New Eyewitness Account?

[Susan Higginbotham]

I can't read the article, even when enlarged. What does the quote about Mary Surratt say?

The grieving mother, Virginia Baxley, was a fellow inmate of Mary's--she was already a prisoner when her son coincidentally arrived as a prisoner (taken captive at Hatcher's Run). Colonel Colby also mentions Mary being allowed to accompany Mrs. Baxley to the funeral, which took place at Congressional Cemetery. William Baxley was kept in the holding vault there for a while before being moved to Loudon Park Cemetery in Baltimore.

I am still trying to find out what happened to Mrs. Baxley. I can't trace her past 1867 or so.

[RJNorton]

Actually as I re-read the article I have more questions than what I originally mentioned. But here are enlarged views of the four parts of the interview that I originally thought contained errors:

[RJNorton]

Thanks to Steve for sending a couple more articles. Steve writes, "I found an abbreviated version of the Inter-Ocean interview of Kathryn Evans in the 12 April 1914 edition of the New York Tribune (without attribution). It abruptly cuts off about halfway through the interview, but the parts that are there will be easier to read when posted to the thread. I also found a 06 March 1921 article which is also interesting."

[Gene C]

A little off subject, here is a link to the book by Frank McGlynn, "Sidelights on Lincoln".
I haven't read it, but I would like to hear from someone who has.

https://archive.org/stream/sidelightsonl...0/mode/2up

Here is a short biography of Frank McGlynn from Wikipedia.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_McGlynn_Sr.

[Susan Higginbotham]

Thanks for the enlargements! I would guess the "angel of mercy" comment arises from the mistaken belief that Mary Surratt was at her tavern when Booth stopped by--a confusion of her story with Dr. Mudd's?

[RJNorton]

(06-06-2018 09:33 AM)Susan Higginbotham Wrote:  I would guess the "angel of mercy" comment arises from the mistaken belief that Mary Surratt was at her tavern when Booth stopped by--a confusion of her story with Dr. Mudd's?

That is what I thought, too. I guess she believed Mary Surratt was the one who tended to Booth's injured leg.

[Steve]

(06-05-2018 06:12 PM)RJNorton Wrote:  I think it's a fascinating interview, and large parts of it seem quite accurate to me. But I still have a few questions:

1. Abraham Lincoln was carried to the Petersen House on a shutter? I think I have read this in some sources but not others.

2. Peanut John was sent to the Dry Tortugas along with Spangler and the others?

3. Ford's Theatre collapsed twice? I knew about the one in 1893, but was there another?

4. Mary Surratt was an angel of mercy?

1. I've seen a few account eyewitness accounts of people who claimed to be at the theatre say that Lincoln was carried out on a shutter, but admittedly they were later accounts. It would've been medically irresponsible, not to mention harder, to move Lincoln without some sort of makeshift stretcher. Even though Leale doesn't mention a stretcher in his account, I think it's something implied without specifically being mentioned.

2 & 4. I have to agree with Susan's assessment that she was confusing Mary Surratt for Mudd. Who knows, maybe she confused Mudd's fate with Burroughs? I wonder why she was so interested in the fate of Peanut John.

3. My guess is that she's remembering the December 1862 fire at Ford's Theatre and the passage of 5 decades has blurred her memory enough to think that it happened after, not before the assassination.

Looking over Springfield newspapers, I figured out when she performed in Springfield and saw the scrap of Keene's dress displayed there. It was in 1907. Here's a 19 Sept. 1907 article in the Daily Illinois Register mentioning her performance:

   

[RJNorton]

(06-07-2018 01:35 AM)Steve Wrote:  1. I've seen a few account eyewitness accounts of people who claimed to be at the theatre say that Lincoln was carried out on a shutter, but admittedly they were later accounts. It would've been medically irresponsible, not to mention harder, to move Lincoln without some sort of makeshift stretcher. Even though Leale doesn't mention a stretcher in his account, I think it's something implied without specifically being mentioned.

On p. 129 of Reck's book the author writes:

"Willed to the White House by (Carl) Bersch's granddaughter, Mrs. Gerda Vey, Borne by Loving Hands was turned over to the National Park Service in 1978 and is now displayed at Ford's Theatre National Historic Site. It should be noted that Bersch in his letter agreed with many of those quoted earlier - that Lincoln was being carried on an improvised stretcher. His painting also testifies to this observation."

[L Verge]

(06-05-2018 07:50 PM)Susan Higginbotham Wrote:  I can't read the article, even when enlarged. What does the quote about Mary Surratt say?

The grieving mother, Virginia Baxley, was a fellow inmate of Mary's--she was already a prisoner when her son coincidentally arrived as a prisoner (taken captive at Hatcher's Run). Colonel Colby also mentions Mary being allowed to accompany Mrs. Baxley to the funeral, which took place at Congressional Cemetery. William Baxley was kept in the holding vault there for a while before being moved to Loudon Park Cemetery in Baltimore.

I am still trying to find out what happened to Mrs. Baxley. I can't trace her past 1867 or so.

Susan - check the Surratt Courier index for either the late-1970s or 1980s. I think it was Pep Martin who wrote an article on Mrs. Baxley, but I don't remember if he traced her past 1865.

