doctors at lincoln's bedside

[loetar44]

(09-09-2014 08:11 AM)L Verge Wrote:  http://www.carboncountymagazine.com/Carb...lbert.html

That article is very contrived, IMO. I worried about it from the first when I read that Mr. Lincoln sat between the two ladies; and when the play was credited to a Frenchman, I really gulped. Poor Tom Taylor would be very disappointed.

I agree.

The whole article is full of “free interpretations”, written by someone who was not good informed about the assassination history we all know: no mention of Dr. Leale, Dr. Charles Gatch held AL’s head, John Wilkes Booth reached Bowling Green , Mary threw herself across President Lincoln at the moment he died, etc., etc. No, Joan Gilbert “did not her homework”, as we say in Holland when somebody write about a subject and is ill prepared. But that was not why I recommended this article.

Joan Gilbert copied from the "Mauch Chunk Democrat" an article written in 1907 in which was said that Capt. Oliver Gatch saw the assassin jump from the state box after the fatal shot, that he and his brother Dr. Gatch were in the box and helped carry Lincoln to the Petersen house. That combined with what Roger wrote about the 1909 account of Oliver Gatch proves one important thing: Oliver Gatch told different stories! Some examples:

1907: the president's guard came over, whispered that the president had been shot and asked Oliver Gatch to accompany him …. and after arriving in the box: Major Rathbone, asked Oliver Gatch if he knew of a nearby surgeon, whereupon Oliver volunteered his brother's services.
1909: In less than a minute after the shot calls came for a surgeon. Oliver answered that his brother was a surgeon, and a man literally dragged Oliver and Dr. Charles into the box

1907: When Dr. Charles Gatch saw Lincoln's injuries, he knew they were fatal. He did nothing, but suggested to Major Rathbone that the president be moved from the theater.
1909: Dr. Charles Gatch gave Lincoln the first medical treatment and together with Oliver he laid the President on the floor and held a handkerchief over the wound….. then he suggested to move Lincoln from the theater.

1907: Just as Oliver and Dr. Charles, Rathbone and a guard were about to carry Lincoln down the stairs, Dr. Charles Taft entered the box.
1909: Oliver Gatch and Dr. Charles Gatch with the aid of a couple of others, raised the President from the floor and carried him through the passage-way, down the stairs, and out of the theater. Dr. Taft is not mentioned ….

Conclusion: the story changes. This means in the first place that Oliver is making themselves important, or put in simple words: he is lying. Regardless of the type of inconsistency, changing a story (even a bit) is always a sign that shows that a person is not telling the truth, certainly as something completely new is added, or something is removed what previously was mentioned, or if the sequence of actions changes. That’s why I found this eyewitness account” from Oliver Gatch important, because it proves (IMO beyond any doubt) the Gatch brothers were there, but only as bystanders and thus (I said it before) in a minor role. The Gatch story as told by Oliver is at least greatly exaggerated.