Tarbell on Otto Eisenschiml

[Rob Wick]

As promised, here's something from the Ida Tarbell collection that I found interesting, and I hope you all do as well.

On March 30, 1939, Otto Eisenschiml wrote to Tarbell.

My dear Miss Tarbell,
In the December 1938 issue of the Indiana Magazine of History is an article entitled "The Education of Linton Usher" from which I quote the following sentence:
"Whenever Linton importuned his father concerning the conspiracy that led to Lincoln's murder, Secretary Usher would reply that the ramifications were so far-reaching that it was well that investigations had gone no farther. At that point John P. Usher's lips were sealed."
I should be grateful for your interpretation of this cryptic statement if you care to give it to me, either for my own use only or with the right to quote it.
Very truly yours,
Otto Eisenschiml

On April 12, 1939, Tarbell replied with a two-page letter.

Dear Mr. Eisenschiml:
I have your letter of March 30th asking me what I make of the quotation from John F. Usher taken from "The Education of Linton Usher" in the December issue of the Indiana Magazine of History.
I confess that it does not seem cryptic when you recall the experience of Indiana through the War with the various copperhead societies so strong in the Middle West. These societies attempted, as you know, to engineer the separation of Illinois, Indiana and Ohio from the Union. They were in more or less close touch with the Confederates in Canada. You know of course their efforts to seize the government of Indiana, also set free the Confederate prisoners in their country and return them to the Southern Army. All of these things were scotched. Lincoln regarded them as foolish rather than criminal.
But they did involve many men in the State, men who when the War was over settled down to orderly living with greatly subdued spirits and probably no little alarm. How far was the investigation of the conspiracy which had resulted in Lincoln's death to be pushed? If it had been pushed out into the States where these organizations had been in sympathy with the Confederacy and from the beginning of the War had been active it would have brought in hundreds of men who were now willing to accept the outcome of the War, glad to do it to save their scalps.
Usher, I think, agreed with Lincoln in his policy of not making mountains out of what he regarded as mole hills.
There was immense political dissatisfaction, as you know, in the North with Lincoln's conduct of the War. Bitter and unwise things were written, said and done. When a catastrophe such as the Civil War and the death of Lincoln comes to a head a wise statesman does all he can to restore peace, to forget, to bear no malice. No doubt Usher was under the influence of Lincoln's memorable last words, "malice towards none, charity towards all." He did not want to see his fellow Indianians pursued and punished. He was quite right when he said the ramifications were so far-reaching that it was well that investigation had gone no farther. Personally, I agree with him, the more strongly because I believe Booth's plot was of his own making.
Very sincerely yours
Ida M. Tarbell

There was no more correspondence between the two.

Eisenschiml comes up with Tarbell again, however, after she contacted George S. Bryan in 1940 asking about Thomas Y. Mears and if Bryan knew anything about him or where she could get more information about him. In another letter to Bryan, she praised The Great American Myth, saying "I am especially gratified by the short shift you made of recent attempts to include Secretary Stanton in the group of conspirators collected by Booth. You give a deservedly severe and, I hope, final treatment to the story of Booth's escape and wanderings. You have written the most solid and straightforward account that we have and happily one unclouded by innuendo and sensation."

On December 30, 1940, Bryan wrote:

My dear Miss Tarbell:
Henry W. Mears was the head of the undertaking establishment of Henry W. Mears & Son, and the business is being carried on by the son (whose Christian name I am not able to give you) at 805 North Calvert Street, Baltimore. I suggest you write to that address. I am not personally acquainted with the Mears family connections; and Mr. Crummer, a former Baltimorean and now a neighbor of mine, could not enlighten me. A daughter of Henry W. Mears, who took all care of him in his latest years, is also living in Baltimore; and you might ask that the brother, if he cannot answer your query, turn it over to her.
Needless to say, I am highly gratified to learn of your approval of my book. I have had a very good "press" but naturally I value above else the favorable opinion of the "Old Guard" of Lincoln students and authorities. I have had kind words from Dr. Louis A. Warren (see Lincoln Lore for November 25th), Rufus Rockwell Wilson (who intends to publish next year what I suppose will be the definitive edition of Lincoln's works--letters, addresses, state papers), F. Lauriston Bullard (president of the Lincoln Club of Boston and chief editorial writer of the Boston Herald), Tyler Dennett, and many others. But may I say that commendation from the dean of Lincoln interpreters is especially valued by me. If you have the inclination and the leisure to extend the first paragraph in your letter of the 23rd, I assure you I shall be deeply appreciative.
You may be interested to know that Eisenschiml, author of "Why Was Lincoln Murdered?", did a review of my book for the Chicago Daily News in which he emptied several vials of scorn. That is the one and only notice of the sort I have had.
Your sincerely
G.S. Bryan

Tarbell replied on January 3, 1941.

