I believe that Mike Kauffman also states that tiny pieces of wood were found in Booth's pockets.

(09-23-2013 12:41 PM)Anita Wrote:  What I find strange is Lincoln went to Ford's theater nine times prior to April 14. He was there on Dec. 19, 1864. None of the guards who accompanied him at those times verified there was a hole was there to monitor the President.

Were they ever asked?

(09-23-2013 05:27 PM)JMadonna Wrote:  

(09-23-2013 12:41 PM)Anita Wrote:  What I find strange is Lincoln went to Ford's theater nine times prior to April 14. He was there on Dec. 19, 1864. None of the guards who accompanied him at those times verified there was a hole was there to monitor the President.

Were they ever asked?

Good question. I don't know. One would think yes if they wanted to learn if Booth had an inside accomplice at Ford's.

(09-22-2013 09:04 PM)JMadonna Wrote:  I believe Ford had the hole drilled for the guard well before the night of the assassination.
I also believe the man on Grant's train was Donelson.

I find your statement interesting. I don't know if you intended to implicate Ford in Lincoln's assassination, but to my mind you did. It is known that Ford's employee, Ed Spangler, installed the brace on the hallway door and that brace kept people from entering after the gunshot was heard. Spangler installed the brace at 11:30 on the day of the assassination. It seems to me that it was also the time the hole was drilled in the door and the door lock was loosened.

At the same time, 11:30, Booth was sitting on the steps of the Theatre reading his mail. He had no part in the preparations going on in Lincoln's box. He was still a part of the plan to kidnap Lincoln, Johnson, and Seward. When Ford walked up to Booth and told him that Lincoln was going to attend the theatre that night, it was the first he knew of Lincoln's attendance and it re-energized Booth to notify the kidnappers to take action. He crossed over the Navy Yard Bridge into Maryland. He had to notify the thirteen men in Maryland that tonight would be the night they had been preparing for.

There is some speculation that O'Laughlen boarded the train to kill General Grant. I find that very hard to believe. Mrs. Grant was planning to leave Washington at 4 o'clock. At 4 o'clock, Booth's associates were planning to kidnap Lincoln, Johnson, and Seward. They had no plans to kill anyone at the time Grant left Washington. They could care less about Grant, as long as he wasn't in the box with Lincoln. There may another person that wanted Grant dead, and that was Stanton.

As for Booth drilling the hole in the door, it seems unlikely. Booth had no plans to take an active part in the kidnapping on the 14th. He was a supervisor and there was no need for him to drill a hole in the door. At 5 PM, when the plan changed to murder, it seems to me that there was no time for him to drill the hole. The only person that would find the hole beneficial is Stanton's assassin.

(09-23-2013 05:55 PM)Anita Wrote:  

(09-23-2013 05:27 PM)JMadonna Wrote:  

(09-23-2013 12:41 PM)Anita Wrote:  What I find strange is Lincoln went to Ford's theater nine times prior to April 14. He was there on Dec. 19, 1864. None of the guards who accompanied him at those times verified there was a hole was there to monitor the President.

Were they ever asked?

Good question. I don't know. One would think yes if they wanted to learn if Booth had an inside accomplice at Ford's.

If it's not on the record somewhere you can't assume it was asked and then assume the answer was negative.

If it was asked it would probably been asked of Ford who oversaw the preparation of the box. I believe it was and his answer was the one I gave you earlier.

(09-23-2013 06:32 PM)JMadonna Wrote:  

(09-23-2013 05:55 PM)Anita Wrote:  

(09-23-2013 05:27 PM)JMadonna Wrote:  

(09-23-2013 12:41 PM)Anita Wrote:  What I find strange is Lincoln went to Ford's theater nine times prior to April 14. He was there on Dec. 19, 1864. None of the guards who accompanied him at those times verified there was a hole in the door to monitor the President.

Were they ever asked?

Good question. I don't know. One would think yes if they wanted to learn if Booth had an inside accomplice at Ford's.

If it's not on the record somewhere you can't assume it was asked and then assume the answer was negative.

If it was asked it would probably been asked of Ford who oversaw the preparation of the box. I believe it was and his answer was the one I gave you earlier.

Got it.

Hi Anita. In my opinion I lean toward Booth doing the carpentry. I have read what Frank Ford wrote, and I remain unconvinced. I lean to the traditional account that it was Booth's handiwork. That said, I think this is one of a myriad of assassination-related events that can be argued more than one way.

As improbable as it seems, there was actually testimony at the John Surratt trial in 1867 that Surratt was the one who did at least some of the carpentry near the State Box. A man named Benjamin Rhodes testified at that trial, and here is part of his testimony:

**********************************


Q. State where you live.

A. I am living at the present time east of the capitol.

Q In this city?

