Full Title

Trial of the Assassins

Description

This file is a newspaper entry, from Thursday, June 8, 1865, regarding the trial of the men and woman involved in the assassination of President Lincoln. This article contains direct statements from people involved, it also details the extent of the conspiracy and its members. Specifically, the involvement of confederate officials like Jefferson Davis. The article begins with statements made by Sandford Conover.

Transcription

The Trial of the Assassins.
The Complicity of Jeff. Davis in the Murder of President Lincoln—Extent of the Conspiracy Developed—The Reserved Testimony,
Sandford Conover testified as follows—I am a native of New York; have resided in Canada since October last, was conscripted into the confederate army, and detailed to service in the war department of the confederacy, at Richmond, under James A. Sedden, Secretary of War. While in Canada, was intimately acquainted with G.N. Sanders, Jacob Thompson, Dr. Blackburn, Tucker, Wm. C. Cleary, Captain Castleman, Mr. Cameron, Porterfield, Captain Magruder, and others. I also know Clement C. Clay, and Gen. Carroll, of Tennessee. I knew Mr. Surrat, also, and J.W. Booth, and visited these gentlemen in Canada. Saw Surrat there on several occasions, last April, in Mr. Jacob Thompson’s room; also in company with George N. Sanders, ant other rebels in Canada. Surrat is about five feet nine or ten inches high, a fair complexioned man with light hair. I saw him about the 6th or 7th of April with Thompson, Sanders, and Booth. At that time he delivered to Thompson in his room in my presence, dispatches from Richmond, to Thompson, from Benjamin and from Jefferson Davis; the latter either a cipher dispatch or a letter. Benjamin was Secretary of State of the confederacy. Previous to this, Thompson conversed with me upon the subject of a plot to assassinate President Lincoln and his cabinet, of which I gave notice before the assassination, in the New York Tribune, the paper for which I corresponded. I had been invited by Mr. Thompson to participate in that enterprise. When Surrat delivered these dispatches from Davis, Thompson laid his hand upon the papers and said, referring to the assassination and the assent of the rebel authorities, “this makes the thing all right.” The dispatches spoke of the persons to be assassinated; Mr. Lincoln, Mr. Jonson, the Secretary of War, the Secretary of State, Judge Chase and General Grant. Mr. Thompson said on that occasion, or on the day before the interview, that the assassination proposed, would leave the Government of the United States entirely without a head; that there was no provision in the Constitution of the United States by which they could elect another President. Mr. Welles was also named, but Mr. Thompson said it was not worth while to kill him; he was of no consequence.
My first interview with Thompson on this subject of the assassination was in the early part of last February, in Thompson’s room in St. Lawrence Hall, Montreal. He then spoke of a raid on Ogdensburg, New York. It was abandoned, but that was because the United States Government received information of it. He said that he would have to drop it for a time, but added, “We’ll catch them asleep yet,” and to me he said, “There is a better opportunity to immortalize yourself, and save your country, “Meaning the confederacy. I told them I was ready to do anything to save the county, and asked them what was to be done. He said, “Some of our boys are going to play a grand joke on Abe and Andy,” which he said was to kill them; his words were “remove them from office; and he said that the killing of a tyrant was not murder, that he had commissions for this work from the rebel authorities, and conferred one on, Booth, or would confer one; that everybody engaged in this enterprise would be commissioned, and if they escaped to Canada they could not be successfully claimed under the Extradition Treaty. I know that Thompson and others held these commissions in blank. They commissioned Bennett Young, the St. Albans raider. It was a blank commission filled up and conferred by Mr. Clay. As it came to them from Richmond it was only signed “James A Seddon, Secretary of War.” Mr. Thompson called me to examine these blanks to that I might testify to the genuineness of Seddon’s signature in the case of Bennett Young, before Judge Smith. The signature was genuine. In a subsequent conversation, after the first referred to in February, Thompson told me that Booth had been commissioned, and every man who would engage in it would be. I had a conversation with Wm. C. Cleary, on the day before, or the day of the assassination, at St. Lawrence Hall. We were speaking of the rejoicing in the States over the surrender of Lee and the capture of Richmond. Cleary said they would have the laugh on the other side of the mouth in a day or two. I think this was the day before the assassination. He knew I was in the secret of the conspiracy. It was to that he referred. The assassination was spoken of among us commonly as the weather.
