Lincoln at Ford's Theatre

[Dave Taylor]

I've been doing some research on Alice Gray, one of John Wilkes Booth's actress friends. She is one of the five ladies that Booth had photographs of when he was shot and killed. In researching her life I've found that she had a long time connection with John T Ford with Ford hiring her as his leading stock actress over multiple seasons. In writing my piece about Gray it is necessary to get into some of Ford's history as well. When working on the part about Ford's Atheneum (the precursor to Ford's Theatre) I, too, came across the reference to Lincoln attending Ford's Atheneum on May 28, 1862. However, in trying to track it down, I've become rather suspicious about it. At first all I was looking for was some newspaper reference about Lincoln going to Ford's that I could include in my post. However, try as I might I couldn't find one. What's more, when I track down the source of this information I am led to an article published by David Rankin Barbee in the Abraham Lincoln Quarterly. Here is the page from the article that mentions Lincoln attending Ford's Atheneum:

http://quod.lib.umich.edu/a/alajournals/...view=image

Barbee references the National Intelligencer for May 28th and 30th as his source, so I went and checked those newspapers. While those newspapers do mention the singer Clara Kellogg and the performance the Lincolns are supposed to have seen, the newspapers make no reference to Lincoln attending. Kellogg only appeared in Washington for three nights. On May 28th and 29th she performed at Ford's Atheneum, and on May 30th she played at Grover's National Theatre. I can find no newspaper references of Lincoln (or Mrs. Lincoln) having attended either Ford's or Grover's.

Does anyone know of any other references, other than Barbee, that cite Lincoln as having attended Ford's Atheneum on May 28, 1862? Without period evidence, I'm starting to seriously doubt this one.