Why was Booth admitted into the presidential box?

[John Fazio]

(04-26-2015 08:07 AM)loetar44 Wrote:  

(04-26-2015 12:54 AM)John Fazio Wrote:  "...Forbes was never mentioned before...the 1980s..." But I have already shown that he was mentioned, expressly, by name, by Hanscom in his newspaper on June 8, 1865, and impliedly, as the President's "messenger", "usher", "servant", "servant at the door" or "sentinel", by McGowan, Dr. Leale, Dr. Todd, Koontz, Harper's Magazine, Booth himself (through Herold), Gath, Stoddard and Nicolay, all between 1865 and 1902.

Right, Hanscom mentioned Forbes by name (“upon reaching the door we found no other person belonging to the President’s household than Mr. Charles Forbes”), but that was 20 minutes before the assassination and it says nothing where Forbes was at the time of Booth’s entrance into the theater.

McGowan declared that Booth indicated (in an unspoken request) to him his desire to pass and that, while passing, he was blocking his view of the play, but he said nothing about Forbes.

Dr. Leale spoke about a disturbance at the door of the President’s box and that he saw a man endeavoring to persuade the reluctant usher to admit him; but nothing about Forbes.

Dr. Todd “observed” a man walking along side the Presidential box and declared that this man removed an object, possibly a pack of calling cards, from his coat and offered a card to the man who was seated outside the box; he identified the recipient of the card as an “usher” , not as Forbes.

Koontz wrote that Booth went through the door of the box and told the man who was Lincolns servant at the door, that Lincoln had sent for him. He was about 15 ft (4.5 meters) from the box, how could he have heard that?

In Harper's Magazine article is spoken about a “sentinel” who stopped Booth. Booth (through Herold) spoke of “a soldier or officer [was] trying to prevent him from going into the box” ( a man in uniform?). Gatch simply recall that Booth moved into the presidential box but mention no person outside the box.

Stoddard and Nicolay (were they eyewitnesses?) spoke (years later) about Booth presenting his card to the President’s messenger, but don’t mention Forbes (?).

Don’t forget Ferguson and Troutner. They mention no person outside the box.

I said it before (see post 57), that there is not the slightest doubt in my mind, that there was “someone” sitting near the outer door of the president’s box, but I say it again: there is no hard evidence to support that this “someone” was most definitely Charles Forbes. The real identity of the man outside the box is impossible to establish. Yes, it could have been the presidential messenger by the name of Forbes, but it could also have been someone else. And as long as we have no hard evidence we may NOT conclude that it was Forbes and nobody else.

Kees:

Your elephant is nothing if not tenacious.

To begin with, one cannot say with certainty, as you do, that Hanscomb arrived 20 minutes before Booth. Reck puts it at 5 minutes. Let us just say that it was somewhere between 5 and 20 minutes when we know with certainty that Forbes was in front of the door. If he was not there when Booth arrived, but someone was, per McGowan, Leale, Booth (through Herold), Todd, Koontz, Harper's, Gath, Stoddard and Nicolay, then who could it have been, inasmuch as we know that the only three people to accompany the presidential party to the theatre were Burke, Parker and Forbes, and Burke was, by his own admission, sitting in the carriage in the street, and Parker admitted to Mary Todd that he wasn't at the door ("Why were you not at the door to keep the assassin out...?"; "I did wrong, I admit...I was attracted by the play , and did not see the assassin enter the box.") Who is left? Forbes! Let me say it again for emphasis: Forbes!!!

You misquoted McGowan. He also said: "He took a small pack of visiting-cards from his pocket, selecting one...and then showed it to the President's messenger, who was sitting just below him." Again, who was the messenger, if Forbes was positively placed there 5 to 20 minutes earlier, Burke was in the carriage and Parker admitted he wasn't there? What is the only reasonable conclusion???

Drs. Leale and Todd did not name Forbes, because they did not know his name. Few did. They therefore used a descriptor.

As for Koontz, the issue is not what was said, but who was at the door. "Lincoln's servant at the door" is a fine descriptor for Forbes.

Harper's Magazine's use of the word "sentinel" and Herold's use of the words "soldier or officer" are completely consistent with Forbes's identity taking into account the passage of time and human inexactitude with respect to the title of an unknown White House officer.

Stoddard's and Nicolay's use of the title "messenger" is likewise perfectly consistent with Forbes's identity.

Ferguson? He wasn't 15 feet away, like Koontz, or 5 feet like McGowan; he was on the other side of the theatre, directly opposite the President's box in the front dress circle. He got the time of the attack wrong and he also got the time in the play wrong. He also said he heard Booth "halloo" out of the box "Revenge for the South", when no one else said they heard that line from the box. Troutner? He was in the family circle, the balcony above the dress circle and the presidential box. Among other errors, he said that Atzerodt was to kill Johnson. He also has the time of the play wrong. Why believe these in preference to the witnesses and commentators named above, all of whom are contrary?

If you still doubt that it was Forbes at the door, in spite of the foregoing, then you may as well doubt everything else about the history of the event. There are those, after all, who believe that Stanton or Lafayette Baker or the Vatican masterminded the conspiracy, that Booth wasn't really killed in the barn, that Surratt was a double agent working for Baker, and so on ad nauseam. If you require 100% certainty for your conclusions, you will have very few conclusions.

John