Program on C-Span this weekend

[L Verge]

Fifty pages into the book, and my negativity is melting away. I am enjoying the book! Whether or not Mrs. Surratt ever told Bingham a secret that would destroy the Republic, or whether or not Bingham refused on his deathbed to reveal the secret to his doctor, author Stewart has given a brief, above-average highlight of the assassination and the questions of why and on the orders of whom while creating a fictional backdrop that has even taken me into the coal fields of Ohio so far.

I am especially intrigued to see where he takes the doctor when it comes to a colored patient from Maryland by the name of Rachel Lemus. For those of you who know the Surratt history, Rachel Semus was an enslaved woman rented by the Surratts. Throughout the years following the assassination, Aunt Rachel remained protective of Mrs. Surratt's name. This is reflected in an interview that she gave to a D.C. reporter in the 1890s. I want to see how the author weaves Rachel Lemus into the story.

[L Verge]

I never thought I would say that I am thoroughly enjoying a historical novel about the Lincoln assassination, but I am. The Lincoln Deception is much better than I expected it to be, and Mr. Stewart has left us with some great points to speculate upon. I even have a good idea of who the love interest will turn out to be.

Not much else to report on Aunt Rachel, but we're dealing with the likes of Creston Clarke (one of Asia's sons) Louis Weichmann, the NY Cotton Exchange, race riots in 1900 NYC, and more. And, Jerry Madonna, you are going to like one of the theories that the hero has developed.

[RJNorton]

You are almost making it sound like Mary Surratt told Bingham about 178-1/2 Water Street in NYC???

[L Verge]

A little more uptown than that address... Right now, I'm trying to figure out which characters are real and which are fictional. I'm stuck on one by the name of Samuel Barstow. I'm thinking fictional, but he is very interesting. Think Confederate officer turned Yankee trader.

[RJNorton]

(12-24-2013 12:38 PM)L Verge Wrote:  Think Confederate officer turned Yankee trader.

Would something along those lines be part of "a secret that would destroy the Republic?" I keep thinking it must be something totally shocking such as Andrew Johnson was unwittingly (or otherwise) an accomplice in the assassination.

[Gene C]

(12-24-2013 12:38 PM)L Verge Wrote:  A little more uptown than that address... Right now, I'm trying to figure out which characters are real and which are fictional. I'm stuck on one by the name of Samuel Barstow. I'm thinking fictional, but he is very interesting. Think Confederate officer turned Yankee trader.

Maybe it's a secret code anograhm for Andrew Potter

[L Verge]

Think about someone being involved if Johnson were out of the picture...

[RJNorton]

Lafayette Foster?

[L Verge]

Christmas managed to curtail my reading of The Lincoln Deception, but I was able to finish it today. As for Roger's guess above of Lafayette Sabin Foster -- BINGO! Think weak Republican from Connecticut who represented the cotton mills and interests of his state.

Again, let me stress that this book is a work of fiction, but very well done. Personally, I do not believe that Mrs. Surratt ever revealed anything to John A. Bingham. There appears to be no record that he ever conversed with her; nor do I think that she was high enough up on the conspiracy food chain to be able to tell him of anything significant enough to bring down the republic.

Ignoring that, here's the basis of David O. Stewart's fictional plot: As I stated before, Stewart writes that the plot was a coup d'etat - not the simple assassination of Lincoln, Johnson, Seward, and maybe Grant. His line is that the plot was financed by Northern traders in cotton and tobacco with ties to the Confederacy. On the Confederate side, he ties the plot more to military leaders than to political leaders (to my dismay, Judah Benjamin is not mentioned once!). He also throws in some Union military leaders who might assist - like William Tecumseh Sherman.

By the time this novel is set - 1900 - many of those involved are dead, but those still alive are duty bound to keep the secret. The one military leader chosen by the author to be the remaining bad guy is Gen. James Longstreet. The civilian bad guys that remain are tied to the Cotton Exchange in NYC and to a boss at Tammany Hall. I believe they all may be fictitious names for real financiers, but there is one name that has me intrigued -- Julius Spencer. The father of J.P. Morgan was Junius Spencer Morgan, who founded the firm that we now know as J.P. Morgan. Junius was partnered with a man named Peabody during our Civil War, and their firm was the U.S. financial representative to England. The fictitious partner in the book is named Samuel Barstow, and the Tammany Hall culprit is named Boss Croker (Boss Tweed?).

Here's the fun part: Julius Spencer in the book is a cousin of Lafayette Sabin Foster. Wall Street money meets an open political door and finds a politician with little clout and one who can be controlled. Now we just have to remove some obstacles, whose names are Lincoln, Johnson, STANTON, and Grant. Betty O is going to have a heart attack at this point because the author calls Powell stupid! He goes after the wrong guy - his target was supposed to be Stanton, not Seward.

