Who is this person?

[L Verge]

I don't ever remember hearing the brothels bit attached to the barber that I think is Cipriano Ferrandini, but I will go with him and the Baltimore Plot. He was in business in Baltimore for a very long time, so his managerial skills may have been put to use elsewhere.

[AussieMick]

(Just to probably confuse things) I thought Cipriano Ferrandini ran the bar to which Booth and others attended. I guess brothel and bar were synonymous in those days.

[L Verge]

(Just to probably confuse things) I thought Cipriano Ferrandini ran the bar to which Booth and others attended. I guess brothel and bar were synonymous in those days.

Pretty sure that he ran the barber shop in the basement of Barnum's Hotel in Baltimore.

[AussieMick]

Looks as though, Laurie, you're right (of course)... David Herbert Donald writes about the President-elect ... " Just as Lincoln emerged from the narrow vestibule of the Calvert Street Station, Cipriano Ferrandini a Baltimore barber and a few associates planned to assassinate him". Pinkerton advised a schedule change.

[Eva Elisabeth]

Sorry for delay. Excellent guesses, everyone, but I'm sorry to say none is correct.

Roger, you are right - the gentleman is less known for his brothels but for another business he was into -

Hint #2: What business?
Hint #3: I could also have posted the question here:
https://rogerjnorton.com/LincolnDiscussi...ge-29.html

---

Please also see and guess on Rob's challenge here:
https://rogerjnorton.com/LincolnDiscussi...ge-14.html

[AussieMick]

An inventor ? Tesla? ( I was thinking he 'looked' German ... but Tesla wasnt German)

[Eva Elisabeth]

Tesla would have made a "Stump the Austrian" - question...yes, the gentleman was a German.
Nope, not an inventor, rather an entrepreneur.

[RJNorton]

Is that the barber that supposedly shaved Booth and/or Surratt before the assassination? Can't recall his name but it was in some past posts in trial testamony.

Looks as though, Laurie, you're right (of course)... David Herbert Donald writes about the President-elect ... " Just as Lincoln emerged from the narrow vestibule of the Calvert Street Station, Cipriano Ferrandini a Baltimore barber and a few associates planned to assassinate him". Pinkerton advised a schedule change.

I said Charles Wood because he was the barber who testitfied at John Surratt's trial that he cut Booth's hair the morning of the assassination. He also testified that he thought he cut Surratt's hair that morning, but this would be impossible if Surratt were in Elmira.

[Eva Elisabeth]

A good guess, Roger, but not he.

[AussieMick]

I suppose, Eva, that a reasonable guess (you said an entrepreneur) would be that he was involved in munitions or the warfare industry in some way.

[Eva Elisabeth]

Ugh, well, Mike, you are touching a sore spot, of those Germans who are aware the least (including me) are pleased of being one of the biggest arms exporters in the world...but nope, the gentleman's businesses were not war-related.
Hint #4: Think gold.

[Steve]

I thought the image of the man seemed familiar to me, so I admit that I used Google and found out who he was. Relax, I'm not going to ruin the trivia game and say who he was. But, as a historical accuracy nit-picker, I have to take issue with Eva calling him an "operator of brothels". One of the man's occupations was a hotel operator and the only legitimate historical source that I'm aware of that hints at the possibility of his involvement with prostitution is a review of one of his hotels in a local newspaper which said in part:

but I would not advise respectable women to go there to sleep as they are liable to hear that which would be repugnant to their feelings – and uttered, too, by the depraved of their own sex

This man's hotel had more of a single-man clientele and he may have had arrangements with local prostitutes for his guests, but I don't think there's enough evidence to be sure based on the above quote.

I just thought I should clarify this in case "operator of brothels" sent somebody down a wrong alley of thinking.

[AussieMick]

What about Baron Friedrich Joseph Karl von Gerolt zu Leyen (Prussian ambassador) ?

[Warren]

He do have a Prussian air about him. But, have there been a lot of Prussian barber ambassadors? Would you wind up with a Baden - Baden haircut?

[RJNorton]

John Jacob Astor?