Did Lincoln pick up Maj. Rathbone amd Miss Harris?

[John Fazio]

(05-23-2013 03:30 PM)RJNorton Wrote:  

(05-23-2013 11:37 AM)John Fazio Wrote:  Please refresh my recollection about the castor oil story. I am only vaguely familiar with it.

John, I mentioned once before I thought this came up in the John Surratt trial, and I am including the relevant testimony here. However, the way I read it, I cannot see this as being definitive that Herold actually delivered castor oil to the White House.

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William S. Thompson recalled and examined.

By Mr. Pierrepont:

Q. Can you give us the date at which Herold was a clerk in your store?

A. From the 1st of March, 1863, until the 4th day of July following.

Q. State whether Mr. Lincoln obtained his medicines there during that time.

A. Yes, sir; he did.

Q. Do you know whether Herold put up any for him?

A. I have examined my books and blotter, to ascertain, as nearly as possible, whether Herold mixed any medicines for him during that time. I find only one article charged by Herold.

Q. Then you have no other means of knowing.

[Mr. Bradley said he could not see the relevancy of this testimony, and desired it to be received subject to his objection.

Mr. Pierrepont said he would endeavor to make it relevant.]

A. I have no other means of knowing.

Cross-examined by Mr. Bradley:

Q. Does it follow because the charge was in Herold's handwriting, that he put the medicine up?

A. Not necessarily; no, sir.

Q. What is the date at which the medicine was put up?

A. June 22, 1863 — a small vial of castor-oil.

Q. What other clerks had you in the store at that time?

A. I had two others — Clinton M. Sears and Charles McGlue.

Q. Where is Sears at this time ?

A. He is dead.

Q. Where is McGlue?

A. He is engaged in a store now on Seventh street, in this city.

Q. In business for himself or as a clerk.

A. As a clerk.

Q. For whom?

A. In a drug store on Seventh street, opposite Taylor's, kept I believe by a man by the name of Cassin.

Roger:

Thank you for this. I had almost forgotten about it. The only comments I have about it are:

1. Herold's date of termination (July 4) roughly coincides with the likely date on which he came aboard the Booth conspiracy, though I had previously read that it was September 4. Perhaps he left Thompson's and went elsewhere for a couple of months and then joined Booth. Booth got started with his recruiting in early August, 1864 (Baltimore: Arnold and O'Laughlen), after his July meeting in Boston with Confederate agents. Herold had been well known to the Surratts for years.

2. It is guesswork, but certainly possible that Herold passed tainted medicines to the White House. There are several reports in the histories of the Lincolns becoming ill at more or less the same time and of suspicions of poisoning. On the scaffold, Herold asked for forgiveness for all the evil he had done. Who can say what he had in mind?

John

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(05-23-2013 08:22 AM)Gene C Wrote:  Good point Joe, I was wondering the same thing.

On the original question, what writers/researchers mention whether the Lincoln's picked up Maj Rathbone and Miss Harris?
For one, Jim Bishop's "The Day Lincoln Was Shot" mentions they were picked up (and Rathbone was dressed as a civilian, although I infer from Booth's diary that may not be correct - " a colonel was at his side" -hard to tell that in civilian clothes)

Gene:

Bishop's work is more historical novel than history. We have to know he is relying entirely on secondary authority for his comment on the subject.

John

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(05-20-2013 07:55 PM)Rhatkinson Wrote:  I respect John's research on this topic, but wonder what his response is to Harris' statement as reported in "Lincoln's Last Night" on 4/29/1865 where she wrote that, "They [President and Mrs. Lincoln] drove to our door in the gayest spirits..."

This would seem to imply that the Rathbone's were picked up, which I realize is contrary to what Noah Brooks and others reported. How do you explain this?

(I found this in the article "The Rathbone Connection" by Frank Rathbun in the July, 1982 issue of the Surratt Courrier.)

Heath

Hello:

I do not have an explanation. I would like to see the entire article so that I can assess its source and context. On its face, it appears to contradict my conclusions and the evidence I offer in support thereof. I feel that there must be more to the story. It sometimes happens that flagrant disparities are explained and reconciled when we have the entire context.

John

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Everyone:

Correction. I had previously said that Clara Harris's first account mentioned the dry run, but not Rathbone's inquiring of Booth as to the nature of his business. That is not true. The first account also contained the inquiry. The second account, given two days later, mentioned neither the dry run nor the inquiry. It is believed she dropped both items because they reflected poorly on her and her fiancee.

John