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STS Lincolnite · 09-20-2014, 10:57 PM

(09-20-2014 04:29 PM)wsanto Wrote:
(09-20-2014 03:30 PM)L Verge Wrote: James O. Hall used to share an opinion that Weichmann did report his suspicions to his co-worker Gleason around the time of the kidnap plot -- something strange was going on in the boardinghouse where he resided. Mr. Hall suspected that Gleason did report this to his superiors. Since the Surratt family had been identified as secessionists from the very beginning of the conflict, Mr. Hall surmised that the superiors decided to sit back and watch the comings and goings at the H Street home. To rush in and investigate would only cause the underground activities to move somewhere else.

My point in saying this is that there were likely undercover Union agents who could have tipped the detectives off to taking a look at the Surratt boardinghouse. After Powell's one-eyed horse was brought in, I think the saddle and bridle were identified as having something to do with Atzerodt, and the livery stable people knew who Atzerodt hung around with (and I did not mean that as a pun!). Betty can probably elaborate on that.
That is another possible angle--Identifying Surratt as a Booth associate via the investigastion into Powell's horse leading to Azterodt and then to Booth and to Surratt. Of course it would involve some pretty hasty policework to secure the horse, trace it to it's stable, identify the owner and users, then link them to Booth and Surratt, then be at Surratt's boarding house within four hours.

The case for Mathews is pretty good (except for his reluctance at being involved)

--He was a friend and associate of Booth's and most likely knew with whom Booth associated including Surratt. He may also have known that Booth frequented the Surratt's boarding house socially with Surratt and his other associates (conspirators).
--He was given a letter by Booth early afternoon on that fateful day. A letter that identidied Booth's motives and the primary conspirators (albeit not Surratt)
--He was at Ford's, possibly a minor character in the show, when the shot was fired. He knew almost immediately that Booth was the assassin.
--He claims he fled the theatre into the streets with the chaos of the audience and "within minutes after the shot" was at his room, found the letter Booth had given him, read it, memorized it, then burnt it. (some have speculated that this was at the Peterson's boarding house where he was known to stay at times but may have been in one of the adjacent houses)
--It's fair to speculate he returned to the chaos in the street to get lost in the crowd where he may have come across McDevitt, pulled him aside and gave him the tip.
--McDevitt later claims the tipster was "a familiar face" and possibly "an actor" and, in his recollection, confuses Mathews with fellow actor McCollough.

There's a lot of speculation involved to believe this but I guess that is all we have.

To Laurie’s statement about the Surratt house being under surveillance and one of those agents being the tipster – An interesting prospect - I have never heard of this before but it does make some sense to me. I would think that after knowing that the president was shot they would want to make sure to get after the suspects at the Surratt House quickly. But, I don’t think they would go in themselves. Why? They would be accused of knowing something was up, delaying doing anything and then getting the president killed by their inaction. What do they do? They give an anonymous tip to some other law enforcement agency and let them go get the bad guys. The bad guys get caught (hopefully), and they protect their own rear ends. There is some plausibility there.

As for Mathews. Bill, I just can’t get behind him as the tipster (and believe me, there is a part of me that would like him to be). You say the case for Mathews is pretty good. To me, the items you list in your post to support Mathews as the tipster, make the exact opposite case. I guess I look at them in a different way.

1) As you say, he was a friend of Booth and knew who he associated with (because in some circles he had the same associates). It is also true that he was given a letter by Booth earlier in the day which he burned. (BTW, though it has been reported he was staying at the Peterson House that night he was not. I believe the register exists and he was not there that night {I checked that out one time with a Ford’s Historian}. He did stay there previously and in fact boarded in the same room that Lincoln ended up dying in – Booth was his visitor there and lay on the same bed that Lincoln died in {Weichmann, p. 115} – how’s that for a historical twist?) So why then would he tip off the police about Mrs. Surratt's house? I don’t think he would direct the police to a place that when investigated would likely further implicate his friend especially if he would potentially put himself in hot water due to his association with Booth.

2) He was in the play that night as the lawyer Coyle. At the time of the assassination, he was waiting behind the scenery to go on stage {Bogar, p.1.} . He probably did hear immediately that Booth was the assassin even if he could not see him from his place behind the scenery. I’m not sure this is really an important point though as lots of people became immediately aware that Booth was the assassin and word spread quickly. And besides, the tipster never mentioned Booth. All he said was to go to Mrs. Surratt's house if you want to find out about this business.

3) I can think of no reason why he would return to the chaos of the street after the assassination. Especially near Ford’s theatre where the crime was committed. I think a man in fear for his own safety (all of the cast and crew that evening did and especially those that were friends with Booth) would more likely go to his room, stay there, lock the door and hope no one knocked. The other extreme would be that he would get out of town fast – but that would not have looked good and might have gotten him in more hot water. As Tom said, Mathews kept very quiet and kept his head down – so much so that he was not even arrested and did not testify at the trial (a missed opportunity along with Forbes and others). His typical behavior of laying low and staying quiet doesn’t square with McDevitt saying the tipster stopped him and called him by name. I don’t think Mathews would have sought out someone to give a tip to.

4) McDevitt could have confused McCullogh with Mathews…or any other male actor of about the same age and build that had performed at Ford’s at anytime during the previous fall, spring or any other time for that matter. And only then if his face was familiar because McDevitt had seen him on stage (which he wasn’t even sure of).That doesn’t narrow the pool much.

You are right, at this point all we have is speculation as to who the tipster may have been and we will likely never know the truth with any certainty. But based on Mathews’ tendency to keep quiet and protect himself – even for many years after the fact - I just don’t think he would initiate contact with McDevitt to give him a tip.

At the end of it all, I ask myself what motivation would Mathews have to give the tip? None that I can see. In fact by giving a tip, he would chance being more thoroughly questioned and detained. If he had been, he may have put himself squarely in the crosshairs as a co-conspirator. I don’t think anyone who was a friendly associate of Booth in any capacity would’ve taken that chance on that evening. I think Mathews knew a lot more than he ever said and took a lot of secrets to his grave. Is it possible he was the tipster? Yes. Is it probable? No, I don't think so.