Only Eyewitness to the Deaths of Both Lincoln and Garfield

[RJNorton]

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/r...180979296/

Interesting article. Among the items of note:

"Crucially, Rockwell does not record Secretary of War Edwin Stanton uttering his now-famous words about the dead president: “Now he belongs to the ages.” Whether Stanton said “ages” or “angels”—or whether he said anything at all—has long been debated by historians. But Rockwell’s diary and interview seem to bolster the opinion, most recently and impressively stated by Walter Stahr in his 2017 biography of Stanton, that the line was a poetic fiction created in 1890 by Hay and Nicolay."

[Steve]

Roger,
Thanks for sharing this article. Very interesting. That makes six 1865 witnesses accounts which don't mention Stanton saying the "ages" quote (Leale, Tanner, Welles, Taft, Field, Rockwell). Now this new Rockwell journal account is kind of sparse in its details, so if the "ages" qoute was better sourced, I don't think it would change anything.


Regarding the "angels" version of the quote, I think that's been definitively debunked as originating from a 1965 book:

https://rogerjnorton.com/LincolnDiscussi...l#pid83395

[GustD45]

It makes me wonder why no one includes Rockwell in their accounts of Lincoln's death. I kind of agree that part of it may be Rockwell's modesty, but I think another part may be that his accounts don't fit the popular narrative.

(01-07-2022 12:41 PM)RJNorton Wrote:  https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/r...180979296/

Interesting article. Among the items of note:

"Crucially, Rockwell does not record Secretary of War Edwin Stanton uttering his now-famous words about the dead president: “Now he belongs to the ages.” Whether Stanton said “ages” or “angels”—or whether he said anything at all—has long been debated by historians. But Rockwell’s diary and interview seem to bolster the opinion, most recently and impressively stated by Walter Stahr in his 2017 biography of Stanton, that the line was a poetic fiction created in 1890 by Hay and Nicolay."