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Steve Whitlock · 01-22-2021, 11:54 AM

(01-22-2021 10:58 AM)Steve Wrote: Roger,
Don't forget that besides Dr. Leale's account, we also have Dr. Taft's contemporaneous affidavit which listed the names of the doctors who treated Lincoln in the box also doesn't list Dr. Gatch. I can't think of how Dr. Gatch's name was listed as one of the attending physicians at Petersen House if he wasn't there. If Dr. Gatch was attending at Petersen House, I don't see how BOTH Leale and Taft could forget to include Gatch among the doctors who were treating Lincoln in the box in their statements written immediately afterwards.

Did Dr. King make an affidavit at the time as well? If he did, I don't remember reading it and it's not in Good's book

By the way, who is "Dr. Neal"? I recognize the other doctors listed with Gatch at Petersen House - Abbott, Stone, Hall, and Lieberman.

Steve Williams,

I also have a 2 part article 20 Apr 2016 from the Community Journal of North Clermont for the Gatch brothers, which has significant differences in that there is no mention of a soldier guard summoning Oliver (I believe Lincoln's civilian guard was next door in a bar at the time, and I don't think there was a soldier guard at Lincoln's door) for Booth to brush past. Also, Oliver says he and Charles, with 2 others, carried Lincoln across the street. (No mention of the severely wounded Henry Rathbone doing the carrying.)

I'm also struck by the mention of a finger finding the bullet wound, which is suspiciously akin to Leale's testimony. There is no mention of Laura Keene in my article, although accounts have her present at some point, with considerable blood on her dress, which leads me to think perhaps Oliver has read some accounts and woven her into his story that you have.

It appears to me that the Gatch brothers were present, but I have no certainty for the level of their involvement. If we know, for certain, there was no soldier guarding the door to summon Oliver then I must discount the story as unreliable. Also, it appears that Charles was not in uniform that night, so he could not be the uniformed naval surgeon that Clara Harris mentioned.

At this point I have no information for Dr. King beyond what I presented, and there is a Wikipedia mention of him being in attendance as one of the physicians treating Lincoln.