Richmond Man Present at Lincoln's Assassintion

[BettyO]

Found this wonderful article on the web - never heard of this recollection before:

http://www.pal-item.com/story/news/local.../24812255/

[LincolnMan]

Great story. The part about Lincoln hilding the shovel with outstretched arm is a familiar one. Wasn't it said that Lincoln also did this on another occasion with a hammer? It does make me wonder if that part really happened.

[RJNorton]

I never heard of it before and my first reaction is to be suspicious.

1. He's marching down the aisle in the midst of a play?

2. On this page it is claimed he helped carry the President to the Petersen House. However, his name is in none of the lists I've seen of the names of the men who did this. In the link Betty posted it says he was one of the soldiers who held the crowd back "so the president’s body could be removed to a residence across the street." How could he remain in the theater holding the crowd back at the same time he was in the street carrying the President?

3. He is not mentioned in Tim Good's book.

4. All other accounts of Lincoln's arm "demonstration" said the tool was an axe. IMO this is the first and only account that mentions a shovel.

5. if I am reading the article correctly it seems to imply Hoover was on duty with other soldiers assigned to Ford's Theatre that night. As far as I know no squad of soldiers was inside the theater "on duty" (due to the President's presence).

[Rsmyth]

I just checked my notes on Mr. Hoover. He had many claims one of which is that "The beautiful silk flag in the president's box had just been shipped in from Indianapolis as a gift from the ladies' aid society there. It had been loaned to Ford's Theater to decorate the Lincoln box.
Hoover said, "It was on this flag that Lincoln leaned after the fatal shot, and the blood flowed down over the center, staining it."
The flag later became part of the Lincoln Memorial and is at the monument in Springfield, Ill."