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Lindsey · 08-03-2012, 10:05 AM

No "poor Davey" I didn't think I'd even have to say that he's my choice! I want to know where the heck his confession is too....even he even knows...

Gene C · 08-03-2012, 10:13 AM

Some Quesenberry tea or scones might be nice

BettyO · (This post was last modified: 08-03-2012 10:16 AM by BettyO.)

(08-03-2012 10:13 AM)Gene C Wrote: Some Quesenberry tea or scones might be nice

How about some of Mom Surratt's famous Chocolate Chip Cookies?!

(08-03-2012 10:13 AM)Gene C Wrote: Some Quesenberry tea or scones might be nice

Laurie Verge · 08-03-2012, 12:31 PM

I should warn you that references to Mrs. Surratt's famous chocolate chip cookies may raise my hackles. Years ago, we had a commercial tour company that tried to steal our Booth Escape Route Tours. Several of Mrs. Surratt's descendants signed up for their tour thinking that it was the Surratt Society's.

After taking the tour at Surratt House, the participants got back on the bus and the tour's narrator sarcastically said, "Well, how was your tour? Did they tell you what wonderful chocolate chip cookies Mrs. Surratt used to make?"

Let's just say that the Surratt descendants were none to pleased with that comment. They did not figure out that they were on a non-Surratt tour until they contacted the museum to complain about the narrator. Trust me, the complaint was passed on.

It was especially frustrating because his comments insinuated that the Surratt House Museum declares Mrs. Surratt's innocence -- just a poor widow lady who didn't know what was going on.
That has never been our mission. Our purpose is not to exonerate Mrs. Surratt or even debate her guilt or innocence while on tour. We relate the documentable facts and hope that our visitors will leave with enough interest to do some reading and/or research on their own. PS: This is being written by the museum's director - who understands why Mrs. Surratt was arrested, tried, and convicted.

One other chocolate chip cookie story: For thirty years, we held three nights of Christmas Candlelight Tours at the museum and served punch and cookies at the end. We also had Union and Confederate re-enactors stationed on the grounds who would escort groups from our Visitors' Center to the historic house and "cross them through the lines." They also set up camp and discussed history with the visitors when they exited the museum.

Anyhow, we had one overly-enthusiastic Confederate soldier who certainly enjoyed the cookies. On one occasion, however, he swore that, when the plate of cookies was passed to him to make a choice, a big chocolate chip cookie levitated off the plate and into his hand! He was certain that Mrs. Surratt had caused the levitation and was telling him that it was the best cookie on the plate. My dining room guides did not remember it happening that way, but...

I love a good chocolate chip cookie, but they always bring back memories!

I should mention that this re-enactor lived in Dent's Palace in Charles County, Maryland. The home earlier belonged to the ancestors of Julia Dent Grant - as in Mrs. Ulysses S. Grant.

LincolnMan · 08-03-2012, 12:34 PM

Betty and Laurie: sounds like the stuff of a great reality show! On the History Channel!

Laurie Verge · 08-03-2012, 12:40 PM

Everyone keeps asking me when I'm going to write a book on the assassination. My answer is NEVER. I am not a researcher - I'm a grape vine. I absorb what other people find and pass it on to others in the field (with permission, of course) in order to further our knowledge.

However, if I ever write a book, it will be on my experiences at Surratt House and the people I have met - and had to deal with - over the years. Some are happy stories, some are sad, and others have caused me to have blood pressure problems.

Linda Anderson · 08-03-2012, 03:39 PM

Lindsey, since you only have one question for Davey, can you ask him for me why he stuck with Booth when he (Davey) could have easily gotten away? Did he not understand the danger he was in or did loyalty to Booth take precedence over self-preservation?

Karen S. Campbell · 08-03-2012, 06:58 PM

I'd ask JW Booth if he actually died in that barn in Port Royal, Virginia. His answer, hopefully, would put an end to the conspiracy theories about his life after the assassination; that he lived in Texas and Oklahoma until 1903!

08-05-2012, 08:48 PM

I'd ask Powell who the other people involved were

JB Banning · 08-06-2012, 07:33 AM

I would like to ask Forbes what Booth showed him or said to him that convinced Forbes to allow him into the box.

RJNorton · (This post was last modified: 08-06-2012 10:01 AM by RJNorton.)

I will second you, Joe!

Joe, it could be that was in the papers Captain Edwin E. Bedee picked up in the street and gave to Stanton. Were there any eyewitnesses who said Forbes entered the box and gave the card to Lincoln?

LincolnMan · 08-06-2012, 07:41 AM

J B Fanning: one of the many mysteries in the assassination saga!

JB Banning · 08-06-2012, 01:57 PM

(08-06-2012 07:40 AM)RJNorton Wrote: I will second you, Joe!

Joe, it could be that was in the papers Captain Edwin E. Bedee picked up in the street and gave to Stanton. Were there any eyewitnesses who said Forbes entered the box and gave the card to Lincoln?

Roger, I don't know of any but on another site, a poster (BoothBuff) says that someone testified that he did. If he posts here perhaps he can expand upon that.

Joe

Lindsey · 08-07-2012, 09:21 AM

Good question Karen--I hope he's laughing at all of us trying to figure it out--I should same only some though as I think most of us know he died in the barn. Or perhaps he would love the controversy so much that he'd keep his mouth shut.

Linda--That is one of my questions but I have more than just that one!

RJNorton · (This post was last modified: 08-07-2012 04:12 PM by RJNorton.)

Joe, I talked to Joe Beckert (BoothBuff) this morning. He's on vacation and is having problems logging on. He'll be back on the site whenever he can make the connection.

He said it was Dr. George Brainard Todd who said that the card was indeed taken into the box by an usher (probably a reference to Forbes). If this be true, then Lincoln could have put it in his pocket, and it could then have fallen out as he was being carried across the street to the Petersen House. It could then have been tucked in with the papers Bedee picked up in the street and gave to Stanton. W. Emerson Reck writes, regarding these papers, they "are still a mystery unsolved." One guess is that they are tucked away among thousands of other pieces of paper at the Library of Congress.

Joe, it's a long shot, but it's at least possible (in theory, anyway), that the card exists and will someday be discovered.