An Interesting Tidbit

[L Verge]

I sure hope that John Elliott and/or Barry Cauchon are paying attention (and I will email them to make sure). As most of you know, they have been working on seeking out every little detail regarding the conspirators' life at the Penitentiary, the execution, etc. They recently used their photo enlargement magic and other information to prove that the Kansas Historical Society has a portion of the 1865 scaffolding.

Yesterday, I received a phone call from one of my long-time volunteers at Surratt House. Her husband is an expert on military accoutrements of the WWII era, specifically, but is also well-versed in and connected with a wide variety of military historians. One such comrade had just told them about a book that he had read entitled From Then Til Now. It was written in 1934 as an autobiography by James Barnes - and do look him up online; a very interesting man who traveled with the best in a variety of fields during the first quarter of the 20th century.

Back to the matter at hand: Mr. Barnes writes in this book that he had talked with a gentleman who had done construction work (I think) at the old penitentiary building (now Grant Hall on Ft. McNair) in 1917. In the basement, he found the 1865 scaffolding from the execution of the four conspirators as well as a chair with a broken leg that was noted as being Mrs. Surratt's chair (whether from the prisoners' docket or the scaffolding, I know not).

Now to find that book to determine how many pieces the scaffolding was in. Surely it was not removed intact from the grounds to the basement. And how did that crossbeam make it to Kansas? And what happened to Mrs. Surratt's chair?

[Cliff Roberts]

Did a quick search and found several copies for sale on the Internet. One in poor shape from a foreign seller and two in good shape from U.S. dealers. Prices range from $76 to $90. It's hardcover, published 1934, only one edition, no reprints. I'll see if there's an E-edition.

[L Verge]

Thanks, Cliff - at those prices, I think I'll wait awhile.

[Gene C]

(06-19-2014 07:18 PM)L Verge Wrote:  Now to find that book to determine how many pieces the scaffolding was in. Surely it was not removed intact from the grounds to the basement. And how did that crossbeam make it to Kansas? And what happened to Mrs. Surratt's chair?

I usually don't spend this much for a book

http://www.amazon.com/Anecdotal-Portrait...mes+barnes

If anyone purchases it, please let us know how you liked it.

[Tom Bogar]

The Library of Congress (according to their online catalog) has a copy. I'm going down there on Monday, anyway, to do some research, so I'll take a look through it and see what's there, and then copy electronically any relevant pages, which I can then send to whoever would like them. (And yes, Laurie, I triple-checked that that was not supposed to be "whomever"!) ;-)

[Dave Taylor]

Apparently James Barnes was a member of The Players and was at the club the night Edwin Booth died. If you could copy that part of the book too, Tom, it would be much appreciated. Thanks!

[BettyO]

Sounds great! I'd love to see this book - but apparently it's hard to find....no copies close enough for me to peruse through. There IS a searchable copy online here:

http://books.google.com/books?id=WNU6AQA...e&q=lumber

But I put in all sorts of queries and nothing comes up - not even the name "Surratt".....

Unfortunately, no ebooks either, that I could find -

[L Verge]

(06-19-2014 11:10 PM)Tom Bogar Wrote:  The Library of Congress (according to their online catalog) has a copy. I'm going down there on Monday, anyway, to do some research, so I'll take a look through it and see what's there, and then copy electronically any relevant pages, which I can then send to whoever would like them. (And yes, Laurie, I triple-checked that that was not supposed to be "whomever"!) ;-)

Thanks, Tom. And I would not have called you on that grammar detail because "whoever" is actually used as a noun/subject here
instead of an object to support the clause.

---

(06-20-2014 06:06 AM)BettyO Wrote:  Sounds great! I'd love to see this book - but apparently it's hard to find....no copies close enough for me to peruse through. There IS a searchable copy online here:

http://books.google.com/books?id=WNU6AQA...e&q=lumber

But I put in all sorts of queries and nothing comes up - not even the name "Surratt".....

Unfortunately, no ebooks either, that I could find -

Good grief - now we have a mystery within a mystery!

[Gene C]

(06-20-2014 10:01 AM)L Verge Wrote:  Thanks, Tom. And I would not have called you on that grammar detail because "whoever" is actually used as a noun/subject here
instead of an object to support the clause.

Whatever

[Cliff Roberts]

(06-20-2014 06:06 AM)BettyO Wrote:  Sounds great! I'd love to see this book - but apparently it's hard to find....no copies close enough for me to peruse through. There IS a searchable copy online here:

http://books.google.com/books?id=WNU6AQA...e&q=lumber

But I put in all sorts of queries and nothing comes up - not even the name "Surratt".....

