Version of Assassination Story on TV

[STS Lincolnite]

Came across something yesterday I suspect readers here might be interested in.

It is a tv show I had never seen or heard of before. It is called One Step Beyond. It started in 1959 (just before The Twilight Zone - January 1959 as opposed to October 1959) and was a similar themed show. But this one used "real life" incidents as the entry point to the supernatural. The episode "The Day the World Wept" uses Lincoln's purported dream of a funeral in the White House as its premise. Based on work done and published by Jon White as well as my own research, I don't believe Lincoln actually had such a dream, but that is neither here nor there.

Here is a link to the full episode which first aired 9 February 1960:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o0Lvwln4Mnw

I came across this show and episode last night while re-watching the Star Trek Episode "The Savage Curtain." That was the episode that "Lincoln" (affectionately called Space Lincoln by Star Trek fans) appeared. The guy that played Surak in that episode (Barry Atwater) played Lincoln in the One Step Beyond episode. Sort of a strange coincidence but it led me to finding this "new to me" on screen depiction of Lincoln and a part of the assassination story.

Enjoy!!

[RJNorton]

I enjoyed watching the video, Scott. Thanks for posting. It reminded me of some words Theodore Roscoe wrote on p. 280 of his book Web of Conspiracy:

"In St. Joseph, Minnesota, a town without a telegraph office, someone spread the word on April 14, 1865, that Lincoln had been slain. Manchester, New Hampshire, also received the news on that Good Friday before the press releases were dispatched from Washington. Also, on the afternoon of April 14, the Whig Press in Middleton, New York, announced that Lincoln had been killed by an assassin."

Scott, do you believe Ward Hill Lamon made up the story of Lincoln's prescient dream?

[LincolnMan]

I remember that TV show. I haven't had tome to watch the episode yet. I didn't know that there was a Lincoln episode in the series for sure. It’s never been mentioned until now. Good catch!

[STS Lincolnite]

(07-20-2020 04:20 AM)RJNorton Wrote:  Scott, do you believe Ward Hill Lamon made up the story of Lincoln's prescient dream?

Roger, to answer your question, I would say: Not Exactly.

I agree with Jon White’s assessment.

The story first appeared elsewhere (fictional). Then was further expanded on in another publication. It seems Lamon (or perhaps his daughter, who was involved in writing/editing the 1895 Recollections where the story appeared) then appropriated it, embellished it, and inserted himself into the story. Primary evidence does not seem to support Lincoln having had this particular dream (though there is support for other dreams) or Lamon’s version of it.

It does make a great story though!!

Historian Jon White wrote a brief article discussing this dream that Lincoln allegedly had. The citation is as follows (Roger, I will send a pdf copy to post):

Jonathan W. White, “Did Lincoln Dream he Died?”, For the People: A Newsletter of the Abraham Lincoln Association, Fall 2014 (Vol. 16, No. 3).


For a more thorough examination of Lincoln’s dreams see a full chapter in his book:

Jonathan W. White, Midnight in America: Darkness, Sleep, and Dreams During the Civil War (Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press, 2017), 149-172.

[Gene C]

Sounds interesting. Since I do most of my reading in the evening I hope it won't give me nightmares. The five reviews are all good, but I can't quite bring myself to spend $23.95 for a paperback book.
I'll have to sleep on it -

https://www.amazon.com/Midnight-America-...oks&sr=1-2

[RJNorton]

Many thanks to Scott for sending the article by Jonathan W. White: CLICK HERE

I have read about this dream in so many books that I always accepted it, but it would seem the author's arguments are quite persuasive.