me for
an instant that it could have been Booth or any of the
party, for the simple reason that I never had heard any-

THE DEATH OF LINCOLN 235
thing regarding assassination spoken of during my
intercourse with them.
I had good reason to believe that there was another
conspiracy afloat In Washington. In fact we all knew It.
One evening as I was partially lying down in the reading-
room of the Metropolitan Hotel, two or three gentlemen
came in and looked around as If to make sure that no one
was around. They then commenced to talk about what
had been done, the best means for the expedition, etc.
It being about dusk, and no gas lit, and I partially con
cealed behind a writing desk, I was an unwilling listener
to what occurred. I told Booth of this afterward, and
he said he had heard something to the same effect. It
only made us all the more eager to carry out our plans
at an early day for fear some one should get ahead of
us. We did n't know what they were after, exactly, but
we were well satisfied that their object was very much
the same as ours.
Arising from the table I thought over who the party
could be, for at tjiat time no names had been telegraphed.
I was pretty sure it was none of the old party. I ap
proached the telegraph office in the main hall of the hotel
for the purpose of ascertaining if J. Wilkes Booth was
in New York. I picked up a blank and wrote "John
Wilkes Booth," giving the number of the house. I hesi-

236 THE DEATH OF LINCOLN
tated a moment, and then tore the paper up, and then
wrote one "J. W. B.," with directions, which I was led
to do from the fact that during our whole connection we
rarely wrote or telegraphed under our proper names, but
always in such a manner that no one could understand
but ourselves. One way of Booth's was to send letters
to me under cover to my quondam friend, Louis J.
Weichmann. Doubtless you all know who Louis J.
Weichmann is. They were sent to him because he knew
of the plot to abduct President Lincoln. I proclaim it
here and before the world that Louis J. Weichmann was
a party to the plan to abduct President Lincoln. He had
been told all about it, and was constantly importuning me
to let him become an active member. I refused, for the
simple reason that I told him he could neither ride a
horse nor shoot a pistol, which was a fact. These were
two necessary accomplishments for us. My refusal
nettled him some; so he went off, as it afterward appeared
by his testimony, and told some Government clerk that he
had a vague idea that there was a plan of some kind
on hand to abduct President Lincoln. This he says
himself: that he could have spotted every man of the
party. Why did n't he do it ? Booth sometimes was
rather suspicious of him, and asked If I thought he could
be trusted. I said, "Certainly he can. Weichmann is

THE DEATH OF LINCOLN 237
a Southern man." And I always believed it until I had
good reason to believe otherwise, because he had fur
nished information for the Confederate Government,
besides allowing me access to the Government's records
after office hours. I have very little to say of Louis J.
Weichmann. But I do pronounce him a base-born
perjurer, a murderer of the meanest hue! Give me a
man who can strike his victim dead, but save me from
a man who, through perjury, will cause the death of an
innocent person. Double murderer! Hell possesses no
worse fiend than a character of that kind. Away with
such a character! I leave him In the pit of Infamy
which he has dug for himself, a prey to the lights of his
guilty conscience.
I telegraphed Booth thus:
"J. W. B., in New York:
"If you are in New York telegraph me.
"John Harrison, Elmira, N. Y."
The operator, after looking over it,said : " Is it J. W. B. ?"
to which I replied "Yes." He evidently wanted the whole
name, and had scarcely finished telegraphing when a
door right near the office, and opening on the street, was
pushed open, and I heard some one say: "Yes, there are
three or four brothers of them, Junius Brutus, Edwin,

238 THE DEATH OF LINCOLN
and J. Wilkes Booth." The whole truth flashed on me
in an instant, and I said to myself: "My God! What
have I done?" The despatch was still lying before me,
and I reached over and took it up for the purpose of
destroying it, but the operator stretched forth his hand
and said: "We must file all telegrams." My first impulse
was to tear it up, but I pitched it back and walked off.
The town was in the greatest uproar, flags at half-mast,
bells tolling, etc., etc. Still I did not think that I was In
danger, and determined to go immediately to Baltimore
to find out the particulars of the tragedy. But here I
wish to say a few words concerning the register of the
Brainard House. When my counsel, by my own direc
tion, went to seek that register, it could not be found.
Our inabUity to produce it on the trial naturally cast a
suspicion over our alibi. For weeks, months, did we
seek to find its whereabouts, but to no purpose. Every
man who was connected with the hotel was hunted up
and questioned. Every register of the hotel before and
after the one which ought to contain my name was to
be found, but the most important one of all was gone.
Now, the question is, what became of that register ? The
United States Government, by one of its witnesses.
Doctor McMillan, knew in November, 1865, that I was
in Elmira at the time of the assassination. They knew

THE DEATH OF LINCOLN 239
it, and they naturally traced me there to find out what I
was doing. That some of the Government emissaries
abstracted that register I firmly believe, or perhaps it is
stored away in some of the other Government vaults, under
charge of some judge high In position; but this Is only a
surmise of mine. But the circumstance Involves a mys
tery of villainy which the All-Seeing God will yet bring
to light. The dispatch I sent to Booth from Elmira It
was also impossible to find. We had the operator at
Washington during my trial, but he said the original was
gone, though he had a copy of It. In telegraph offices
they are compelled to keep all despatches filed. Of
course we could not offer this copy In evidence, because
the original alone would be accepted, and that had been
made away with. So sure was the Government that
they had destroyed all evidence of my sojourn In Elmira
that, in getting me td Washington in time for Mr. Lin
coln's death, they brought me by way of New York City;
but so completely were they foiled In this that in their
rebutting testimony they saw the absolute necessity of
having me go by way of Elmira, and they changed their
tactics accordingly. That was enough to damn my case
in any man's mind. This is a strange fact, but neverthe
less true, that the Government, having in its possession
this hotel register as well as my despatch to Booth, and

240 THE DEATH OF LINCOLN
knowing, moreover, by one of its witnesses, that I was
in Elmira, yet tried to prove that I was in Washington
on the night of Mr. Lincoln's death, " giving orders and
commanding in general," as they were pleased to say.
The gentlemen In Elmira, by whom I proved my alibi,
were men of the highest standing and integrity whose
testimony the United States Government could not and
dare not attempt to impeach. I left Elmira with
the intention of going to Baltimore. I really did not
comprehend at that time the danger I was in. As there
was no train going south that evening, I concluded to go
to Canandaigua and from there to Baltimore by way of
Elmira and New York. Upon arriving at Canandaigua
on Saturday evening I learned to my utter disappoint
ment that no train left until the Monday following, so
I took a room at the Webster House, registering myself
as "John Harrison." The next day I went to church,
I remember, it being Easter Sunday. I can here safely
say that the United States Government had not the
remotest idea that I stopped anywhere after I left Elmira.
They thought, when I left there, I went straight through
to Canada. It was a very fortunate thing for me that I
could not leave Canandaigua. Now, mark, ladies and
gentlemen, if you please : My name was signed midway
of the hotel register, with six other parties before and

THE DEATH OF LINCOLN 241
after. There was no doubt as to the genuineness of
signature, because the very experts brought by the United
States to swear to my signature in other instances, swore
also that that was my handwriting. After all this, the
register was ruled out by Judge Fisher, because he was
well aware if he admitted it my trial was at an end. I
could not be in two places at once, though they tried to
make me so. Listen to his reason for so ruling! "The
prisoner might have stepped down from Canada to
Canandaigua during his concealment and signed his
name there for the purpose of protecting himself in the
future." It was a likely idea that the proprietor of a
hotel would leave a blank line in the register for my
especial benefit! Need I say that the ruling was a most
infamous one, and ought to damn the judge who so
ruled as a villain In the minds of every honest and
upright man. Had Judge Fisher been one of the lawyers
for the prosecution, he could not have worked harder
against me than he did. But, thanks to him, he did me
more good than harm. His unprincipled and vindictive
character was too apparent to every one in the court
room. I could not help smiling at the time to think of
the great shrewdness and foresight he accorded me by
that decision. At times, really, during my trial, I could
scarce recognize any vestige of my former self. Some-

242 THE DEATH OF LINCOLN
times I would ask myself: "Am I the same individual?
Am I really the same John H. Surratt?" When that
register was produced in court, the Hon. Judge Pierre-
pont, the leading counsel for the United States, became
exceedingly nervous, especially when Mr. Bradley re
fused to show it to him, and he tore up several pieces of
paper in his trembling fingers.
He evidently saw what a pitiful case he had, and how he
had been made the dupe of his precious, worthy friend,
Edwin M. Stanton. At the time of my trial the proprietor
of the Webster House In Canandaigua could not find the
cash-register of the hotel, in which there should have been
an entry in favour of "John Harrison" for so much cash.
When he returned to Canandaigua, my trial being then
ended, he wrote to Mr. Bradley, and sent it to him. It
was then too late. My trial was over. If we had had that
cash-book at the time of my trial it would have proved
beyond a doubt that I was in Canandaigua, and not in
Washington city.
On Monday, when I was leaving Canandaigua, I bought
some New York papers. In looking over them my eye
lit on the following paragraph, which I have never forgot,
and don't think I ever wiU. It runs thus: "The Assassin
of Secretary Seward is said to be John H. Surratt, a notori
ous secessionist of southern Maryland. His name, with

THE DEATH OF LINCOLN 243
that of John Wilkes Booth, will forever lead the infamous
roll of assassins." I could scarcely believe my senses.
I gazed upon my name, the letters of which seemed some
times to grow as large as mountains and then to dwindle
away to nothing. So much for my former connection with
him, I thought. After fully realizing the state of the case,
I concluded to change my course, and go direct to Canada.
I left Canandaigua on Monday at 12 M., going to Albany,
arriving there on Tuesday morning in time for breakfast.
When I stepped on the platform at the depot at St. Albans,
I noticed that one of the detectives scanned every one, head
and foot, myself as well as the rest. Before leaving Mon
treal for Elmira I provided myself with an Oxford-cut
jacket and round-top hat peculiar to Canada at that time.
I knew my trip to Elmira would be a dangerous one, and
I wished to pass myself off as a Canadian, and I su •
ceeded in doing so, as was proved by my witnesses in
Elmira. I believe that costume guarded me safely
through St. Albans. I went in with others and moved
around, with the detectives standing there most of the
time looking at us. Of course I was obliged to talk as
loud as anybody about the late tragedy. After having
a hearty meal I lighted a cigar and walked up town. One
of the detectives approached me, stared me directly in the
face, and I looked him quietly back. In a few moments

244 THE DEATH OF LINCOLN
I was speeding on my way to Montreal, where I arrived at
two o'clock In the afternoon, going again to the St.Lawrence
Hotel. Soon after I called on a friend, to whom I
explained my former connection with Booth, and told him
I was afraid the United States Government would suspect
me of complicity in the assassination. He advised me to
make myself scarce.
I immediately went to the hotel, got my things, and
repaired to the room of a friend. When my friend's
tea-time came I would not go to the table with him, but
remained in the room. The ladies wanted to know why
he did not bring his friend to tea with him. He replied
that I did not want any. One of the ladies replied: "I
expect you have got Booth in there." "Perhaps so,"
he answered, laughingly. That was rather close guessing.
At nightfall I went to the house of one who afterward
proved to be a most devoted friend. There I remained
until the evening of the next day, when I was driven out
in a carriage with two gentlemen, strangers to me. One
day I walked out and saw Weichmann on the lookout for
me. He had little idea that I was so near. One night
about eleven o'clock, my friend, in whose house I was, came
to me and said. In a smiling way: "The detectives have
offered me twenty thousand dollars if I will tell them where
you are." "Very well," said I, "give me one-half and let

THE DEATH OF LINCOLN 245
them know." They suspected this gentleman of protect
ing me and they had really made him the offer. One day,
about twelve o'clock, I was told that they were going to
search the house, and that I must leave immediately, which
I did. They searched it before morning. This gentleman
was a poor man, with a large family, and yet money could
not buy him. I remained with this gentleman until I
left Montreal, within a week or so afterward. The
detectives were now hunting me very closely, and would
have doubtless succeeded in capturing me, had it not been
for a blunder on the part of my friend Weichmann. He
had, it appears, started the detectives on the wrong track
by telling them that I had left the house of Mr. Porter-
field in company with some others and was going north to
Montreal. Soon that section was swarming with detec
tives. I was not with the party, but about the same time
I, too, left Montreal in a hack, going some eight or more
miles down the St.Lawrence River, crossing that stream in
a small canoe. I was attired as a huntsman. At three
o'clock Wednesday morning we arrived at our destination
a small town lying south of Montreal. We entered the
village quietly, hoping that no one would see us.
It has been asserted over and over again, for the purpose
of damning me in the estimation of every honest man, that
I deserted her who gave me birth in the darkest hour of

246 THE DEATH OF LINCOLN
her need. Truly would I have merited the execration of
every man had such been the case. But such was not the
case. When I left Montreal there was no cause for
uneasiness on my part, and upon my arrival in the country
I wrote to my friends to keep me posted in regard to the
approaching trial and to send me the papers regularly.
I received letters from thena frequently, in all of which
they assured me there was no cause for anxiety; that it
was only a matter of time, and It would all be well. After
a while the papers did not come so regularly, but those that
did come spoke very encouragingly. Afterward when
they came sentences were mutilated with Ink and pen.
I protested against such action, and for some time I received
no papers at all. I became very uneasy, and wrote for
publication an article signed by myself, which I sent to
Montreal to be forwarded for publication in the New York
World. It is needless to say It never went. Things
continued in this way for some time, until I could stand the
suspense no longer. I determined to send a messenger
to Washington for that purpose, and secured the services
of an Intelligent, educated gentleman. I started him off
immediately, I paying all the expenses. I gave him a letter
to a friend of mine in Washington, with instructions to say
to him to put himself In communication with the counsel
for defence, and to make a correct report to me as to how

