List of Ford's Theatre Attendees

[J. Beckert]

I've always found Harris' statement about an earlier visit by Booth very intriguing. I'm wondering if for some reason she confused him with S.P. Hanscom who delivered a dispatch to Lincoln at Ford's. His visit is documented by Capt. Theodore McGowan, who is one of the most credible witnesses, as he was seated about 6' from the outer box door on the Dress Circle aisle. Ed Steer's The Lincoln Assassination - The Evidence states Hanscom, editor of The Daily National Republican, had stopped by the White House earlier and was asked to deliver a dispatch to Lincoln at Ford's. Steer's book states "Such requests were not unusual and happened on Lincoln's previous visits to the theater".