My Journey on Lincoln's Assassination

[Steve]

(11-29-2018 05:58 PM)Rob Wick Wrote:  Roger, I'm writing this with the understanding that it's been well over 20 years since I did any deep research into Eisenschiml via his papers in the ALPLM in Springfield.

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One final note on the man that my Civil War history professor termed "Crazy Otto." For good or ill, and I stand firmly in the "for ill" camp, Eisenschiml played a major role in the study of Lincoln's assassination. If you look at the number of popular magazines and newspapers (and even some academic, peer-reviewed journals) that agreed to carry his work, his influence was felt far and wide throughout the country. One cannot discount Eisenschiml with just a wave of the hand. One certainly can discount his conclusions, or lack thereof, and see that he was a charlatan more interested in lining his wallet than in promoting good and valuable history. But one ignores him at their own peril. He is someone who deserves a biography although it must be built on the work of Bill Hanchett who once told me he couldn't stomach writing such a book. It angered him too much.

Rob,
Do you recall ever coming across any information on Eisenschiml's father's time in the U.S. while researching him a couple of decades ago? I ask because Otto claimed his father had been a Civil War veteran but that doesn't appear to be true as far as I can tell.