Assassination Trivia

[RJNorton]

Good try, Eva, but it was less than 2000€.

[Eva Elisabeth]

800$?

[Steve]

Good try, Eva, but it was less than 2000€.

Less than 2000 euros; I don't know how euros "inflation adjust" but how about $1000?

[RJNorton]

Very close, Eva, and Steve got it exactly. Here is the text of the bill of sale:

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

"Washington, D. C, May 11, 1865.

"Reed, of Col. E. R. Goodrich, Mil. St., Agt. of N. Y., one thousand ($1000) dollars in payment of open Barouche with one set of double harness, the property of the late President of the United States, Abraham Lincoln, being purchased by Dr. F. B. Brewer of Westfield, N. Y.

"Robert T. Lincoln"

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Dr. Brewer later sold it to the Studebaker Brothers, and nowadays it resides in the Studebaker Museum in South Bend, Indiana.

[wpbinzel]

Just as an aside, according to an on-line inflation calculator, the $1,000 spent to buy a used carriage in 1865, would equal $14,400 in 2017 dollars, which is more than enough to purchase a good used car (but perhaps not one with such historic significance).

[Eva Elisabeth]

I'm just thinking it came without the engine. If you add this to the price...

[L Verge]

I'm just thinking it came without the engine. If you add this to the price...

What was the going price for a livery horse in 1865?

[Dennis Urban]

Pardon me but that carriage does not look like it would hold four adults. Looks like for two forward facing people, three at most. Of course there are those who report that Lincoln and his guests rode in two different trips to Fords. However, the four would have ridden back together so a carriage of sufficient size would be necessary. I'm old but not old enough to have known carriages first hand. The Lincoln Museum at Lincoln Memorial University in Harrogate has a carriage of William Seward which has forward and rearward facing seats. Such a carriage would have accommodated the Lincoln party in one trip.    

[J. Beckert]

What was the going price for a livery horse in 1865?

$50.00?

[RJNorton]

Dennis, here is another photo from a different angle. It's the carriage at the Studebaker Museum in South Bend. If Jim Bishop is correct in his book, Clara Harris and Henry Rathbone faced the Lincolns, riding backward.

[Dennis Urban]

Thanks for the additional photo Roger. That perspective does show a front rearward-facing seat. Still hard to imagine four adults including two big men and two women, probably in hoop skirts, in that small carriage. Must have been a cozy ride. I subscribe to all four riding to Ford's together.

[RJNorton]

I subscribe to all four riding to Ford's together.

Agreed. But did the Lincolns pick up their guests (as the vast majority of books indicate) or did all 4 people leave from the White House? John Fazio has looked at this question here. (3rd riddle on page)

[RJNorton]

Mary Surratt's property in Surrattsville was sold by her children in 1869. How much did the buyer pay for the property? (Laurie, if you could kindly hold off on this one)

[Steve]

$3,500

[RJNorton]

You nailed it, Steve. Kudos.

I am quoting from the April 2004 Surratt Courier:

"Speaking of houses, we are often asked what happened to the home and farm at Surrattsville after the death of Mary Surratt. Burdened with debts, the children were forced into a court-ordered sale in 1869. The March 13, 1869, edition of the Daily National Intelligencer carried a brief notice:

SALE OF SURRATTSVILLE

This property, which, by reason of its connection with the conspiracy trial and the fate of its unhappy owner, has become quite historic, was disposed of at private sale, on the 10th instant, by C.C. Magruder and Daniel Clarke, Esqs, trustees, to Robert W. Hunter, Esq., of Piscataway district, for the sum of $3,500. The tract contained about one-hundred sixty-one and a half acres, with a fine dwelling and out-buildings upon it - Prince Georgian.