THE DEATH OF LINCOLN 247
the case stood — if there was any danger, and also to com
municate with me if my presence was necessary, and Inform
me without delay, with an urgent request that he would
see and inquire for himself how matters stood. He left
me, and God alone knows the suspense and anxiety of
my mind during the days of his absence. I imagined and
thought all kinds of things, yet I was powerless to act. At
last he returned, and so bright and cheerful was his counte
nance that I confess one-half of my fears were dispelled.
He represented everything as progressing well, and brought
me this message from the gentleman in Washington to
whom I had sent him:
"Be under no apprehension as to any serious conse
quences. Remain perfectly quiet, as any action on your
part would only tend to make matters worse. If you can
be of any service to us we wiU let you know; but keep
quiet." These were the instructions I received from my friend
in Washington, In whom I felt the utmost reliance, and
who, I thought, would never deceive. He also sent me
copies of the National Intelligencer, containing evidence
for the defence. I certainly felt greatly relieved, though
not entirely satisfied. This news reached me some time
in the latter part of June, just before the party of gentlemen
of whom I have spoken had arrived. They, too, assured

248 THE DEATH OF LINCOLN
me there was no cause for fear. What else could I do but
accept these unwavering assurances ? Even had I thought
otherwise, I could not have taken action resulting in good.
Just on the eve of my departure to join a party of gentle
men on a hunting excursion, while I was waiting at the
hotel for the train, the proprietor handed me a paper
and said: "Read that about the conspirators."
Little did the man know who I was, or how closely that
paragraph bore upon me or mine. That paper informed
me that on a day which was then present, and at an hour
which then had come and gone, the most hellish of deeds
was to be enacted. It had been determined upon and
carried out, even before I had intimation that there was
any danger. It would be foolish for me to attempt to
describe my feelings. After gazing at the paper for some
time I dropped it on the floor, turning on my heel, and
went directly to the house where I had been stopping
before. When I entered the room I found my friend
sitting there. As soon as he saw me he turned deadly
pale, but never uttered a word. I said: "You doubtless
thought you were acting a friend — the part of a friend —
toward me, but you have deceived me. I forgive you,
but I can never forget it."
" We all thought it for the best," he commenced to say,
but I did not stay to hear more. I went to my room.

THE DEATH OF LINCOLN 249
remained there until dark, and then signified my intention
to leave the place immediately. I felt reckless as to what
should become of me.
After visiting Quebec and other places, with a reward of
$25,000 hanging over my head, I did not think it safe to
remain there, and so I concluded to seek an asylum In
foreign lands. I had nothing now to bind me to this
country save an only sister, and I knew she would never
want for kind friends or a good home. For myself, it
mattered little where I went, so I could roam once more a
free man. I then went on a venture, and now, ladies and
gentlemen, I go forth again on a venture. Gladly would
I have remained hidden among the multitude, but the
stern necessities arising from the blasting of my earthly
prospects forced me to leave my solitude and to stand again
before the public gaze as the historian of my own life.
One mitigation to this distastefulness in this my first
attempt, however, Is the kindness with which I have been
received and the patience with which I have been listened
to, for which I return you, ladies and gentlemen, my
sincere and heartfelt thanks.

APPENDIX VII
THE POSSIBILITY OP CAPTURE
Mk. Robert W. McBride, now of Indianapolis, was
a Corporal of the"UnIon Light Guard," or "Seventh
Independent Squadron of Ohio Cavalry," 108 men strong,
which served as Lincoln's cavalry escort and guard from
December, 1863, until his death. A company of Pennsyl
vania infantry shared the duty of guarding the White
House; it was camped In the grounds just south of the
White House, and two of its men were always on duty
at the front door of the mansion. The cavalry were
quartered in what is now known as the White Lot, but
which was then known as the Treasury Park. "In
those days," says Mr. McBride, in an address delivered
before the Century Club of Indianapolis, and published
in a pamphlet, October, 1908, "the White House grounds
proper only extended south to a line running east and
west from the south end of the Treasury Building to
Seventeenth Street. They were bounded on the south
by a stone wall three or four feet in height, the top of
the wall being on a level with the White House grounds.
250

THE DEATH OF LINCOLN 251
South of that, and extending to the old canal, which ran
immediately north of the then unfinished Washington
Monument, was the Treasury Park, a great common with
a few small scattering trees and a half-mile race track.
The barracks were south of the Treasury Department
on the west side of Fifteenth Street, facing D and E
Streets. Their horses were stabled on the grounds now
occupied by Albaugh's Opera House, and were picketed
and groomed on Fifteenth Street.
" To those familiar with the city of Washington during
the Civil War," says Mr. McBride, "it was not surprising
that Lincoln was assassinated. The surprising thing
was that it was so long delayed. The city was filled
with Southern sympathizers, and could easily be entered
by men coming from beyond the rebel lines. The feeling
against Mr. Lincoln as the chosen leader of those battling
for the maintenance of the Union was of course intensely
bitter. Even In the North he was constantly abused and
vilified, characterized as a tyrant and monster, while
articles appeared daily in many of the newspapers, the
tendency of which was to incite to his murder." Even
with the cavalry and Infantry guard, " the inadequacy of
the measures taken for Mr. Lincoln's protection will,"
says Mr. McBride, "be understood in a measure when
I describe how I first saw him.

252 THE DEATH OP LINCOLN
"It was after midnight of a January night in 1864.
The approaches to the White House and the great portico
on its front were lighted by flickering gas jets. The two
great iron gates which guarded the driveways from
Pennsylvania Avenue were open, but on each side of
each gate was a mounted cavalryman. The detail from
the Union Light Guard, dismounted and lounging
against the stone supports of the portico, was the cavalry
corporal of the guard, his horse being picketed in the
rear of the house. (On that particular night I happened
to be the corporal of the guard.)
"The two infantrymen were pacing their beats. From
the end of the beat of the sentinel on the east side, a walk
ran to the Treasury Department, and just north of this
path stood the White House stables, inside a square-
trimmed boxwood hedge probably two and one-half or
three feet high. From the end of the beat of the sentinel
on the west, a path paved with brick ran westward to
the old War Department, a dingy-looking old brick build
ing of the dry-goods-box style of architecture, occupying
a part of the north end of the ground now covered by the
magnificent State, War, and Navy Building. South
of It, fronting on Seventeenth Street, and separated from
the War Department a short distance, was another old-
time brick structure, resembling It in architectural ugliness,

THE DEATH OF LINCOLN 253
and occupied by the Navy Department. The space
between the White House and War Department con
tained a number of great forest trees, making a beautiful
little park in dayUght; but at night, lighted only by the
wavering beams of a solitary gas-jet, it was a place of
shadows and gloom. The path to the War Department
ran along the south end of this Uttle park, under the
shadow of the trees. Just south of the park was a brick
wall, probably five or six feet in height, easily scaled,
enclosing what was then called the White Hoase Gardens.
Lights shone in only a few of the windows of the White
House. "The front door opened, and a tall, rather slender,
angular looking man came out alone. He wore a long,
black, frock coat, and a silk hat of the peculiar narrow,
high, straight style then In vogue. The hat had apparently
either seen its best days or had been badly cared for, as
it had lost its shine, and the nap was standing on end
in many patches. The long coat and the high hat made
him seem taller and more slender, even, than he really was.
"Closing the door, he clasped his hands behind his
back, and with head bent forward, walked slowly toward
the front of the portico. • . . The President came
slowly forward until he reached the steps, and there he
stopped. For several minutes he stood, seemingly in

254 THE DEATH OF LINCOLN
deep thought, and apparently giving no heed to his sur
roundings. One of the gas-lights shone full upon him.
He looked careworn and weary. . . He came down the
steps and without appearing to notice, gravely lifted his
hat in recognition of the salute given, and turned toward
the War Department. With simUar gravity he acknowl
edged the salute of the infantryman as he passed him.
While the infantryman at once resumed his beat, both he
and the cavalryman anxiously watched the tall figure as
it passed into the shadows of the great trees, and I know
of one of them whose anxiety was only relieved when Mr.
Lincoln was seen to enter the War Department building.
In about half an hour he came back, stUl alone. This,
while the first, was only one of many similar occurrences;
for, as I then learned, it was his frequent and almost
nightly practice thus to visit the War Department before
going to bed, that he might have the latest news from the
front. It was also his daily practice to make an early
morning visit to the department. I never saw him
attended at any of these times. He always went and
came alone. I think, however, that late in the fall of 1864
a member of the police force in plain clothes attended him
whenever he left the White House.
"From the description I have given of the surroundings
it can be seen how easy it would have been for an assassin

THE DEATH OF LINCOLN 255
to have killed him whUe he was on one of these solitary
visits to the War Department, and how little actual pro
tection was given him by the guards as they were posted."
Speaking of the plot to seize Mr. Lincoln in the park some
dark night, lift him over the brick wall, and hurry him
across the Treasury Park to the Van Ness house,
Mr. McBride gives it as his conviction that "the
plan was practicable, and I never understood why it
was abandoned."

APPENDIX VIII
JOHN Y. BEALL
John Y. Beall, who was detailed to assist in the cap
ture of Johnson's Island in Sandusky Bay, and the release
of the Confederate prisoners thereon. In the fall of 1864,
and who, to assist the enterprise, seized the merchant
steamer Philo Parsons, plying between Detroit and
Sandusky — for which he was arrested, tried by a mili
tary commission, and hanged on Governor's Island,
February 24, 1865 — was said to be a cousin of John
Wilkes Booth. Beall was a fine young officer, much
like Richmond P. Hobson In personality, and great
efforts were made to save his life. "President Lincoln
received fervent appeals, but beyond suggesting to
General DIx a reprieve of six days, he did nothing."
(Rhodes, vol. v., p. 332.) In an editorial in the Chris
tian Observer, Louisville, Ky., for October 13, 1904, the
statement is made that Lincoln promised Booth Beall
should not be put to death, but Seward intervened. (See
Southern Historical Society Papers, vol. xxxli., p. 99.)

256

APPENDIX IX
Lincoln's last journey
On the sail up from City Point, April 9th — Palm Sun.
day and Lincoln's last Sunday on earth — the President
read aloud, as he was fond of doing, from one of Shake
speare's tragedies. His selection was from Macbeth,
and he read with special feeling the lines:
Duncan Is In his grave;
After life's fitful fever he sleeps well.
Treason has done his worst; nor steel, nor poison.
Malice domestic, foreign levy, nothing,
Can touch him further.
As the River Qu£en drew near to Washington, Mrs.
Lincoln, looking at the capital, said: "The hateful city;
it is full of our enemies!" To which Lincoln replied, not
so much as if he believed it but as if he wanted to believe
it, "That is not so — now."
This was Lincoln's last journey, unless we count the
journeying of his body during the many days of his funeral.
For an account of his burial and the subsequent history
of his body, the reader is referred to the following books
257

258 THE DEATH OF LINCOLN
by Mr. J. C. Power, of Springfield: "Abraham Lincoln,
His Life, Public Service, Death and Great Funeral
Cortege, With a History and Description of the National
Lincoln Monument," privately published in Springfield
In 1872; and "An Account of the Attempt to Steal the
Body of Abraham Lincoln, late President of the United
States, including a History of the Lincoln Guard of
Honour," published by H. W. Rokker, Springfield, IS90.

APPENDIX X
Lincoln's last speech
On Monday, April 10th, a crowd gathered in front of
the War Department and gave vent to its feelings of joy
at the news from Appomattox. "Men yelled, shouted,
screamed, cheered, laughed, and wept. No one thought
of doing business. A band appeared from somewhere
and commenced playing patriotic airs. In response to
calls. Secretary Stanton, Vice-President Johnson, and
others made speeches. That of Andrew Johnson was
bitter and vindictive. One expression I can never forget.
It was: 'And what shall be done with the leaders of the
rebel host ? I know what I would do If I were President.
I would arrest them as traitors, I would try them as traitors,
and, by the Eternal, I would hang them as traitors! ' His
manner and his language impressed me the more because
of its contrast with the temperate manner and language
of President Lincoln.
"Some one in the crowd shouted : 'To the White House! '
The crowd surged in that direction, and began calling
for the President. He appeared at an upper window,
259

260 THE DEATH OF LINCOLN
just west of the portico. His appearance was the signal
for cheering that continued for many minutes, with shouts
of 'Speech! Speech!' He raised his hand, and the
crowd stilled.
" He said : 'My friends, you want a speech, but I cannot
make one at this time. Undue importance might be given
to what I should say. I must take time to think. If you
will come here to-morrow evening I will have something
to say to you. There Is one thing I wUl do, however.
You have a band with you. There is one piece of music
I have always liked. Heretofore it has not seemed the
proper thing to use it in the North; but now, by virtue
of my prerogative as President and Commander-in-Chief
of the Army and Navy, I declare it contraband of war and
our lawful prize. I ask the band to play "Dixie." ' Again
the crowd went wild, and for probably the first time the
tune of 'Dixie' was greeted with cheers from Union
throats." ("Lincoln's Body-Guard," by Robert W.
McBride, Indianapolis, 1908.)
Tom Pendel remembers attending to the illuminating
of the White House front for the assemblage of Tuesday
evening. It was accomplished by candle only, and the
doorkeeper remembers putting out candles nailed to
long strips of wood, and going the rounds to light them

THE DEATH OF LINCOLN 261
shortly before the President was due on a balcony to
make his promised speech. On these rounds, Pendel
recalls, he was accompanied by the indefatigable little
Tad. (" Thirty-six Years in the White House," by Tom
Pendel; Neale, Washington, 1900, p, 33.)
On that evening, after dinner, Lincoln entered the Green
Drawing-Room, where several White House dinner
guests were assembled, and laid a roll of manuscript on
the table. Those present looked surprised. "I know
what you are thinking about," said the President, smiling.
"You think it is mighty queer that an old stump speaker
like myself should not be able to address a crowd like this
outside without a written speech. But you must remem
ber I am. In a certain way, talking to the country and have
to be mighty careful. Now, the last time I made an off
hand speech. In answer to a serenade, I used the phrase,
as applied to the rebels, 'turned tail and ran.' Some
very nice Boston folks, I am grieved to hear, were very
much outraged by that phrase, which they thought
improper. So I resolved to make no more Impromptu
speeches." Later, says Mr. Noah Brooks, who relates this
incident in his "Lincoln and the Downfall of Slavery,"
(Putnam's, New York, 1899, p. 452,) Mr. Lincoln admitted
that It was Charles Sumner who was shocked.