Before that, Sanders asked me if I knew Both very well, and expressed some apprehension that Booth would make a fizzle of it, that he was desperate and reckless, and he was afraid the whole thing would be a failure. I communicated to the Tribune the intended raid on St. Albans and the proposed assassination of the President; but they refused to publish the letter. I did this in March last, as to the President’s assassination; also in February, I think; certainly before the 4th of March. Surratt delivered the dispatches in Thompson’s room four or five days before the assassination. The whole conversation showed that Surratt was one of the conspirators to take the President’s life. That was the substance of the conversation. It was also understood that there was plenty of money when there was any thing to be done. The conversation intimated that Surratt had, a very few days before, left Richmond—that he was “just from Richmond.”
When I was in Canada, I was a correspondent for the Tribune, and received no compensation except from the Tribune. I have not received one cent from our own Government, nor the promise.
They never supposed I was the correspondent for any paper; I only said I was seeking items. They supposed I was a rebel, and I was in their confidence. The proposed Ogdensburg raid was printed in the Tribune. I did not communicate this matter directly to the Government, for the reason that I supposed the communication in the Tribune would be seen by the Government officials, and I did not choose to have the information go to the Government directly from me. I requested Mr. Gay, of the Tribune, to give the information to the Government, and I believe he did so. I saw Surratt in Canada three or four days in succession in April last. I had conversation with him personally, about Richmond. I was introduced to him by Sanders. I was expected to participate with these rebels in the raid on Ogdensburg. I never received any pay from them for any services. I heard the capture of the President talked of in February. When Mr. Thompson first suggested the assassination to me, I asked him if it would meet the approbation of the government at Richmond; he said he thought it would, but he would know in a few days. This was clearly in February.
Thompson did not say in April, when these dispatches were delivered, that this was the first approval they had received of this plot from Richmond, but I know of no others. I only inferred that that was the first approved. Thompson said in his conversation with me, that killing a tyrant in such a case was no murder, and asked me if I had read a letter called “Killing, no Murder,” addressed by Titus to Oliver Cromwell. This was in February. Mr. Hamlin was also named in February as one of the victims of this scheme. In April, the persons before named were mentioned, but Mr. Hamlin was omitted and Vice-President Johnson put in his place. I ran the blockade from Richmond. These commissions were all blank but the signature; they were to be given as a cover, so that in case of detection the parties employed could claim that they were rebel soldiers, and would therefore claim to be treated as prisoners of war. It was understood that they would be protected as such. Thompson said if the men who were engaged in this enterprise were detected and executed, the confederate government would retaliate; that it was no murder; only killing. I think Booth was specially commissioned for this purpose. I saw Booth in Canada in the latter part of October, with Sanders at Mr. Thompson’s, at the St. Lawrence Hall, where he was strutting about, dissipating and playing billiards. I have heard these men talk to the burning of New York, and other enterprises which they have under consideration ow.
There was a proposition before the agents of these rebels in Canada to destroy the Croton Dam, by which the City of New York is supplied with water. It was supposed it would not only damage manufactories, but distress the people generally. Mr. Thompson remarked that there was plenty of force, and the city would be destroyed by a general conflagration, and, if they had thought of this sooner, they might have saved a great many necks. This was said a few weeks ago. Thompson, Sanders, Castleman and General Carroll were present. They had arms concealed, and a large number of men concealed in Chicago—some eight hundred—for the purpose of releasing the rebel prisoners there.
The Dr. Blackburn charged at Nassan with importing yellow fever into his country, is the same person referred to by me as intimate with Thompson in Canada. I saw in company with him, G. N. Sanders, Louis Sanders, Castleman, Wm. C. Cleary, Porterfield, Captain Magruder, and a number o fother rebels of less note. Blackburn was recognized there as an agent of the confederate States, and so represented himself. In January last, Dr. Blackburn employed a person named Cameron to accompany him, for the purpose of introducing yellow fever into the Northern cities, to wit: the cities of New York, Philadelphia and Washington. He went from Montreal to Bermuda, about a year ago last fall, for the purpose of getting the clothing infected with yellow fever. I saw him after his return, in Canada, and heard Jacob Thompson and Wm. C. Cleary say that they favored his scheme, and were much interested in it. This was last January.
