In 1864, the Editor of the Lacrosse Wisconsin Democrat Newspaper Wrote, If Lincoln Should

1 In 1864, the editor of the Lacrosse Wisconsin Democrat Newspaper wrote, “If Lincoln should be reelected to misgovern for another four years, we trust some bold hand will pierce his heart with dagger point for the public good.” This editor went on to propose these words for Lincoln’s gravestone, “Beneath this turf the Widow Maker lies. Little in everything, except size.”

2 Louis J. Weichman, a clerk in the office of Commissary General of Prisoners since January 9, 1864, gave the following evidence about John Surratt. “About the 15 of January 1863, I passed down the street with John H. Surratt. Mr. Surratt recognized an old acquaintance, Dr. Samuel A. Mudd. Dr. Mudd was with John Wilkes Booth. John introduced me to Dr. Mudd and to Mr. Booth. Booth then invited us to dinner at his room at the National Hotel. Mr. Booth shared that he and Dr. Mudd often met at the Surratt Boarding House when Mrs. Surratt, John’s mother, was absent. They could to upstairs and engage in private conversations.

3 Willie S. Scott, a former member of the Ninth Virginia Cavalry, gave the following evidence about David E. Herold. I saw a wagon at the ferry on the Monday week after the assassination of President Lincoln. A young man got out of it, came toward us, and asked us what army we belong to. We were all dressed in Confederate uniforms. The man seemed confused and agitated. He pulled me aside and remarked to me, “We are the assassinators of the President.” Then Booth walked up and Herold introduced himself to us and introduced Booth to us.

4 On April 15, 1865, police tore apart room 228 at the National Hotel, Booth’s room. They found a business card bearing the name of J. Harrison Surratt and a letter from Samuel Arnold, who implicates Michael O’Laughlen in a kidnapping plot of the President.

5 In 1861, the Knights of the Golden Circle planned to shoot Lincoln as he traveled to Washington for the inauguration. In a strange twist, many newspapers mocked Lincoln for the way he eluded the assassins by wearing a cheap disguise as he snuck into Washington. This was called the Baltimore Plot, and it taught Lincoln a powerful lesson about public perception. Since that day, he adopted a veneer of unshakable courage and moved freely throughout Washington D.C. 6 Vice President Andrew Johnson and George Atzerodt both lived at the Kirkwood House on the corner of Pennsylvania Avenue and Twelfth Stree, four blocks from the White House and just one block from Ford’s Theatre.

7 John Wilkes Booth stood yards away from President Abraham Lincoln on March 4, 1865 while Lincoln gave his second Inaugural Address. Booth said to his companions, “That is the last speech he will ever make.”

8 On Friday, April 14, 1865, President Lincoln sent a message to the manager of Ford’s Theatre asking for the state box seating section for the evening’s performance of Our American Cousin. John Wilkes Booth is in the office of Ford’s Theatre retrieving mail when the President’s message arrives.

9 Mrs. Emma Ouffutt gives evidence about her acquaintance, Mrs. Mary Surratt. “I know Mrs. Surratt’s eyesight is defective. On one occasion, last December, she came down to see her mother, who was lying very sick. On being told by a servant that Mrs. Surratt was coming to the door, I answered the door. Mrs. Surratt did not recognize me and told me she could scarcely see. I had to lead her into the parlor and she explained that her eyes were failing very fast.

10 John F. Sleichmann, an assistant property manager at Ford’s Theater gave evidence about Edward “Ned” Spangler. “ I was at the theater on the night of the assassination of the President. About 9:00 PM I saw John Wilkes Booth. He came up on horse and entered by the little back door. Ned Spangler was standing by one of the wings and Booth said to him, ‘Ned, you’ll help me all you can, won’t you?’ and Ned said, ‘O yes.’ I saw Booth on the afternoon of April 14, 1865 between 4:00- 5:00 PM in the restaurant next door. He was with Ned Spangler, Jim Maddox and John Moudley. After the killing of the President I saw Spangler standing on the stage by one of the wings. He was very pale and was wiping his eyes. I don’t know whether he was crying or not. 11 Joshua Ludd, a Union soldier, gives evidence on Dr. Samuel Mudd. I was helping to find the murderers of the President. We came to Dr. Mudd’s house on April 18, 1865. We asked him if he knew about the assassination and he said he did. I asked if he had seen Booth, Herold, or Surratt and he said no. He did say two men had been at this house. One of the men had a broken leg. I asked Dr. Mudd if he know John Wilkes Booth and Dr. Mudd said he had been introduced to Booth before, but the man with the broken leg had claimed his name was Thompson.

