Musical chairs in the State Box?

[loetar44]

Were there any people occupying the box below the Lincolns on that night? Wasn't there a place there for watching a play?

“Killing Lincoln: The Shocking Assassination that Changed America Forever” by Bill O’Reilly and Martin Dugard says on page 160: “Out of respect for the office, none of the other boxes are for sale when the Lincolns occupy the state box”.

When Judge Advocate Bingham cross-examined H. Clay Ford at the conspiracy trial on May 31, Ford declared: “None of the other boxes were occupied on the night of the President’s assassination, and I do not remember any box being taken on that night.”