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

[Eva Elisabeth]

Thanks, Roger. Graf Henneke's (I bet his ancestors came from Schleswig-Holstein) biography was published in 1990, so it's just sure the clipping dates back earlier than this...

I assume you don't know when Emerson stated the " handsome yellow satin dress"?

The point is that most likely for the witnesses anything Lincoln was more important than the color of Laura Keene's dress. On the other hand I really find the floral design too eye-catching to leave out WHEN mentioning the color at all (well, both eyewitnesses of the dress color were men...)

Usually actors would wear the same dress/costume for all performances of the respective production. I wonder if Laura Keene did?

As for the magically-expanding rubber box - Maj. Rathbone testified that "several persons...were allowed to enter". How many persons could be considered "several"?

[STS Lincolnite]

(09-14-2014 02:34 PM)RJNorton Wrote:  

(09-14-2014 02:08 PM)Eva Elisabeth Wrote:  2. Whatever the distance or illumination was, I hardly can believe no one would have seen and mentioned a(n ikat) design of (bunches of) of roses (or did I overread this in a witness' statement?).

Eva, I found this:

"The Act III dress has never been located – only pieces, or fragments – some of which are in museums, and some of which are in private collections. The description of the supposed dress (Henneke, page 212) – “pale gray moire silk… bunches of roses… detachable cuffs” – is end-noted by Henneke as taken from a Baltimore Sun clipping of 18 August of an unspecified year from the Hoblitzelle Theatre Arts Library at the University of Texas. This is the only known description of the dress that has surfaced, but because the date of the clipping is unknown as well as the original source of the information, it is difficult to assess its validity."

http://civilwar.gratzpa.org/2012/02/the-...ura-keene/

That's interesting. Without a firm date given for the description, it's hard to say whether that description is of the same dress that was worn on the night of April 14. I would be curious to know how often the cast of a play changed what costume they used in a given scene from production to production, city to city, etc.

[RJNorton]

(09-14-2014 05:39 PM)Eva Elisabeth Wrote:  I assume you don't know when Emerson stated the " handsome yellow satin dress"?

Eva, the citation here looks like it goes to this article which I do not have:

Briggs, Emily Edson. "Assassination Night." Philadelphia Weekly Times, 29 December 1877.

[J. Beckert]

I don't know if you can post it Roger, but on page 90 of The Restoration of Ford's Theater there's a drawing of how the back of Ford's looked that includes the north and south additions. The south addition shows a set of stairs going from ground level to the second floor, where the lounge was located. Remembering that Booth had to cross under the stage to get to the south side tells me there was a door somewhere on the south wall that lead into the alley near Taltavul's. The illustration on page 91 shows this.

[loetar44]

(09-14-2014 02:13 PM)Jim Garrett Wrote:  The alley between the theatre and the saloon was a covered alleyway. My understanding is that there was indeed a stairway leading up to the lounge that was part of the second floor. The Fords built the Star Saloon building as part of the reconstruction project after the December 62 Theatre fire. It wasn't a secret alley, it just that if you weren't employed or associated with the theatre, you wouldn't have a reason to know about the side stairway.

Thanks Jim, one more question: how reliable are the stories that surround the Gourlays? Some examples:

- Thomas Gourlay took one of the flags draped over the front of the State Box and placed it beneath Lincoln's head as a cushion. This flag was stained with blood from Lincoln's wound.
- Thomas Gourlay was one of the men who helped the doctors carry Lincoln to the Petersen House.
- Thomas Gourlay later kept the flag, but he and his children secretly kept it in a family trunk for many years; just prior to his death in 1885, he gave the flag to his daughter Jeannie.
- Ned Spangler came to the door of the Gourlays, but Thomas Gourlay did not admitting him.
- Thomas Gourlay was part-time stage manager at Ford’s.
- Four of Thomas Gourlay’s children were in Ford’s Theatre — two daughters were cast members in “Our American Cousin” (Jeannie and Maggie, true) and two sons were in the audience (Thomas and Robert, not proven).
- Thomas Gourlay’s son Robert had seen Booth with Spangler when he went to Taltavull’s Saloon during the intermission after the first act.
- Robert Gourlay was one of the first to rise in his seat and shouted “Its Booth, its Booth.”
- Booth shoved Jeannie Gourlay into a pile of scenery as he rushed past, also stabbing her fiancée Withers (and wounding him in the neck). Withers was stabbed, his coat torn open, that's true, but was Jeannie there?

And last but not least:
- Thomas Gourlay led Laura Keene to the State Box via a route only “known to the regular company”.

