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[L Verge]

(08-04-2016 10:16 AM)RJNorton Wrote:  

(08-04-2016 09:59 AM)L Verge Wrote:  I believe that one author, probably Kauffman, stated that Weichmann probably never saw either one of the letters. Both had incriminating evidence against the conspirators and were intercepted (by Mrs. Surratt??) before they reached her boarder.

In AB he states his opinion that Sarah Slater wrote the Clara letter.

Please tell me on which page he states that. Ritter is not listed in the index, so I had to find mention of Fr. Menu in order to locate Ritter on pages 395-96. I even looked through end notes. For some reason, I thought Mike considered the Clara letter genuine.

[RJNorton]

(08-04-2016 12:50 PM)L Verge Wrote:  Please tell me on which page he states that. Ritter is not listed in the index, so I had to find mention of Fr. Menu in order to locate Ritter on pages 395-96. I even looked through end notes. For some reason, I thought Mike considered the Clara letter genuine.

It's note #24 on p. 469 of AB.

In 1996 Bettie Trindal's biography of Mary Surratt was published, and she has a note on p. 255 saying that Clara Ritter of New York wrote the letter to Weichmann. Mike Kauffman's book was published in 2004, but he does not list Bettie Trindal's book in his bibliography. Maybe he didn't see what Bettie found about the letter.

[L Verge]

Thanks, Roger. I tracked the end note back to page 362 in the text, where Ritter is not mentioned - just the "Clara" letter. Mike cites some of the damaging statements in the letter that could have harmed Weichmann on the stand. One specific reference was to the gentleman's bisexuality. If Sarah Slater wrote the letter, John Surratt, Mrs. Surratt, or Gus Howell must have spilled the beans to her. A good friend would be more inclined to lend a sympathetic ear when learning such a thing, I would think.

While I have never agreed with Bettie Trindal's very sympathetic treatment of Mary Surratt, I remained a good friend of hers until shortly before her death several years ago. In her defense, I think other authors have short-changed her on the amount of research that she did - and especially the inroads that she made in getting Surratt descendants to open up to her. The family is very quiet about their matriarch's role in history. Years ago, I was told by great-grandchildren that we (the museum) knew more history than they.

Betty Ownsbey opened the doors to the Powell history by being sympathetic to Lewis, while still recognizing his complicity in the assassination story. Other authors have since benefitted from her work (and quite a few have neglected to list Betty in the credits). In some cases, I think the same can be said of the lines that opened because of Bettie Trindal. I've been in the history field long enough to finally see some cracks in the glass ceiling, but when I first began at Surratt House, history was definitely a MEN ONLY field of study, imo.

[Susan Higginbotham]

I think the "bisexuality" reference is based on an anachronistic reading of the letter (I'm assuming that Kaufman is referring to the line where Clara quotes Louis as saying, "I love him, indeed I do, and his ____ too"). Straight Victorian men were allowed much more warmth in expressing their regard for their male friends than their modern counterparts are. Charles Strozier in his book about Lincoln and Joshua Speed, "Your Friend Forever," has an excellent discussion about this. "I love him" is pretty mild compared to some of the writings between male friends that he quotes.

To me the only really compromising part of the letter is that it links Louis with Clara, whom an investigator described as a "thorough rebel" who had a fondness for "rebel poetry."

[L Verge]

(08-04-2016 02:16 PM)Susan Higginbotham Wrote:  I think the "bisexuality" reference is based on an anachronistic reading of the letter (I'm assuming that Kaufman is referring to the line where Clara quotes Louis as saying, "I love him, indeed I do, and his ____ too"). Straight Victorian men were allowed much more warmth in expressing their regard for their male friends than their modern counterparts are. Charles Strozier in his book about Lincoln and Joshua Speed, "Your Friend Forever," has an excellent discussion about this. "I love him" is pretty mild compared to some of the writings between male friends that he quotes.

To me the only really compromising part of the letter is that it links Louis with Clara, whom an investigator described as a "thorough rebel" who had a fondness for "rebel poetry."

I agree completely on the "bisexuality" assessment. Thanks for reminding me.

[Pamela]

Has anyone looked into a possible relationship between Chris Ritter and Clara Ritter?

[L Verge]

(08-05-2016 01:45 PM)Pamela Wrote:  Has anyone looked into a possible relationship between Chris Ritter and Clara Ritter?

Oh, please don't throw that old, worn-out, spurious story onto the forum in order to create more speculation!