APPENDIX XI
Lincoln's forebodings of a tragic death
Lincoln's forebodings of a tragic death date back to
the fall of '60, just after his first election to the Presidency.
He himself described it as follows: "The news had been
coming In thick and fast all day, and there had been a
great 'hurrah boys!' so that I was well tired out and
went home to rest, throwing myself upon a lounge in my
chamber. Opposite to where I lay was a bureau with a
swinging glass upon it; and in looking In that glass I
saw myself reflected nearly at full length; but my face, I
noticed, had two separate and distinct images, the tip
of the nose of one being about three inches from the tip of
the other. I was a little bothered, perhaps startled, and
got up and looked In the glass; but the illusion vanished.
On lying down again I saw it a second time, plainer, if
possible, than before; and then I noticed that one of the
faces was a little paler — say five shades — than the other.
I got up, and the thing melted away; and I went off, and
in the excitement of the hour forgot all about it — nearly,
but not quite, for the thing would once in a while come up,
262

THE DEATH OF LINCOLN 263
and give me a little pang, as though something uncom
fortable had happened. When I went home, I told my
wife about It; and a few days after tried the experiment
again, when, sure enough, the thing came back again;
but I never succeeded In bringing the ghost back after
that, though I once tried very industriously to show it
to my wife, who was worried about it somewhat. She
thought it was ' a sign' that I was to be elected to a second
term of office, and that the paleness of one of the faces
was an omen that I should not see life through the last
term. ^( " Life of Abraham Lincoln from His Birth to His
Inauguration as President," by Ward Hill Lamon, pub
Ushed by R. Osgood & Co., Boston, 1872, pp., 76, 477.)
In January, 1860, when Lincoln was facing the prospect
of trying to save the Union after the Union was disrupted
— after South Carolina, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama,
Georgia, and Louisiana had passed ordinances of seces
sion — he was visited by his dear friend. Judge Gillespie,
and the two men sat In the little frame cottage at Spring
field, which Lincoln was soon to leave for the White
House and its weight of woe, talking far into the night
about the possibility of averting war. Lincoln feared it
could not be done without such compromise as he was
sworn not to make. "I see the duty devolving upon
me," he told his friend, with an indescribable sadness

264 THE DEATH OP LINCOLN
Judge Gillespie never forgot. "I have read upon my
knees the story of Gethsemane, where the Son of God
prayed In vain that the cup of bitterness might pass from
him. I am in the Garden of Gethsemane now, and my
cup of bitterness is full and overflowing."
"I told him," said Judge Gillespie, "that as Christ's
prayer was not answered, and his crucifixion had redeemed
the world, so the sacrifice demanded of him might be a
great beneficence. Little did I then think how prophetic
my words were to be, what a great sacrifice he was to
make." ("Life of Lincoln," by Ida M. Tarbell, vol. ii,
p. 200.)
Ward Hill Lamon, Lincoln's intimate friend, says
("Recollections of Abraham Lincoln," by Ward Hill
Lamon, edited by Dorothy Lamon, A. C. McClurg and
Company, Chicago, 1895, pp. 115-16) that a few days
before Lincoln's assassination he told Lamon, Mrs.
Lincoln, and one or two others present, of a dream he
had, in which he heard "pitiful sobbing." In his dream,
Lincoln said, he went from room to room of the White
House and "no living person was in sight, but the same
mournful sounds of distress met me as I passed along
. . . . until I arrived at the East Room, which I
entered. There I met with a sickening surprise. Before
me was a catafalque, on which rested a corpse wrapped

THE DEATH OF LINCOLN 265
in funeral vestments. Around it were stationed soldiers
who were acting as guards, and there was a throng of
people, some gazing mournfully upon the corpse, whose
face was covered, others weeping pitifully. 'Who is
dead in the White House?' I demanded of one of the
soldiers. 'The President,' was his answer; 'he was
killed by an assassin!' Then came a loud burst of grief
from the crowd, which woke me from my dream, I
slept no more that night; and although it was only a
dream, I have been strangely annoyed by it ever since."
Lamon said that he wrote this down "immediately"
after hearing Lincoln tell it. ¦ And If it sounds too incred
ible, we have to remember what a mystic Lincoln was,
what a "dreamer of dreams." Assassination was con
stantly on his mind, not only because he himself really
believed It would come to him, but because precaution
against It was forever being dinned Into his ears by his
advisers. There was nothing remarkable in his dream
ing the dream. It is only remarkable that it happened
to come true.

APPENDIX XII
LINCOLN AND THE NEGRO MESSENGER
Chaplain Edward D. Neill was appointed, early in
'64, to read and dispose of all letters addressed to Mr. Lin
coln, and was, consequently, often in close relation to the
President. He says that on Friday afternoon, April 14,
'65, between three and four o'clock, Vice-President John
son was at the White House, and evidently was urging
upon Lincoln some vengeful action against the South,
to which Lincoln made a gentle but firm refusal. Johnson
retorted that Lincoln was too easy on the rebels, easier
than he (Johnson) would be. This was overheard by
Slade, a coloured messenger of the White House, who
told Johnson he wished the day might come when he
could be President and punish the rebels as they deserved.
That night, when he heard of the assassination of Lincoln,
Slade was overcome with grief, and could hardly be made
to believe that his wish was in no way responsible for
Johnson's speedy coming to the Presidency. (" Glimpses
of the Nation's Struggle," papers read before the Minne
sota Commandery of the Loyal Legion and published by the
St. Paul Book and Stationery Company, 1887, pp. 29-55.)
266

APPENDIX XIII
DANA AND THOMPSON
During the afternoon of Friday, April 14th, there
came to Charles A. Dana at the War Office a telegram
from the provost-marshal of Portland, Me., saying:
"I have positive information that Jacob Thompson will
pass through Portland to-night. In order to take a
steamer for England. What are your orders ? " (Thomp
son, of Mississippi, had been Buchanan's Secretary of
the Interior, and was the leader of the "Canada Cabinet"
of the Confederacy.) Dana took the telegram to Stanton,
who promptly said: "Arrest him." Then: "Go over
and see the President." Dana found no one In the
President's office, it being after hours, and was turning
to go when Mr. Lincoln called to him from a little side
room where he was washing his hands. Dana told the
President about Thompson and asked what should be
done. "When you have got an elephant by the hind
leg," said Lincoln, "and he is trying to run away, it Is
best to let him run." Dana returned to the War Office
and repeated to Stanton the President's judgment. " Oh,
267

268 THE DEATH OF LINCOLN
stuff!" said Stanton. Dana was at the Peterson House
that night, taking orders from his chief, until 3 A. m.,
when Stanton told him: "That's enough — you may go
home." At 8 a. m. Colonel Pelouze, of the Adjutant-
General's office, rapped on a lower window of Dana's
house and said: "The President is dead, and Mr. Stanton
directs you to arrest Jacob Thompson." (" Recollections
of Charles A. Dana," pp. 274, 276.)

APPENDIX XIV
MR. GEORGE ASHMUN
Mr. George Ashmun, of Massachusetts, was an old
fellow-congressman of Lincoln's on the Whig side of the
House. On Tuesday, June 16, 1860, the day the Repub
lican National Convention met in Chicago, Mr.
Ashmun was elected chairman of the convention. On
Saturday, the second day after Lincoln's nomination,
Mr. Ashmun went down to Springfield to make to Mr.
Lincoln the official announcement of his nomination.
On April 14th, 1861 — Sunday evening — Mr. Ashmun
called upon the Hon. Stephen A. Douglas and persuaded
him to go to the White House and assure Lincoln that the
Democratic party was one with the Republican party in
its attitude toward Sumter's fall, the news of which had
reached Washington late that day. Mr. Ashmun's last call
on Lincoln was exactly four years later than the memo
rable visit which established peace between Lincoln and
the "Little Giant." The "friend" to be admitted with
Mr. Ashmun at 9 a. m. was Judge C. P. Daly, of New
York. ("Life of Stephen A. Douglas," by Allen Johnson,
pp. 475, 478. " Life of Lincoln," by J. G. HoUand, p. 301.)
269

APPENDIX XV
"our AMERICAN COUSIN "
Forty years ago he was a poorly informed playgoer
who was not fairly conversant with the history of that
play which Lincoln witnessed the night of his assassination.
But to most readers of this generation it means little or
nothing that Good Friday night, April 14, 1865, was
nearly the one thousandth performance of Miss Laura
Keene as Florence Trenchard in " Our American Cousin,"
and the occasion of a benefit to her. And yet, quite
apart from its connection with the tragedy of that night,
Tom Taylor's play has a history of surpassing interest
and variety. In brief, it is somewhat as follows :
During the years 1850-51, when the World's Fair in
London was drawing throngs of visitors to the Crystal
Palace, no nation was more strongly represented in the
exhibits and among the sightseers than the United States.
" Yankees " were the rage in London, and Yankee products
took precedence of all others. As one American news
paper writer said, in describing the Yankee mania:
"Hobbs locks were placed on the doors of the Lord
270

THE DEATH OF LINCOLN 271
Chamberlain's offices; Colt's revolvers were In the
holsters of every British cavalry officer; Connecticut
baby-jumpers were in the royal nursery; and Massa
chusetts patent back-acting, self-adjusting, rotary-motion,
open-and-shut mouse-traps were the terror of even aristo
cratic rats. Lord John Russell 'giiiessed' and 'calculated'
on the Papal Aggression Bill; Palmerston and Disraeli
'whittled,' one on, the other around, the Woolsack; and
through the columns of the elegantly worded Court
Circular we learned that at a particular fraction of an
hour, on a particular day of the week. Her Most Gracious
Majesty Queen Victoria, aided by the Royal Consort,
His Highness Prince Albert, together with the whole
royal family, indulged in three half-pints of 'peanuts' and
four and two-sixteenths of our genuine 'pumpkln-ples,'
while Cardinal Wiseman and the Bishop of London
were seen playing 'poker' over two stiff 'Bourbon whisky-
slings.' "
In those days the versatile Tom Taylor was a young
barrister who had recently emancipated himself from his
professorship of English at University College, London,
and was just beginning to establish for himself that
position as dramatic critic and adapter, humourist and
all-round journalist, that led him, more than twenty years
later, to the editorship of Punch. Taylor saw the humor-

272 THE DEATH OF LINCOLN
ous side of the Yankee craze, and wrote a play about it
which he called "Our American Cousin." The leading
character, Asa Trenchard, was virtually written to fit
a Yankee comedian named Josiah Silsby, then playing
in London, and when the play was sold by Taylor to Mr.
Ben Webster, lessee of the Adelphi, for eighty pounds, it
was with the distinct understanding that Silsby was to
be featured in it.
But before an opportunity to put the play on presented
itself, the Yankee mania rapidly declined, and Mr.
Webster, instead of producing "Our American Cousin,"
made a present of the piece to Silsby, who, on re-reading
it, decided that it was ineffective and laid it aside. Some
years later, in California, he found himself in need of a
play, and rehearsed the Taylor comedy; but it was
again deemed unlikely to please, and he did not put It on.
It came to the ears of Taylor, in 1858, that Silsby was
dead, and also that he had never used the "American
Cousin" play; and having a copy of it among his manu
scripts, Taylor put it in the hands of his friend, John
Chandler Bancroft Davis, secretary of the United States
Legation in London. Mr. Davis, on arriving in New
York, took the play first to Lester Wallack. That
admirable manager saw in it no possibilities for his com
pany, but advised Mr. Davis to take It to Miss Laura

