Did Rathbone get blamed?

[calebj123]

(12-19-2013 11:50 AM)Eva Elisabeth Wrote:  

(12-19-2013 11:22 AM)calebj123 Wrote:  Henry was never officially blamed for allowing Lincoln to get shot.

For my understanding, rumors (of which Mallon speaks) are still something different than being (directly and) officially blamed. Or do you mean by what you wrote that there were also no rumors?

Hi Eva,
While we can't be certain some people may have mentioned it, it's not documented. My sources state that his friends reassured him no one thought he was at fault. Regardless of any rumors Henry still took responsibility and it ate away at him for eighteen years until he murdered Clara.

[Eva Elisabeth]

(12-19-2013 11:22 AM)calebj123 Wrote:  Also, one quick note on Mallon's Henry and Clara. I know he did a fair amount of research and I've heard his book is wonderfully written. I have not read it however as I didn't want to be influenced by any information that was fiction. He took quite a few liberties in order to create a better story, one big one for instance was he made Henry older than Clara, however in real life it was the opposite. Clara was two years older. I see Mallon's book as movie based on a true story. It's a wonderfully romanticized version of the facts.

Caleb, in Mallon's book Clara is actually two years older than Henry. Allow me to remark, I personally didn't find it romanticized, especially not towards the end, and I think in the essay on Linda's link Mallon points out pretty well what liberties he took. If I understood correctly, the matrix is facts, and the fictional part is that he added his interpretation and conclusions: possible thoughts, emotions, motives, etc., of the protagonists. That was also my impression when I read "Henry and Clara".
I take my hat off to your discipline not reading the book! It was sure a wise decision! Have you never been tempted? Will you read it when yours is finished? I would love to know what you think about it then!
PS: I love the cover of your book, it promises suspense! Was it your idea?

[L Verge]

As I think I have posted before, Thomas Mallon was a speaker at one of the Surratt conferences shortly after Henry and Clara was released. He was a very good speaker and right up front acknowledged that it was fiction augmented by factual research. It has been about a decade since I read the book, but doesn't he make good use of footnotes to clarify specific factual points?

Like Eva, I applaud your decision not to open Mallon's book until yours was on the presses.

[calebj123]

Yes, I was very tempted to read Mallon's book as it's the only one devoted solely to the couple. And yes I do intend on reading it very soon. I've read and heard great things about it. We'll have to discuss it once I'm finished. I can't take credit for the cover, as it was the designer's idea, but I searched far and wide for the photo and was very happy to find it.

[J. Beckert]

(12-19-2013 06:52 PM)calebj123 Wrote:  I can't take credit for the cover, as it was the designer's idea, but I searched far and wide for the photo and was very happy to find it.

So, can we safely say the sofa is indeed "pristine" and never recovered, as Mudd's couch was?

[Eva Elisabeth]

Caleb, I'm really looking forward to your book!

[HerbS]

The book"The Haunted Major",we are led to believe that-perhaps Rathbone could have done more to protect Lincoln.I have never heard of him being blamed to his face!When I was teaching,I was passing out NYState History Regents exams in the gym.A "guidance"counselor came up to me and told me that one of my students will not be takeing the exam,as she slit her wrist last night and she is in the Hospital.Then he asked me if I saw any signs.I told him,"Don't try to pin ths Rap on Me".The "Blame Game" can be Lethal!

[RJNorton]

Laurie and I contacted Tom Mallon about this thread. He graciously replied as follows:

"I hope you'll forgive me if I don't join the group--I'm in the thick of a long novel set during the Reagan years, and aside from being terrified by the looming deadline, I'm finding that the 1860s have begun to evaporate from my mind.

I did check out the discussion forum, and it seems you have a great group. In case people are interested, Henry and Clara was re-issued earlier this year as a Vintage paperback from Random House. (My novel about the Watergate scandal did pretty well, so the publisher brought back some of my old stuff.)

One small point I noted: one fellow said that, in contrast to the historical record, I made Clara younger than Henry in my novel. Actually, I did the opposite: almost all published histories mentioning the two of them have her being the younger one, but I discovered--via two sets of census records up in Albany--that she was older. In this respect, if in few others, my work of fiction ends up being more accurate than most of the nonfiction! In more basic respects, it's quite fanciful: I have no evidence at all that Henry saw Booth enter the box, let alone that he deliberately allowed him to do what he did. But I was led to give him a "motive" for his moment of complicity by thoughts of the war he'd endured; the resentments against his stepfather that seemed plausible to me; and the anger he might have felt in the spring of '65 while writing out reports about the success of the "commutation" program. Beyond all this, my instincts told me, early on, that Henry was troubled and angry even before the war began."

Tom Mallon

[L Verge]

It's interesting that Tom mentioned issues that Rathbone may have had with his stepfather. I was reading something the other day (and I can't remember what, as usual) that described the confrontation that Senator Harris had with Mary Lincoln and her sister when the Confederate widow was visiting the White House. For some reason, I knew that this incident had occurred, but it never stuck in my mind that two of the "gentlemen" involved were Senator Ira Harris and Gen Dan Sickles. If the dialogue was as portrayed in the accounts, this is one time we have to give Mrs. Lincoln credit for maintaining her cool. Harris, especially, comes off as a rude and arrogant man.

I know that Harris replaced Seward as New York's Senator when Seward took higher office, but has anything been written on him as to what kind of politician and man he was? If he was this high-handed, perhaps that contributed to some of Henry's emotional and psychological problems?

[Anita]

Laurie,
Here's a short article that makes some comments related to what kind of politician Harris was.
http://www.mrlincolnandnewyork.org/insid...ubjectID=3

The article recounts the 1863 incident with Emilie Helm and Mary Lincoln. It concludes with "Despite the incident, Mrs. Lincoln remained on good terms with Senator Harris, writing a friend at the end of the congressional session in March 1865: "Judge Harris called last evening, to say, farewell. He has been so kind a friend that I am quite as attached to him as if he were a relative."19 Maybe Mary felt this way because of her closeness with Clara.

As to his relationship with stepson Henry, I found it telling that in his confrontation of Emilie Helm " General [sic] Harris rose and said harshly and pointedly to Sister, "I have only one son and he is fighting for his country." He does not acknowledge Henry who is also fighting for his country.

I wonder if Harris was jealous that Henry had inherited a lot money from his father.