12 On Friday, April 14, 1865, police find a broken comb, tobacco, embroidered slippers, and one scrap of paper in Booth’s hotel room. On the paper was written the keys to top-secret coded Confederate messages that link Booth with Jefferson Davis’s office in Richmond and with a million-dollar gold fund in Montreal, Canada.

13 George Atzerodt was unbalanced and his escape from Washington was unplanned. He wandered from home to home among people he knew. On Thursday, April 20, 1865, Atzerodt boldly supports Lincoln’s assassination while eating dinner with strangers. A Union cavalry finds Atzerodt at his cousin’s house in Germantown, Maryland and arrest him.

14 Lafayette Baker is the detective who gets the credit for finding John Wilkes Booth. He writes a book, History of the United States Secret Service, in 1867. In his book, he tells about giving Secretary of War, Edwin Stanton, Booth’s diary. In 1867, Stanton reluctantly produced the diary that had been kept out of the investigation. Baker became increasingly paranoid and feared he would be murdered. Eighteen months after giving Stanton the journal, Baker was found dead in his home in Philadelphia.

15 John Wilkes Booth used a single shot Deringer pistol to shoot the President. He placed the hun close to the back of Lincoln’s head near his left year. The gun was manufactured by henry Deringer of Philadelphia. It was about 6 incles long and weighed only 8 ounces, about the weight of a small glass of water. Booth dropped the gun on the floor of the state box at Ford’s Theatre, where William T. Kent found it. Booth also carried a knife with which he stabbed Major Henry Rathbone. 16 The Peterson house is where Lincoln died. Doctors feared that Lincoln would not survive the ride to the White House. They carried Lincoln across the street from Ford’s Theater to the Peterson Boarding House at 453 10th Street. They laid him in the closest sleeping room. The bed was too small and the doctor tried to tear the headboard off the bed, but was unsuccessful. Lincoln ended up being laid diagonally in the bed. President Lincoln died on the morning of April 15, 1865.

17 Ford’s Theatre is one of the many theatres in Washington, D.C. It, along with Grover Theatre, has the best reputations. The Lincolns regularly attended one or the other of these theatres.

18 The afternoon paper printed news about Lincoln, his wife, General Ulysses Grant and his wife attending the play, Our American Cousin, almost as if daring every crackpot and schemer with an anti-Northern agenda to buy a ticket. In fact, ticket sales were brisk. General Grant and his wife did not attend the play. Instead, Major Henry Reed Rathbone and his fiancé, Clara Harris attended the play with the Lincoln’s instead.

19 “His name is mud,” is a cliché often used for someone with a bad reputation. This term comes from Dr. Samuel Mudd and his being accused of involvement in the Lincoln assassination plot.

20 On April 5, 1865 Secretary of State William Seward was injured in a carriage accident. He broke an arm and fractured his jaw. His physician had put a steel frame on his face to hold the bones in place and it was this frame that probably saved his life. When the conspirator tried to cut Seward’s neck, he his the steel frame twice and it deflected the blade.

21 Other plots to kidnap President Lincoln also occurred. In 1862 Southern supporters planned to kidnap the president as he rode to his summer home, three miles from Washington, D.C. Lincoln often rode alone to and from the summer house to the White House. But Jefferson Davis, the president of the Confederacy, did not allow the plan to be carried out. In 1864, John Wilkes Booth planned to kidnap Lincoln on this way to the theatre and ransom him for Confederate soldiers being held in the north. 22 John Wilkes Booth became a star in the theatre, traveling to major cities and earning $20,000 a year in 1864, the same as earning $277,000.00 a year today. He claimed to be a Confederate spy and smuggled medicine to the South during the war. Booth wanted the South to win the war, unlike his brothers and sisters. He believed Northern abolitionists who wanted to end slavery were violating Southern rights.

23 Secretary of War Edwin Stanton’s house is in Franklin Square between 7th and 5th Streets. It is within walking distance from the White House.