I was pleased with your kind reference to my Lincoln work. As one of the old guard, about the oldest, I think, I am never very sure of my standing with the younger Lincoln students, but I am thankful for them. They are constantly unearthing things that I never found and enabling me to correct what are supposed to be facts.
I should like to see that review of Eisenschiml. I have never seen a book like his, a masterpiece of insinuation. Did you ever know of a man spending four or five hundred pages building up a case and then telling you candidly that of course he has no proof for any of these things.

On the next day, Bryan quickly wrote Tarbell a response.

Dear Miss Tarbell:
I am enclosing for you a cutting of Eisenschiml's "review" and also a carbon-copy of a letter that I wrote at my publisher's request. Will you please return the cutting when you have finished with it?

Later, he wrote No; I've never been able to understand what Eisenschiml was trying to do--unless it was that his publishers and he wished to sell a sensational book and at the same time provide a loophole by which they might escape the imputation of having slandered the dead. I suppose you have seen his "Reviewers Reviewed?" It contains the text of a paper he read at the Clements Library at Ann Arbor at the invitation of Randolph G. Adams. Between ourselves, it seems to me a completely dishonest defense--he calls it a "challenge!"

Tarbell doesn't mention Eisenschiml in her reply. Hope all finds this as interesting as I have.

Best
Rob

[RJNorton]

Rob, this isn't really a direct reply, but I will comment on the Northern opposition. Regarding the Northern opposition to Lincoln, on September 20, 1864, Thurlow Weed wrote to William Seward that opposition against Lincoln "was equally formidable and vicious, embracing a larger number of leading men than I supposed possible." At the conspiracy trial, Samuel Chester, a friend of Booth's, testified Booth told him "there were from fifty to one hundred persons engaged in the conspiracy." In his Lost Confession George Atzerodt stated, "Booth said if he did not get him quick the N. York crowd would. Booth knew the New York party apparently by a sign. He saw Booth give some kind of sign to two parties on the Avenue who he said were from New York."

In Neff's ciphers, Baker allegedly wrote, "There were at least eleven members of Congress involved in the plot, no less than twelve Army officers, three Naval officers and at least twenty-four civilians, of which one was a governor of a loyal state. Five were bankers of great repute, there were nationally known newspapermen and eleven were industrialists of great repute and wealth."

The $64,000 question: were all these Northern people REALLY involved in some sort of gigantic conspiracy to assassinate Lincoln?

My personal opinion is "no," although I do think it's true that significant Northern opposition to Lincoln was very real. Because of the assassination, I think folks sometimes tend to forget how ardent the opposition in the North was.

I agree with Laurie on the possibility of Benjamin's involvement. To me, anyway, that seems more feasible than a Northern conspiracy involving literally hundreds of people. Generally speaking I believe in the simple conspiracy theory; my second favorite theory involves Benjamin and other Confederate operatives (whom Booth is known to have met with) who may have been working with some Northerners, but not huge numbers of people. I think JWB probably did some embellishing in his talk with Chester.

[L Verge]

First, Rob - thank you for that revealing set of correspondence. It's nice to read that the old guard was saying the same things about Eisenschiml before I was even born. I still have to deal with his books on a regular basis from visitors to Surratt House. Even the chairman of the committee that saved the house from destruction in the 1960s believed the Eisenschiml thesis!

As for Booth being the linchpin behind such a huge conspiracy that spread from Richmond to the Midwest, Northeast, and Canada, I just cannot fathom anything that widespread being kept a secret. It's sort of like a committee - the larger the committee, the less it accomplishes.

[Rob Wick]

Agreed Roger and Laurie. I cannot see such a huge conspiracy in the North, although we sometimes forget just how unpopular Lincoln was, even among his own citizenry in the North. I'm not sure about Benjamin, but I must admit to not studying the question in that great a depth.

Laurie, I'm going through now what Tarbell thinks of Emanuel Hertz, but I won't post that until I get through the remainder of the letters to and from her, which should take me about a week or so (the woman wrote a lot in her life).

Thanks for the compliments.

Best
Rob

[LincolnMan]

I own a first edition copy.of "Why was Lincoln murdered?" I have never read it. I have heard that his contention is that Stanton was part of Lincoln's murder. Is that correct?

