Assassination Trivia

[Anita]

It was Corporal James Tanner! Thanks to your thread "A Little Known Person" his name was at the top of my head.

Another individual who was attending Grover’s that night was Corporal James Tanner, a wounded Union veteran whose training in shorthand would prove invaluable later. Tanner described the moment when the news of Lincoln’s assassination reached the theatre:

“While sitting there witnessing the play about ten o’clock or rather a little after, the entrance door was thrown open and a man exclaimed, “President Lincoln is assassinated in his private box at Ford’s!” Instantly all was excitement and a terrible rush commenced and someone cried out, “Sit down, it is a ruse of the pickpockets.” The audience generally agreed to this, for the most of them sat down, and the play went on; soon, however, a gentleman came out from behind the scenes and informed us that the sad news was too true. We instantly dispersed.”
https://lincolnconspirators.com/2014/01/...ssination/