24 On the night of April 14, 1865, as Abraham Lincoln relaxes in his rocking chair in the state box at Ford’s Theatre, laughing out loud for the first time in months, his guard, John Parker, gets thirsty. Parker had already been hours late to his guard duty at the White House. Parker is bored and can’t see the play from his chair outside the box. He pushes the chair against the wall, and leaves the door to the state box unguarded. John Parker finds the driver of the Lincoln’s carriage, Charles Forbes; they walk into Taltavul’s tavern and make themselves comfortable. John Parker is never punished for his gross dereliction of duty.

25 Secretary of State William Seward’s house, located on Lafayette Square, is across Pennsylvania Street from the White House. The house faces Lafayette Park.

26 The Surratt’s Boarding House was in Surrattsville, Maryland and was on a busy road in Prince George’s County, Maryland. John and Mary Surratt built this house in 1852. After John’s death, Mary, her daughter Anna and her son, John, continued to run the boarding house. They rented rooms to travelers and served as a local post office. The area around the boarding house was known as Surrattsville.

27 Major Henry Reed Rathbone was present in the state box on the night Lincoln was shot, as was his fiancé Clara Harris. In 1882, Rathbone was appointed as a U.S. diplomat to Germany. The following year, he went insane and killed his wife with a knife. He was institutionalized for the rest of his life. 28 Captain Edward, Commander of the 16th New York Cavalry who found booth and Herold at Garrett’s farm gives evidence about David E. Herold. “After Herold surrendered and Booth was shot I took Heold and tied him by the hands to a tree. He told me afterwords that he met his man that had been shot about seven miles from Washington DC on the night of Lincoln’s assassination. Booth had declared while he was in the barn at Garrett’s farm that he was the only guilty man and that this man, Herold, was innocent. Herold mad no resistance after he surrendered.”

29 Laura Keene cradled Lincoln’s head in her lap the night of the murder. She was an actress in the play. The assassination linked her acting troupe with the killing, and the press was hard on her career. She had to leave America.

30 On Friday, April 14, 1865 at 10:15 PM a man knocked on the front door of Secretary of State William Seward. A black servant opened the door to a mad that demanded to give Secretary Seward a vial of medicine. The servant allows Lewis Powell to go upstairs, but Fredrick Seward blocks Powell’s path. Fredrick mistakes Powell for a simpleton and shows Powell Seward’s bedroom. Powell tries to shoot Fredrick, but his gun jams. Powell then pounds on Fredrick’s head until he is unconscious.

31 George Atzerodt has an encyclopedic knowledge of the smuggling routes from Washington, D.C. into the deep South. He had a long line of criminal activity and was an easy mark for blackmain.

32 In room 126 of the Kirkwood House, George Atzerodt’s room, on April 15, 1865, police found a ledger book from a bank in Montreal. The name written on the inside cover is that of John Wilkes Booth.

33 Louis J. Weichmann was living at Surratt’s boarding house in the fall of 1859 when he met John Surratt, Booth and Dr. Mudd on day in the dining area. He did not hear their conversation, but it lasted almost an hour. Mr. Booth drew something on the back of an envelope while John Surratt and Dr. Mudd looked on. Dr. Mudd came and sat by Louis ant they talked about the war. Dr. Mudd talked like a Union man.

34 On the day of Lincoln’s assassination, Louis J. Weichmann, a boarder there saw Mr. Booth talking with Mrs. Surratt in the parlor. A month ago a man stayed at the boarding house by the name of Payne. One day Weichmann saw Mrs. Surratt and Mr. Payne gather knives. They also had two guns with them.

35 Henry M. James was a backstage hand at Ford’s Theatre and worked the night of the murder. When the President arrived James saw Ned Spangler clap and seem happy as anyone to see the President. James did not see anyone else with Spangler that night.

36 On April 15, 1865 at 2:00 AM Mrs. Mary Surratt was questioned about the assassination. The widow was honest about the fact that John Wilkes Booth had paid her a visit just 12 hours earlier and that her son John had last been in Washington DC two weeks earlier. Her home was searched and nothing was found. She was not arrested.

