What are you reading now?

[LincolnToddFan]

Hi Angela

I am pretty sure I was browsing at the L.A. Central Library when I came across that quote from Seward. When I go back in a couple of weeks I will try to hunt it down.

[Linda Anderson]

I agree with Gene. I believe the lingering trauma of the assassination attempt, combined with the deaths of his wife and his beloved Fanny kind of took the spark out of Seward.

I need to hunt down the source of a statement I once read that he made where he said he should have died with Lincoln, because his work had basically been done at that point.

That quote you mentioned - I think I remember this as well. I cannot remember where I read it but it was also/included Seward mentioning that he never envied Lincoln for anything but the way he died?
It was back in the day when I did not take notes, yet I never found it again.

I found a reference to the same sentiment in William Henry Seward: Lincoln's Right Hand by John Taylor. The source is William H. Seward, Vol 3, p. 537-538.

"Lincoln's partner" Leonard Swett wrote to "Mr. Benjamin B. Snow and Others, of Committee" that he would not be able to attend the unveiling of Seward's statue in Auburn.

"I had the pleasure of an intimate personal acquaintance with Mr. Seward during the period in which he was Secretary of State to Mr. Lincoln, and remember especially the intimate and friendly relations that existed between the two...

"I recall also an incident which once occurred subsequently in the State Department, when Mr. Seward was Secretary of State in Mr. Johnson's cabinet.
"I was sitting there opposite him so that the gash of the assassin's knife was prominent before me. I said, 'Mr. Seward, I do not wish to be impertinent, but I do want to look critically at your throat.' He immediately took off his cravat, unbuttoned his collar, and showed how the knife had pieced him, and how by a hair's breadth it had missed the great artery of life.
"As I sat down Mr. Seward said, 'I have always felt that Providence dealt hardly with me in not letting me die with Mr. Lincoln. My work was done, and I think I deserved the reward of dying there. How much better to have died than to prolong my life, in the miserable business of patching up Johnson's Cabinet.'"

[LincolnToddFan]

Linda...you are an absolute wonder...that's the quote I read. THANK YOU!

[Eva Elisabeth]

That's a fascinating quote, Linda, thanks!!! (This reminds me so much of what Thaddeus Stevens told Alexander McClure at the end of his life: "My life has been a failure. With all this great struggle of years in Washington, and the fearful sacrifice of life and treasure, I see little hope for the Republic", and to a reporter: "I have no history. My life-long regret is that I have lived so long and so uselessly.")

[Gene C]

Just started reading "Mask For Treason" by Vaughan Shelton, who seems to be heavily influenced by Otto Eisenschiml.

He makes this claim on p24 of my copy, "At least three men directly involved in the widow's execution (Mary Surratt) - including the president of the military commission, General David Hunter - committed suicide, presumably from remorse." He has a footnote about the other two, Preston King and Jim Lane, who's story I am familiar with.

I've never heard this about Hunter, couldn't find it mentioned in the few books I have. All I could find is that Hunter retired from the Army in 1866 and died in Washington DC at the age of 83 and is buried in New Jersey. Can anyone offer some additional info?

[HerbS]

Thanks Gene,I read the "Knights of the Golden Circle",it is very interesting and supports my theory of Copperheads! Sorry,no additional info on that topic from me.

[L Verge]

Just started reading "Mask For Treason" by Vaughan Shelton, who seems to be heavily influenced by Otto Eisenschiml.

He makes this claim on p24 of my copy, "At least three men directly involved in the widow's execution (Mary Surratt) - including the president of the military commission, General David Hunter - committed suicide, presumably from remorse." He has a footnote about the other two, Preston King and Jim Lane, who's story I am familiar with.

I've never heard this about Hunter, couldn't find it mentioned in the few books I have. All I could find is that Hunter retired from the Army in 1866 and died in Washington DC at the age of 83 and is buried in New Jersey. Can anyone offer some additional info?

Mask for Treason is one of the worst books ever written on the assassination. I have never read nor heard that Hunter committed suicide. He sure waited a long period of time to do it, if it was remorse that drove him to it.

[Gene C]

I haven't read very far into this to believe you are right Laurie about Mask Of Treason.

On p26, The Legend of Louis Paine
"...the final conclusion that of the eight defendants at the Conspiracy Trial he (Louis Paine) was the most innocent.
This is the main thread of our study - the overwhelming evidence that Louis Paine didn't even know Booth, had nothing to do with the "conspiracy" for which he and the other defendants were tried, and had not attacked Secretary of State Seward."

If I find any more "good stuff", I'll start a new post in the book section.

[Susan Higginbotham]

I haven't read very far into this to believe you are right Laurie about Mask Of Treason.

On p26, The Legend of Louis Paine
"...the final conclusion that of the eight defendants at the Conspiracy Trial he (Louis Paine) was the most innocent.
This is the main thread of our study - the overwhelming evidence that Louis Paine didn't even know Booth, had nothing to do with the "conspiracy" for which he and the other defendants were tried, and had not attacked Secretary of State Seward."

If I find any more "good stuff", I'll start a new post in the book section.

Now I'm dying to know who did attack Seward.

[HerbS]

Does BettyO know about this?

[BettyO]

Does BettyO know about this?

Ooohhh, yes! I knew about this years and years ago....utter hogwash! In the 1980s, Shelton wrote The View from Eternity in which he claims that his clairvoyant wife "channeled" Lew. It was this information which he used to write Mask.... The one passage which I've always enjoyed out of this gobbledegook as John Brennan once called it, was the passage where in mid-flight, Powell's get-away horse changes from a gelding into a stallion....how this veterinary miracle takes place has never been fully explained....

[RJNorton]

And there's also the part about Herold poisoning Booth at Lloyd's...

[BettyO]

And there's also the part about Herold poisoning Booth at Lloyd's...

Oh yes....I remember that! Folk would have been wise to never take a drink of anything Herold would offer! HA!

---

As to what I'm reading now.....I RARELY read novels anymore...but I had to let ya'll in on a really good one - It's called Long Remember and it's a little known novel about the battle of Gettysburg by MacKinlay Kantor - it's GRAND! It's about up to snuff with his Andersonville.....very well detailed and a true "period" feel to it. Highly recommended....!

Next on the list is Alford's Fortune's Fool, of course! Can't wait to get into that one!

[HerbS]

Thank you BettyO for setting the story straight!

[RJNorton]

Folk would have been wise to never take a drink of anything Herold would offer! HA!

I think I asked this once before, but my aging brain cannot remember the answer. Some books say Herold delivered a prescription to the White House. Some books do not say this. Is there any primary evidence that Herold indeed once delivered a prescription to the White House?