[Eva Elisabeth]

Thanks, Roger! As for Keene-in-the-box (once more) - isn't it strange that Maj. Rathbone made not any mention of her entering and of such an impressive "star actress cradled the president's head" scene if it really happened?

[RobertLC]

And remember that neither Dr. Leale nor Dr. Taft mentioned her in their 1865 accounts of action in the State Box.

[Jim Garrett]

Kees, I will start with the last first. I think the Jeannie Gourlay may have added a touch when she said that the pathway was only known to the company, however I think it's fair to say that the back entrance was not commonly known. Overall, I believe the information that has come from Thomas through Jeannie and Thomas Jr has the ring of truth. I don't think Jeannie fabricated information. Much of this will be addressed in an upcoming book written by Rich Smyth with minor contributions from yuours truly and fellow symposium member Jim Page. Look for release hopefully by the end of the year.

[L Verge]

This may be a stupid question, but how did Lincoln get from the rocking chair to the floor? Did Leale examine him first in the chair before Taft could arrive? Was Leale able to extract him from the chair to the floor before Taft arrived? Was Lincoln placed on the floor with his feet near the supports to the railing, or "horizontally" to the railing in the space between the two doors? Where was the rocking chair shoved so that its rockers wouldn't be in the way (yes, I have a thing against rocking chairs thanks to lots of bruised ankles as a child!)?

I am continually struggling with the visual aspects of too many people and objects in too little space. I even want to know where Lincoln's overcoat and shawl ended up...what about Mrs. Lincoln's and Clara Harris's cloaks? If Henry Rathbone's wound was gushing like a fountain, was blood found on any or all of the furniture or draperies or walls - or was it confined just to his clothing?

[STS Lincolnite]

(09-14-2014 07:39 PM)L Verge Wrote:  This may be a stupid question, but how did Lincoln get from the rocking chair to the floor? Did Leale examine him first in the chair before Taft could arrive? Was Leale able to extract him from the chair to the floor before Taft arrived? Was Lincoln placed on the floor with his feet near the supports to the railing, or "horizontally" to the railing in the space between the two doors? Where was the rocking chair shoved so that its rockers wouldn't be in the way (yes, I have a thing against rocking chairs thanks to lots of bruised ankles as a child!)?

I am continually struggling with the visual aspects of too many people and objects in too little space. I even want to know where Lincoln's overcoat and shawl ended up...what about Mrs. Lincoln's and Clara Harris's cloaks? If Henry Rathbone's wound was gushing like a fountain, was blood found on any or all of the furniture or draperies or walls - or was it confined just to his clothing?

From Dr. Leale's 1867 statement:
"With the assistance of two gentlemen I immediately placed him in a recumbent position..."

I would assume this meant they took him out of the chair and laid him down. Assuming one of the gentlemen was Rathbone, that means at least one other man was in the room along with Leale, Mary, Clara and Rathbone at the time. If it was not Rathbone (who may not have been in a condition to help at that time, that would mean 2 additional men were already in the room at the time Leale performed his initial examination.

He goes on to say:
"I asked a gentleman near me to cut his coat and shirt off..."

Not sure if that was the same man (or one of the men) that helped lower AL to the floor or another man all together.

[RobertLC]

            Leale wrote the same thing in his 1865 account. Here are two pages of his signed true copies of his original notes.

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Oops! One page got posted twice.
Sorry!

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Oops! One page got posted twice.
Sorry!

[RJNorton]

(09-14-2014 06:06 PM)J. Beckert Wrote:  I don't know if you can post it Roger, but on page 90 of The Restoration of Ford's Theater there's a drawing of how the back of Ford's looked that includes the north and south additions. The south addition shows a set of stairs going from ground level to the second floor, where the lounge was located. Remembering that Booth had to cross under the stage to get to the south side tells me there was a door somewhere on the south wall that lead into the alley near Taltavul's. The illustration on page 91 shows this.

Joe, here they are. The first is from p. 90, and the second is from p. 91:

[loetar44]

(09-14-2014 07:22 PM)Jim Garrett Wrote:  Kees, I will start with the last first. I think the Jeannie Gourlay may have added a touch when she said that the pathway was only known to the company, however I think it's fair to say that the back entrance was not commonly known. Overall, I believe the information that has come from Thomas through Jeannie and Thomas Jr has the ring of truth. I don't think Jeannie fabricated information. Much of this will be addressed in an upcoming book written by Rich Smyth with minor contributions from yuours truly and fellow symposium member Jim Page. Look for release hopefully by the end of the year.

Looking forward to the upcoming book! Please keep me informed.