37 Lincoln’s autopsy stated that, “The ball had entered through the occipital bone about one inch to the left of the median line and just above the left lateral sinus, which it opened. It then penetrated the dura mater, passed through the posterior lobe of the cerebrum, entered the left lateral ventricle and lodged in the white matter of the cerebrum just above the anterior portion of the left corpus striatum.”

38 Samuel A.H. McKim was an acquaintance of David Herold. He gave evidence that he had known Herold for six years. He is a very slow, unreliable boy, almost child-like and immature. In my mind he was about 11 years of age. His mind was not right.

39 George Atzerodt was seen drinking heavily on the night of April 14, 1865 at the Kirkwood House, the hotel where Vice President Andrew Johnson and Atzerodt lived. 40 John C Hatter, a resident of Washington DC, was standing by Secretary Stanton’s house at about 9:00 PM on April 14, 1865. Michael O’Laughlin approached Hatter and asked him if General Grant was in the house. When Hatter told O’Laughlin he could wait to see the General when his carriage left the house, O’Laughlin turned around and left.

41 Milo Simms, Dr. Samuel Mudd’s slave, stated that during the summer of 1864 two or three men were staying at Dr. Mudd’s house. They were wearing Confederate uniforms. Mrs. Mudd gave them food. One of the men was John Surratt and the other was Billy Simms. Dr. Mudd told his children to keep watch and let him know if anyone was coming.

42 R.C. Morgan was an investigator for the Lincoln shooting. On the night of April 17, 1865, he was working for the War Department and was sent to the house of Mary Surratt. There he found calling cards for Jefferson Davis, General Beauregard, and a photograph of John Wilkes Book. Also there was a card with the arms of the State of Virginia and two Confederate flags with the inscription: “Thus it will ever be with Tyrants, Virginia the Mighty Sic Semper Tyrannis.”

43 About five or six weeks before the President was kiddled, John Surratt, David Herold, and George Atzerodt came to John M. Lloyd’s house and asked him to keep the following items for them: two guns with ammunition and a rope. They asked that the guns be hidden. On April 14, Mrs. Surratt told Lloyd to have the guns ready. At midnight, Herold came to the house and asked Lloyd for the items. Booth was with Herold, but he did not come in to the house. Before leaving, Herold told Lloyd that they were pretty certain that they had just killed the President and Secretary Seward.

44 David C. Reed last saw John Surratt on April 14, 1865, in the afternoon. Surratt was walking past the National Hotel. He looked clean and was dressed nicely.

45 Lewis Payne was arrested by Colonel Wells. While in custody it was noticied that Payne had blood spots on his white shirt sleeves. 46 Simon Gavacan, a Union soldier investigating Lincoln’s murder gave evidence about Dr. Samuel Mudd. “ I was looking for President Lincoln’s assassins when I came to Dr. Mudd’s house on April 18. I asked him if two men had passed through and he said no. But after more questioning, Mudd said two men had been through. On had a broken leg. I went to search Dr. Mudd’s house and his wife brought out a pair of boots and a razor for me to see. One of the boots was marked ‘J.Wilkes.’ Dr. Mudd said he had been introduced to Mr. Booth last fall, but he did not think the man with the broken leg was Booth.

47 George Craig worked with Samuel Arnold. Craig worked with Arnold during the last two months.

48 Mrs. Mary Van Tine, a boarding house owner, gave evidence about Samuel Arnold and Michael O’Laughlin. “ I reside at #420 D Street. I keep rooms to rent. O’Laughlin and Arnold had rooms in my house. I am not positive, but I think it was on the 10th of February 1865, that Booth came very often to see them. He did not remain long.”

49 Miss Honora Fitzpatrick, a friend of Mary Surratt, gave evidence about the comings and goings at the Surratt Boarding House. “I resided at the house of Mrs. Mary E. Surratt last winter. The last time I saw Mr. Booth at Mrs. Surratt’s was on the Monday before the assassination. John Surratt had left a fortnight before, and I never saw him after. Mrs. Surratt complained that she couldn’t read or sew any longer at night on account of her sight. I have known for Mrs. Kirby, her friend, to pass on the street and Mrs. Surratt not even see her. I wasn’t present at the time of Payne’s arrest at Mrs. Surratt’s house.”

