Thomas F. Harney

[John Fazio]

(11-19-2014 01:03 PM)L Verge Wrote:  I doubt that the O'Laughlen puzzle will ever be solved, but as I understand it, O'Laughlen came to D.C. on the 13th with three Baltimore friends - Early, Henderson, and one whose name I can't remember. If his purpose was to meet Booth, get final orders, and carry out a strike on Stanton or Grant on the 14th, why bring potential witnesses with him?

The other thing that throws me is the description given by someone who claims to have seen him at the Stanton residence (maybe the Union officer?). The man was described as being tall, dressed in black, and wearing a top hat. Again, that just doesn't sound like O'Laughlen.

Laurie:

The third friend was Edward Murphy. I submit that it is not reasonable to come to any conclusion, as to why O'Laughlen came to Washington on the 13th, other than its being incident to Booth's order. We know that Booth went to Baltimore in the morning of the 13th to get O'Laughlen back in the game and that O'Laughlen left Baltimore for Washington on the 3:30 pm train, arriving at 5:30 with his three friends. IMO bringing three friends with him might well have been for the express purpose of establishing his bona fides for being in Washington and, if need be, to provide an alibi. They were, after all, all Unionists. The stew is simply too thick to conclude that his summoning, his meeting with Booth at the National shortly after his arrival, the triple identification at Stanton's home and his meeting with Booth at the National the following morning, were not related to the assassination.

As for the description of the intruder not conforming to O'Laughlen's dimensions, there are possibilities: he was in disguise, or, more likely, it was a surrogate.

As for your upcoming book on riddles, I hope you have Surratt's whereabouts on 4-14 in there. You probably won't have much to write about, because my book clears up all the mysteries, enigmas and conundrums. (Just kidding, of course, but I do believe it offers plausible explanations for some of them.)

John




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Several of us are collaborating with editors Frank Williams and Mike Burkhimer on a book due out in late-2015 or early-2016 tentatively entitled The Lincoln Assassination Riddle. O'Laughlen is not going to be a major player in the book, but his role or non-role in the final plot could sure be listed as one of the riddles, imo.

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