About the same time it was proposed to destroy the Croton Dam, Dr. Blackburn proposed to poison the reservoirs and made a calculation of the amount of poisonous matter it would require to impregnate the water, so as to make an ordinary draught poisonous and deadly. We had the capacity of the reservoirs and the amount of water generally kept in the. Stryemine, arsenic, prussic acid, and a number of other things I do not remember were named. Mr. Thompson feared it would be impossible to collect so large a quantity of poisonous matter without suspicion, and leading to the detection. Thompson approbated the enterprise and discussed it freely. Mr. Cleary did the same; it was also spoken of by a Mr. Montrose A. Pallen, of Mississippi, and a person who had been a medical purveyor in the rebel army. John Cameron, who lived in Montreal, told me that he was offered a large compensation. I think Mr. Thompson was the money agent for all the other agents: I think they all drew on him for all the money they required. I know some of them did. When Thompson said it would be difficult to collect so much poison without detection, Pallen and others thought it could be managed in Europe. Pallen is a physician. I think I have heard Harris also mentioned in connection with the pestilence importation. I think he lived in Toronto. There were other parties in Montreal that Blackburn complied or endeavored to employ, but I do not remember their names.
I saw Dr. Stewart Robinson, doctor of divinity, residing in Toronto; he edited a paper in Kentucky. I have seen him with Thompson and Blackburn, and he was present when some of the schemes were discussed he approved them. He said any thing that could be done under heaven would justify them under the circumstance. He appeared upon very intimate terms with Blackburn and Thompson. Three or four days after the assassination of the President, saw John H. Surrat in Canada with Perierfield, a Southern rebel, now declared a British subject by the Canadian Parliament. I learned, immediately afterward, that Surrat was suspected, was pursued and had decamped. I had a knowledge that Jeff. Davis was the head of the so-called confederated states, was called its President and had control of its civil administration. Gen. Carroll was present when Surratt brought the dispatches from Richmond, and when they were read by Thompson, I believe there were one or two others. Gen. Carroll, of Tennessee, then said he was more anxious that Mr. Johnson should be killed than anyone else. He said, “If the damned prick-louse was not killed by somebody” he would kill him himself. He referred to Vice President Johnson. His expression was a word of contempt for a tailor; it means a tailor’s louse. Booth was known in Canada by the nickname of “Pet.” I think I have heard Thompson so name him—certainly Cleary. Kennedy, who fired the City of New York, and was executed, was spoken of as having performed that deed by authority of the rebel government, under the direction of Thompson. This was communicated to me by Thompson himself, or in conversation in his presence. Thompson said Kennedy deserved to be hanged, and he was devilish glad he was hanged, for he was a stupid fellow, and had managed things very badly.
James B. Merritt testified—I am a physician, and have been in Canada about a year: in October and November last, was in Toronto: met George Young there, a rebel from Kentucky. Young said to me, “We have something of much more importance than any raids.” He told me it was determined that “Old Abe” should never be inaugurated; that they had plenty of friends in Washington and called Mr. Lincoln a “damned old tyrant.” I afterwards saw George N. Sanders and Colonel Steel together. Col. Steel said, “the damned old tyrant never will serve another term, if he is elected.” Sanders said at the same time, “he would keep himself mighty close if he did serve another term.” In Montreal, in February last, I heard Sanders name a number of persons ready and willing to remove the President, Vice President, the Cabinet, and some of the leading General of the United States; and he added that there were lots of money to accomplish this purpose, meaning the assassination of these persons. He then read a letter, which he said he had received from the president of our confederacy, meaning Jefferson Davis, and which letter justified him in making any arrangements that he could, to accomplish such object.
There was a meeting at that time of these rebels, and a latter was read to them, the substance of which was, that if the Southerners in the Canadas and in the States were willing to be governed by such a tyrant as Lincoln he (Davis) did not wish to recognize them as friends, and that he approved of the proposition to assassinate him. Col. Steel read the letter, also Captain Scott, George Young, and Hill, all rebels. This meeting was about the middle of last February. At the meeting, Sanders named some of the persons who were to accomplish the assassination, and among them he named J. W. Booth, whom I had seen in Montreal, in October. He also named George Harper, Charles Caldwell, Randall and Harrison. Harrold went by the name of Harrison. I heard Surratt’s name also mentioned, and Harrold. There was a person named whom they called “Plug Tobacco.” I saw Harrold in Toronto—Sanders said Booth was heart and soul in this matter: he was a cousin to Beale, who was hanged in New York. He added that if they could dispose of Lincoln it would be an easy matter to dispose of Mr. Johnson in some of his drunken revelries; that if they could dispose of the President, Vice President and Cabinet, and that if Mr. Seward could be disposed of, it would satisfy the people of the North, and that a peace could be obtained: that they had endeavored to bring about a war with England, but Mr. Seward, through his energy and sagacity, had thwarted their efforts, and for that reason they wanted to get rid of him.
