Louis Weichmann

[L Verge]

Speaking of making fun of Weichmann, it reminded me that he went to high school with George Alfred Townsend at Central High School in Philadelphia (according to GATH). Townsend later wrote a very sarcastic review of Weichmann after having chanced upon him on the street years later and remembering those school days, nicknames, etc. Supposedly, Louis was not the best of students and was into having fun and being disruptive. I believe that Louis wrote a rebuttal to that article when it appeared in print. Somewhere there is a similar reference to Surratt being the excellent, attentive student at St. Charles, while Weichmann liked to have fun. Maybe that's why the church fathers were not happy to have him readmitted?

Speaking of religion, I read somewhere that Louis's father was not Catholic. His mother was, and she was the one who practically forced Louis to study for the priesthood. Maybe he was a rebellious student for that reason?

Pamela did provide us with information concerning Mrs. Weichmann being involved with the Temperance movement, but if she had to resort to taking in boarders in order to survive after Louis moved to Anderson, it wouldn't appear that her social activities provided any support. In the Victorian age, it would not have been atypical for other members of such activist groups to take destitute women under their roof -- or family members would assume responsibility for their support. Wonder why someone didn't step forward?

As to who has "shafted" Louis over the years, it is my belief that authors have relied on statements, etc. that were given close to the time of the assassination and two trials - as well as analysis of Weichmann's own writings in A True History... As to the abuse that he was given early on, much of it came from defenders of the church and of Mary Surratt. In my view, they considered the man a traitor to Mary and to the Catholic Church at a time when Catholics continued to face bigotry in many areas of society.

I would love to think that my next project could be locating the ORIGINAL manuscript prepared by Louis Weichmann before the job of editing and publishing it was done by Floyd Risvold 70+ years after being completed by Louis himself. Having been an editor (both paid and volunteer) over the past 40+ years, I know that editors can add, detract, substitute, and insinuate when preparing final copy.

Floyd Risvold was very well-respected, and I don't want to cast doubt on his work. However, he was (above all else) very high on the food chain in the business world (I believe retail), and had to know that Louis's manuscript could prove very profitable in the hands of the right publisher. It would be interesting to compare the original with the published version.