Joe, many thanks for creating the wonderful Lincoln eyewitness assassination project and making it free to all. Thanks also to those who who have done amazing research to add and update names here.

I found the name Joseph H Hazleton on your list with this reference. https://www.newspapers.com/image/8521904...852190440/
*note the different spelling of his name below.

Here's another reference to add for Hazelton: It's a wax digital recording of his eye witness account. The Huntington Library digital collection: Title An eyewitness account of the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. Creator Hazelton, Joseph H., 1855-1936, witness.

Physical Description1 sound disk (11 min., 54 sec.)Description Phonograph record of Hazelton's reminiscence of Lincoln's assassination. The written version of this account first appeared in the February 1927 issue of Ladies Home Journal. The recording was made in 1933 at Freeman Lang's studios on Hollywood, Calif. There are some inaccuracies. Hazelton noted that the Lincolns' arrived to the theater during the second act, although the majority of the eyewitnesses place their arrival at 8:30, half hour into the performance. He also erroneously listed the Surgeon General Joseph K. Barnes among the guests in Lincoln's box. Hazelton added, as if it were a matter of fact, the fictitious story that John Wilkes Booth managed to escape to South America, later to return to the United States and commit suicide in 1903.
Notes Joseph H. Hazelton (1855- 1936), was a prominent stage and screen actor who in 1865 was a program boy at the Ford's Theater. The recording was made for Transco. 16 inch shellac disk; the matrix number is A1087, etched in the wax. The author's name is spelled "Hazleton." A copy on CD is available. All inquiries regarding this recording should be directed to the Norris Foundation Curator of American Historical Manuscritps Subjects Booth, John Wilkes, 1838-1865.
Lincoln, Abraham, 1809-1865 -- Assassination.

Listen to the recording: https://hdl.huntington.org/digital/colle...l6/id/647/

(05-05-2026 08:03 PM)Anita Wrote:  Joe, many thanks for creating the wonderful Lincoln eyewitness assassination project and making it free to all. Thanks also to those who who have done amazing research to add and update names here.

I found the name Joseph H Hazleton on your list with this reference. https://www.newspapers.com/image/8521904...852190440/
*note the different spelling of his name below.

Here's another reference to add for Hazelton: It's a wax digital recording of his eye witness account. The Huntington Library digital collection: Title An eyewitness account of the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. Creator Hazelton, Joseph H., 1855-1936, witness.

Physical Description1 sound disk (11 min., 54 sec.)Description Phonograph record of Hazelton's reminiscence of Lincoln's assassination. The written version of this account first appeared in the February 1927 issue of Ladies Home Journal. The recording was made in 1933 at Freeman Lang's studios on Hollywood, Calif. There are some inaccuracies. Hazelton noted that the Lincolns' arrived to the theater during the second act, although the majority of the eyewitnesses place their arrival at 8:30, half hour into the performance. He also erroneously listed the Surgeon General Joseph K. Barnes among the guests in Lincoln's box. Hazelton added, as if it were a matter of fact, the fictitious story that John Wilkes Booth managed to escape to South America, later to return to the United States and commit suicide in 1903.
Notes Joseph H. Hazelton (1855- 1936), was a prominent stage and screen actor who in 1865 was a program boy at the Ford's Theater. The recording was made for Transco. 16 inch shellac disk; the matrix number is A1087, etched in the wax. The author's name is spelled "Hazleton." A copy on CD is available. All inquiries regarding this recording should be directed to the Norris Foundation Curator of American Historical Manuscritps Subjects Booth, John Wilkes, 1838-1865.
Lincoln, Abraham, 1809-1865 -- Assassination.

Listen to the recording: https://hdl.huntington.org/digital/colle...l6/id/647/

Thanks Anita! I will update his account on my next revision.

All: I have just posted a substantial update to the initial list, incorporating over 20 more names and identities. I still need to update many of the accounts, and I welcome any assistance in this area. Many thanks to everyone who has contributed to this update.

You can find the Ford's Theatre attendee list here: https://joebarryauthor.com/fords-theatre

"Nearly one hour before the commission of the deed the assassin came to the door of the box, and looked in to take a survey of the position of its occupants. It was supposed at the time that it was either a mistake or the exercise of an impertinent curiosity. The circumstance attracted no particular attention at the time."

The above is what Clara Harris said a short time after the assassination. I have always been skeptical of what Clara Harris said. Now that Joe is working on a list of all those in attendance at Ford's has anyone come across another eyewitness account that JWB did indeed make a trial run an hour before the assassination?

(05-10-2026 07:23 AM)RJNorton Wrote:  "Nearly one hour before the commission of the deed the assassin came to the door of the box, and looked in to take a survey of the position of its occupants. It was supposed at the time that it was either a mistake or the exercise of an impertinent curiosity. The circumstance attracted no particular attention at the time."

The above is what Clara Harris said a short time after the assassination. I have always been skeptical of what Clara Harris said. Now that Joe is working on a list of all those in attendance at Ford's has anyone come across another eyewitness account that JWB did indeed make a trial run an hour before the assassination?

Roger, I've read the posts from 2015 on this site on this topic. I don't find Haris's account credible. It doesn't match Rathbone's official testimony and more people would have witnessed Booth entering the vestibule twice had he done so. Plus, it strains credulity Booth would risk being seen or caught by entering the box twice. He was familiar with the theater, a hole in the door enabled him to see in, so what does a dry run achieve for a man who is well-armed with a gun and a large knife--and likely a plan for the best time to strike?

Although it's possible Harris said this to cover for her husband, it's equally likely she simply conflated a thought with an actual observation. We can't forget the trauma of this event, and how it affected people's memories, even soon after the event.

I've previously read about a person (not Booth) entering the box, and another involving the delivery of a newspaper, but these also don't seem credible.

I've always found Harris' statement about an earlier visit by Booth very intriguing. I'm wondering if for some reason she confused him with S.P. Hanscom who delivered a dispatch to Lincoln at Ford's. His visit is documented by Capt. Theodore McGowan, who is one of the most credible witnesses, as he was seated about 6' from the outer box door on the Dress Circle aisle. Ed Steer's The Lincoln Assassination - The Evidence states Hanscom, editor of The Daily National Republican, had stopped by the White House earlier and was asked to deliver a dispatch to Lincoln at Ford's. Steer's book states "Such requests were not unusual and happened on Lincoln's previous visits to the theater".

The supposed statement from Clara Harris first appeared on page 1 of the 16 April 1865 edition of the New York Herald:



It's coupled with a supposed statement from Mary Lincoln that she initially thought Booth jumping to the stage was her husband falling to the floor.

If you note the date, the Herald article was printed the day before Rathbone and Harris gave their affidavits which completely contradict this. The only really persuasive way to explain this is that the Herald article has to be some type of newspaper hoax to get a "scoop". Why they would do this (or at least such an easily verifiable hoax attributed to Harris), I don't know.

Booth generated a lot of attention when he showed up that night. Jeannie Gourlay, Hazleton and Ferguson all made note of his arrival. Dr. Todd, sitting close to the Dress Circle aisle by the door, reported somewhere near him stating, "There's Booth". I think if he had made an earlier approach, it would have been noted.

(Yesterday 04:49 PM)J. Beckert Wrote:  Booth generated a lot of attention when he showed up that night. Jeannie Gourlay, Hazleton and Ferguson all made note of his arrival. Dr. Todd, sitting close to the Dress Circle aisle by the door, reported somewhere near him stating, "There's Booth". I think if he had made an earlier approach, it would have been noted.

Agreed!