Almarin Cooley Richards

[L Verge]

(07-28-2016 08:17 AM)John Fazio Wrote:  

(07-28-2016 07:04 AM)Pamela Wrote:  Roger, by your standard for having witnessed the assassination, which is being identified by name by someone else, who, in turn, was also identified by name as being present, then the were only about fifty people in the audience, maybe less, I haven't done the math.

Pamela:

In their desire, or need, to demonstrate objectivity, many historians have a tendency to throw the baby out with the bath water. In my judgment, this is such a case. The evidence for Richards's presence at Ford's on the night of April 14, 1865, is clear and convincing. It is also logical: Would we not expect the Chief of the Metropolitan Police to want to keep on eye on Ford's that night, knowing that the Lincolns and Grant were scheduled to be there and that one of his boys (Parker) was scheduled to guard the President? In any case, Richards's letter to Weichmann of June 10, 1898, all but nails it down. In it, he talks about what he did when he gained the stage and, most importantly, gives the lie to Stewart's tale about the dance he did with Booth and his horse in the alley behind the theater. Says Richards: "The gyrations Stewart describes as having participated in could not have taken place as there was no horse and rider then and there in sight". This is not the kind of statement one fabricates. It does nothing to benefit Richards or anyone else. It is therefore entitled to great weight.

John

And some historians manage to take one button and turn it into an overcoat without the proper thread...

If Richards were well-placed in DC, he would have known that Grant and wife had left earlier and would not be attending the theater. Assuming that he had not received the word, would he have not thought that Parker would not be needed since the military would give sufficient protection to their Commander-in-Chief and the head of the Union Army?

If Richards was truly seated in the dress circle, would he not be privy to the comings and goings to and from the President's box? Would he have not noticed that Parker sat down in the same area as he to watch the play? Would he have allowed this to happen? Wouldn't he have wondered why his "man" did not return to his post later? At this point, Richards was well-aware (if truly there) that neither Grant nor his military guards had shown up -- that made it doubly important that Parker be on guard. Would the Superintendent of Police ignore his man's absence?

As for his rendition of reaching the alley almost in tandem with Stewart, I find it very difficult to understand how Richards would be able to recognize the situation, react immediately, manage to get out of the dress circle and down those miserable spiral stairs into the lobby, go through the doors to the main floor, sprint through people who had to be starting to panic, cover the whole length of the theater, mount the stage and run its length to the rear door and get to the area AT THE SAME TIME that 6-foot, 5-inch Stewart, who is sitting in the front rows very near the stage, gets on the stage with ease and manages to see Booth riding away.

And that, ladies and gentlemen, is what causes me to suggest that Richards fabricated much of his later reminiscences -- pure logic. And I just managed to create a very long, run-on sentence in the above paragraph in order to express my version of the logic involved...

Thank you, and good night.