Assassination Trivia

[Joe Di Cola]

You got it Roger. Jack died in Europe after an operatrion. His father, Robert Todd Lincoln, brought him back to have him placed in the tomb in Springfield. He was then removed to be reinterred with his father in Arlington.

How old was he when he passed?

Bill,

He was 16 when he died.

Joe

[RJNorton]

An actor who had a minor role in Our American Cousin claimed he heard the shot, then climbed up the side of the State Box and saw the president's wound. Many years after the fact he claimed, "I took one look and then fled...all of us did. We didn't want to be implicated in the terrible affair." This man also claimed he was friends with Tad and frequently went to dances along with Tad. He said he was 20 years old at the time of the shooting. He was so shocked at what happened at Ford's that he stated he never acted again during his entire life.

Who was this?

[J. Beckert]

I originally thought Wm. Ferguson, but he continued acting. One of the Gourlay boys?

[RJNorton]

Sorry, Joe. It was someone else...a far more obscure name than the folks you mentioned.

[RJNorton]

Hint #1: He claimed he was in the wings just walking out onto the stage when the shot was fired.

[RJNorton]

Hint #2: He stated that Booth broke his leg in the leap to the stage, and that JWB was "crying in pain" as he ran out the theater.

P.S. In other threads I have given a general opinion on the reliability of some folks' recollections from the 1880's, 1890's and beyond. This man's recollections came in 1929, 64 years after the fact. So you can probably guess how I feel about the probable validity of this gentleman's reminisces.

[tblunk]

Hint #2: He stated that Booth broke his leg in the leap to the stage, and that JWB was "crying in pain" as he ran out the theater.

P.S. In other threads I have given a general opinion on the reliability of some folks' recollections from the 1880's, 1890's and beyond. This man's recollections came in 1929, 64 years after the fact. So you can probably guess how I feel about the probable validity of this gentleman's reminisces.

G. G. Spear?

[Rsmyth]

E. A. “Ned” Emerson ?

[RJNorton]

Tom and Rich, neither guess is correct.

Hint #3: The answer is on pp. 168-169 of a book that has been mentioned in other threads on the forum.

[RJNorton]

Hint #4: It's hard to read, at least on my screen, but he's listed in the playbill for Our American Cousin.

[J. Beckert]

G.A. Parkhurst or L. Johnson. I cheated, too.

[RJNorton]

Joe, neither one of them is correct.

[Eva Elisabeth]

E. A. Sothern?

[RJNorton]

I am sorry, Eva, not him.

Folks, I am out of clues. It was Charles Francis Byrne who was playing Captain De Boots in Our American Cousin. My aging eyes think it looks like it's spelled Byrnes in the playbill. His statement is on pp. 168-169 of Tim Good's We Saw Lincoln Shot: One Hundred Eyewitness Accounts. The account was from February 12, 1929.

[J. Beckert]

That was a good one.