What Was The Role of David Herold

[Linda Anderson]

(12-31-2012 07:56 AM)BettyO Wrote:  Good question, Roger. I wondered myself. Obviously it was NOT Verdi -whom I thought was the ONLY doctor attending Seward.

Perhaps Linda would like to chime in here?!

Thanks!

Betty, other doctors were called in after Seward's devastating carriage accident nine days before the attempted assassination. "Physicians were sent for, and Dr. Norris, the Army Medical Director, making a careful examination, found his [Seward's] right shoulder badly dislocated, and his jaw broken on both sides. His partial return to consciousness was accompanied by agonizing pain. The Surgeon-General and others of the medical staff were summoned, anxious consultations were held..." Seward in Washington, Frederick Seward.

Kauffman cites Seward in Washington as his source for Dr. Norris being the last doctor to attend to Seward before Powell's attack.

"Night came; and about ten o'clock, Dr. Norris, the last of the physicians who called during the evening, had taken his leave."

Does this mean that Powell was watching Seward's house, saw Dr. Norris enter at some point and then waited for him to leave? William H. Bell said in his statement that Powell came to the door about five minutes after Dr. Norris left.