Assassination Trivia

[Jim Garrett]

Trivia question: How long is the coil of rope that was found in Edman Spangler's room and is now on display at the Ford's Theatre museum?

The exact length is...........very long!!!!

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It's interesting that you should ask about Rathbone, Bill. Maybe someone on this forum knows the answer about the severity of the wound to his arm, but I don't believe that I have ever read any detailed information on what happened to Rathbone that night. I believe that he passed out at the Petersen House and was sent home, but I don't know anything else.

In fact, Rathbone and Clara sort of fade out of most pictures until we learn of his diplomatic posting to Germany and the horror of what happened over there. It's been about ten years since I read Henry and Clara, and I know that Tom Mallon had to fictionalize parts of it. Loved that book, though, and it's the closest to a biography of the two that I know of.

I believe Henry's wound was roughly from shoulder to elbow. Some accounts say an artery was nicked. He did pretty profusely. Clara staunched the blood with her hankerchef in the hallway of the Petersen House. He was sent home. I wonder if his next-door-neighbor Dan Sickles came over to visit.