Frederick Demond

[John Fazio]

Dave et al.:

To keep everyone in the loop: I finally received a response from Italy, this from Professor Giancarlo Onorati, an author himself ("L'Ultimo Cospiratore", i.e. "The Last Conspirator", a biography of John Surratt) and one who is familiar with the Papal Zouave Enlistment Records in the State Archives of Rome. He has advised me that the Archives are closed the entire month of August (everything shuts down in Rome in August; it's too hot, so everyone takes their vacations during this month), but that they will re-open in September and that he will obtain the information I requested re Henry Lipman at that time. Of course, if the records show that Lipman was a Zouave at the same time Surratt was, it will not prove his story of the escape absolutely, but it will give it greater credence. A failure to show that they were members at the same time, however, will be a serious blow to his story, though not necessarily fatal. I will keep everyone advised.

John