THE DEATH OF LINCOLN 273
Keene, then managing a theatre of her own on the east
side of Broadway, between Bleecker and Houston Streets,
and to say to her that there was a part in the play that
might be excellently adapted to Mr. Jefferson, of her
company. Mr. Joseph Jefferson, although of distinguished stage
ancestry and a personal stage experience covering nearly
his whole life, had not yet made any considerable mark
for himself. He was not far from thirty years old, and
most people thought he had ability — as for him, he felt
sure of it — but, so far, his chance had not presented
Itself. Miss Keene, when approached with the Taylor play,
was not much Interested. She was preparing a pro
duction of "A Midsummer Night's Dream," and all her
energies and resources were directed thereunto. It hap
pened, however, that work on the Shakespeare play went
forward tardily, and, owing to some disappointments by
costumers and scene-painters, the date of the first per
formance had to be postponed two weeks. Miss Keene
was sufficiently in need of something to fill the interim
to buy — on the recommendation of her business man
ager and of Mr. Jefferson — the Taylor play outright for
one thousand dollars.
Jefferson, in his "Autobiography," has vividly described

274 THE DEATH OF LINCOLN
the scene when the stop-gap play that was to make fame
and fortune for three of those present was read to Miss
Keene's company.
"The reading," he says, "took place in the green-room,
and many were the furtive glances cast at Mr. Couldock
and me as the strength of Abel Murcott and Asa Trenchard
were revealed. Poor Sothern sat in the corner, looking
quite disconsolate, fearing there was nothing in the play
that would suit him; and as the dismal lines of Dun
dreary were read, he glanced over at me with a forlorn
expression, as much as to say, 'I am cast for that dread
ful part' — little dreaming that the character of the imbe
cile lord would turn out to be the stepping-stone to his
fortune. The success of the play proved the turning-point
in the career of three persons — Laura Keene, Sothern,
and myself."
Perhaps it is not quite comprehensible to the play-
going world how the play-acting world Is ever alert for
that "chance" which every actor feels is all he needs
to make, him rich and famous. Each new play is full of
potentialities — until it is read or the parts are appor
tioned; then It is seen to be quite fiendishly calculated to
keep nearly or quite every one In the company from doing
what nature designed him for and art calls him to do.
Either the playwright went malevolently about this

THE DEATH OF LINCOLN 275
repression business, or the stage-manager schemed It out
and achieved his ends by giving everybody exactly the
wrong part.
"Poor Sothern," as Jefferson called him, may well have
been disconsolate over the forty-seven silly lines allotted
him. It was only one more disappointment in a long
list, but Sothern felt that the list was already too long,
and that the profession he had chosen for himself against
all the traditions of his family was Ul-chosen and were
better abandoned. He had been acting for nine years —
all but two years of the time in America — and had met
with small success indeed. About the time of that read
ing in Laura Keene's green-room, Sothern was writing
home to one of his English friends about " a long, strug
gling tear "that forced its way down his "cheek, that fate
had done naught but cuff for years," and telling of gray
hairs which "have been forced through the hotbed
of my weary skull."
It was to this ambitious, hard-working, but almost
through-hoping young Englishman of two-and-thlrty
that the silly lines of Dundreary fell. At first he said he
could do nothing with the part; "and certainly," as
Jefferson testifies, "for the first two weeks it was a dull
effort and produced but little effect." Then Sothern
asked permission to rewrite Dundreary, and, this being

276 THE DEATH OF LINCOLN
granted, he began to feel his way with his audiences by
introducing little extravagances of speech and action.
Some of these were the result of marvellously minute
studies he had made from real types — he used to con
tend, when charged with the exaggerations of Dundreary,
that there was nothing in the portrayal he had hot taken
direct from life — and some of them were happy acci
dents, like the famous skipping walk. Of this walk it
is told that, at a rehearsal of the play, Sothern, to keep
warm in the cold theatre, was hopping and skipping
about the outer confines of the stage, to the no small
amusement of his fellow actors, when Miss Keene called
sharply to him and asked if that were part of his rehearsal.
He replied promptly that it was, and in a spirit of bravado
kept on. In the same spirit he introduced the skip into
his entrance that night, and found that it was an instan
taneous success, bringing a tremendous laugh for Dun
dreary where before there had been only tolerance.
Cautiously, artistically, he proceeded to elaborate the
part until, as Jefferson magnanimously says, "Before
the first month was over he stood side by side with any
other character in the play; and at the end of the run he
was, in my opinion, considerably in advance of us all."
The piece, put on for a fortnight, ran for one hundred
and forty consecutive nights — a phenomenal run for

THE DEATH OF LINCOLN 277
that epoch — and thoroughly estabUshed, in New York
at least, the fame of Jefferson and Sothern, and trans
formed them both from more or less discouraged young
"members of stock" to men with ambition — and con
fidence — to "star."
When the curtain descended the first night on Jefferson's
immediately successful presentation of Asa Trenchard,
"visions of large type, foreign countries, and increased
remuneration" floated before him, and he was already
resolved to be a star.
Accordingly, when at the end of March " A Midsummer
Night's Dream" was put on — not because the demand
for "Our American Cousin" had abated, but because
Miss Keene had grown tired of her part and tireder of
hearing her two comedians praised above herself —
Jefferson, who had not got on well with Miss Keene and
who was of no mind to abandon Asa Trenchard, told her
that he would not rejoin her company next season. She
reproached him with lack of gratitude; to which he
replied that he thought the honours were about even, and
that, "anyway," he was going to "star"; at which Miss
Keene sniffed her contempt and inquired in what play
he would storm the country. He replied that, with her
permission, he purposed to act "Our American Cousin."
Miss Keene indicated that he "had another purpose

278 THE DEATH OF LINCOLN
coming to him," so to speak. And there the matter rested
for a time, until she deputed her business manager to
speak to Mr. Jefferson — she herself not being on speak
ing terms with that hoity-toity young man — and require
him to resign the part of Bottom In favour of Mr. Blake,
a comedian of her company who had had no part in the
Taylor play. This Jefferson refused to do, saying that
if Mr. Blake wanted to play in "A Midsummer Night"
he could play Puck. As Mr. Blake weighed two hundred
pounds or thereabouts, and was unwieldy to boot, this
suggestion did not meet with favour In any quarter, and
there was a bitter quarrel, which finally came to an end
by Jefferson's offer to lend his far slenderer and sprightlier
person to Puck If Miss Keene would let him star in Taylor's
play, and give her, for the use of it, one half the profits.
His starring venture was not a success, and In September
he joined Bouclcault's forces at the Winter Garden.
But during the years 1861-65 he toured Australia and
South America, playing Asa Trenchard with some little
success. The part was never again so prominent in his career
as during that first run In New York; but Asa had done
something for him which put his performance of that
character, and even the confidence It gave him in his
abUities, quite among the lesser results, for him, of Tom

THE DEATH OF LINCOLN 279
Taylor's play: It led him to Rip Van Winkle! The
success he achieved as Asa was of a sort he longed to
duplicate, and In his attempts to analyze It he evolved
the Idea of a Rip Van Winkle play, three or four bad
dramatizations of which had already been acted without
any considerable success. So much for Jefferson's fortune
as indebted to Taylor's play.
I have not been able to find out by just what arrange
ment with Miss Keene Sothern got the rights to Dun
dreary, but he played It In this country for months after
she discontinued the piece, and in November, 1861, he
opened with it at the Haymarket, London, where, after a
month of discouraging business, it suddenly caught on, and
played to crowded houses for four hundred consecutive
nights. The part continued to be Sothern 's most famous
characterization, and he acted in it with undlminishing
success until he died. Nothing else he ever did created
such a furore; indeed, few things that anybody ever did
on the stage have been so great popular achievements
or have belonged so solely to their creators. The fortunes
Dundreary earned for Sothern were princely; the fame he
made for Sothern was not eclipsed by that of any other
comedian of his day; the fashions he set for all the world
were comparable to nothing in recent stage history:

280 THE DEATH OF LINCOLN
Dundreary coats. Dundreary whiskers. Dundreary vests
and monocles, had almost as universal vogue as "Dun-
drearyisms " — some of which latter remain to us yet
In the oft-quoted "Birds of a feather gather no moss,"
and similar perverted parables.
It was amid the laughter of this piece — which he knew
by heart — that John Wilkes Booth planned to accompUsh
the murder of Lincoln. When, on the morning of April
14th, as he sat reading his letters in Mr. Ford's office,
he heard that the President was going to attend the per
formance that night, he determined on a plan of action
that came Incredibly near allowing him to affect his escape
and leave the deed, done in the sight of hundreds, shrouded
in mystery.
j I am indebted — after having interviewed every dis
coverable survivor of the audience at Ford's Theater that
fateful Good Friday night, and being told that the Presi
dential party arrived at 8.30, at 9, at 9.30, and at all the
times between — to Mr. George C. Maynard for a definite
statement. Mr. Maynard, then of the War Telegraph
Office, and now of the National Museum, was in the habit
of keeping his theatre programmes. On the margin of the
long play-bill of that night he made a note of the point
in the play at which Mr, Lincoln came in, and wrote
down the lines being spoken as the Presidential party

THE DEATH OP LINCOLN 281
entered the box. Florence Trenchard was trying to tell a
joke to Dundreary, who — of course — did not see it.
"Can't you see it?" she said.
"No, I can't see it," he assured her.
Just then Mr. Lincoln entered the state box on the
upper right-hand side of the house, and Miss Keene,
catching sight of him, said: "Well, everybody can see
that!" nodding toward the box. And the orchestra
struck up "Hail to the Chief," the audience cheered, and
the play was at a standstill for a minute.
In the elder Sothern 's prompt-book (preserved by his son)
this Incident occurs late in the first act; whether it was
the same in Miss Keene's version I have been unable to
learn, but it probably was, and that would fix the time
of Mr. Lincoln's entrance at about half-past eight or a
quarter to nine.
The shot was fired during the second scene of the third
act. It was during the scene when Asa is alone on the
stage that Booth fired, jumped, and made his frantic
rush across the front of the stage to the " prompt entrance "
on the opposite side, and out through that to the stage
door. The play, interrupted at that point, was never again
presented in Washington until December 12, 1907, when
the younger Sothern revived it at the Belasco Theatre,

282 THE DEATH OF LINCOLN
on the site of the old Seward house where Secretary
Seward was nearly done to death by Booth's accomplice,
Lewis Payne, on the same fatal night of Lincoln's murder.
(Clara E. Laughlin, in McClure' s Magazine for December,
1908.)

APPENDIX XVI
atzerodt's STATEMENT
At the conclusion of his argument in behalf of George
A. Atzerodt, his counsel, W. E. Doster, read the follow
ing statement by Atzerodt:
I am one of a party who agreed to capture the Presi
dent of the United States, but I am not one of a party to
kill the President of the United States, or any member
of the Cabinet, or General Grant, or Vice-President
Johnson. The first plot to capture failed, the second —
to kill — I broke away from the moment I heard of it.
This is the way it came about: On the evening of
April 14th I met Booth and Payne at the Herndon
House in this city, at eight o'clock. He (Booth) said he
himself should murder Mr. Lincoln and General Grant,
Payne should take Mr. Seward, and I should take Mr.
Johnson. I told him I would not do it; that I had gone
into the thing to capture, but I was not going to kiU.
He told me I wa^ a fool; that I would be hung anyhow;
and that it was death for every man that backed out;
and so we parted. I wandered about the streets until
about two o'clock in the morning, and then went to the
Kimmell House, and from there pawned my pistol at
Georgetown, and went to my cousin's house in Mont
gomery County, where I was arrested the 19th following.
After I was arrested, I told Provost-Marshal Wells and
283

284 THE DEATH OF LINCOLN
Provost-Marshal McPhail the whole story; also told it
to Captain Monroe, and Colonel Wells told me if I pointed
out the way Booth had gone I would be reprieved, and
so I told him I thought he had gone down Charles County
In order to cross the Potomac. The arms which were
found in my room at the Kirkwood House, and a black
coat, do not belong to me; neither were they left to be
used by me. On the afternoon of April 14th, Herold
called to see me and left the coat there. It is his coat,
and all In it belongs to him, as you can see by the hand
kerchiefs, marked with his initial and with the name
of his sister, Mrs. Naylor. Now I will state how I
passed the whole of the evening of April 14th: In
the afternoon, at about two o'clock, I went to Keleher's
stable, on Eighth Street, near D, and hired a dark-bay
mare and rode Into the country for pleasure, and on my
return put her up at Naylor's stable. The dark-bay
horse which I had kept at Naylor's before, on or about
April 3rd, belonged to Booth; also the saddle and
bridle. I do not know what became of him. At about
six In the evening I went to Naylor's again, and took out
the mare, rode out for an hour, and returned her to
Naylor's. It was then nearly eight, and I told him to
keep the mare ready at ten o'clock, in order to return
her to the man I hired her from. From there I went to
the Herndon House. Booth sent a messenger to the
"oyster bay" and I went. Booth wanted me to
murder Mr. Johnson. I refused. I then went to the
"oyster bay" on ihe Avenue, above Twelfth Street,
and whiled away the time until nearly ten. At ten I got
the mare, and having taken a drink with the hostler,
galloped about town, and went to the Kimmell House.
From there I rode down to the depot, and returned my
horse, riding up Pennsylvania Avenue to Keleher's.

THE DEATH OF LINCOLN 285
From Keleher's I went down to the Navy Yard to get
a room with Wash. Briscoe. He had none, and by the
time I got back to the Kimmell House it was nearly two.
The man Thomas was a stranger I met on the street.
Next morning, as stated, I went to my cousin's, in Mont
gomery County. (Conspiracy Trial, p. 307.)

