Louis Weichmann

[Eva Elisabeth]

(09-15-2015 03:06 PM)L Verge Wrote:  1. I had forgotten that Louis J. Weichmann originally signed letters to priests, etc. as Aloysius H. Wiechman. Did anyone ever find out why? It appears that he registered as Aloy. H. Wiechman at St. Charles College in Ellicott's Mills, Maryland on March 1, 1859, at age 16. There are also letters signed by him as Aloy, and John Surratt addressed one to him as "Dear Al."

Aloysius or Alois is the Bavarian form of Louis. I would guess his mother was from Bavaria (his father, being Lutheran, and due to the family name, certainly from North Germany). Bavaria is ultra Catholic, so is the name. I think he purposely used this form when pursuing the priest career as it sounds and is more in line with Catholic tradition than Louis. There's a St. Aloysius (Gonzaga), Pope Benedict was born Joseph Alois Ratzinger, and the Prior of the Taizé community is Brother Alois.

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(09-15-2015 04:32 PM)RJNorton Wrote:  

(09-15-2015 08:49 AM)RJNorton Wrote:  

(09-15-2015 08:12 AM)Eva Elisabeth Wrote:  Thanks, Pamela!

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In his book, Weichmann writes that John Matthews boarded at the Petersen House on April 14, and burned the "Intelligencer" letter at the same time Lincoln lay dying in the same house. I don't recall reading this before, just that he had just a month before rented and met with Booth in the very room Lincoln died. How many rooms did Petersen rent out? Isn't it strange he didn't fear to be disturbed e.g. by requests for towels or bedsheets?

Weichmann was wrong as Mathews was not boarding at the Petersen House on April 14. He was living in a boardinghouse on L Street. I did not know where Mathews was staying at the time until I read Tom Bogar's book. Tom mentions that the police searched Mathews' room on L Street. They did not find anything suspicious in his room including not finding any ashes from Booth's letter that Mathews burned.

I was reading Kathy Canavan's new book this afternoon, and she states that Mathews WAS boarding on an upper floor of the Petersen House. She uses George S. Bryan's The Great American Myth as her source. So there is a definite difference of opinion between Kathy's book and Tom's book on where Mathews was boarding on April 14, 1865.

That's interesting!!! (Now - what 's Bryan's source, and what Tom's?)