The Bixby Letter

[Steve]

(07-14-2017 04:52 AM)RJNorton Wrote:  

(07-13-2017 07:43 PM)Steve Wrote:  Also, I'd like to point out the accounts of Nicholas Murray Butler.

Regarding Butler...There was at one time a story that circulated which indicated that Robert Lincoln had discovered some written evidence (in his father's papers) concerning the assassination but decided to burn it rather then reveal its contents. I believe Butler was the one who told the story about the burning of the papers. I think historians have discredited Butler's story. I am curious if there is relevant information about this story in Nicholas Miraculous.

Neither the story about Robert Lincoln burning papers or anything about the Bixby Letter is in the book, as far as I can tell by the index. The book focuses more on Butler's political career (he was Taft's Vice Presidential running mate in 1912) than on academic debates he was involved in.

I did find another source that mentions the Robert Lincoln story. The notion that Robert burned papers that related to the assassination conspiracy was started by a conspiracy theorist named Philip Van Doren Stern who believed Secretary of War Edwin Stanton was involved in the assassination. In 1939, Butler tried to refute Stern's claims, saying that only private Lincoln family papers were burned by Robert:

https://books.google.com/books?id=LkpXNY...22&f=false

I'll look over Nicholas Miraculous to see if there are any other stories that might be relevant.