APPENDIX XVII
the trial of JOHN SURRATT
Immediately after arriving in Montreal, April 18th,
Surratt went to the house of a Southern gentleman con
nected with the Ontario Bank; his name was Porterfield.
But Weichmann and United States detectives were in
Montreal searching for Surratt, and it was deemed best
for him to go out forty miles into the country, to the
village of St. Liboire, where a priest named Father
Boucher gave the fugitive asylum for three months.
During August and the early days of September, Surratt
was sheltered and hid by another priest, and the second
week in September the two priests took him by steamer
to Qubec and saw him aboard the Peruvian bound for
Liverpool. Surratt remained in Liverpool until November,
when he went to Rome and enlisted In the Papal Zouaves.
He was recognized by a French-Canadian friend of
Welchmann's, informed against, and after many delays,
while diplomatic correspondence passed back and forth
between Rome and Washington, his arrest was ordered
by the Papal Government. He was arrested November
286

THE DEATH OF LINCOLN 287
7, 1866, but escaped, the next morning, from the guard
of six soldiers who were taking him to Rome. This he
did by jumping over a balustrade on to a ledge of rocks
projecting over a deep abyss. He made his perilous
way Into the valley below Velletrl, and reached Naples,
whence he sailed, November 19th, for Alexandria, Egypt.
There, on the 27th, he was arrested by the United States
consul-general. On December 21st he was sent home
in irons on an armed United States vessel. His trial
was held In the criminal court for the District of Columbia,
Judge George P. Fisher presiding. The District Attorney
was E. C. Carrington, who had one regular and two
special assistants. Counsel for Surratt were Joseph H.
Bradley and his son and R. T. Merrick. The trial
opened June 10, 1867, and the taking of testimony from
more than two hundred witnesses lasted until July 26th.
On July 27th the District Attorney began his argument;
he spoke for three whole days. Mr. Merrick, speaking
for the defence, spoke for two days, and the senior Bradley
followed him, speaking all day Friday. Plerrepont, chief
of counsel assisting the prosecution, spoke all day Saturday,
Monday, and Tuesday. On the seventh of August the
judge charged the jury, and the jurors retired to their
room at 11.32. Saturday, August 10th, at 1 p. m., they
reappeared in court and begged to be dismissed, saying

288 THE DEATH OF LINCOLN
that they could not agree. Thus ended the trial of sixty-
two days. Surratt was remanded to the Old Capitol
Prison whence, some months later, he was released on
twenty-five thousand dollars bail. Later, he was again
arraigned for trial, but not on the charge of murder. The
second trial never came off, and the prisoner was released.
He has for many years been a respected and exemplary
citizen of Baltimore, where he has done all in his power
to bury the past, never referring to it even to his children.
Every now and then an alleged newspaper interview
with him appears; they are all fabrications — he has
never been interviewed. For his boyish participation
n a conspiracy of war, John Surratt has paid a penalty
not much less hideous than some of the worst Russian
horrors we read about.

APPENDIX XVIII
MAJOR rathbone's STATEMENT
Before Judge A. B. Olin, Justice Supreme Court,
District of Columbia, on the 17th of April, Major Henry
R. Rathbone subscribed and swore to the following
statement: That on April 14th, 1865, at about twenty minutes
past eight o'clock In the evening, he, with Miss Clara H.
Harris, left his residence, at the corner of Fifteenth and
H Streets, and joined the President and Mrs. Lincoln,
and went with them In their carriage to Ford's Theatre,
in Tenth Street. The box assigned to the President Is
in the second tier, on the right-hand side of the audience,
and was occupied by the President and Mrs. Lincoln,
Miss Harris, and the deponent — and by no other person.
The box Is entered by passing from the front of the build
ing, in the rear of the dress circle, to a small entry or
passage-way, about eight feet in length and four feet in
width. This passage-way is entered by a door, which opens
on the Inner side. The door Is so placed as to make an
acute angle between It and the wall behind it on the
inner side. At the inner end of this passage-way Is
another door, standing squarely across, and opening
into the box. On the left-hand side of the passage-way,
and very near the inner end, Is a third door, which also
289

290 THE DEATH OF LINCOLN
opens into the box. This latter door was closed. The
party entered the box through the door at the end of the
passage-way. The box is so constructed that it may
be divided into two by a movable partition, one of the
doors described opening into each. The front of the
box-is about ten or twelve feet In length, and In the centre
of the railing is a small pillar overhung with a curtain.
The depth of the box from front to rear Is about nine
feet. "The elevation of the box above the stage, including
the railing, is about ten or twelve feet.
When the party entered the box, a cushioned arm
chair was standing at the end of the box farthest from
the stage and nearest the audience. This was also the
nearest point to the door by which the box Is entered.
The President seated himself in this chair — and, except
that he once left the chair for the purpose of putting on
his overcoat, remained so seated untU he was shot.
Mrs. Lincoln was seated In a chair between the President
and the pillar In the centre above described. At the
opposite end of the box — that nearest the end of the
stage — were two chairs. In one of these, standing In
the corner. Miss Harris was seated. At her left hand, and
along the wall running from that end of the box to the
rear, stood a small sofa. At the end of this sofa, next
to Miss Harris, this deponent was seated. The distance
between this deponent and the President, as they were
sitting, was about seven or eight feet; and the distance
between this deponent and the door was about the same.
The distance between the President, as he sat, and
the door, was about four or five feet. The door, accord
ing to the recollection of this deponent, was not closed
during the evening. When the second scene of the
third act was being performed, and while this deponent
was intently observing the proceedings upon the stage.

THE DEATH OF LINCOLN 291
with his back toward the door, he heard the discharge
of a pistol behind him, and looking around, saw, through
the smoke, a man between the door and the President.
At the same time deponent heard him shout some word,
which deponent thinks was "Freedom!" This deponent
instantly sprang toward him and seized him; he wrested
himself from the grasp, and made a violent thrust at the
breast of deponent with a large knife. Deponent parried
the blow by striking It up, and received a wound several
inches deep in his left arm, between the elbow and the
shoulder. The orifice of the wound is about an Inch and
a half In length, and extends upward toward the shoulder
several inches. The man rushed to the front of the box,
and deponent endeavoured to seize him again, but only
caught his clothes as he was leaping over the railing of
the box. The clothes, as deponent believes, were torn
in this attempt to seize him.
As he went over upon the stage deponent cried out,
with a loud voice: "Stop that man!" Deponent then
turned to the President; his position was not changed;
his head was slightly bent forward, and his eyes were
closed. Deponent saw that he was unconscious, and
supposing him mortally wounded, rushed to the door for
the purpose of calling medical aid. On reaching the outer
door of the passage-way, as above described, deponent
found It barred by a heavy piece of plank, one end of which
was secured in the wall, and the other resting against the
door. It had been so securely fastened that it required
considerable force to remove it. This wedge, or bar,
was about four feet from the floor. Persons upon the
outside were beating against the door for the purpose of
entering. Deponent removed the bar, and the door was
opened. Several persons, who represented themselves to be

292 THE DEATH OF LINCOLN
surgeons, were allowed to enter. Deponent saw there
Colonel Crawford, and requested him to prevent other
persons from entering the box. Deponent then returned
to the box, and found the surgeons examining the Presi
dent's person. They had not yet discovered the wound.
As soon as it was discovered it was determined to remove
him from the theatre. He was carried out, and this
deponent then proceeded to assist Mrs. Lincoln, who was
intensely excited, to leave the theatre. On reaching the
head of the stairs, deponent requested Major Potter to aid
him In assisting Mrs. Lincoln across the street, to the house
to which the President was being conveyed. The wound
which the deponent had received had been bleeding very
profusely, and on reaching the house, feeling very faint
from the loss of blood, he seated himself In the hall, and
soon after fainted away, and was laid upon the floor.
Upon the return of consciousness deponent was taken in a
carriage to his residence.
In the review of the transaction it is the confident belief
of this deponent that the time which elapsed between the
discharge of the pistol and the time when the assassin
leaped from the box did not exceed thirty seconds.
Neither Mrs. Lmcoln nor Miss Harris had left their seats.

APPENDIX XIX
HARRY hawk's ACCOUNT
Mr. Harry Hawk, who was playing the part of Asa
Trenchard, made famous by Joseph Jefferson, was a dear
friend of Edwin Booth's, and out of respect to the terribly
sensitive feelings of the great tragedian refused all urgings
to ialk of the crime while Edwin was alive. After Edwin
Booth's death, however, Mr. Hawk, on a visit to the house
where Lincoln died, taUied to Mr. Oldroyd, the custodian,
and allowed Mr. Oldroyd to print the following statement
in his book:
Mrs. Muzzey, in the r6le of Mrs. Mountchessington,
having just discovered that Asa Trenchard was not the
man of wealth she supposed, had turned angrily to her
daughter Georglna, saying: ' Go to your room ; you may
go to your room at once!' Then she turned haughtily
and made her exit on the left, leaving me alone and looking
after her. My lines were : ' Society, eh ? Well, I guess I
know enough to turn you Inside out, old woman, you
darned old sockdolaging man-trap!' I was looking up at
the President's box as I repeated the lines, and the words
had barely left my lips, and the shouts of laughter were
ringing, when the shot sounded through the house."
(Oldroyd, p. 28.)

APPENDIX XX
affidavit of miss HARRIS
Clara H. Harris, being duly sworn, says that she has
read the foregoing affidavit of Major Rathbone, and knows
the contents thereof, that she was present at Ford's Theatre
with the President, and Mrs. Lincoln, and Major Rath
bone on the evening of the fourteenth of April instant; that
at the time she heard the discharge of the pistol she was
attentively engaged In observing what was transpiring upon
the stage, and looking round, she saw Major Rathbone
spring from his seat and advance to the opposite side of the
box; that she saw him engaged, as If In a struggle, with
another man, but the smoke with which he was enveloped
prevented this deponent from seeing distinctly the other
man; that the first time she saw him distinctly was when
he leaped from the box upon the stage; that she then heard
Major Rathbone cry out: "Stop that man!" and this
deponent then immediately repeated the cry: "Stop that
man! Won't somebody stop that man?" A moment
after, some one from the stage asked: "What is it?" or
"What is the matter?" and deponent replied: "The

THE DEATH OF LINCOLN 295
President Is shot." Very soon after, two persons, one
wearing the uniform of a naval surgeon, and the other
that of a soldier of the Veteran Reserve Corps, came upon
the stage, and the deponent assisted them in climbing up
to the box.
And this deponent further says, that the facts stated in
the foregoing affidavit, so far as the same came to the
knowledge or notice of this deponent, are accurately stated
therein.

APPENDIX XXI
BOOTH IN BOSTON
Edwin Booth, at the Boston Theatre, was playing that
night, not "Hamlet," as usually reported, but a double
blU: "The Iron Chest" and "Don Csesar de Bazan."
He was playing Colman's tragedy, "The Iron Chest, " last,
and at about the moment of John's crime Edwin, as Sir
Edward Mortimer, the homicide, was standing with
uplifted dagger threatening the life of a youth who seemed
on the point of opening the Iron chest wherein the secret
of Sir Edward's guilt was locked. This was told the
present writer by Miss Ida Vernon, Booth's friend and one
time leading woman, to whom he commented on the
coincidence. Junius Brutus Booth was playing In Cincinnati, and with
difficulty escaped the vengeance of a mob anxious to
wreak Its fury on any one belonging to the man reported
to have murdered the President.
At seven o'clock Saturday morning, April 15th, Henry C.
Jarrett, manager of the Boston Theatre, where Edwin
Booth was playing, wrote to him as follows :
296

THE DEATH OF LINCOLN 297
Edwin Booth, Esq,
My Dear Sir: A fearful calamity Is upon us. The
President of the United States has fallen by the hand of
an assassin, and I am shocked to say suspicion points to
one nearly related to you as the perpetrator of this horrid
deed. God grant It may not prove so! With this knowl
edge, and out of respect to the anguish which will fill the
public mind as soon as the appalling fact shall be fully
revealed, I have concluded to close the Boston Theatre
until further notice. Please signify to me your co-operation
in this matter.
In great sorrow, and In haste, I remain, yours very truly,
Henry C, Jarrett.
To this Edwin' Booth immediately replied:
Henry C. Jarrett, Esq.
My Dear Sir: With deepest sorrow and great agitation
I thank you for relieving me from my engagement with
yourself and the public. The news of the morning has
made me wretched Indeed, not only because I have received
the unhappy tidings of the suspicions of a brother's crime,
but because a good man, and a most justly honoured and
patriotic ruler, has fallen, in an hour of national joy, by
the hand of an assassin. The memory of the thousands
who have fallen In the field, In our country's defence, dur
ing this struggle, cannot be forgotten by me, even in this,
the most distressing day of my life. And I most sincerely
pray that the victories we have already won may stay the
brand of war and the tide of loyal blood. While mourn
ing, in common with all other loyal hearts, the death of the
President, I am oppressed by a private woe not to be
expressed In words. But whatever calamity may befall me
and mine, my country, one and indivisible, has my warmest
devotion. Edwin Booth.

