Assassination Trivia

[RJNorton]

I am sorry, Laurie, but it was not Sam Arnold's father.

[Rsmyth]

Mr. Spangler from York, PA?

[RJNorton]

Kudos, Rich. The letter was written by Ned Spangler's father. Laurie, you were on the right track.

Rich, you win one coil of rope approximately 81 feet long to be used as you please.

Dave, as you knew the answer but let another person reply correctly, you win other stuff found in Spangler's carpetbag - some blank paper and a shirt collar.

[Dave Taylor]

You can read the whole letter here:

http://boothiebarn.com/2013/07/15/our-fa...-distress/

[L Verge]

Kudos, Rich. The letter was written by Ned Spangler's father. Laurie, you were on the right track.

Rich, you win one coil of rope approximately 81 feet long to be used as you please.

Dave, as you knew the answer but let another person reply correctly, you win other stuff found in Spangler's carpetbag - some blank paper and a shirt collar.

I debated between the two fathers, but couldn't remember if Ned's dad was still alive. I was lousy at multiple choice questions on tests in school days. I would much rather write a five-page essay than have to make a choice on answers!

[Rsmyth]

Fantastic! I needed a new crabbing rope!

[L Verge]

Now you just need to buy a good supply of chicken necks...

[RJNorton]

This is a part of a letter. Who wrote the letter?

"I am a feared he thinks we may have forgotten him, no never he is my brother."

[Eva Elisabeth]

Ok, here comes a wild theory which is sure wrong (since if it was that easy someone else would already have guessed it). It sounds like a letter of a sibling of one of the conspirators written while he/she was imprisoned. The only ones of which I'm sure they had siblings are Dr. Mudd and Atzerodt. But to me the language would rather indicate Atzerodt's brother, so I'll guess him.

[BettyO]

Powell had six sisters (four older and two younger) and two older brothers - but it's not his family....that I know of!

Could it be Mrs. Surratt? I think her grammar was very good from one of her letters -

[L Verge]

If not Atzerodt, then I'll guess William O'Loughlen, brother to Michael and the childhood friend of Booth. Michael was the little brother who tagged along. Some believe that William was a member of the Knights of the Golden Circle and would have been a conspirator. However, they think Michael "substituted" in the plot when the family found out that William's wife was pregnant.

[Anita]

Spangler's sister.

[RJNorton]

Good guesses, everyone, but Anita got it. Splendid, Anita! On July 16, 1865, Spangler's sister in York, PA. sent a letter. She wanted to see him prior to his departure for prison. But it was too late. It's probable Ned never saw this letter from his sister. The letter is in the John F. Hartranft papers. I am not sure whom she addressed the letter to.

Anita, as I told Eva in another thread, the prize vault is very low, so I will simply send cash.

[Anita]

Anita, as I told Eva in another thread, the prize vault is very low, so I will simply send cash.

Your cash is a great psychic reward and graciously accepted!

[RJNorton]

Who said this about Mary Surratt?

"Mrs. Surratt was a respectable, plain wife and widow, whose course of life would have been happy enough but for her intemperate thought and speech on questions of politics and the war. She worked herself up into a passion, hardened her nature, and so she too was ripe for Booth to come along and make prey of her, as he did of the others."