It appears that you have investigated some of Erick Ewald's excellent research on Ritter. Erick did a good article on "The Tailspinner and the Witness..." for the March 1993 issue of the Surratt Courier. If anyone would like a copy, contact me at Surratt House at laurie.verge@pgparks.com.

[Pamela]

(08-05-2016 02:35 PM)L Verge Wrote:  

(08-05-2016 01:45 PM)Pamela Wrote:  Has anyone looked into a possible relationship between Chris Ritter and Clara Ritter?

Oh, please don't throw that old, worn-out, spurious story onto the forum in order to create more speculation!

It appears that you have investigated some of Erick Ewald's excellent research on Ritter. Erick did a good article on "The Tailspinner and the Witness..." for the March 1993 issue of the Surratt Courier. If anyone would like a copy, contact me at Surratt House at laurie.verge@pgparks.com.

Thanks for your comment, Laurie.

From The Evidence, p.1109 '"...Mrs. Ritter (Clara) admitted to him (her husband) that she wrote the letter to Canada directing the letters to be sent to Capt. Nevarro; that she knows John Harrison and that he and John H. Surratt are the same person."

Surratt Courier, March, 1993 "The Tailspinner and the Witness; A Legion of Questions and a Phalanx of Speculations Concerning Chris Ritter and Louis J. Weichmann" by Erich L. Ewald

"...The butcher (Chris Ritter) left behind him a strange story and a legion of questions, chief among them being: What was the purpose in telling this wild tale? Bravely, we do now enter the realm of speculation, that dark netherworld, inhabitated by Possibly, Perhaps and Maybe. The author has already indicated above, on the sketchiest evidence and deduction, that Ritter's role was to draw Louis Weichmann further into the net of known conspirators and sympathizers of Lincoln's assassination. Chris Ritter, whoever he may really have been, was not just an ordinary crackpot on the make. He was carefully prepared for the intense scrutiny that his wild story engendered and it is not improbable that he was connected, in some way, with some of the players in the great drama of Lincoln's assasination.

...If the reader would but humor the author and accept the premise that Chris Ritter was hired, or solicited, to tell this story for the purpose of harassing Weichmann, then another, darker question arises: Who enlisted his services? The author, giving full rein to his imagination, has examined numerous possibilities ranging from political, to religious, to internal church politics. These possibilities have been cast aside, one by one, for various reasons.

Possibly, perhaps, maybe the answer can be foumd in one small fact not previously mentioned. In the Herald, Ritter was described as operating his butcher shop on Twenty Third Street, only four short city blocks from Spencer Locker Surratt's grocery. Is it possible that in some way, by circuitous paths heretofore unexplored, the trail will lead to the door of John Surratt, Jr. of Baltimore, MD?"

[Susan Higginbotham]

I don't see any obvious relationship between Clara Pix Ritter and the mysterious Chris Ritter. I did some poking around last night and found a few tidbits (some of which had already been found by John Stanton).

Henry T. Ritter and Clara had two children, Agnes and Washington, before separating and ultimately divorcing some time after 1870. Clara returned to her family in Galveston, Texas, where she died in 1924:



Henry T. Ritter served with the Union army for only a couple of months in 1861, but it was enough to get him a berth in the National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers in Bath, NY, where he died in 1908. (I confirmed his identity through looking at his file there, which lists his daughter Agnes as his next of kin.) There's a photograph of the young Henry at Find-A-Grave:

http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi...id=1121644

Washington Ritter, Henry and Clara's son, got into a spot of trouble in 1890 when he deserted his wife and children, embezzled some money from the firm where he worked, and ran off with his girlfriend to Galveston. He was caught and sent back to New York for trial, but got off with a suspended sentence after everyone agreed that he had been led astray by his new love. His uncle (Clara's brother) in Galveston promised to give him a situation in Galveston, where he died in 1896, shortly after his 30th birthday. He's buried in the same cemetery as Clara.

Incidentally, the "Dr. and Mrs. R." that Clara mentions in her letter to Weichmann are likely her future in-laws, Dr. Washington Ritter and his wife. Dr. Washington Ritter died in 1875.

[L Verge]

Pamela - Thank you for posting that excerpt from Erich's work since it points out again, and quite clearly, how good researchers warn the public ahead of time that they are speculating on historical things, not proving them.

