Assassination Trivia

[RJNorton]

After Booth ran off the stage a few audience members went onto the stage and chased after the assassin. One man crossed the stage and burst open a door that he thought would lead to the alley in back of Ford's Theatre. However, he was wrong. To his surprise he found himself in the ladies' dressing room! What was this man's name?

[Eva Elisabeth]

James Suydam Knox?

As for Benjamin Perley Poore (see Dave's last "guesswho")- he also published "Perley's Reminiscences of Sixty Years in the National Metropolis", which I find quite interesting to read:
https://archive.org/details/perleysreminisce00poor

[RJNorton]

James Suydam Knox?

That is an outstanding guess, Eva, as Knox was one of the men who chased after Booth. But he was not the one who ended up in the ladies' dressing room.

[Eva Elisabeth]

The only other I know of (or better W. E. Reck knows of) is Joseph Stewart, but I doubt he was the one.

[Dave Taylor]

I know Major Joseph Stewart also ran out after Booth but I don't recall him making it into the dressing room.

[J. Beckert]

Stewart lost a few seconds fumbling with the wrong side of the back door. Was it a newspaperman?

[RJNorton]

Stewart is indeed a very logical guess, but it's not him. There was a third man who chased after Booth but opened the wrong door. Joe, I do not believe he was a newspaperman.

Hint #1: I own over 70 Lincoln assassination books, and the answer (as far as I know) is in only one of them. It's in a book we've mentioned several times on the forum, and the book is not rare - most all assassination buffs would have it. The answer comes early in the book - in the section prior to chapter one.

[J. Beckert]

Col. Pren Metham?

[RJNorton]

Brilliant, Joe!

You win a lifetime free pass for drinks of your choice at Ferguson's Greenback Saloon.

[J. Beckert]

I'll forfeit the prize. I had to cheat. That was a tough one.

[L Verge]

Which book has the answer?

[RJNorton]

Laurie, I do not know what source Joe used to find the correct answer, but in asking the question I used p. 22 of Tim Good's We Saw Lincoln Shot: One Hundred Eyewitness Accounts.

[Dave Taylor]

Who is this?

[RJNorton]

Grumpy old man John Sleeper Clarke?

[Dave Taylor]

Grumpy old man John Sleeper Clarke?

Correct, Roger! I'm glad you liked my description of him as well.