Frederick Demond

[RJNorton]

There are 23 A.C. Richards letters in Weichmann's book.

Pam, I really love Weichmann's book. Like I said in another thread I do believe it is an invaluable resource. For example, I think it's the only book I own that contains the entire text of George Atzerodt's July 6, 1865, statement (written in his cell the night before he was hanged).

[Pamela]

Roger, if not for the Hanson Hiss interview, Weichmann might never have corresponded with A.C. Richards. I wonder what happened to the letters Weichmann wrote to him? Since an editor contacted Weichmann for his response, the Post must have had confidence in the legitimacy of the interview, and Weichmann was very familiar with Surratt's style of communication, and didn't accuse Hiss of faking the story, as far as I know. It's interesting that Richards only suspected Hiss of being fake, initially.

[Gene C]

Roger, if not for the Hanson Hiss interview, Weichmann might never have corresponded with A.C. Richards. I wonder what happened to the letters Weichmann wrote to him?

Every now and then one pops up on ebay for a hefty price
They want $500 for this letter to Weichmann and it's not even from A C Richards, but a typed response to Weichmann on how to contact Richards
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Abe-Lincoln-Assa...365wt_1124

[L Verge]

Gary Planck wrote a small book on A.C. Richards about thirty years ago. I can't remember if the Weichmann topic was included, but will try to check our copy in the library here at Surratt House.

[Pamela]

Gary Planck wrote a small book on A.C. Richards about thirty years ago. I can't remember if the Weichmann topic was included, but will try to check our copy in the library here at Surratt House.

Thanks, I bet there aren't many copies of his book. Maybe Risvold got his info about Richards from Planck's book. He added a nice little bio about Richards in the chapter with the letters. He had an interesting career. He was a teacher, then founded a school and was it's principal. When the war started he accepted a position as a financial clerk in the Washington post office, then was elected a city alderman. At Lincoln's first inauguration, Richards volunteered as a deputy Marshall and rode at the right wheel of Lincoln's carriage in the parade. Lincoln remembered him and appointed him as Superintendent of the Metropolitan Police, the position he held at the time of the assassination. Years later he was appointed to the Board of Trustees of the public schools, and years after that he graduated from law school and practiced law. His last career was owner/operator of Lochmead Orange Groves in Florida.

There are many interesting details in his letters, including his visit to Mary Surratt's house before the visit when Weichmann answered the door. He said that Mary answered the door to her darkened house, fully dressed as if she was waiting for someone, and he informed her of the assassination and that Booth and her son were suspected.

[John Fazio]

Dave, Laurie, Gene, Roger, Pamela, Roseo, et al. (If I have left anyone out, it is not intentional):

I am happy to inform everyone that I have received a response to my inquiry re Henry Lipman's membership in the Papal Zouaves. This came not from Rome, where the Archives are closed for the entire month of August, but from Holland. Here is the response, word for word:

Dear sir:
Lipman, H.G.J. (Heno Gerhardus Josephus) was a Papal Zouave from 1866-02-10 until 1869-05-05.
I will send his data from the book of Morel in a separate mail.
Surratt serves from 1865-12-09 until 1866-11-08, so its possible that both man (sic) met each other in Rome.
My regards,
Marijke Zonneveld-Kouters
nederlands zouavenmuseum oudenbosch.

As I said in an earlier post, establishing Lipman's service as a Zouave at the relevant time, as this communication does, does not render his account of Surratt's escape absolutely true, but I believe we will all agree that it is probative of its truth, because the alternative is to suppose that he made the whole thing up out of whole cloth at a time when there were still plenty of Zouaves who had served together with both men to expose his mendacity, to his ruin. One could, of course, argue that Surratt took the same risk with his account, true, but with this difference: someone DID contradict Surratt's account (Lipman), whereas there is no record of anyone having contradicted Lipman's account.

I am not done with this issue, because there is still a discrepancy in the record that I wish to clarify. I do not anticipate that any of the foregoing will change, but I do not wish to leave a stone unturned.

John

[L Verge]

Thanks for the extra effort, John.

[John Fazio]

Thanks for the extra effort, John.

Laurie:

You are quite welcome. I will keep everyone advised of the business about the discrpancy as soon as I have it resolved.

John

[Jim Garrett]

Great detective work John.

[Pamela]

I agree with Jim! It's fascinating to see new documentation unearthed in the whole assassination saga. I was finally able to read the Lipman account and Surratt's interview with the writer from the NY Post. What a difference a couple of years made when it came to Surratt's jail experience compared to the other conspirators. It's interesting that John was "amused" by the accounts and documents of his escape. I would have considered the leap and bullets whizzing around him to be a painful memory. He minimized the leap and at the same time emphasized other more dangerous episodes of his escape. The writer described John as "boastful" which is inconsistent with his version of the leap.