[BettyO]

(07-26-2012 01:37 PM)LincolnMan Wrote:  I own a first edition copy.of "Why was Lincoln murdered?" I have never read it. I have heard that his contention is that Stanton was part of Lincoln's murder. Is that correct?

Yes -- I have that book as well as the other "In the Shadow of Lincoln's Death"....the whole synopsis is that Stanton and perhaps others in the cabinet were in on the assassination. In 1965, Vaughn Shelton followed along the same lines with "Mask of Treason" in which he claims that Lew Paine (notice that I said "PAINE") was innocent and hanged for the deeds of his "evil cousin", Lew Powell. Yes, he surmised that they were two different people! And this he stated in a later book was all done by clairvoyance in that his wife, who was a "medium" , "channeled" the ghost of Lew Powell, who told him the truth....Boo!!

HA!

[LincolnMan]

Betty: you're too much! So is the second book "In The Shadow Of Lincoln's Death" also written by O.E.? Your reference to the Shelton book is an encouragement to start a thread on books that should not be taken seriously- or something like that. I think I will!

[Gene C]

Sometimes you have to take seriously the things you don't take seriously, because someone else takes them seriously.

and......I don't have the answer, but Betty when you mentioned Vaughn Shelton's wife it made me think of this...What do call a "medium" who is extra large?

[BettyO]

(07-26-2012 01:50 PM)LincolnMan Wrote:  Betty: you're too much! So is the second book "In The Shadow Of Lincoln's Death" also written by O.E.? Your reference to the Shelton book is an encouragement to start a thread on books that should not be taken seriously- or something like that. I think I will!

Hey, Bill!

Yes - I have both books....TRIED to read Eisenschiml YEARS ago - actually took it to the beach with me when I was about 21-22 years old as "beach reading" while I got a tan -- hey, most ladies take romance novels -- I took assassination books! HA! Anyway -- I couldn't get through it.

Shelton's second book which I also have (bought on a lark) called The View from Eternity (Ouija Board anyone?) described how Shelton's wife "channeled" Lew Powell's ghost and asked him all about the Seward attack, etc. The most amazing thing I got out of skimming through it (God forbid that I read the darn thing!) was that he describes Lew Powell's one-eyed horse as a "gelding" (castrated male horse) when he ties him out in front of Seward's house, but when Lew jumps onto the saddle to flee after the attack, his one-eyed nag has mysteriously somehow turned into a "stallion" (full, uncut male!) Just how this veterinary medical miracle occurs is beyond me and must also be part of the psychic phenomenon which was utilized to "materialize" Lew Powell to begin with! HA!

There are a LOT of "bad" books -

---

(07-26-2012 01:54 PM)Gene C Wrote:  Sometimes you have to take seriously the things you don't take seriously, because someone else takes them seriously.

and......I don't have the answer, but Betty when you mentioned Vaughn Shelton's wife it made me think of this...What do call a "medium" who is extra large?

An Extra Medium?!? Enough Said!!!

[LincolnMan]

I have just posted a thread on "books to avoid or take seriously." Gene. Yes, that is so true-and scary. Imagine an "unlearned" person reading O.E.'s book and taking it as gospel!

[RJNorton]

Thanks to Bob Cook for sending this link to an address delivered by Otto Eisenschiml at Lincoln Memorial University (Harrogate, TN) on February 12, 1937. It's titled "The Drama of Lincoln's Assassination."

After reading this address, Laurie's comment was, "Eisenschiml should have stuck with this version."

Click here.

[Rsmyth]

Rob, why was Tarbell asking about T. Mears?

[Rob Wick]

(11-02-2012 02:54 PM)Rsmyth Wrote:  Rob, why was Tarbell asking about T. Mears?

She was working on an article about Booth and the Dramatic Oil Company.

Best
Rob

[Jim Garrett]

I know an extremely knowledgeable, and exceptionally vetted Lincoln expert, who will swear that Stanton was behind it. When I first met this very learned and esteemed individual, the Stanton theory was one of the first things he brought up. I honestly thought he was testing me! He also swears that the 18 missing pages can be found in the Stanton papers at LOC. I've tried to bait Dave Taylor into searching there for them......

[RJNorton]

Hi Jim. I am not a believer in the Stanton theory, but I own a book called "It Didn't Happen the Way You Think" by Robert Lockwood Mills. Although I personally do not accept Mills' overall thesis, he does conjure up a huge number of questions, some of which are intriguing. The book makes one realize how many things we still don't know for absolute certainty about the events of April 14, 1865.