As an aside, I don't remember if anyone ever tracked down the grocer, Spencer Locker Surratt. So far as I know, his name has not appeared in any of the assassination-related work. We have the best genealogy of the entire Surratts (with the various spellings of the name) since their first mention in America in the late-1600s. It is the work of Dr. & Mrs. Norman Sarratt of California (both now deceased). I will try to remember to check their book for such a name when I return to work on Monday.

[Pamela]

Wow, thanks, Susan. There's a wealth of information. I noted than Clara lived in Galveston for 23 years; we don't know the date of her divorce, but it may have been just prior to her move. If that's the case, she would have been still married in 1897 at the time Chris Ritter arrived in Anderson. Chris Ritter was described as a "stockily built German", apparently about 50 years old, born in 1849. He would have been 16 at the time of the assassination. He was said to have a "broken accent" but spoke in good English. How odd is it for an immigrant who lived in Germany long enough to develop an accent, which he retained, to take on the Lincoln assassination conspiracy to the degree he did.

It sounds crazy, but the Chris Ritter story is crazy, but could he have been a relative of Clara's husband, who Clara and John Surratt recruited to torment Louis in Anderson? John and Clara would have kept up correspondence all those years.

According to Ewald, Weichmann lived in relative anonymity in Anderson for ten years, until an article written by Victor Louis Mason appeared in Century magazine in 1896 and Weichmann recieved unwanted publicity, nationwide. Eight months later Chris Ritter arrived in Anderson with his accusations and story.

There are several reasons that Ewald gave to substantiate his belief that Ritter was not your run of the mill crackpot. First he made a point to meet Weichmann, a "chance" encounter outside a restaurant, and he later claimed they recognized each other as former members of the Knights of the Golden Circle. From the Tailspinner and the Witness: "But, Chris Ritter's story is much different in one significant respect. It had a purpose behind it that transcended the usual desire on the part of the tailspinner to capitalize on the public's insatiable addiction to sensationalism." Ewald noted that Ritter sought to paint Weichmann as a secret Confederate sympathizer. "...it was Ritter's deep familiarity with assassination lore that gave his tale considerable currency in the Anderson community. Ritter was much too knowledgeable of the assassination and it's major and minor characters to be a mere crackpot. His wealth of detail, ever escalating in scope and range marked him as someone who knew his subject well....Ritter's expansion of the original tale is most interesting because it appears to be an attempt to shift complicity away from the Surratts and on to Dr. Mudd."

"The author (Ewald) has already indicated...on the sketchiest evidence and deduction, that Ritter's role was to draw Louis Weichmann further into the net of known conspirators and sympathizers of Lincoln's assassination. Chris Ritter, whoever he may have really been, was not just an ordinary crackpot on the make. He was carefully prepared for the intense scrutiny that his wild story engendered, and it is not improbable that he was connected, in some way, with some of the players in the great drama of Lincoln's assassination....If the reader would but humor the author and accept the premise that Chris Ritter was hired, or solicited for the purpose of harassing Weichmann, then another, darker question arises: Who enlisted his services?"

Ritter arrived in Anderson 8 months after Weichmann's location was publicized, and he attempted to portray Weichmann as a Confederate sympathizer and shift guilt away from John Surratt. He also claimed to be writing a book. He abruptly left town 7 or 8 months later. You can read these articles in the link Gene provided in the first post of the Louis Weichmann thread which is currently on page 7 of threads.

I just remembered that John Surratt traveled to South America following his release. At least I think so. I can't remember which country he went to. Part of Chris Ritter's tale involves Brazil. "...he certainly had knowledge of Santarem/Belem (Para) area. Such knowledge was much less arcane in his century than ours and it is probable that he could have become familiar with the "Confederadoes" and their colonies through the various emigration tracts of the times."

[Susan Higginbotham]

I did some more checking. Clara is listed in the 1888 Galveston city directory; it's definitely her since she lists herself as living with her brother. There's also a Clara Ritter in the 1881 directory, which is probably her.

In the 1880 census, Clara and Henry's children were living with his relatives; I haven't found a listing for Clara in that census, and only a possible one for Henry. On Valentine's Day 1892, Henry T. Ritter married a Mary Cook.

This is a fun family to research. This article is about Clara's sister-in-law Sarah Ridge:

https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fpi30

[Pamela]

Yes, Sarah Ridge's story deserves to be told! Powerful stuff there, including another "celebrated "trial. Clara's timeline makes it more unlikely that Chris Ritter is related to her.