The “rubber box” or did Laura Keene indeed held Lincoln’s head?

[STS Lincolnite]

(09-18-2014 07:09 AM)Eva Elisabeth Wrote:  How much time (estimatedly) passed in the box from the shot till A. L. was carried out of the box? I remember reading testimonies (think it was Rathbone and/or one of the doctors, can't check my books right now) that (I believe) went like "the time from the shot till he was placed in the bed didn't exceed 20 (30?) minutes". Was there any statement about how much time passed in the box? If not, what would you think?

Eva,

See post #45 in this thread. I posed a similar question - in a lot more wordy fasion (sorry about that!).

Leale states 20 minutes from time shot until place in bed at Peterson house. I think the time could have been anywhere from 20-40 minutes.

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(09-18-2014 07:20 AM)Jim Garrett Wrote:  I believe that the time between when Lincoln was shot and when he was removed was 20-25 minutes. I have found it interesting that when they took the President out of the theatre, they didn't have a clear destination in mind.

Jim, I find this intersting as well. At one time (of course I can't remember where) I read that the reason he was removed without a specific place to go was that people felt it would be an emabarrassment to the legacy of the President for him to die in such a "low place" as a theatre. The main aim was to get him out of Ford's - and get him anywhere else - in case he died quickly.