Who is this person?

[Rob Wick]

In 2011, based on a thread that I saw here, I emailed Clinton the following message:

Dear Ms. Clinton,

On page 314 of your book on Mary Todd Lincoln, you write, "Abraham Lincoln himself was carrying a pistol on the night he died," and in your footnotes you mention that Louise Taper reminded you of this. I am curious as to where she sourced this as I have never heard this before in the 35+ years I've studied Lincoln and his assassination. In every book I've ever read on Lincoln or on his murder, to the best of my knowledge, no mention of this has ever been made.

I would appreciate knowing where Ms. Taper got this information.

Thank you.

Robert G. Wick

She responded:

Dear Mr. Wick,

I was just as surprised as you were to find out this information.

it is my understanding that Louise Taper got this information from Thomas Schwartz--who was for several decades associated with the Abraham Lincoln Library in Springfield, Illinois, and Dr. Schwartz will be verifying this in his forthcoming book.

Many thanks for your interest.

Best,


Catherine Clinton
Chair Professor of U.S. History
Queen's University Belfast

Of course, that's also assuming that I am correct that the picture is of Clinton.

Best
Rob