A. Yes, sir.

Q. How long have you been living here?

A. Since 1862. I was away a very short time.

Q. What is your occupation?

A. Repairing of clocks and watches, and working in the garden that I have adjoining my house.

Q. State whether you were in the city of Washington on the day of the assassination of President Lincoln.

A. I was.

Q. Do you know this building on Tenth street, between E and F, called
Ford's theatre?

A. Yes, sir.

Q. State, if on the day of the assassination you were in that neighborhood.

A. I was in Ford's theatre on the day of the assassination.

Q. State as near as you can what time in the day.

A. As near as I can impress it upon my mind it was within half an hour of twelve o'clock, when I entered the building.

Q. After entering the theatre, state if your attention was directed by anything you saw going on in one of the private boxes.

A. I went in merely to look at the theatre. I went up the steps to the second floor; went down in front where the circle was, to look upon the stage; whilst there I saw one of the box doors open a little and shut. I was anxious to see from that point of view, and supposing some one was in there, having heard some one stepping about, I went down to the box and looked out from that point. As I approached the box whoever was in there walked away out of the box, and I entered and looked from that point on the stage. I had been looking there about a minute or two when the same person, I suppose, who went out of the box returned and spoke to me. He said he was connected with the theatre. We then had a few words together, when my attention was again drawn to the scenery on the stage. They had a curtain down that had recently been painted, I believe, and I stood there looking at that. Then I heard this man behind me doing something. In turning around to see what it was he was doing — I supposed he was looking down as I was — I noticed that the had a piece of wood; whether he had it put in under his coat or was taking it out I cannot say. The piece of wood was about three feet long and about as wide as my two fingers - maybe a little more in the center - slanting a little towards each end from the center.

As I turned around he said, "The President is going to be here to-night." That was the first intimation I had of the expected presence of the President that night. I said, "He is?" He then said, "We are going to fix up the box for his reception. I suppose there is going to be a big crowd here, and we are going to endeavor to arrange it so that he won't be disturbed."

He then fixed this piece of wood into a small hole in the wall there as large as my thumb. I should think the hole to be an inch or an inch and a half long, and about three-quarters of an inch wide. He placed one end of this stick in the bole and it being a little too large took a knife and whittled it down a little. He also gouged out the hole a little for the purpose of making it fit. Then he placed it against the panel of the door across to the wall, forming an angle. He says, "The crowd may be so immense as to push the door open, and we want to fasten it so that this cannot be the case." He asked me if I thought that would hold it sufficiently tight. I told him I should judge that it would bold against a great pressure; that a hole would be punched through the panel of the door before it would give way. The wood was either oak or of North Carolina pine. I am not acquainted with that kind of wood, but I am rather of the impression it was North Carolina pine, which is a very tough wood, I believe. After he had fitted that to suit him we had a few words more together. I then heard some one come across the stage, back of the curtain.

The District Attorney. You have spoken of this interview with a person. I will ask the prisoner to stand up here. [The prisoner did so]

Q. State if that is the man, (pointing to the prisoner), and whether you saw him there?

A. I should judge that was the man.

Q. Have you any doubt about it?

A. No, sir.

Why should the guards have needed a spy hole to monitor the president in the box? The other side of the door was more important to watch (quod est demonstrandum...). So - why should Ford have drilled the hole? I could well imagine JWB did it. I just would like to know how much of the box he was able to see through the hole. I think if he did it, he probably wanted to visualize the exact scene (the "stage directions") and the position from where to shoot once more before he entered the box. So he could act without hesitating inside the box.

Booth already knew where the everyone was sitting. There was no need to risk exposure by drilling a hole. Nothing to be gained - everything to lose - wait for your cue and strike.

I've never seen that testimony before, Roger and if it's true, it is fascinating. Something makes me think, however, that the push to hang Surratt and the passage of time may have brought forth some testimony that was stretched a bit. It reminds me of Sgt. Dyer's statement.

I agree with Joe 100% (and don't let that go to your head, Yankee). What is being described in that statement appears more to be a rendition of the door brace that Booth supposedly fashioned out of the music stand - not the hole in the door. I suspect that the gentleman was looking for his day in the spotlight and cooperating with the government - just as others had done two years earlier in 1865. Who knows, he may have actually met Booth doing the carpentry work.

As for the hole in the door, I have always credited Booth with the handiwork. My thoughts have been that Frank Ford was covering for the fact that he and other members of the staff were lax in security by allowing Booth free roam of the theater to prepare for his grand performance that night. He didn't want the authorities to know that Booth had time to make preparations.

Booth's intention in drilling the hole, I think, was to get a position on Lincoln's head (taking into consideration the height of the rocker's back) in case he had to fire from that door. Did he expect the door to Box 8 to be open and welcoming when he was in the theater that afternoon?

