Lincoln at Ford's Theatre

[STS Lincolnite]

(01-31-2016 06:36 PM)Dave Taylor Wrote:  I also find it funny how Stoddard's account differs from Barbee's article, in that Stoddard mentions how Mrs. Lincoln had to practically drag Lincoln to the theater that night.

Dave, what is your overall impression of the reliability of Barbee's work?

I did some research in those papers some years ago. I found Barbee's work to be somewhat uneven overall. In various things I read there were some errors present (of course we all make those from time to time), propagating forward incorrect information, failure to use some other available information, and among other critiques, some strange conclusions drawn from information. All that being said, I found the information housed there to be a very good starting place (not a finishing place) and got great leads that directed me towards better primary (and in some cases secondary) source material. I also concede I was looking for information in a very narrow scope and time did not allow me to scour the entire breadth of the materials in the collection.

Interested to hear your thoughts and the thoughts of others who might have used the Barbee papers.

Thanks.