Why was Booth admitted into the presidential box?

[John Fazio]

Mr. Fazio,

I do distinctly remember reading a while back that a messenger-was he from the State Department?-delivered a message to Lincoln which he read and put to the side. He decided that it didn't need his immediate attention.

Does anyone know what the message was? Was it located in the State Box when the other items(opera glasses, etc) were recovered?

I simply cannot wait to read your book. To say that it sounds fascinating is an understatement!

LincolnToddfan:

The "messenger" was Simon P. Hanscom, editor of the Washington National Republican, and a favorite of Lincoln's. The notion that he personally delivered an envelope to Lincoln that night, in the presidential box, is another of the many enduring myths that distort the history of the assassination. Hanscom could not have been clearer, when he wrote of his experience that night, in his paper (National Republican, June 8, 1865; see also Bryan, 221; Reck, 92, 93):

"We went there for the purpose of delivering to the President a message, which we were requested to convey from the White House...upon reaching the door we found no other person belonging to the Presidential household than Mr. Charles Forbes, one of Mr. Lincoln's footmen and messengers...As the play was progressing, we requested Forbes to hand the dispatch to the President." (See also Bryan 178, 179)

To my knowledge, the message was never identified and the envelope never recovered.

John