[L Verge]

I agree with Jim! It's fascinating to see new documentation unearthed in the whole assassination saga. I was finally able to read the Lipman account and Surratt's interview with the writer from the NY Post. What a difference a couple of years made when it came to Surratt's jail experience compared to the other conspirators. It's interesting that John was "amused" by the accounts and documents of his escape. I would have considered the leap and bullets whizzing around him to be a painful memory. He minimized the leap and at the same time emphasized other more dangerous episodes of his escape. The writer described John as "boastful" which is inconsistent with his version of the leap.

Agreed, and this is another example of being wary about interviews, articles, etc. done years after the event(s) and also the need to take into consideration the slant that authors/reporters tend to put in their writings in order to embellish things a bit.

[John Fazio]

Great detective work John.

Jim:

Thank you.

John

---

Everyone:

About that discrepancy: The document the nice ldy from The Netherlands sent me "from the book of Morel" listed, at entry No. 2209, one "Lippmann, Zenon". Because this is somewhat inconsistent with the name given in her email message, namely "Heno Gerhardus Josephus", I asked her for clarification. Here is heer response:

Dear sir:
I can assure you that it's the same person.
The Name Heno is not very well known, in Holland and also in Belgium.
I send you a fotocopy of the Belgian form, so you can see it by yourself.
And a dutch speaking person gives his name to a French speaking person, and there are a lot of mistakes in the way of writing a name!
My regards,
Marijke Zonneveld-Kouters

The form she attached is headed:

Division Militaire PLACE de

Depot de Bataillon des Zouaves

Feuille d'enrolment

de pour deux ans.

It then goes on to give the name of the subject, in script, as what appears to be Heno Gerard Joseph Lipman, the names of his father and mother and his birthdate of October 8, 1845, together with a statement that he was from Deventer, Holland. There is a lot of other verbiage, but it is irrelevant boiler plate.

I am satisfied that she has shown that Henry Lipman served in the
Papal Zouaves at the same time Surratt did, i.e. that their periods of service overlapped. I will leave it to you to draw whatever conclusions you care to, as to the veracity of the escape accounts, from that fact.

John

[L Verge]

Again, good work. However, the Papal Zouaves were stationed at quite a few outposts of the Vatican. Is there any way of finding out if Lipman served in the unit at Veroli at the same time that Surratt was brought there under guard? To me, that would be the key that unlocks the link that would further serve to verify Lipman's account. I'm getting rusty (and my books are at work), but Surratt was stationed in Velletri at the time of his arrest, wasn't he?

[Pamela]

Laurie, I agree, but a similar caution should be applied to eyewitnesses, people in authority, etc.

On his site (which is an incredible resource!), Dave stated that a supporting circumstance for the John Surratt leap story is the statement he made to Naples police before any publication of his escape story. Dave said that Surratt's "confession" paralleled the unpublished reports of his escape. But this is from the police report, "...he had been put in prison for insubordination, from which he escaped, jumping from a window or high wall."

That's a major difference from the precipice jump story since no window or high wall was involved. But, there was a window and high wall described by Lipman, "...while the entry to the dungeon staircase is on the crest of the hill, the dungeon window is almost at it's base, thirty feet below....".

Dave also cites the fact that Surratt was in a hospital where he was treated for back and arm injuries, as proof of his leap from the cliff. But in the NY Times interview, in which John minimalized his leap, he emphasized the other part of his escape as being more dangerous, including the necessity of sliding on his back down "a steep and rocky declivity, full a hundred feet in height." That would generate back and arm injuries. There is no mention of his being treated for a head injury, although in the Hanson Hiss interview he said he was knocked unconscious when he landed on the ledge.

I checked the HH interview in which Surratt increased his leap to 35 ft. He also said he jumped over a 4 ft wall rather than the ballustrade mentioned by the Zouave officers. Surratt said so many strange things in that interview. It's like he meshed the story he told to the Naples police with the official reports. The "high wall" shrunk to 4ft in an attempt to get closer to the ballustrade mentioned in the reports.

[John Fazio]

Again, good work. However, the Papal Zouaves were stationed at quite a few outposts of the Vatican. Is there any way of finding out if Lipman served in the unit at Veroli at the same time that Surratt was brought there under guard? To me, that would be the key that unlocks the link that would further serve to verify Lipman's account. I'm getting rusty (and my books are at work), but Surratt was stationed in Velletri at the time of his arrest, wasn't he?

Laurie:

I still have to hear from the professor in Italy as soon as the Archives re-open in September. I may be able to get something on this. I'll keep you and everyone else advised.

John