Fly Through Historic Ford’s Theatre

[STS Lincolnite]

(12-09-2019 03:58 PM)Dennis Urban Wrote:  I appreciate seeing the 10:14 time of the shot. Mr. Bogar's book does not contain any reference to the shutters he now mentions. However, I have seen references in other books to Lincoln being carried on a "door". I'd also like to know the origin of the reference to the shutters being stacked outside the box near the SW corner of the building and one of them being used to carry the President. Seems like there would have been more than one witness reference to these shutters.

Thoughts on a couple of statements from your post.

1) “Mr. Bogar's book does not contain any reference to the shutters he now mentions. However, I have seen references in other books to Lincoln being carried on a ‘door.’.”

I clearly recalled reading about Lincoln being carried on a shutter in Tom’s book (or so I thought) – primarily because I also recall having a conversation with him about it some years ago. I wanted to check my memory so I pulled out my copy of Backstage at the Lincoln Assassination. And sure enough, a very quick check found on page 271 of his book the following: “…Kate Evans, too, began to grant interviews. She spoke of everyone’s reactions at the moment of the shot, and of seeing Lincoln carried out on a shutter.” Endnote refers to an article from the Macon (GA) Weekly Telegraph.


2) “Seems like there would have been more than one witness reference to these shutters.” [referring to the stacked shutters]

This is an interesting point. It speaks to what witnesses and their questioners might pick out as important enough to include in their statements or reports.

I had a lengthy conversation with an historian about a year ago. Although, it was related to an altogether different topic, we too were discussing the credibility of witness accounts and what information was included. Several others got involved in our discussion, and a point was brought up related to theory regarding eyewitness testimony (the theory was new to me). Apparently, there is a theory that witnesses only really recall and report those things that they find out of the ordinary (unless they are prompted otherwise by very specific and pointed questioning). The mundane things they regularly see they leave out of their accounts. For example if I was on the street yesterday just before a murder had occurred and had seen a man wearing a top hat going down the street in a horse drawn buggy, relevant or not, I would probably remember and report it – because it was out of the ordinary. But in 1865, a man wearing a top hat going down the street in a horse drawn buggy would not have been out of the ordinary and would have garnered little to no attention at all. No one would necessarily report it because it was a regular occurrence.

As historians looking back, we crave even the most minute details. But in the context of the time, if there were stacked shutters I’m surprised anyone would report it at all. Those shutters had nothing to do with the murder or the murderer. For all we know there could have been similar materials stacked all over and in different parts of the theatre what with constant building, tearing down, and re-building of various sets. And while Lincoln may have been carried out on a shutter, where it came from probably wouldn’t have been considered important at all in the moment.

What police officers or court officials thought was important or unimportant in 1865 and the methods they used in questioning were radically different than what similar professionals of today would use and would find important or unimportant. I can’t even tell you how many times I have read the various interrogation or court transcripts from the Lincoln Assassination and screamed at the book “Why didn’t you ask…?” or “Why didn’t you follow up on…?” Just a different perspective looking back 150 years.