Lincoln Discussion Symposium
Edward Curtis letter re: autopsy - Printable Version

+- Lincoln Discussion Symposium (https://rogerjnorton.com/LincolnDiscussionSymposium)
+-- Forum: Lincoln Discussion Symposium (/forum-1.html)
+--- Forum: Assassination (/forum-5.html)
+--- Thread: Edward Curtis letter re: autopsy (/thread-3128.html)

Edward Curtis letter re: autopsy - Marty L. - 09-06-2016 08:18 AM

I am an academic working on an article about the constitutionality of the assassins' military commission. I have a discrete question that perhaps someone here can answer: I've read--and would like to quote--the famous excerpt from Edward Curtis's remarkable letter to his mother regarding the Lincoln autopsy, but I can't seem to find any citation to it, or information about where it can be found.

Thanks in advance for any information.

RE: Edward Curtis letter re: autopsy - RJNorton - 09-06-2016 08:30 AM

Welcome to the forum, Marty! I do not think I can help on this. Offhand, I can think of two books I have that contain text from this letter: Kennedy and Lincoln: Medical and Ballistic Comparisons of Their Assassinations by Dr. John K. Lattimer and Twenty Days by Dorothy Meserve Kunhardt and Philip B. Kunhardt, Jr. However, neither book has footnotes. Thus, I do not know where the letter is today.

Many thanks to Steve for sending this image of the newspaper that contains the Curtis' letter:

[Image: curtisletter1.jpg]

RE: Edward Curtis letter re: autopsy - Eva Elisabeth - 09-06-2016 09:13 AM

Welcome to the forum! Have you tried to contact and inquired at these institutions?
https://www.nlm.nih.gov/visibleproofs/galleries/cases/lincoln.html
http://www.medicalmuseum.mil/index.cfm?p=exhibits.current.collection_that_teaches.lincoln.page_04
(That's what I'd try...)

RE: Edward Curtis letter autopsy - STS Lincolnite - 01-04-2023 01:35 PM

(09-06-2016 08:30 AM)RJNorton Wrote:  Welcome to the forum, Marty! I do not think I can help on this. Offhand, I can think of two books I have that contain text from this letter: Kennedy and Lincoln: Medical and Ballistic Comparisons of Their Assassinations by Dr. John K. Lattimer and Twenty Days by Dorothy Meserve Kunhardt and Philip B. Kunhardt, Jr. However, neither book has footnotes. Thus, I do not know where the letter is today.

Many thanks to Steve for sending this image of the newspaper that contains the Curtis' letter:

[Image: curtisletter1.jpg]

Roger,

Did you or Steve record what newspaper and date this was from? I don't see it on the image itself. Thanks!

RE: Edward Curtis letter re: autopsy - Linda Anderson - 01-04-2023 04:43 PM

I googled "post mortem in the case of president lincoln" and found the source in a Columbia Law Review article titled "The Law(?) of the Lincoln Assassination" by Martin S. Lederman.

Letter from Edward Curtis to His Mother (Apr. 22, 1865), in Edward Curtis, The Post-Mortem in the Case of President Lincoln, Louisville Courier-J., Apr. 19, 1903, ยง 5, at 4.

https://columbialawreview.org/content/the-law-of-the-lincoln-assassination/

RE: Edward Curtis letter re: autopsy - RJNorton - 01-04-2023 05:31 PM

Thank you, Linda. Scott, I looked back at the file attachment in Steve's email, and his source was the same newspaper/date as Linda cited.

RE: Edward Curtis letter autopsy - Linda Anderson - 01-04-2023 06:05 PM

(01-04-2023 05:31 PM)RJNorton Wrote:  Thank you, Linda. Scott, I looked back at the file attachment in Steve's email, and his source was the same newspaper/date as Linda cited.

You're welcome, Roger. It's a great article. Of interest to me is that Curtis actually saw Powell escaping followed by "a runner afoot [who] followed at a short distance behind, but soon stopped, turned and disappeared whence he came" who had to be Seward's servant, William H. Bell.

RE: Edward Curtis letter autopsy - STS Lincolnite - 01-05-2023 09:48 AM

(01-04-2023 06:05 PM)Linda Anderson Wrote:  
(01-04-2023 05:31 PM)RJNorton Wrote:  Thank you, Linda. Scott, I looked back at the file attachment in Steve's email, and his source was the same newspaper/date as Linda cited.

You're welcome, Roger. It's a great article. Of interest to me is that Curtis actually saw Powell escaping followed by "a runner afoot [who] followed at a short distance behind, but soon stopped, turned and disappeared whence he came" who had to be Seward's servant, William H. Bell.

Thanks so much to you both! Linda, I thought the same thing about that part about someone following Powell on foot. That was something I did not expect to find in this article.

I am trying to re-read all of the Lincoln autopsy related threads. Through the grapevine, I had someone ask me what happened to Lincoln's brain after the autopsy. Was it replaced in his skull? Was it placed in his thoracic cavity with other organs? Was the brain along with other organs discarded? I feel like we once discussed that here so I am searching for it. I feel sad that our friend Blaine Houmes is no longer with us as I feel he would have been almost sure to have known the answer to those questions.

RE: Edward Curtis letter re: autopsy - RJNorton - 01-05-2023 05:52 PM

Scott, I am not sure if it's a complete answer, but the late Dr. Houmes did comment on this topic here.

RE: Edward Curtis letter autopsy - STS Lincolnite - 01-25-2023 02:11 PM

(01-05-2023 05:52 PM)RJNorton Wrote:  Scott, I am not sure if it's a complete answer, but the late Dr. Houmes did comment on this topic here.

Thanks Roger! I did come across that as I was doing my thread re-readthrough. That is a really interesting thread. Glad I took the time to go back through it!