State Box

[Ed Steers]

(05-13-2014 08:49 PM)RobertLC Wrote:  I am new to this forum, but am excited about being here. I would like to start with a couple of questions about the night of the assassination of the President. When Booth shot Abraham Lincoln, by which portal did he exit the State Box? I have attached a Brady photo of the theater that was taken just days after the shooting. Did Booth escape by portal I or portal II? I suspect portal II because portal I would have been a precarious jump and placed him very close to the front edge of the stage, but I have found no solid evidence to support my supposition. Moreover, we know that Dr. Charles Taft was lifted from the stage and thus climbed into the box. This is confirmed by his writings and other eyewitness accounts. Did he enter via portal I or portal II. Again, I suspect portal II because the President was just inside portal I and it would have been very awkward for Taft to enter via that route. I appreciate anyone who can elaborate and clarify these points for me.

Robert, I think I answered this in an email earlier. Brady photographed the (reconstructed) shortly after the assassination. There is a photograph in the LMU collection that shows a white ring drawn on the stage floor directly beneath the left portal as you look at the box. A poor copy of the photo exists in Buckingham's book, Reminiscences and Souvenirs." I post a scan of it here and have enhanced the ring because of the poor quality of the image. I assume it is a chalk mark drawn to show where Booth landed on the stage after dropping from the box. Ed

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Another attempt to post photo.