Almarin Cooley Richards

[John Fazio]

(07-28-2016 08:04 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