APPENDIX XXII
LETTER OF WILLIAM T. CLARK
In the room where Lincoln died there now hangs the
following letter written by young WiUiam T. Clark, a
soldier belonging to Company D, 13th Massachusetts
Infantry, and detailed to duty in the Quartermaster's
Department; he was the recent occupant of the little room
where the President died :
Washington, D. C, Wednesday, April 19, 1865.
Dear Sister Ida: To-day the funeral of Mr. Lincoln
takes place. The streets are being crowded at this early
hour (9 A. M.), and the procession will probably not move
for three hours.
The past few days have been of intense excitement;
arrests are numerously made — If any party is heard to
utter secesh sentiments. The time has come when persons
cannot say what they please,, for the people are awfully
indignant. Hundreds daily call at the house to gain
admission to my room. I was engaged nearly all Sunday
with one of Frank Leslie's special artists, aiding him in
making a complete drawing of the last moments of Mr.
Lincoln, as I know the position of every one present. He
succeeded in executing a fine sketch, which will appear in
their paper. He wished to mention the names of all
pictures in the room, particularly the photograph of
yourself, Clara, and Nannie; but I told him he must not
298

THE DEATH OF LINCOLN 299
do that, as they were members of my family, and I did not
wish them to be made so public. He also urged me to give
him my picture, or at least to allow him to take my sketch,
but I could not see that either. Everybody has a great
desire to obtain some memento from my room, so that
whoever comes in has to be closely watched for fear they
will steal something. I have a lock of Mr, Lincoln's hair,
which I have had neatly framed ; also a piece of linen with
a portion of his brain. The pUlow and case upon which
he lay when he died, and nearly all his wearing apparel, I
intend to send to Robert Lincoln as soon as the funeral is
over, as I consider him most justly entitled to them. The
same mattress is on my bed, and the same coverlid covers
me nightly that covered him while dying. Enclosed you
will find a piece of lace Mrs. Lincoln wore on her head
during the evening, and was dropped by her while entering
my room to see her dying husband; it is worth keeping
for Its historical value. The cushions worked by Clara,
and the cushion by you, you little dreamed would be so
historically connected with such an event. Love to father,
mother, Clara. Don't forget you have a brother, and
send me a longer note soon.
I will write again soon, -ir ^ «. u ..
° Your aliec. brother, Willie.
Willie's excellent but amusingly "important" intentions
about the bestowal of the clothing of Mr. Lincoln and the
pUlow-slip on which his dying head lay were not destined
to fulfilment. The pillow-slips, stained with Lincoln's
blood, were at last accounts still in the Peterson family,
in the keeping of Mr. Peterson's son, living in Baltimore.
The bedstead on which Lincoln died was sold by Mr.

300 THE DEATH OF LINCOLN
Peterson and passed eventually into the possession of Mr.
Charles F. Gunther of Chicago. The clothes Mr. Lincoln
had on when shot were sold by Forbes, his valet, to Mr.
Frank G. Logan, also of Chicago. The small Deringer
pistol with which Lincoln was shot, the ball which entered
his brain, the small section of skuU It carried with it, and
the probes used in removing ball and bone, are in a safe
in the office of the Judge-Advocate Greneral, in the War
Office, Washington. The bar of wood used by Booth in
barricading the door is In a chest In the cellar of the State,
War, and Navy BuUding, along with the knife wherewith
Major Rathbone was slashed and a lot of other "exhibits "
of the conspiracy trial, including Booth's saddle, the blue-
and-black checked necktie he had on when shot, his com
pass with the candle drippings, his diary, etc. Here and
there throughout the country are programmes of the even
ing claimed each to be " the one the President was holding
when shot." None of these is authenticated. The flag In
which Booth's spur caught hangs in the Treasury Depart
ment, whence It was borrowed. Mr. Charles Ford, of Balti
more, has the portrait of Washington, with Its frame gashed
by Booth's spur, which hung In the centre of the Treasury
regimental flag draping the front of the box. The rocker
in which Lincoln sat is In the possession of the Govern
ment. Mr. Osborn H. Oldroyd owns the spur Booth wore.

APPENDIX XXIII
despatches OF the night
At midnight Colonel T. T. Eckert wired General
Grant en route between Washington and Philadelphia:
"The President was assassinated at Ford's Theatre at
10.20 to-night and cannot live. The wound Is a pistol shot
through the head. Secretary Seward and his son Frede
rick were also assassinated at their residence and are in a
dangerous condition. The Secretary of War desires that
you return to Washington immediately. Please answer
on receipt of this." Half an hour later, Dana wired
General Grant at Philadelphia: "Keep a close watch on
all persons who come near you." At 1,30 Stanton tele
graphed the news to General Dix at New York, still speak
ing of the assassin without a name. At 3.20 he telegraphed
again to DIx saying: "Investigation strongly Indicates
John Wilkes Booth as assassin of the President. Whether
he was at Seward's is unknown. His horse has been
found." At 4.10: " It is now ascertained with reasonable
certainty that two assassins were engaged in the horrible
crime, Wilkes Booth being the one that shot the President,
301

302 THE DEATH OF LINCOLN
the other a companion of his whose name is not known,
but whose description is so clear that he can hardly escape."
As late as 8.40 p. m. Saturday, Dana wired to Buffalo a
description of Booth and one of Atzerodt who was then
thought to have been the assassin of Seward.

APPENDIX XXIV
statement OF MR. FIELD, ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF
THE TREASURY
On Friday evening, April 14, 1865, at about half-past
ten o'clock, I was sitting in the reading-room at Willard's
Hotel, engaged with a newspaper, when a person hur
riedly entered the hotel and passed up the hall, announc
ing in a loud tone of voice that the President had just
been shot at Ford's Theatre. I started to my feet, and
had hardly reached the office when two other persons
came in and confirmed the report — which at first I
was hardly able to credit. I had parted about fifteen
minutes previously with Mr. Mellen, of the Treasury
Department, who had retired to his room for the night,
and I at once went to him and communicated what had
occurred, and we started together for the scene of the
tragedy. We found the streets already crowded with excited
masses of people, and when we reached the theatre there
was a very large assemblage In front of it as well as of
the opposite house, belonging to Mr. Peterson, into
303

304 THE DEATH OF LINCOLN
which the President had been conveyed. The people
around the theatre related to us substantially the general
facts connected with the assassination which have since
been communicated to the public. The impression was
prevalent, however, at that time, that the President had
been shot In the breast, about the region of the heart,
and that the wound might not prove fatal. After a few
minutes we crossed the street, and endeavoured to gain
admission into the house where Mr. Lincoln lay. This
I effected with some little difficulty.
The first person whom I met In the hall was Miss
Harris, daughter of United States Senator Ira Harris,
of New York, who had been at the theatre with the Pres
idential party. She informed me that the President
was dying, but desired me not to communicate the fact
to Mrs. Lincoln, who was In the front parlour. Several
other persons who were there confirmed the statement
as to Mr. Lincoln's condition. I then entered the front
parlour, where I found Mrs. Lincoln in an indescribable
state of agitation. She repeated over and again. "Why
did n't he kUl me ? Why did n't he kiU me ?"
I asked her if there was any service I could render
her, and she requested me to go for Dr. Stone, or some
other eminent physician. Both Dr. Stone and Surgeon-
General Barnes had already been sent for, but neither

THE DEATH OF LINCOLN 305
had yet arrived. On my way out I met Major T. T.
Eckert, of the War Department, who told me that he
was himself going for Dr. Stone, I then went for Dr.
Hall, one of the most distinguished surgeons In the
District. I found him at home, and he at once accom
panied me. When we again reached the neighbourhood
of the house access had become very difficult, guards
having been stationed on every side.
After much effort, I was enabled to gain admission
for Dr. Hall, but was not at that time permitted to enter
myself; accordingly I returned to Willard's. The whole
population of the city was by this time out, and all kinds
of conflicting stories were being circulated. At three or
four o'clock I again started for Mr. Peterson's house.
This time I was admitted without difficulty. I proceeded
at once to the room In which the President lay dying.
It was a small chamber, in an extension or back building,
on a level with the first or parlour floor. The President
was lying on his back, diagonally across a low, double
bedstead, his head supported by two pillows on the
outer side of the bed.
The persons in the room were the Secretaries
McCulloch, Stanton, Welles, and Harlan, Postmaster-
General Dennison, the Attorney-General, the Assistant-
Secretary of the Interior, Senator Sumner of Massachu-

306 THE DEATH OF LINCOLN
setts. General Halleck, General Augur, General Meigs,
General J. F. Farns worth, of Illinois; General Todd, of
Dakota; the President's assistant private secretary.
Major Hay; the medical gentlemen, and perhaps two
or three others. Dr. Stone was sitting on the foot of the
bed. An army surgeon was sitting opposite the Presi
dent's head, occasionally feeling his pulse, and applying
his fingers to the arteries of the neck and heart.
Mr. Lincoln seemed to be divested of all clothing,
except the bed coverings. His eyes were closed, and the
lids and surrounding parts so Injected with blood as to
present the appearance of having been bruised. He was
evidently totally unconscious, and was breathing regu
larly but heavily, and with an occasional sigh escaping
with the breath. There was scarcely a dry eye In the
room, and the scene was the most solemn and Impressive
one I ever witnessed. After a while. Captain Robert
Lincoln, of General Grant's staff, and eldest son of the
President, entered the chamber, and stood at the head
board, leaning over his father.
For a time his grief completely overpowered him, but
he soon recovered himself, and behaved In the most
manly manner until the closing of the scene. As the
morning wore on, the condition of the President
remained unchanged until about seven o'clock. In the

THE DEATH OF LINCOLN .307
meantime, it came on to rain heavily, and the scene from
the windows was In dreary sympathy with that which
was going on within. Just before this, Mrs. Lincoln
had been supported into the chamber, and had thrown
herself moaning upon her husband's body. She was
permitted to remain but a few minutes, when she was
carried out. In an almost Insensible condition.
At about seven o'clock the President's breathing
changed In a manner to Indicate that death was rapidly
approaching. It became low and fitful, with frequent
interruptions. Several times I thought that all was over,
until the fitful respiration was resumed. At last, at just
twenty-two minutes past seven o'clock, without a struggle,
without a convulsive movement, without a tremor, he
ceased breathing — and was no more.
Thus died this great, pure, kind-hearted man, who
never willingly Injured a human being — the greatest
martyr to liberty the world has ever seen.
Shortly after his death, finding that his eyes were not
entirely closed, I placed my hands upon them. One
of the attendant surgeons first put nickel cents upon
them, and then substituted silver half-dollars. It was
twenty minutes or half an hour before the body commenced
to grow cold. The lower jaw began to fall slightly, and
the lower teeth were exposed. One of the medical

308 THE DEATH OF LINCOLN
gentlemen bound up the jaw with a pocket-handker
chief. Mr. Stanton drew down the window-shades,
and I left the chamber of death. Immediately after the
decease, the Rev. Dr. Gurley had offered up a fervent
and affecting prayer In the room, interrupted only by
the sobs of those present.
When I left the room he was again praying In the
front parlour. Poor Mrs. Lincoln's moans were distress
ing to listen to. After the prayer was over, I entered
the parlour, and found Mrs. Lincoln, supported In the
arms of her son, Robert. She was soon taken to her
carriage. As she reached the front door, she glanced at
the theatre opposite, and exclaimed several times: "Oh,
that dreadful house! That dreadful house ! " Immediately
thereafter guards were stationed at the door of the
room In which the President's body lay. In a few minutes
I left myself. It Is hoped that some historical painter
will be found capable of portraying that momentous
death scene.

APPENDIX XXV
SOUTHERN HORROR OF BOOTH's DEED
Southern horror of Booth's deed was far more genuine
and more widespread than many persons in the North
were aware of. On April 16th, General R, S. Ewell and
sixteen other generals of the Confederate States Army in
prison at Fort Warren, addressed General Grant as
follows :
Lieut.-Gen. U. S. Grant,
Commanding U. S. Army.
General :
You will appreciate, I am sure, the sentiment which
prompts me to drop you these lines. Of all the mis
fortunes which could befall the Southern people, or any
Southern man, by far the greatest. In my judgment,
would be the prevalence of the idea that they could
entertain any other than feelings of unqualified abhor
rence and Indignation for the assassination of the Presi
dent of the United States and the attempt to assassinate
the Secretary of State," etc. (O. R. Series I., vol.
xlvi., part iii., p. 787.)
The Richmond Whig, of AprU 17th, said: "The
heaviest blow which has ever fallen on the people of the
South has descended." 309

310 THE DEATH OF LINCOLN
The National Intelligencer, Washington, reported in
its Issue of April 24th that "nearly the whole city of
Memphis was draped in the habiliments of mourning,
and the sorrow seemed to be universal."
In Savannah, Ga., a great mass-meeting was held on
April 22d to "take fitting notice of the late appalling
calamity which has befallen the nation In the death of
Its beloved head, Abraham Lincoln." And, In general,
this attitude toward Booth's mad deed was pretty well
shared. Mrs. J. A. Hayes, of Colorado Springs, a daughter of
Jefferson Davis, In August, 1907, wrote a letter to Gen
eral William J. Palmer, in the course of which she said:
I was a small child at the time, and, like most Southern
children, I looked upon Lincoln as the arch-enemy of my
country; and, thoughtlessly, as the servants and guards
around us were rejoicing, I ran to my father with what I
supposed would be good news to him. He gravely and
gently took me in his arms and explained to me that this
terrible deed had been done by a crazy man who, no doubt,
thought he was the saviour of the South, though really her
very worst enemy. My father added, "Always remember,
my little daughter, no wrong can ever make a right. The
South does not wish her rights to come through dastardly
murder, but through fair fight." Then he sighed deeply
and said : " This Is the bitterest blow that could have
been dealt to the Southern cause. Lincoln was a just

THE DEATH OF LINCOLN 311
man and would have been fair and generous In his treat
ment of the Southern people; his successor is a man we
can expect nothing from."
Lincoln, who knew my father [would have known]
. . . that Jefferson Davis and the other Southern
men accused were incapable of instigating murder. . . .
Jefferson Davis could never understand how such an
impression could have gained foothold among the men who
made history In the North, for many of them had known
him and should have known that he was above so vile an
action. (World's Work, February, 1908, p. 9902.)

