Last performance at Ford's

[Rhatkinson]

I finished reading "Murder at Ford's Theater" while I was waiting for a jury to return a verdict today and came across an interesting tidbit in the footnotes that I was unaware of.

If you had asked me when was the last time Harry Hawk uttered the famous, "don't know the manners of good society..." line on stage, I would have said April 14, 1865. However, Hawk actually spoke the line one other time at Ford's. It appears that the detectives forced the cast of the play to perform it after the assassination (the book does not give the exact date, but I would assume it to have been in April or May of 1865 since several of the actors were brought over to Ford's from Old Capitol Prison). The purpose apparently was to study the timing of the assassination and they performed the play in its entirety up until that line, when the play was then halted for good, and the theater silenced for the next 100 years.

I can't imagine how spooky that must have been for Hawk especially to be on the stage in front of a mostly empty theater saying that line so close to the assassination.

Heath

[LincolnMan]

Great story. That had to be spooky for all the parties involved- but especially Mr. Hawk. I think I would have broke down and cried...

[Gene C]

I can't imagine how spooky that must have been for Hawk especially to be on the stage in front of a mostly empty theater saying that line so close to the assassination.

Heath

Great point Heath, I hadn't thought of that.

[hannahrozesmom]

I had read that as well. From what I remember Stanton thought the actors could possibly remember something they might have not thought important while reinacting the play.

[LincolnMan]

It makes sense to re-enact the play. I don't suppose anything came out of it though.

[Anita]

Very spooky indeed! Did Laura Keene participate? I would think she'd have been traumatized.

[Hess1865]

I'm sure she did.
They probably wouldn't let her out of their sight for quite a while.

[Jim Garrett]

The investigation by the Metropolitan Police and the War Department was of a scale never before seen. The organization and execution of it was remarkable.

[GARY POPOLO]

Great story Heath. I never knew that the play was reenacted. I can't even imagine what the actors were feeling as they played their parts knowing that they were being watched and also scrutinized at the same time. I am sure it must of been a very difficult task to under take by all involved. Knowing also that they were all suspect or participants to the assassination. Best Gary

[LincolnMan]

It had to be very interesting. Was the torn flag still hanging from the box? Was the Lincoln rocker still there- visable perhaps to the actors? Was there a spot where Booth landed on the staged remarked with tape or something?

[Tom Bogar]

Stanton ordered the reenactment, which took place on Saturday afternoon, April 22: the reenactment of Our American Cousin up to the moment of the shot for the sole benefit of detectives and other investigators who formed its audience. It was organized by Lt. Simon P. Currier, of Col. Ingraham’s staff, who assembled with stage manager John Wright and acting manager H. B. Phillips’ help as many actors from the cast as could be located in the city (with the likely addition of others brought down from Baltimore to fill in for the absent Keene, Dyott and Hawk, who were performing in Cincinnati). They performed in street clothes since the soldiers had impounded their costumes and props. Their collective fear and grief can only be imagined as they uttered each comic line and pantomimed each piece of comic business out into a stony silence. The express purpose of this charade was to determine whether or not Booth might have had assistance backstage, particularly in keeping the wings clear to facilitate his escape. At the close of each scene, before the scenery could be shifted, everyone on stage stood in place while the investigators measured various distances, especially the width of the stage right passageway Booth had used. Currier created a scale drawing and marked where personnel had been standing when the president was shot. Despite the earnest testimony provided by the Fords and others over the past week about the mechanics of scene shifting and the need to keep the wings clear for actresses with wide skirts, Currier concluded that Booth had had accomplices: “The carpenters and property man have it in their power to obstruct or keep clear the passage. . . . It appears to me that this passage was kept, to say the least, remarkably clear.” Currier’s sketch and conclusions carried considerable weight in the trial of the conspirators, counting heavily against Spangler.

[RJNorton]

Many thanks, Tom. As a person who has consistently believed in Ned Spangler's innocence, I am sorry to read that conclusion and hope it was incorrect (regarding ol' Ned).

[Tom Bogar]

Oh, I'm with you on that, Roger (re Spangler). The "passageway kept clear" evidence was trumped up, pushed by Rittersbach and Withers in their later testimony. Spangler got a very raw deal. The Fords insisted over and over that the wing space had to be kept clear during any performance.

[Jim Garrett]

I have always felt that Ned was a simple, plain living man with few, if any political leanings. Even if he idolized JWB, I don't think he would have been involved in a kidnapping plot, let alone an assassination. It seems his ambitions were pretty much limited to having a roof over his head, food in his belly and enough left over for a few drinks. Any ambitions to be more than he was probably, were probably nuffified by the death of his wife.