What Was The Role of David Herold

[Linda Anderson]

(12-31-2012 06:01 AM)RJNorton Wrote:  Do we know the name of the doctor who departed? I am assuming there was a horse or buggy in front of Seward's home when Powell and Herold(?) arrived, but how would they know it belonged to a doctor?

I wonder how long Powell was watching the house before he rang the doorbell. Maybe he saw Dr. Norris arrive with a doctor's kit. As Mike Kauffman wrote in American Brutus, a doctor in the house would certainly ruin Booth's plan.

Here is another interview Robinson gave describing Powell's arrival. National Tribune, May 8, 1902; originally published in the New York Sun. Chronicling America.

"A few minutes after 10 o'clock I hear a man's voice in the vestibule below. Miss Seward heard the voice also and we went to the door to hear the better. We learned afterwards that the speakers were the negro porter and a stranger. The stranger had dashed up on horseback, thrown himself to the ground and hurriedly sought admittance. He said he was an assistant of Dr. Verdi, and had been sent to the house with medicine and special instructions."