APPENDIX XXVI
THE AWARDS
On July 24th, 1866, the Committee on Claims,
through its chairman, Hon. George W. Hotchkiss, of
Binghamton, N. Y., made before the first session of
the 39th Congress its report on the apportionment of the
large rewards offered for the capture of Booth, Herold,
Atzerodt, and Payne. It awarded Colonel Lafayette C.
Baker and Colonel Everton J. Conger each $17,500 of
the $75,000 due for the capture of Booth and Herold,
but so strong was the dissatisfaction with this that the
report was disapproved and the following apportionment
substituted :
E. J. Conger, detective  $15,000
Lafayette C. Baker, detective . . . 3,750
Luther B. Baker, detective .... 3,000
Edward P. Doherty, in command of
the cavalry ......... 5,250
James R. O'Belrne, detective . . . 2,000
H. H. Wells, George Cottingham,
Alexander Lovett, each $1,000 . . . 3,000
Sergeant Boston Corbett, Sergeant An
drew Wendell, Corporal Charles Zim-
312

THE DEATH OF LINCOLN 313
mer. Corporal Michael Unlac, Cor
poral John Winter, Corporal Her
man Newgarten, Corporal John Walz,
Corporal Oliver Lonpay, Corporal
Michael Hormsbey, Privates John
Myers, John Ryan, William Byrne,
Philip Hoyt, Martin Kelley, Henry
Putnam, Frank" McDanlel, Lewis
Savage, Abraham Genay, Emery Par-
ady, David Baker, William Mc-
Quade, John Milllngton, Frederick
Dietz, John H, Singer, Carl Stein-
brugge, and Joseph Zlsgen, each
$1,653.85  $43,000

$75,000

Wells and Lovett were among the officers who arrested
Dr. Mudd and got from him Information about the visit
and departure of Booth and Herold. Dana, Williams,
Gavacan, and Joshua Lloyd were other officers in the
same "capture," but they got nothing. Cottingham was
the special officer of Major O'Beime's staff to whom,
"through strategy," John M. Lloyd made his "con
fession," The soldiers were all of the 26th New York
Cavalry. Major O'Belrne was the detective to whom
the credit and reward for the capture of Booth and
Herold should really have gone. (Baker, p. 565; Old
royd, p. 87; Report No. 99, 39th Congress.)

314 THE DEATH OF LINCOLN
For the capture of Atzerodt, the following awards were
paid: Major E. R. Artman, 215th Pennsyl
vania Infantry  $1,250.00
Sergeant L. W. Gemmill, 1st Dela
ware Cavalry  3,598.54
Christopher Ross, David H. Baker,
Albert Bender, Samuel J. Williams,
George W. Young, James Long-
acre, privates 1st Delaware, and
James Purdoan, citizen, each
$2,878.78  20,151.46
$25,000.00
Major Artma*! was not present at the capture, but it
was he who sent out from Monocacy Junction, Md., the
force which effected the arrest.
The capture of Payne was rewarded as follows:
Major H. W. Smith  $1,000
Richard C. Morgan, EU Devore, Charles
H. Rosch, Thomas Sampson, W. M.
Wermerskirch, each $500 .... 2,500
J. H. Kimball, citizen, and P. H. Clark,
citizen, each $500  1,000
Susan Jackson, Mary Ann Griffin, col
ored, each, $250  500
$5,000
Smith, Morgan, Devore, Rosch, Sampson, and Wer
merskirch were the officers present. Susan Jackson

THE DEATH OF LINCOLN 315
was a servant of Mrs. Surratt. She told her aunt, Mary
Ann Griffin, working for J. H. Kimball, things she had
seen or heard that might incriminate Mrs. Surratt. The
two women told Mr. Kimball, and he started with them
for General Augur's office. On the way they met P. M.
Clark who joined the expedition. The Government paid
$1,500 to these four as "instrumental In setting the force
in motion for taking possession of the Surratt house."
This, although It had claimed to have done this on the
evidence of Captain Gleason, who told Stanton what
Weichmann had told him.

APPENDIX XXVII
TRIAL ATTENDANCE
"A perfect park of carriages stands by the door to the
left, and from these dismount major-generals' wives in
rustling silks, daughters of congressmen attired Uke the
lilies of the milliner, little girls who hope to be young
ladies and have come up with 'Pa' to look at the assas
sins; even brides are here, in the fresh blush of their
nuptials . . . they chatter and smile and go up the
three flights of stairs to the court-room, about as large as
an ordinary town-house parlour." (George Alfred Town-
send, "The Trial of the Conspirators," p. 63.)

316

APPENDIX XXVIH
spangler's STATEMENT
Edward Spangler, soon after his release from prison,
went to Dr. Mudd's, and there made his home until he
died, about eighteen months later. "He was a quiet,
genial man," says Miss Nettie Mudd, the doctor's daugh
ter and biographer, "greatly respected by the members
of our family and the people of the neighbourhood. His
greatest pleasure seemed to be found In extending kind
nesses to others, and particularly to children, of whom
he was very fond. Not long after his death my father,
in searching for a tool In Spangler's tool-chest, found a
manuscript. In Spangler's own handwriting, and pre
sumably written while he was in prison." The manu
script was as follows:
I was bom in York County, Penn., and am about
forty-three years of age. I am a house-carpenter by
trade, and became acquainted with J. Wilkes Booth
when a boy. I worked for his father In building a
cottage in Harford County, Md., In 1854. Since a. d.
1853 I have done carpenter work for the different thea
tres in the cities of Baltimore and Washington, to wit:
317

318 THE DEATH OF LINCOLN
The Holliday Street Theatre and the Front Street Theatre,
of Baltimore, and Ford's Theatre in the city of Washing
ton. I have acted also as scene-shifter in all the above-
named theatres, and had a favourable opportunity to
become acquainted with the different actors. I have
acted as scene-shifter In Ford's Theatre ever since It was
opened up to the night of the assassination of President
Lincoln. During the winter of a. d. 1862 and 1863
J. Wilkes Booth played a star engagement at Ford's
Theatre for two weeks. At that time I saw him and
conversed with him frequently. After completing his
engagement he left Washington and I did not see him
again until the winters of a. d. 1864 and 1865. I then
saw him at various times in and about Ford's Theatre.
Booth had free access to the theatre at all times, and
made himself very familiar with all persons connected with
it. He had a stable in the rear of the theatre where he
kept his horses. A boy, Joseph Burroughs, commonly
called "Peanut John," took care of them whenever Booth
was absent from the city. I looked after his horses, which
I did at his request, and saw that they were properly cared
for. Booth promised to pay me for my trouble, but he
never did. I frequently had the horses exercised, during
Booth's absence from the city, by " Peanut John, " walking
them up and down the alley. "Peanut John" kept the
key to the stable In the theatre, hanging upon a nail behind
the small door, which opened Into the alley at the rear of
the theatre. Booth usually rode out on horseback every
afternoon and evening, but seldom remained out later than
eight or nine o'clock. He always "went and returned alone.
I never knew of his riding out on horseback and staying
out all night, or of any person coming to the stable with
him, or calling there for him. He had two horses at the
stable only a short time. He brought them there some

THE DEATH OF LINCOLN 319
time In the month of December. A man called George
and myself repaired and fixed the stable for him. 1 usuaUy
saddled the horse for him when "Peanut John" was
absent. About the first of March, Booth brought another
horse and a buggy and harness to the stable, but In what
manner I do not know; after that he used to ride out with
his horse and buggy, and I frequently harnessed them up
for him. I never saw any person ride out with him or
return with him from these rides.
On the Monday evening previous to the assassination,
Booth requested me to sell the horse, harness, and buggy,
as he said he should leave the city soon. 1 took them the
next morning to the horse-market and had them put up at
auction, with the instruction not to sell unless they would
net two hundred and sixty dollars : this was In accordance
with Booth's orders to me. As no person bid sufficient
to make them net that amount, they were not sold, and I
took them back to the stable. I informed Booth of the
result that same evening In front of the theatre. He
replied that he must then try and have them sold at private
sale, and asked me If I would help him. I replied "Yes."
This was about six o'clock In the evening, and the conversa
tion took place In the presence of John F. Slelchmann and
others. The next day I sold them for two hundred and
sixty dollars. The purchaser accompanied me to the
theatre. Booth was not In, and the money was paid to
James J. Gifford, who receipted for It. I did not see
Booth to speak to him, after the sale, until the evening of
the assassination.
Upon the afternoon of April 14th I was told by " Peanut
John " that the President and General Grant were coming
to the theatre that night, and that I must take out the
partition in the President's box. I was assisted in doing it
by Ritterspaugh and "Peanut John."

320 THE DEATH OF LINCOLN
In the evening, between five and six o'clock, Booth came
into the theatre and asked me for a halter. I was very
busy at work at the time on the stage preparatory to the
evening performance, and Ritterspaugh went upstairs
and brought one down. I went out to the stable with
Booth and put the halter upon the horse. I commenced
to take off the saddle when Booth said: "Never mind, I
do not want It off, but let It and the bridle remain." He
afterward took the saddle off himself, locked the stable,
and went back to the theatre.
Booth, Maddox, "Peanut John," and myself imme
diately went out of the theatre to the adjoining restau
rant next door, and took a drink at Booth's expense. I
then went immediately back to the theatre, and Ritters
paugh and myself went to supper. I did not see Booth
again until between nine and ten o'clock. About that time
Debonay called to me, and said that Booth wanted me to
hold his horse as soon as I could be spared. I went to the
back door and Booth was standing in the alley holding a
horse by the bridle-rein, and requested me to hold it. I
took the rein, but told him I could not remain, as Gifford
was gone, and that all of the responsibility rested on me.
Booth then passed Into the theatre. I called to Debonay
to send "Peanut John" to hold the horse. He came, and
took the horse, and I went back to my proper place.
In about a half hour afterward I heard a shot fired, and
Immediately saw a man run across the stage. I saw him
as he passed by the centre door of the scenery, behind which
I then stood ; this door Is usually termed the centre cham
ber door. I did not recognize the man as he crossed the
stage as being Booth. I then heard some one say that the
President was shot. Immediately all was confusion. I
shoved the scenes back as quickly as possible in order to
clear the stage, as many were rushing upon it. I was very

THE DEATH OF LINCOLN 321
much frightened, as I heard persons halloo "Burn the
theatre!" I did not see Booth pass out; my situation
was such that I could not see any person pass out of the
back door. The back door has a spring attached to it,
and would shut of Its own accord. I usually slept In
the theatre, but I did not upon the night of the assassina
tion; I was afraid the theatre would be burned, and slept
in a carpenter's shop adjoining.
I never heard Booth express himself in favour of the
rebellion, or opposed to the Government, or converse upon
political subjects; and I have no recollection of his men
tioning the name of President Lincoln in any connection
whatever. I know nothing pf the mortise hole said to be
in the wall behind the door of the President's box, or of
any wooden bar to fasten or hold the door there, or of the
lock being out of order. I did not notice any hole in the
door. Gifford usually attended to the carpentering In the
front part of the theatre, while I did the work about the
stage. Mr. Gifford was the boss carpenter, and I was
under him.

APPENDIX XXIX
MRS. SURRATT AND JOHN NOTHET
On the twelfth of AprU, 1865, George H. Calvert, Jr., a
resident of Bladensburg, Md., wrote to Mrs. Mary E.
Surratt as follows : RiVERSDALE, April 12, 1865.
Mrs. M. E. Surratt:
Dear Madam: During a late visit to the lower portion
of the county, I ascertained of the wiUingness of Mr.
Nothey to settle with you, and desire to call your attention
to the fact, in urging the settlement of the claim of my late
father's estate. However unpleasant, I must insist upon
closing up this matter, as it is imperative, in an early settle
ment of the estate, which is necessary.
You will, therefore, please inform me at your earliest
convenience, as to how and when you will be able to pay
the balance remaining due on the land purchased by your
late husband. I am, dear madam, yours respectfully,
(C. T. p. 126.) George H. Calvert, Jr.
This was the letter which took Mrs. Surratt to Surratts
vllle on April 14th. While there she wrote a letter to Mr.
John Nothey and gave it to Mr. B. F. Gwynn, a neighbour
who had been privy to the transaction between the late
322

THE DEATH OF LINCOLN 323
John Surratt and John Nothey, asking Mr. Gwynn to
deliver the note to Nothey and to read it to him. (C. T. p.
126.) This Mr. Gwynn did. The note read:
SURRATTSVILLE, Md., April 14, 1865.
Mr. John Nothey:
Sir : I have this day received a letter from Mr. Calvert,
intimating that either you or your friend have represented
to him that I am not willing to settle with you for the land.
You know that I am ready, and have been waiting for
the last two years; and now, if you do not come within the
next ten days, I will settle with Mr. Calvert, and bring suit
against you immediately.
Mr. Calvert will give you a deed on receiving payment.
M. E. Surratt,
(C. T. p. 126.) Administratrix of J H. Surratt.
These letters were produced as proof of the errand that
called her to Surrattsvllle on Good Friday afternoon, but
it was considered reasonable to adjudge the letters attempts
to prove an excuse for going — the real reason being that
she wished to carry a pair of field-glasses for Booth, and to
tell the drunken Lloyd to have the carbines ready. It
seems far likelier that if she were implicated in the plot she
would have refused to go near Surrattsville that day.

