Edwin Stanton

[L Verge]

I checked the online source that backwards Abraham posted in support of his comment and found it interesting that the owner of the blog has a very Russian name -- and also that every statement that is made refers to some "online source" -- not really a very reliable source for castigating a person's reputation, imo.

My intention here is not to malign someone with a Russian background. However, about twenty years ago, I had a very interesting experience corresponding with a 15-year-old student from the Czech Republic who was fascinated with the Lincoln assassination story and was using his background of learning "facts" from a Russian textbook. As you might imagine, some of the textbook's theories on the assassination (and its theses on American history in general) were quite "interesting." His lessons from this American lasted for several years.

About five years after we first started corresponding, a taxi pulled up in front of Surratt House one day, and a foreign gentleman came in and asked for me. It was my student! His visit coincided with a symposium at Ford's Theatre where many of the well-known Lincoln historians were speaking or attending, so off we went to Tenth Street. We also had a chance to travel over the Booth escape route. What a great experience for me.

Jan is now in his thirties and has a very nice job in the Czech Republic. He is still interested in our history and continues to be a member of the Surratt Society. I hear from him at least once a year.