Unfortunately, no ebooks either, that I could find -

Betty, I tried several queries and note that for every "hit," no more than three incomplete matches are shown. For instance, under "Lincoln" there were five matches but only three were shown, one of which appears to refer to Edwin Booth's death. I say appears because only a few lines are shown, not the entire page. Like you, I tried many key words and came up dry.

[Linda Anderson]

That's because it's a "snippet" view and only certain pages are available and you can see only a few lines of those pages.

[Cliff Roberts]

(06-20-2014 04:57 PM)Linda Anderson Wrote:  That's because it's a "snippet" view and only certain pages are available and you can see only a few lines of those pages.

What annoys me is that often the "snippets" don't even contain the key word or words you enter, which usually appear on the page several lines above or below the quoted section. This is to force you to buy the book!

[RJNorton]

(06-19-2014 07:18 PM)L Verge Wrote:  I sure hope that John Elliott and/or Barry Cauchon are paying attention (and I will email them to make sure). As most of you know, they have been working on seeking out every little detail regarding the conspirators' life at the Penitentiary, the execution, etc. They recently used their photo enlargement magic and other information to prove that the Kansas Historical Society has a portion of the 1865 scaffolding.

Yesterday, I received a phone call from one of my long-time volunteers at Surratt House. Her husband is an expert on military accoutrements of the WWII era, specifically, but is also well-versed in and connected with a wide variety of military historians. One such comrade had just told them about a book that he had read entitled From Then Til Now. It was written in 1934 as an autobiography by James Barnes - and do look him up online; a very interesting man who traveled with the best in a variety of fields during the first quarter of the 20th century.

Back to the matter at hand: Mr. Barnes writes in this book that he had talked with a gentleman who had done construction work (I think) at the old penitentiary building (now Grant Hall on Ft. McNair) in 1917. In the basement, he found the 1865 scaffolding from the execution of the four conspirators as well as a chair with a broken leg that was noted as being Mrs. Surratt's chair (whether from the prisoners' docket or the scaffolding, I know not).

Now to find that book to determine how many pieces the scaffolding was in. Surely it was not removed intact from the grounds to the basement. And how did that crossbeam make it to Kansas? And what happened to Mrs. Surratt's chair?

(06-19-2014 11:43 PM)Dave Taylor Wrote:  Apparently James Barnes was a member of The Players and was at the club the night Edwin Booth died. If you could copy that part of the book too, Tom, it would be much appreciated. Thanks!

Tom was able to copy the relavant pages. He sent me the pages in a .pdf file. I uploaded them. Many thanks, Tom!

CLICK HERE.

[BettyO]

Fantastic - thanks to Laurie, Tom Bogar and Roger for finding this interesting little "tidbit!"

Hmmm - makes me wonder about the wood scraps I was given by McNair after we built the prisoner's dock and witness stand. The wood was "period" wood which had been "stock piled" according to the post architect......I still have a 2 foot section as well as what's in the shadow box I made (as well as all the pieces I gave to my friends and colleagues)!

[L Verge]

I have another little tidbit that I'm chewing on now. As some of you know, I am one of those who thinks that the original abduction plan was sanctioned in Richmond and eventually assisted by the Canadian Cabinet. Over the past few weeks, I have been corresponding with a member of the "Southern gentry" (that's part of his email moniker) who believes that Booth escaped to Mississippi, lived out his life as a recluse in the home of a relative, and is buried in a family cemetery near Guntown, Mississippi.

That's not what interests me, however. The tidbit of the story that does interest me is a key person that Tidwell, Hall, and Gaddy already mentioned in Come Retribution. Rick, Joe, and Wild Bill have assisted me in finding information on Col. James Gordon of Mississippi, whose ancestral home still exists not far from Guntown. According to what we know of Gordon, he was sent to Canada to make ties with Jacob Thompson and was aware of the abduction plot. He claimed that he met Booth and that Booth jumped the gun and assassinated Lincoln without approval of his handlers. Gordon was arrested after the assassination because of this info, but was not charged. See pages 405-408 in Come Retribution for a clearer description than what I just gave.

Keep the State of Mississippi in mind in order to see some ties. Home state to Jefferson Davis, Jacob Thompson, and James Gordon. Southern ties run deep, and old friends can usually be trusted (especially in previous centuries).

The Southern gentry who got in touch with me has been kind enough to give me information on an elderly gentleman who owns the Gordons' ancestral home -- and supposedly has the Colonel's papers and letters. Whether there is anything further to learn, we'll find out. My question would be when and how he met Booth. Joe quickly pointed out that Gordon registered into a hotel in Canada on March 8, 1865. We don't think that Booth was north of the border near that time. However, Gordon had to get to Canada. Could he have met Booth in Richmond, D.C., NYC, upstate New York? Inquiring minds want to know...

P.S. If you want to see the lovely old Gordon home (restored/reconstructed after a devastating tornado in 2001), google Lochinvar in Mississippi.