(09-24-2013 12:51 PM)L Verge Wrote:  I agree with Joe 100% (and don't let that go to your head, Yankee). What is being described in that statement appears more to be a rendition of the door brace that Booth supposedly fashioned out of the music stand - not the hole in the door. I suspect that the gentleman was looking for his day in the spotlight and cooperating with the government - just as others had done two years earlier in 1865. Who knows, he may have actually met Booth doing the carpentry work.

As for the hole in the door, I have always credited Booth with the handiwork. My thoughts have been that Frank Ford was covering for the fact that he and other members of the staff were lax in security by allowing Booth free roam of the theater to prepare for his grand performance that night. He didn't want the authorities to know that Booth had time to make preparations.

Booth's intention in drilling the hole, I think, was to get a position on Lincoln's head (taking into consideration the height of the rocker's back) in case he had to fire from that door. Did he expect the door to Box 8 to be open and welcoming when he was in the theater that afternoon?

I agree with Laurie. This testimony may have been fiction or an account of meeting Booth or some other known or unknown conspirator in the President's box. During the Conspirator's trial the prosecution was trying to prove it was Spangler that bored the hole and created the notch and stashed the bar for Booth. It seems inconcievable that Suratt would have been tasked to do this deed having no connection to Ford's Theater otherwise.

It seems to me the hole to the door to box 7 would have been very valuable to Booth. He could confirm who was and was not in the box, where they were sitting, confirm they were all sitting, and observe how intently they were all watching the play before he moved down the hall to the open door for box 8.

I also agree that Ford was trying to cover his own culpability in allowing anyone, in this case the President's assassin, the time and access to the President's box on that day to prepare the box for the crime.

Does a floor plan exist of the floor with the state box? Or floor plans of the theater in general?

(09-24-2013 05:11 PM)wsanto Wrote:  

(09-24-2013 12:51 PM)L Verge Wrote:  I agree with Joe 100% (and don't let that go to your head, Yankee). What is being described in that statement appears more to be a rendition of the door brace that Booth supposedly fashioned out of the music stand - not the hole in the door. I suspect that the gentleman was looking for his day in the spotlight and cooperating with the government - just as others had done two years earlier in 1865. Who knows, he may have actually met Booth doing the carpentry work.

As for the hole in the door, I have always credited Booth with the handiwork. My thoughts have been that Frank Ford was covering for the fact that he and other members of the staff were lax in security by allowing Booth free roam of the theater to prepare for his grand performance that night. He didn't want the authorities to know that Booth had time to make preparations.

Booth's intention in drilling the hole, I think, was to get a position on Lincoln's head (taking into consideration the height of the rocker's back) in case he had to fire from that door. Did he expect the door to Box 8 to be open and welcoming when he was in the theater that afternoon?

I agree with Laurie. This testimony may have been fiction or an account of meeting Booth or some other known or unknown conspirator in the President's box. During the Conspirator's trial the prosecution was trying to prove it was Spangler that bored the hole and created the notch and stashed the bar for Booth. It seems inconcievable that Suratt would have been tasked to do this deed having no connection to Ford's Theater otherwise.

It seems to me the hole to the door to box 7 would have been very valuable to Booth. He could confirm who was and was not in the box, where they were sitting, confirm they were all sitting, and observe how intently they were all watching the play before he moved down the hall to the open door for box 8.

I also agree that Ford was trying to cover his own culpability in allowing anyone, in this case the President's assassin, the time and access to the President's box on that day to prepare the box for the crime.

I too agree with what's been said here.

The hole was very small and three feet up from the floor. I have read that it was not big enough for Booth to fire his pistol into the box. The size and location of the hole made it inconspicuous. Booth's plan depended on a clear path to Lincoln when he went through that door. He couldn't take the slightest chance that Lincoln would have stood up, or changed seats with Mary or any number of scenarios that could slow him down.

As for Frank Ford's letter, look at his father's period statement. “Did not notice a hole in the door or in the wall. Did not take particular notice of the wall or door however.”

---

(09-24-2013 05:37 PM)Eva Elisabeth Wrote:  Does a floor plan exist of the floor with the state box? Or floor plans of the theater in general?

Eva, this is inexpensive purchased used. I have a copy and find it useful in understanding the history and details of Ford's at the time of the assassination. http://www.amazon.com/Restoration-Theatr...B000BRQZ4M

This may be more than you want.

(09-24-2013 05:37 PM)Eva Elisabeth Wrote:  Does a floor plan exist of the floor with the state box? Or floor plans of the theater in general?

Eva,

Here is a link to view the book for free on-line. In the back are the floor plans

http://archive.org/details/restorationoffor00olsz