Did William Coggeshall Save Lincoln's Life?

[STS Lincolnite]

I agree this is an interesting thread. I have several thoughts, ideas, and questions as I have read through. Due to time constraints at this moment, I will hold the majority of them for another post. But I did want to share a thought or two.

What does the group think of the possibility that the "grenade" was nothing more that a firework? There are many documented incidents of fireworks being used to celebrate Lincoln's arrival in various cities on his route as well as in the "illuminations" of the day.

It seems plausible to me that an errant firework or even one thrown by a reveler could have gone in the open window. Nothing that was truly meant to harm Lincoln. That would explain the hissing sound (as I understand fireworks of that time would do) and perhaps why no one else recorded the incident - no harm intended and just another firework among many "exploding" at the time. This is something that from a kernel of truth could have inadvertently morphed or been embellished over time into something like Mrs. Coggeshall apparently wrote.

Could this story be true? Possibly. When I look at a story like this, I ask myself would I include it as fact were I giving a lecture on the subject (Lincoln's inaugural train trip in this circumstance). The answer to this question for me would be NO at this time.

Why?: As of now, I would consider it being from a secondary source (because Mrs. Coggeshall's statement, as I know it, is gleaned from Koch's book, and the original letter's location does not seem to be known at this time and therefore can't be examined as a primary source), it is a second hand account (the reporter - Mrs. Coggeshall, from what I can gather, was not present during the "grenade" incident itself), the report was not given at a time contemporary to the incident/event (reported 47 years later), and there is no independent corroboration of the incident in question.

I guess that will give some insight into my method of evaluating or weighting sources. I don't feel the story can be dismissed outright or really even disproven at this time - but an inability to dismiss or disprove does not automatically mean something is true. I don't feel I can give the story much weight or credibility based on the information I currently have available.