Abram B. Olin - Printable Version

Abram B. Olin - Printable Version

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Abram B. Olin - gshoub - 06-20-2025 01:19 PM

Abram B. Olin, a judge of the D.C. Court, was tasked with interviewing some of the witnesses following the assassination. Does anyone know if there is any record of his interviews available anywhere? I presume he documented the interviews in one form or another. Thank you.

RE: Abram B. Olin - Dave Taylor - 06-20-2025 06:46 PM

The Lincoln Assassination: The Evidence, edited by William Edwards and Ed Steers, Jr., contains transcriptions of much of the government's collected evidence regarding Lincoln's death. Looking in the index of that book, I find several entries for Justice Olin and his interviews. I'm not sure if the text contains all of his interviews, but it at least has all of those kept by the government.

A hardcover copy of the book sells for over $100, but a searchable ebook version is only $9.99 on Amazon.

RE: Abram B. Olin - Linda Anderson - 06-20-2025 07:49 PM

According to The Evidence, “The Union League of Philadelphia published Tanner’s verbatim notes in a facsimile edition titled While Lincoln Lay Dying: A Facsimile Reproduction of the First Testimony taken in Connection with the Assassination of Abraham Lincoln as Recorded by Corporal James Tanner..." You can find the book, which includes transcriptions, in the Internet Archive at https://archive.org/

Judge David Kellogg Cartter, chief justice of the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia, Judge Olin and attorney B.A. Hill interrogated six witnesses as Lincoln lay dying. Hill's name is included in the interrogation of the first witness, Alfred Cloughly, but the interrogators of the other five witnesses are not specifically mentioned in Tanner’s notes although they were most likely all present.

As Dave pointed out, Olin's interviews with other witnesses including Henry Rathbone are included in The Evidence.

RE: Abram B. Olin - gshoub - 06-21-2025 04:08 PM

(06-20-2025 06:46 PM)Dave Taylor Wrote: The Lincoln Assassination: The Evidence, edited by William Edwards and Ed Steers, Jr., contains transcriptions of much of the government's collected evidence regarding Lincoln's death. Looking in the index of that book, I find several entries for Justice Olin and his interviews. I'm not sure if the text contains all of his interviews, but it at least has all of those kept by the government.

A hardcover copy of the book sells for over $100, but a searchable ebook version is only $9.99 on Amazon.

Dave and Linda:

Thank you for the responses. I was able to access the Edwards-Steers book online and review the references to A. B. Olin. It was helpful. What I am looking for is any documentation of an interview with Clara Harris other than her affidavit. I have not been able to find anything. I had posted some questions about Harris a couple of years ago on this site, and after spending some time on it, I felt I had gone down a rabbit hole. I thought I would give it a second look to see if I could find anything. What continues to baffle me is the attributions made to her by Noah Brooks about seeing Booth earlier in the evening, as contrasted with her affidavit, which, from my reading, tracks closely to what Rathbone swore to and makes no mention of the earlier sighting.

RE: Abram B. Olin - Linda Anderson - 06-22-2025 03:12 PM

Noah Brooks wrote in a "Letter from Washington" dated April 20, 1865, that Seward wasn't told of Lincoln's death until Sunday, April 16 when "the Secretary had his bed wheeled around so that he could see the tops of the trees of the park opposite, just putting on their Spring foliage, when his eye caught the stars and stripes at half-mast on the War Department, on which he gazed awhile, then, turning to his attendant, said: 'The President is dead.'” Sacramento Daily Union, May 19, 1865.

However, Fanny Seward wrote in her diary that, "Early in the morning, by Father's side, Dr. Nottson [sic] showed me a card on which some one told one of the surgeons that the president was growing worse. Father asked about it." A little later, "While Mr. Stanton was there by the bed Mother said very gently to Father - 'Henry - the president is gone.'" Seward’s nurse, George Vocke, gave an interview that was published in the July 17, 1865 Illinois Staats Zeitung which was later translated and published in the August 2, 1865 Providence Journal. Vocke stated that, “Half an hour after receiving his own wound, Mr. Seward heard of the attack on the President, which his sharp ear gathered from the by-standers, and of the President’s death he was at once informed, on Saturday morning.” (I don't think that Seward was informed "at once." I think the Sewards were either waiting for Stanton to come back so he could be present or once he came back, he told them that the Secretary of State must be told of the death of the president.)

So, was Brooks misinformed or did he make up a good story?

RE: Abram B. Olin - RJNorton - 06-22-2025 06:02 PM

Very perceptive comment, Linda. I do not know the answer. But because both are good stories (as you very correctly say) my money is on good stories rather than factual truth. (None of the folks sitting near the box ever said Booth made a trial run.)

RE: Abram B. Olin - Steve - Yesterday 03:35 AM

(06-21-2025 04:08 PM)gshoub Wrote: Thank you for the responses. I was able to access the Edwards-Steers book online and review the references to A. B. Olin. It was helpful. What I am looking for is any documentation of an interview with Clara Harris other than her affidavit. I have not been able to find anything. I had posted some questions about Harris a couple of years ago on this site, and after spending some time on it, I felt I had gone down a rabbit hole. I thought I would give it a second look to see if I could find anything. What continues to baffle me is the attributions made to her by Noah Brooks about seeing Booth earlier in the evening, as contrasted with her affidavit, which, from my reading, tracks closely to what Rathbone swore to and makes no mention of the earlier sighting.

On 16 April 1865 the New York Herald published an article with purported interviews with Clara Harris and Mary Lincoln:

I don't know what the Herald thought it was doing by publishing these bogus interviews. Maybe somebody gave them to the Herald reporter and the reporter trusted this person, wanting to get the early "scoop" of these interviews. I assume Brooks got his information from this article. Note that this article was published the day before Rathbone and Harris made their affidavits to Olin.

I don't know if this is also something you're looking for, but an 1877 newspaper interview with Harris and Rathbone was posted on this earlier thread:

https://rogerjnorton.com/LincolnDiscussionSymposium/thread-3711-post-89753.html#pid89753