Wonderful Newspaper Site

[John Fazio]

(08-20-2015 12:41 PM)John Fazio Wrote:  

(08-20-2015 12:23 PM)L Verge Wrote:  

(08-20-2015 10:37 AM)John Fazio Wrote:  

(08-19-2015 06:37 PM)BettyO Wrote:  Thank YOU, John! I love these newspaper sites - there is always some interesting info to cull from them -

Betty:

I could not agree with you more. I have a couple of framed originals of April 18 and April 20 of the New York Herald. It was from one of these that I picked up the interesting tidbit that when Booth was standing on the sidewalk outside the Kirkwood on the 14th, chatting with someone, a young boy (Herold?) came out of the hotel and said to Booth: "Yes, he is in." Surely this must have had something to do with the mysterious message that Booth (possiibly someone else, but almost certainly Booth) left in Browning's box. It seems likely that when Booth learned, from the "boy", that Johnson was in, he called on Johnson (probably on a pretense of obtaining a pass, but with a real purpose of determining the Vice President's likely whereabouts that night), but for some reason was not successful in making contact with him. Indeed, it may well have been, at least in part, Booth's personal pique occasioned by this rebuff that induced him to leave the card in Browning's box, knowing that it would likely ruin Johnson if he somehow survived an attack from his unreliable co-conspirators, Atzerodt and Herold, in whom he had little confidence. Recall that Mark Antony did something similar with Caesar's Will. "Now let it work. Mischief, thou art afoot, take then what course thou wilt."

John

---

[i]

(08-20-2015 10:37 AM)John Fazio Wrote:  

(08-19-2015 06:37 PM)BettyO Wrote:  Thank YOU, John! I love these newspaper sites - there is always some interesting info to cull from them -

Betty:

I could not agree with you more. I have a couple of framed originals of April 18 and April 20 of the New York Herald. It was from one of these that I picked up the interesting tidbit that when Booth was standing on the sidewalk outside the Kirkwood on the 14th, chatting with someone, a young boy (Herold?) came out of the hotel and said to Booth: "Yes, he is in." Surely this must have had something to do with the mysterious message that Booth (possiibly someone else, but almost certainly Booth) left in Browning's box. It seems likely that when Booth learned, from the "boy", that Johnson was in, he called on Johnson (probably on a pretense of obtaining a pass, but with a real purpose of determining the Vice President's likely whereabouts that night), but for some reason was not successful in making contact with him. Indeed, it may well have been, at least in part, Booth's personal pique occasioned by this rebuff that induced him to leave the card in Browning's box, knowing that it would likely ruin Johnson if he somehow survived an attack from his unreliable co-conspirators, Atzerodt and Herold, in whom he had little confidence. Recall that Mark Antony did something similar with Caesar's Will. "Now let it work. Mischief, thou art afoot, take then what course thou wilt."

John

Betty:

Correction: It was the New York Times, not the New York Herald. Here's the full quote:

On Friday, Booth was about the National and strolled up and down the avenue several times. During one of these strolls he stopped at the Kirkwood and sent his card up to the Vice President . A gentleman of Booth's acquaintance was talking to him and asked why he was so gloomy--"lost another $1,000 in oil?" Booth said he had been hard at work that day and was about to leave Washington, never to return. Just then, a boy came out and said "Yes, he is in his room".

John

Does the article cite the source of that information? The only one that it could be was whomever Booth was talking with when it happened. I never remember seeing this quote.

Laurie:

I will double check tonight, but my recollection is that the article gave no cite. Most likely it did come from the fellow with whom he was speaking, but it is remotely possibile that it came from a witness who observed and overheard the proceedings. After the assassination, just about anyone who had had contact with Booth in the days leading up to the 14th, especially on the 14th, would likely have come forth to offer the information to someone in authority. I never heard or saw the quote either, which is why my eyes popped a little when I read it. It sheds some light on the card mystery. There are nuggets still to be discovered out there.

John

Betty, Laurie, et al.:

I double checked the quoted material and the only reference to a source is " The Evening Star says ..." This is the April 18 edition of the New York Times, 5th column about half way down. One would have to check the Evening Star of April 17, 16 or 15 to see if they perhaps credit a specific source. In my opinion, the quote has enough precision to give it credibility. Add to that the fact that it serves no apparent purpose and I believe we can with reason conclude that it is bona fide. The issue, it seems to me, is not its bona fides, but how to interpret it. It appears to me that inasmuch as Booth had already attempted to deliver, or to have delivered, the card, it must be the case that he did not receive a response from Johnson's room. The question in his mind, then, must have been: did Johnson fail to respond because he wasn't in or because he was otherwise occupied? Thus he sent a "boy" (Herold?) to find out. The boy found out and reported that Johnson was, in fact, in his room. That must have piqued Booth and the pique must, at least in part, have induced him to leave the card in Browning's box, with purpose to implicate Johnson in the crime if Johnson survived the attack planned for him that night. That is my interpretation.

John