With Foster at the head of government, he becomes the puppet of the financiers. If he doesn't, they intend to bring McClellan into office. In any case, the idea is to merge the old Confederacy with the new U.S. wheelers-and-dealers and gain peace as well as to explore the possibilities of acquiring Canada and Mexico - and of course, making a ton of money for themselves along the way.

Are you up to speed on this? Do you need a score card yet? There is one more little tidbit that may or may not please Jenny on this forum. The hero of the book is a Dr. Fraser, real name Campbell, who is supposedly the doctor who heard Bingham almost reveal the secret on his deathbed. Fraser sets out to solve the mystery and finds love along the way (sigh!). She is a lovely, young widow by the name of Eliza Scott, who is manager for Creston Clarke, Asia Booth's son and nephew to JWB. Eliza was raised for part of her life by Asia and became an actress for awhile. Creston kept her in the family and made her his manager. Are you ready for the big one?

In the book, Eliza is really the illegitimate daughter of John Wilkes Booth and his mistress, Ella Starr. Don't laugh - it is possible. Remember that Booth brought Ella to D.C. about four months before the assassination, that she wrote a letter urging her love to meet with her, that she attempted suicide after learning what he had done. I'm not saying that it is probable, but it is possible.

I thoroughly enjoyed Dr. Fraser's partner throughout the book - a black man by the name of Speed Cook. Speed is based on the real-life baseball great Moses Fleetwood (Fleet) Walker of Steubenville, Ohio (Stanton's hometown) who was the last African American to play in the big leagues between 1888 and 1947. Walker was a hard fighter for black rights and even wrote a pamphlet in the early-1900s advocating that his people should return to Africa because they would never be treated fairly in the U.S. In this book, Speed/Fleet is really a James Bond figure. With a knife and his brain, he can get himself and Fraser out of more trouble than Bond ever could with all his fancy gadgets -- and Speed is a happily married man who doesn't need a harem to surround him... His thoughts and the incidents that surround him, however, give a brief glimpse into the early-20th century's race problems.

Okay, there's my nutshell evaluation. I am not sure that one can call a book about assassination a fun read, but I thoroughly enjoyed this one. I love good murder mysteries anyhow, but it is even more fun when one knows the background information and can make educated guesses as one follows the plot. After you finish reading every scholarly tome, you need to read something like this book to clear the intellectual cobwebs from your mind.

[RJNorton]

I wonder if Booth even knew the president pro tempore of the Senate, Lafayette Foster, was next in line to the presidency if both Lincoln and Johnson were killed. From what little I've read I think Booth thought Seward was next in the line of succession, not Foster. Is there any evidence Booth knew Foster was next in line?

[L Verge]

Few people today know the line of succession; but if you want to follow this fictional plot line, the brains behind it was a cousin of Foster, so he would know. This book makes Booth nothing but a puppet doing what he is told - along with his ragtag compatriots. I think it was the author's way of covering all bases: North, South, political, financial, military, simple conspiracy vs. grand conspiracy, etc.

I did catch a few minor errors: Spangler holding Booth's horse, Aunt Rachel being a free woman while working for the Surratts, and the biggest was the proposition that, if Foster didn't work out, they would bring George McClellan back from Europe and install him as president. I didn't think McClellan went to Europe until several years after the war?

BTW: Speaking of McClellan, I decided early on to dislike the man; so I have never really paid more than a cursory thought about his politics, other than his being a peace candidate in 1864. What was his position on the issue of slavery? Likewise, this book throws in the thought that Billy Sherman had once taught in the South and liked the area and could be persuaded to work with its people. What were his views on slavery? Please think 1860 if you decide to answer.

[J. Beckert]

(12-29-2013 06:20 AM)RJNorton Wrote:  I wonder if Booth even knew the president pro tempore of the Senate, Lafayette Foster, was next in line to the presidency if both Lincoln and Johnson were killed. From what little I've read I think Booth thought Seward was next in the line of succession, not Foster. Is there any evidence Booth knew Foster was next in line?

Didn't John Coyle say he explained the line of succession to Booth shortly before (maybe the day of) the assassination?

[RJNorton]

That's right, Joe. That is what I was thinking of also as it's the only reference I can think of regarding Booth inquiring about the order of succession. And Coyle incorrectly told Booth that Seward was next in line after Johnson.

Coyle's memory of really having this April 14, 1865, discussion with Booth is a question mark in my mind. I checked the article entitled "Why Seward?" by Michael Maione and James O. Hall in the Spring 1998 edition of the Lincoln Herald. The Booth-Coyle conversation is cited in the article, and the authors' source is an article by Coyle in the Washington Post of April 17, 1898. So we are relying on Coyle's memory 33 years after his conversation with Booth allegedly occurred.

[J. Beckert]

It is suspect, especially when coupled with the fact that he said Booth also gave him a letter explaining his motives on the 14th.

[BettyO]

Puts me in mind of another excellent Lincoln Conspiracy novel, The Cosgrove Report....remember that one, Laurie - back in the early 1980s?