Louis Weichmann

[Pamela]

Sloan might have been a tad hasty in his critique. Weichmann's book is referenced frequently by historians, I've noticed, so it's a useful resource. I love the book and I think Roger has said the same. Dr. Porter and A.C. Richards, who were a part of the assassination drama, who witnessed Weichmann's trial testimony, etc, had nothing but praise for Weichmann's manuscript. I' ll take their opinions over Sloan any time.

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(09-10-2015 07:19 PM)L Verge Wrote:  "It was forgotten until Weichmann’s great niece offered it to Minnesota collector Floyd Risvold, who acquired it for an undisclosed sum and saw to its publication (by Alfred Knopf) in 1975. The memoir turned out to be nothing more than a self-serving vindication, full of cleverly twisted statements, inconsistencies, contradictions, tampering with dates, and perhaps even a few fabrications. (Risvold later told the Lincoln Fellowship of Wisconsin that from his own research he was sure Mrs. Surratt knew about the kidnap plot.)"

Critique is part of a full article on Oldroyd meeting Weichmann written by Lincoln/Lincoln assassination expert Richard Sloan. The article appeared in a 2012 issue of the newsletter of the Lincoln Forum. Richard is the one who discovered letters of correspondence between Oldroyd and Weichmann (I believe including Oldroyd's decision to let Weichmann write his own chapter in Oldroyd's classic).

I believe she was Weichmann' s neice, not great niece, the daughter of his sister Elizabeth. Interestingly, she was described as a "bohemian free spirit", she was an actor, lived in Springfield, Illinois, and married an Abraham.