Death of Lincoln 150

[HerbS]

I was happy to be at a Kiwanis Club meeting,whereby,we held a moment of silence for Lincoln and the Civil War soldiers who died on each side!

[DKEast]

I was able to answer my own question from historicportroyal.net website...

These chimneys are all that remain of the estate of Dorothy Roy. Roy was significant because she was the only woman to hold a franchise to operate a tobacco warehouse in the American Colonies. Her franchise was chartered by John Buckner in 1673 and then passed to John Roy, and upon his death the franchise passed to Dorothy Roy. It was said that ships would dock at Port Royal, and the Port was the center of commerce, with Dorothy Roy at the center of it. In addition to the tobacco franchise, she owned a license to operate a tavern. It was said that Roy’s tavern was the primary spot in town where business happened.

[LincolnToddFan]

(04-18-2015 06:53 AM)HerbS Wrote:  I was happy to be at a Kiwanis Club meeting,whereby,we held a moment of silence for Lincoln and the Civil War soldiers who died on each side!

HerbS, that is wonderful to know...thank you!

[loetar44]

I watched "Killing Lincoln" and "Killing Kennedy", which was (after each other) shown here on National Geographic. "Killing Lincoln" was not very accurate IMO. Tom Hanks was the narrator.

[asobbingfilm]

(04-16-2015 02:45 PM)L Verge Wrote:  I spent the day at work at Surratt House talking with lots of visitors, most of whom had attended the Ford's ceremonies. Then I went home to watch the C-Span version of yesterday's event.

Just an aside, but I was not happy with the actor that they chose for Dr. Leale -- and, do we know whether or not Leale was in uniform at the theater or civilian attire like Rathbone? The actor portraying Dr. Leale could have passed for Peanut John Burroughs, imo.

From Dr Leale,

"On the evening of April 14, 1865, after the completion of my daily hospital duties, I told my ward master that I would be absent for short time.. I changed to civilian’s dress and hurried to Ford’s Theatre, where I had been told President Lincoln, General Grant, and members of the Cabinet were to be present."

Dr Leale changed to civilian clothes because he was afraid that being in uniform he might be stopped and asked for a pass which he did not have. He so wanted to see Lincoln that he left nothing to chance.

As to a hat, "In my lonely walk I was aroused from my reveries by the cold drizzling rain dropping on my bare head; my hat I had left at my seat in the theatre"

[L Verge]

Thank you so much, David. Another question answered for me.

[LincolnToddFan]

(04-19-2015 07:26 AM)loetar44 Wrote:  I watched "Killing Lincoln" and "Killing Kennedy", which was (after each other) shown here on National Geographic. "Killing Lincoln" was not very accurate IMO. Tom Hanks was the narrator.

Tom Hanks referred to Edwin Stanton as "Secretary of State Edwin Stanton"

I like Hanks a lot, but I was surprised and disappointed.

[L Verge]

Speaking of O'Reilly (if we have to), I just saw an ad for his latest book. He's now taking on the Wild West.

[HerbS]

O'Reilly gives me the opinion that he will take on almost anything!

[Gene C]

It looks like on his new book on "The Real West", he has a different co-author, David Fisher.

[HerbS]

I e-mailed his co-author[Mr.O'Reilly's] when he wrote his book on Lincoln.The co-author's expierence was-The History of Jogging!The co-author's response when I remarked on his inexperience in the History of Lincoln field was,"There are critics everywhere".That was the best non-answer that I ever recevied including teaching teenagers for 35yrs!

[DKEast]

The Smithsonian channel Lincolns Last Day had obvious deficiencies too - They showed a woman actress on stage with Harry Hawke and basically a wide open presidential box with no pillar separating 7 & 8. Also Seward didn't have the steel neck brace on (which saved his life) and they showed Booth getting shot in the barn in broad daylight.

[HerbS]

Seward had a Gutta Percha neck brace on that night at home when he was attacked by Powell.

[RJNorton]

(04-20-2015 09:16 AM)DKEast Wrote:  Also Seward didn't have the steel neck brace on (which saved his life) and they showed Booth getting shot in the barn in broad daylight.

Hi Doug. Most likely the show was actually correct in showing Seward without a steel neck brace. This is a common error in many books. Two authors immediately come to mind who have tried to correct this historical error. Betty, in her first edition of Alias "Paine", writes, "As the secretary was supported by a framework backrest, the weapon glanced off the metal in a shower of sparks." (p. 81). She also writes about this on p. 67 of her brand new Second Edition (highly recommended - kudos, Betty!). Dr. John Lattimer writes about the event in his paragraph entitled "The Protective Collar Fallacy" in his book entitled Lincoln and Kennedy: Medical and Ballistic Comparisons of Their Assassinations.(Doug, if you have the book please see p. 102). Quoting from that page, "The assassin's knife, in striking at the secretary of state from above, went behind him each time because of the assassin's miscaluculation of how thin the old gentleman's thorax really was....It seems clear that it must have been the backrest which was struck rather than any device attached to the patient or to the patient's broken jaw as has been stated."

In her diary on April 12 Fanny Seward wrote, "In the morning, in place of bandaging, Dr Norris secured the fractured jaw by a wire from one tooth to the other. The operation was less painful than we apprehended, & the arrangement much more comfortable than the bandaging." Absolutely nothing said about an "iron neck brace" capable of deflecting blows from a knife.

Dr. Lattimer goes on to write, "Close examination of the record by Dr. Gunning and now ourselves shows that the devices on his broken jaw were applied only after the attempted assassination. Nowhere is there a description of a protective collar before the attempt on his life."

So the oft-told account of how a steel protective collar (or neck brace) saved Seward's life makes for a good story, but it's probably not true. Most likely the sparks seen were not due to any steel neck collar worn by Seward (as he was not wearing one); rather they were due to Powell's knife striking the metal backrest of the bed he was in.

[DKEast]

Wow - interesting stuff! Thanks