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(09-15-2014 05:18 AM)RJNorton Wrote:  

(09-14-2014 06:06 PM)J. Beckert Wrote:  I don't know if you can post it Roger, but on page 90 of The Restoration of Ford's Theater there's a drawing of how the back of Ford's looked that includes the north and south additions. The south addition shows a set of stairs going from ground level to the second floor, where the lounge was located. Remembering that Booth had to cross under the stage to get to the south side tells me there was a door somewhere on the south wall that lead into the alley near Taltavul's. The illustration on page 91 shows this.

Joe, here they are. The first is from p. 90, and the second is from p. 91:

Thanks for posting the images Roger.

[loetar44]

(09-14-2014 02:13 PM)Jim Garrett Wrote:  The alley between the theatre and the saloon was a covered alleyway. My understanding is that there was indeed a stairway leading up to the lounge that was part of the second floor. The Fords built the Star Saloon building as part of the reconstruction project after the December 62 Theatre fire. It wasn't a secret alley, it just that if you weren't employed or associated with the theatre, you wouldn't have a reason to know about the side stairway.

Thanks Jim, Joe and Roger!

And thanks to the Historic Structures Report “Restauration of Ford’s Theatre”.

It’s fully clear for me now! I mean the architectural structure of the South Addition in reference with Ford’s Theatre. The small alley was indeed there, it was a four-foot (1.20 meter – sorry we Europeans think in meters) wide passageway and it was indeed covered. So it was more an interior corridor within the south building. It was built in 1863. A single door with eight panels provided access from 10th Street. A glass-windowed door was on the rear side of the passage. The passage gave the actors quick passage from Tenth Street to the backstage door. And Jim, you are completely right: there is indeed a stairway leading up to the lounge that was part of the second floor of the South addition. And there was a double doorway which connected the lounge to the theatre at dress circle level. The levels in the south addition were however a bit lower than those in the theatre, so all connecting doors ascended stepwise to the theatre.

Here are the pages where I found additional info:

P. 51
The south addition was a three-story brick building built by Ford in 1863 as an extension of his theatre. A combined restaurant and bar, known as Peter Taltavul's "Star Saloon," occupied the first floor. The second floor, which was used as a cloakroom and lounge of the dress circle, was connected to the theatre by a double doorway. Larger windows on this floor of the building provided additional light and ventilation. Rest rooms were most probably at the rear for the convenience of dress circle patrons. Because of the difference in the floor levels of this building and Ford's Theatre, all connecting doors descended stepwise to the lower levels of the south addition. H. Clay Ford and James R. Ford occupied rooms on the third floor which they could reach through the door from the lobby of the dress circle or through another doorway at the level of the family circle. An outside stairway provided ready access from the theatre to the rear of the second floor. Finally, a four-foot wide covered passageway ran between the theatre and the Star Saloon and gave the actors quick passage from Tenth Street to the stage door in the south wall of the theatre.

P. 32
A single door with eight panels provided access to the 4-foot wide through passageway from Tenth Street to a glass-windowed door on the south side of the stage at the rear of the presidential box."

P. 27
In 1863 a door was also installed at about the level of the family circle to provide access from the theatre to the rooms of Harry and Dic k Ford on the third floor of the south addition.

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Interesting to learn (I never knew before) that the Family Circle had a separate entrance and no access to the rest of the building:

P26
The five arched openings on the first floor level were approximately 6 feet in width by 12 feet in height and varied from 2 feet to 2.5 feet in depth. During the lifetime of the theatre, they were used as doorways. Four of these doorways opened into the lobby and gave access to the north ticket window, the orchestra and dress circle." The fifth door, known as the "gallery door" at the south end of the facade, provided access to the gallery ticket window and stairwell leading to the family circle. On the front wall, south of the gallery door and about 8 feet above the sidewalk, hung a 3-foot white oval sign with black lettering reading Entrance Family Circle 25 cents." In the family circle there were only benches.

I’ve made the following sketch. The lower part of the red box is the passageway which is an interior corridor of the South addition. BTW: you only can enter the Star Saloon via 10th Street, so Booth had to pass the door with eight panels, when he went through this passageway while on his way to assassinate AL.

   

and here is the door with the eight panels again (blue arrow) and the gallery door (red arrow):

   

[loetar44]

CORRECTION

I said in post#59: "you only can enter the Star Saloon via 10th Street, so Booth had to pass the door with eight panels, when he went through this passageway while on his way to assassinate AL."

NOT TRUE:

P. 75 says:

The passageway was neatly paved,boarded and papered. It ran along the south wall of the theatre and along the north side of Taltavul's combined restaurant and saloon to a glass windowed stage door. Another door in the south wall of this passageway led directly into the saloon.

see attachment (red arrow):