50 Major Augustus Seward was asleep on the night of April 14, when his sister’s screams woke him up. It appeared to him that two men were struggling at his father’s bedside. Augustus grabbed one of the men and was stuck many times on the head and hand with a bottle. During this time the man cried, “I’m mad. I’m mad.” As Augustus pushed the man out of the room he was able to see a very large man with dark straight hair, smooth face and no beard. The man escaped the Seward home. 51 Major Kilborn Knox, a Union soldier, was outside Secretary of War Edwin Stanton’s house on the night of April 13, when he saw Michael O’Laughlin. O’Laughlin asked Knox if he could see Stanton. Knox assumed O’Laughlin was drunk. O’Laughlin then went up to the house and spoke with David Stanton, then walked off.

52 Police found a knife and a large pistol in room 126 of the Kirkwood Boarding House. The room had been rented by George Atzerodt.

53 On April 13, 1865, James B. Henderson, a member of the U.S. Navy, stated that Michael O’Laughlin was with him the entire day, except for 5:00-6:00 PM when Henderson was getting a shave.

54 Miss Anna Surratt was arrested on April 17. She stated that she had met John Wilkes Booth at her home. The last time he was at the home was on April 14. Anna bought some photos of Book at the corner market, since she was acquainted with Booth. When her brother saw the photos he demanded she tear them up and throw them in the fire. So, Anna hid the photos, as well as photos she had of Jefferson Davis, Stephens and Generals Beauregard and Stonewall Jackson, and perhaps a few other leaders of the rebellion. Anna’s father had given several photos to her before his death, and she treasured these photos.

55 Jacob Ritterspaugh was standing backstage at Ford’s Theatre when he heard the President had been shot. Soon he saw a man running to the back door. The man tried to stab Ritterspaugh with a knife. Then he saw the man on a horse running down the alley. When Ritterspaugh came back on stage, Edward Spangler hit him in the face and told Ritterspaugh not to tell which way the man went. When Ritterspaugh saw Spangler later he looked like he had been crying.

56 Dr. Charles W. Davis knew David Herold since he was a child. Dr. Davis stated that there is very little of a man in Herold. He is easily persuaded and led. The doctor stated that Herold had a very limited intellect.

57 There were records stating that Jefferson Davis, the Confederate President, has set aside more than one million in gold to pay for acts of espionage and intrigue against the Union and keep the money in Canada.

58 On Tuesday, April 11, 1865, President Lincoln shared a dream he had had of his death with his dinner guests. He could hear weeping and despair among people in the White House. In his dream he walked to someone and said, “Who is dead in the White House?” The reply was, “The President, he was killed by an assassin.”

59 Booth writes a letter to the editor of the National Intelligencer stating in specific terms what he planned to do. He signs his name and adds the names of Powell, Atzerodt and Herold. He gives the letter to John Matthew and tells Matthew to keep the letter until ten the next morning. After ten Booth tells Matthew to post the letter.

60 On April 16, 1865, Herold and Both are staying on property owned by former Confederate Captain Samuel Cox.

61 On April 17, 1865, Powell shows up at the Surratt home as police are there. He claims his name is Lewis Payne. When the police question him, they become suspicious. His height and rugged build match the description of Secretary Seward’s attacker. Powell is sent to the same jail that holds the Surratt women.

62 On April 26, 1865, Booth and Herold were hiding in a barn of the Garrett farm. The barn was surrounded by soldiers and set afire. Booth was shot in the neck that sliced through Booth’s spinal cord and paralyzes him from the neck down. Booth is pulled from the barn and within two hours, he is dead. His body is thrown into the back of the wagon and driven back to Washington D. C.

63 On April 12, George Atzerodt stopped Colonel Nevins to find what room the Vice President resided in at the Kirkwood House.

64 On April 17, as Samuel Arnold was arrested he stated that he know of the conspiracy, but he had withdrawn from it on April 1. He said the intention of the conspiracy had been to kidnap the President and take him south for a prisoner exchange. Arnold claimed that Booth had furnished all the arms for the conspirators.

65 Margaret Kaighn, a servant at the Branson’s Boarding House, stated that she had seen Lewis Payne at the Branson Boarding House. He had asked her to clean up his room and she argued with him that she would not. He struck her, threw her down, kicked her and threatened to kill her. Miss Kaighn tried to have him arrested.