Louis Weichmann

[L Verge]

Excellent piece of research, Susan! I had no idea that Abel lived until 1976. Erich Ewald was doing his early research just about that time, so Abel's death may have been one of the things that spurred him on in trying to find the "real" Weichmann. Erich was right there in the heart of Anderson.

I find it a little strange that this newspaper interview that Susan has given us seems to suggest that Weichmann was telling Abel that he had tried to spare Mrs. Surratt by telling the authorities that she didn't approve of what she thought the men were up to. That is certainly contrary to his final efforts to nail his landlady to a cross...

As for Abel's description of Stanton, he certainly was not alone in making the Secretary of War out to be an ogre. He was also born after the war and grew up during the time that revisionist historians were taking great delight in condemning Stanton. In our assassination field, Abel likely was exposed to the publicity that surrounded the works of Otto Eisenschiml. Otto's condemnation of Stanton would mesh nicely with the nasty Stanton that Weichmann had discussed with the teen-age Abel.

Gene, I also appreciate your prescription for making sense of all these theories intermingled with known facts. Since you want to make it a Southern recipe, don't forget to spit tobacco juice and pick cotton while you're doing this.