[Tom Bogar]

In addition to Kate Evans' saying she saw Lincoln carried out on a shutter, Ned Emerson said he saw the same thing, in a long letter describing the night's events that he wrote to H. D. Bowen of Paris, Texas, dated 4/21/1920 (close to the end of his life), which is now in the Barbee Collection at Georgetown Univ. Library. I have always been convinced of the shutter concept, for a number of reasons, along with being a staunch believer in Laura Keene being in the box and cradling Lincoln's head. On that same note, by a strange coincidence, I was reading today a book about British Travelers' perceptions and writings about American theatre in the mid-19th century. Rev. Newman Hill of England (From Liverpool to St.Louis, p. 167) writes in 1870 that he has just seen, in the Lincoln Home in Springfield, "a painful relic. Framed as a picture is a bit of the dress of Laura Keene, the actress who rushed from the stage when he was assassinated in the theatre, and supported the President's head. The gay-coloured silk is stained with blood." [Which I think most of us agree--not to say that we all agree on anything, and so thank goodness for this wonderful symposium--was probably Rathbone's, not Lincoln's.]

[Susan Higginbotham]

(06-07-2018 02:50 PM)L Verge Wrote:  

(06-05-2018 07:50 PM)Susan Higginbotham Wrote:  I can't read the article, even when enlarged. What does the quote about Mary Surratt say?

The grieving mother, Virginia Baxley, was a fellow inmate of Mary's--she was already a prisoner when her son coincidentally arrived as a prisoner (taken captive at Hatcher's Run). Colonel Colby also mentions Mary being allowed to accompany Mrs. Baxley to the funeral, which took place at Congressional Cemetery. William Baxley was kept in the holding vault there for a while before being moved to Loudon Park Cemetery in Baltimore.

I am still trying to find out what happened to Mrs. Baxley. I can't trace her past 1867 or so.

Susan - check the Surratt Courier index for either the late-1970s or 1980s. I think it was Pep Martin who wrote an article on Mrs. Baxley, but I don't remember if he traced her past 1865.

I have it, thanks! I actually got it to 1868 a couple of days ago. She took the examination to qualify as a schoolteacher.

[Steve]

(06-07-2018 03:46 PM)Tom Bogar Wrote:  In addition to Kate Evans' saying she saw Lincoln carried out on a shutter, Ned Emerson said he saw the same thing, in a long letter describing the night's events that he wrote to H. D. Bowen of Paris, Texas, dated 4/21/1920 (close to the end of his life), which is now in the Barbee Collection at Georgetown Univ. Library. I have always been convinced of the shutter concept, for a number of reasons, along with being a staunch believer in Laura Keene being in the box and cradling Lincoln's head. On that same note, by a strange coincidence, I was reading today a book about British Travelers' perceptions and writings about American theatre in the mid-19th century. Rev. Newman Hall of England (From Liverpool to St.Louis, p. 167) writes in 1870 that he has just seen, in the Lincoln Home in Springfield, "a painful relic. Framed as a picture is a bit of the dress of Laura Keene, the actress who rushed from the stage when he was assassinated in the theatre, and supported the President's head. The gay-coloured silk is stained with blood." [Which I think most of us agree--not to say that we all agree on anything, and so thank goodness for this wonderful symposium--was probably Rathbone's, not Lincoln's.]

Here's a link to the passage of From Liverpool to St. Louis for anybody that's interested:

https://archive.org/stream/fromliverpool...8/mode/2up

[RJNorton]

(06-07-2018 03:46 PM)Tom Bogar Wrote:  was probably Rathbone's, not Lincoln's.

I agree with you, Tom. Dr. Charles Sabin Taft reported, "The wound in the head had been found before leaving the box, but at that time there was no blood oozing from it."

Alexander M. Crawford, whom Steve and Kerry have mentioned in previous posts, said, "There was no bleeding from the wound and but little ooze."

[L Verge]

I think this Emerson citation, coupled with some others, is probably the best evidence we're going to get to verify these things. Thanks, Tom.

[kerry]

I think it was Rathbone's blood, but that Keene may not have realized that.

One thing I think is hilarious in a morbid way is how all the Lincoln relics over time become stained with Lincoln's blood. I think by the time Alexander Williamson's descendants parted with his shawl, they claimed it was stained with his blood from the theater. Williamson never made such a claim. I don't know if it was purely to make money or if exaggeration just creeps in.

ETA: I read a book on women's health from 1855 (to see what kind of advice they were giving), and they mention doing mouth-to-mouth resuscitation on premature babies. So it seems like Leale could have done this in 1865.

ETA again: I know this must have been discussed to death somewhere, but if Booth was also after Grant, what was with the single-shot derringer? I read somewhere he planned to take Grant out with a knife. That seems incredibly risky. Maybe he just didn't really care, and he was just going to go as far as he could, but it seems he planned to get away alive. It seems he owns other guns he could have used, and where did he get the gun in the barn? From the friend he met up with? I always assumed he had realized Grant wasn't coming, which seems to be true, and I guess he planned to jump before a struggle ensued, with the knife as backup. But it seems it took him a minute to jump.