Inside the Theatre

[Jim Garrett]

In William Ferguson's account, he says that it was less than a minute from the time he heard the pistol shot until JWB was out the back door. There are probably different reason for different people why there was a delay in reaction. For most of the actors and staff of the theatre, they were confused. Thomas Raybold, Joseph Sessford's reactions were of misunderstanding or dis-belief. "Is John Booth mad?" I think Withers didn't have any idea what was going on. The immediate reaction among people who knew JWB was that he couldn't have done it. No one (except immediate family and co-conspirators really saw the deep political convictions and hatred from Booth. The shock wasn't necessarily that Lincoln was assassinated, it was that Wilkes Booth had done it. Up until April 14th, everybody (with the exception of a few jilted lovers) loved Wilkes Booth.