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(06-30-2016 04:00 AM)RJNorton Wrote:  John, there is a 1987 Orlando Sentinel article that discusses this:

http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/1987...kes-eustis

According to that article Richards gave his talk at Clifford (or Clifford's) Hall in Eustis, Florida.

Several names are mentioned in that article, and I don't know the veracity of of their revelations. But I do wonder about Richards' mental state at that time if this report of what he said is accurate:

"Former Police Chief Richards provided more details about his involvement with the historic event during a 1900 talk at Clifford Hall, according to a letter written in 1958 by former Eustis resident M.B. Gault. The letter now is in the hands of the Lake County Historical Society.

Gault wrote: ''At one of the entertainments given by some group, a Col. Richards came on the stage and told how he had been posted behind the box in which President Lincoln sat when he was shot. He said he jumped through the front of the box to get Booth, who got away, but he found on the stage a Bowie knife that Booth was supposed to have lost. And he Richards showed us the knife.''

I don't know if Clifford's Hall still stands, but it was used for a variety of activities:

https://www.floridamemory.com/items/show/139928

and

https://www.floridamemory.com/items/show/2771

In my opinion, Richards is telling Lies or he is misquoted. If he was posted at the Presidential Box - why didn't he stop Booth from going in? Then, if Booth barricaded the door with the brace in the notches, how did he manage to go in and jump after Booth? Sorry, but it's all hog wash!