APPENDIX XXX
JOHN P. BROPHY
Mrs. Surratt's last words were to John P. Brophy to
whom she said: "Good-bye — take care of Annie." On
the sixth of January, 1908, Mr. Brophy, formerly a profes
sor in Gonzaga College, Washington, and then a clerk in
the Supreme Court, gave an address before the Friendly
Sons of St. Patrick, at Delmonico's, New York.
" His subject was the assassination of President Lincoln,
with especial reference to the accusation brought against
Mrs. Mary E. Surratt and her subsequent execution. Mr.
Brophy was acquainted with several of the actors in the
tragedy and its accompanying incidents, and was one of
those who made an attempt to intercede on behalf of Mrs.
Surratt. " Mr. Brophy related at length the conception of the plot
against Lincoln and the failure of the conspirators to carry
out their first plan of kidnapping. The speaker told of
Booth's meeting with John H. Surratt, Mrs. Surratt's son,
and of the boy's joining in the first conspiracy to kidnap
Lincoln. Mrs. Surratt, he said, knew nothing of it.
Booth, happening to meet her as she was being handed into
her carriage, and having already decided to kill Lincoln,
Instead of further pursuing the old plan to kidnap the
President, asked her to take a package, which he ^aid

THE DEATH OF LINCOLN 325
contained a compass, and leave it for him at a certain hotel
on her way. She willingly consented to do what seemed
to her a trifiing favour, and this act, innocent as it seemed,
cost her her life.
"Her death, Mr. Brophy said, came about through the
perjured statements of conspirator Lloyd, whom the
speaker characterized as a ' drunken sot,' through the work
of an 'unlawful military tribunal,' and the 'usurpation'
of judicial power.
"When the trial was near its end, Mr. Brophy said, Louis
J. Weichmann, who had been the chief witness against her,
came to Mr. Brophy and wanted to know what the effect
of his testimony had been. Mr. Brophy accused him of
attempting to have an innocent woman killed, and Weich
mann acknowledged to Mr. Brophy that he believed Mrs.
Surratt to be Innocent.
" ' Some time last winter,' Mr. Brophy quotes the man as
saying, ' I suspected the plot against the President. I told
a clerk in the War Department, and he informed Stanton.
Stanton gave me the choice between turning State's
evidence and hanging. Terrified, I told what I had heard,
and, although I believed Mrs. Surratt to be innocent, Mr.
Stanton appeared to believe her guilty. I did not want to
be hanged.'
"Mr. Brophy told Weichmann that he ought to try to
avert the result of his testimony by telling the truth to Mr.
Stanton. Weichmann replied that Stanton's hatred of
Catholics and of Southern women would be Mrs. Surratt's
undoing, and that he could do nothing to help her. Mr.
Brophy went to the White House, but was not allowed to
see President Johnson. Judge Holt would not let Mr.
Brophy appear as a witness.
"The professor, failing to reach official ears, tried to
publish what he had learned from Weichmann in the

326 THE DEATH OF LINCOLN
National Intelligencer, of Washington, he says, but was
told that the article was 'too strong.' Finally he pub
lished it in a pamphlet, and the morning after, before he
was up, his room was searched by Government detectives,
but the pamphlets had all been sent out, and nothing was
found to incriminate him.
" Mr. Brophy told his hearers that all through the trial
and the execution of Mrs, Surratt, papers proving her
innocence were hidden in Stanton's safe. These papers
included Booth's diary, which explained all the phases of
the situation. He said that Stanton and Holt also knew
that young Surratt had nothing to do with the assas
sination. "Mr. Brophy quoted from a conversation which he had
had with Chief Baker, of the Government detective bureau,
in which he said that Baker asserted that Stanton and Holt
were both so bigoted by nature that they stood ready to
convict any Catholic on whom suspicion might for any
cause fall.
"The speaker told of his effort to save Mrs. Surratt
through his own affidavit, and after his being put out of
the White House by soldiers by order of United States
Senators Preston King, of Albany, and Lane, of Kansas.
He said that Mrs. Surratt's father confessor, who called at
the White House after that, with the doomed woman's
daughter, Anna, were also driven away by the soldiers.
Then Mrs. Stephen A. Douglas, he said, tried, and
although she pushed past the soldiers and saw the Presi
dent, accompUshed nothing." (Washington Post, Janu
ary 7, 1908.)

APPENDIX XXXI
THE HOLT-JOHNSON CONTROVERSY
The petition to the President for clemency to Mrs.
Surratt read as follows:
"To the President: The undersigned, members of the
Military Commission appointed to try the persons charged
with the murder of Abraham Lincoln, etc., respectfully
represent that the commission have been constrained to
find Mary E. Surratt guilty, upon the testimony, of the
assassination of Abraham Lincoln, late President of the
United States, and to pronounce upon her, as required by
law, the sentence of death; but In consideration of her age
and sex, the undersigned pray your Excellency, If It Is
consistent with your sense of duty, to commute her sen
tence to Imprisonment for life in the penitentiary."
On February llth, when the Holt- Johnson controversy
was raging at Its bitterest. Judge Holt wrote to Hon. John
A. Bingham, one of his special Assistant-Judge-Advocates
during the Conspiracy Trial, saying that he had personally
presented the record of the trial and the findings of the
Commission to the President, and called his attention to the
recommendation for clemency, "and he read It in my
presence." ("The Assassination of Lincoln," by T. M.
327

328 THE DEATH OF LINCOLN
Harris, p. 408.) As this left only Holt's word against
Johnson's, Holt was anxious to get the statement of some
one else who knew that Johnson had seen and refused the
plea. Judge Bingham replied that he had called the
attention of Stanton to the recommendation for mercy,
and that after Johnson denied having seen it, he (Bingham)
called at Holt's office and asked for the papers in the case,
finding the petition of the five commissioners attached.
He also asked Secretaries Stanton and Seward if this
petition had been presented to the President, and they said
it had been duly considered by him and his advisers before
the death-sentence of Mrs. Surratt was approved.
Stanton refused, however, to let Bingham make this state
ment public. Attorney-General Speed wrote to Judge
Holt in March, 1873, that he had seen the record of the
Conspiracy Trial in the President's office, and the petition
of the five commissioners was attached to it. But Mr.
Speed would not say if the matter was discussed in Cabinet
meeting. Hon. James Harlan remembered hearing the
plea for clemency discussed by members of the Cabinet
in the presence of President Johnson, not In regular meet
ing, but when there were "not more than three or four
members present — Mr. Seward, Mr. Stanton, and myself,
and probably Attorney-General Speed and others — but I
distinctly remember only the first two." He said he

THE DEATH OF LINCOLN 329
heard "one of these eminent statesmen" urge upon the
President that clemency in this case "would amount to an
invitation to assassins hereafter to employ women as their
instruments." (Harris, p. 409.)
General Mussey, Johnson's private secretary, remem
bered that on Wednesday morning, July 5th, the President
told him he "was going to look over the findings of the
court with Judge Holt, and should be busy and could see
no one." When, two or three hours later, Johnson told
his secretary he had approved the sentences and ordered
the execution for Friday, General Mussey asked him If that
was n't a very short time to give the condemned for prep
aration. "He admitted that it was, but said that they
had had ever since the trial began for 'preparation'; and
either then or later on in the day spoke of his design In mak
ing the time short, so that there might be less opportimity
for criticism, remonstrance, etc." General Mussey was
sure (August 19, 1873 — Harris, p. 410) that Johnson
told him of the recommendation for mercy, but said that
sex was no proper, plea and "there had not been women
enough hanged in this war." General Henry L. Burnett,
with John A. Bingham, Assistant-Judge-Advocate for the
trial, attached the recommendation for mercy to the trial
records and the findings of the court, and himself carried
them to Judge Holt. On the fifth of July he happened to

330 THE DEATH OF LINCOLN
be in Stanton's office when Judge Holt came in, and
remarked that he was just come from going over the find
ings with the President. "What did he say about the
recommendation to mercy of Mrs. Surratt?" Stanton
asked, and Judge Holt repeated as the President's opinion
what James Harlan heard "one of the eminent statesmen"
of the Cabinet urge on him.
General Henry L. Burnett, at a meeting of the New York
State Commandery of the Loyal Legion, April 3, 1889,
delivered a lengthy address in Judge Holt's behalf from
which all the above excerpts have been taken. In the
Century Magazine for April, 1890, the Hon. Horatio King
went over much the same ground, pleading Holt's inno
cence of Johnson's charges. In this article he quotes
General Mussey as saying of Judge Holt's call at the White
House on the morning of the execution, when Miss Surratt
was there pleading to see the President, who had just over
ruled the habeas corpus plea: "I shall never lose the
impression made upon me of your (General Holt's) deep
pity for her (Miss Surratt) and of the pain which her
distress caused you." The North American Review for
July, 1888, also contains a statement of Holt's case pre
sented in his own pleading with Mr. Speed to speak the
word that would shatter Johnson's accusation. Stanton
and Seward were then voiceless in the grave; only Speed

THE DEATH OF LINCOLN 331
could lift the cloud from Holt's name. But though he
replied most affectionately to Holt's pleadings, he would
not give the lie to Johnson. Stanton said Holt must
"rely upon the final judgment of the people," and by this
final judgment. It Is safe to say. Holt Is vindicated of the
charge of keeping back the plea for mercy. He still
stands, however, accused of the crime of coaching per
jurers to swear to the complicity of Jefferson Davis and the
Southern leaders.

APPENDIX XXXII
J0HNS6n'S order for execution OF PAYNE, ATZERODT,
HEROLD, AND MRS. SURRATT
The sentences of the eight prisoners were submitted to
the President on July 6t.h, by him approved, and that same
day an order was Issued from the Adjutant-General's
office to General Hancock, commanding him to "cause the
foregoing sentences in the cases of David E. Herold,
G. A. Atzerodt, Lewis Payne, and Mary E. Surratt, to be
duly executed, in accordance with the President's order."
(C. T. p. 429.) The President's order was as follows:
Executive Mansion, July 5, 1865.
The foregoing sentences In the cases of David E. Herold,
G. A. Atzerodt, Lewis Payne, Michael O'LaughUn,
Edward Spangler, Samuel Arnold, Mary E. Surratt, and
Samuel A. Mudd, are hereby approved, and It Is ordered
that the sentences of said David E. Herold, G. A. Atzerodt,
Lewis Payne, and Mary E. Surratt be carried Into execu
tion by the proper military authority, under the direction of
the Secretary of War, on the seventh day of July, 1865,
between the hours of ten o'clock A. m. and two o'clock p. m.
of that day.
(C. T. p. 249.) Andrew Johnson, President.

332

APPENDIX XXXIII
Johnson's remark about "the nest that hatched
the egg"
Johnson's oft-quoted remark about Mrs. Surratt, given
as his excuse for refusing to commute her sentence " She
kept the nest that hatched the egg," was made on the eve
ning of July 7, 1865, to Dr. Butler, who was at the White
House by appointment with some Tennessee ladies who
were old friends of the Johnsons. There is a story to the
effect that Johnson put himself, after signing the death-
warrant, beyond all appeals for mercy by becoming
insensibly drunk. Dr. Butler says that if he was
drunk between Wednesday afternoon and Friday even
ing, he was certainly sober at the latter time. Know
ing Dr. Butler to have been on the scaffold with Atzerodt,
President Johnson asked him some questions about the
hanging, and speaking of Mrs. Surratt expressed himself
as above.
Night-clerk Burton of the National Hotel says that at
one time during the winter of '64-'65 John Booth asked
him for a room in the hotel to "hold a small meeting in,"

334 THE DEATH OF LINCOLN
and Burton told him he could have it. But Booth went
elsewhere with his meeting — to the Lichau House,
probably — and Mr. Burton was saved from hanging, he
thinks, on the same charge of "nest-keeping" that cost
Mrs. Surratt her life.

APPENDIX XXKTV
Johnson's denial of habeas corpus writ to
mrs. surratt
On Friday morning the counsel for Mary E. Surratt
petitioned the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia
for a writ of habeas corpus, urging the illegality of her
trial and sentence by a military commission and the
consequent illegality of her detention by General Hancock
for execution. At 11.30 Friday morning, while the peni
tentiary yard was full of waiting spectators. General
Hancock, accompanied by Attorney-General Speed,
appeared before Judge Wylie of the Supreme Court of the
District, and made the return plea that the body of Mary
E. Surratt was in his possession "under and by virtue of
an order" of the President, and "I do not produce said
body by reason of the order of the President." The order
was as follows: Executive Office, July, 7, 1865, 10 a.m.
To Major-General W. S. Hancock, Commander, etc. :
I, Andrew Johnson, President of the United States, do
hereby declare that the writ of habeas corpus has been
heretofore suspended in such cases as this, and I do hereby
335

336 THE DEATH OF LINCOLN
especially suspend this writ, and direct that you proceed
to execute the order heretofore given you upon the judg
ment of the Military Commission, and you will give this
order in return to the writ. Andrew Johnson, Priesident.
The Supreme Court of the District ruled that it yielded
to the suspension of the writ of habeas corpus by the Presi
dent of the United States ; and General Hancock proceeded
to the Arsenal to order the execution.

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