Anna Surratt interview

[J. Beckert]

I found several articles in the 1994 Surratt Courier relating to the Matthews letter. The first is from Mr. Mills and the last, which basically shreds what Mills had to say, is from Terry Alford. Several interesting points were made by Mr. Alford. One is that Merrick reported actually seeing Booth write a letter on the 14th. Another is that Booth was seen talking to Matthews shortly thereafter by a man named Brady in the vicinity of Grover's. In 1878, regarding the Booth letter, Matthews told a reporter from the New York Herald that "There was only one sentence that gave the slightest inkling of his intentions and that in the vaguest way". Herald also stated that "there was a letter he wrote (giving the reasons) for doing such and such things." And "I don't know to whom it was sent. He said it would be in The Intelligencer".

I think Mr. Mills clearly ignored some significant facts.