On the 5th or the 6th of April last I met Harper, who said that they were going to the States to “kick up the damndest row such as has never been heard of:” he added that if I did not hear of the death of Old Abe, the Vice President, and of Gen. Dix in less than ten days, I might put him down as a damned fool. That was on the 5th of April. He mentioned the name of Booth as one of their friends there; he said they had a plenty of friends in Washington, and that fifteen or twenty were going. He had started to go to Washington as early as the 8th, together with the others. I communicated this fact on the 10th of April to a justice of the peace, named Davidson, who, after the assassination, communicated it to the Government. Harper returned to Canada after the assassination. I had a conversation with C. C. Clay in Toronto, in February last; he spoke of the letter of Davis which Sanders had exhibited; he seemed to understand the character of the letter perfectly, and said he thought the end would justify the means. Surratt was pointed out to me in Toronto, last February, I think. I saw Booth there two or three more times, and sat at table with him once, at the St. Lawrence with Sanders, Scott, and Steele; they were conversing with Booth, and drinking wine with him at Sanders’ expense. I saw Harrold in Canada, in February.
Richard Montgomery testified—I knew Jacob Thompson, Clement C. Clay, whom I have met in Canada a number of times since the summer of 1864 up to this time: also George N. Sanders, J. P. Holcombe, Beverly Tucker, W. C. Cleary, Harrington, Hicks, and others under fictitious names. Thompson had several names, one was Cranson. Clay was Hold, and Lacy and Tracy. Jacob Thompson said he had friends of the confederacy all over the Northern States, willing to go to any lengths, and that he could, at any times, have the tyrant Lincoln, and any of his advisers, put out of the way: that his friends would not consider it a crime, and that it would be done for the cause of the confederacy. In January, 1865, Thompson said, at Montreal, that a proposition had been made to him to rid the world of the tyrants Lincoln, Stanton, Grant and some others; that he knew the men who made it were bold, daring men, able to execute anything they undertake; that he was in favor of the proposition, last deferred his answer until he had consulted his government, at Richmond: that he was only waiting their approval. He thought it would be a blessing to the people, both North and South, to have them (the tyrants) killed.
In the summer of 1864, I repeated what Mr. Thompson first told me to C. C. Clay, who said that he was really devoted to our cause, and ready to go any lengths, to do anything under the sun to have it. I have seen Payne, the prisoner, a number of times in Canada, about the Falls, in the summer of ’64, and also at the Queens Hotel in Toronto, Canada West, where I conversed with him. I had had an interview with Mr. Thompson; several others had sought and interview while I was closeted, and had been refused. On leaving Thompson’s room, I saw Payne in the passage way near the door, with Clement C. Clay, talking to him; Mr. Clay stopped me, and finished his conversation with this man in an undertone. When he left me, he said, “Wait for me, I will return.” He soon came back again and bade me good-bye, and asked where he could see me after a time. I told him and appointed a meeting. I spoke to this man Payne in Clay’s absence, and asked him who he was. He said, “Oh, I’m a Canadian.” Which was to say, I don’t wish you to ask me anything more.” I mentioned him to Clay when I met him after a time; Clay asked, “What did he say?” I told him, and Clay answered, “that’s so, he is a Canadian,” and laughed; he added, “We trust him.” “Canadian” is an expression for their friends: and his conduct was an indication that their intercourse was of a very confidential nature.
I have been in Canada since the assassination: a few days after, I met Beverly Tucker at Montreal. He said “Mr. Lincoln deserved his death long ago; that it was a pity he did not die long ago,” and that it was too bad the boys had not been allowed to go where they wanted to. He referred to the men who were to assassinate him.
I had a conversation with Wm. C. Cleary, and told him what Mr. Thompson said in January. He said that Booth was one of the parties to whom Thompson had referred; but he said also that it was too bad that the whole work had not been done, referring to the assassination—Cleary, who was a confident of Mr. Thompson, told me so. Thompson said Clearly was a close mouthed man. Clearly also said that “they had better look out, we have not done yet.” He remarked that they would never be conquered, would never give up. He also said that Booth had visited Thompson in the winter and in the summer. These parties knew they were suspected of the assassination a few days after, and were destroying a great many papers, so they told me.
I acted as a Government detective in Canada, and assumed the name of James Thompson, though I never registered it, but always some other name. My whole object was to serve the Government. I saw this cipher (found among Booth’s effects” in Mr. Clay’s house, at St. Catherines in the summer of 1864. I carried dispatches from Canada to Gordonsville, and received a reply, which I carried back. I came through Washington each time, and delivered the dispatches to the United States Government; received the dispatch from Gordonsville from a man in the rebel state department, from their Secretary of State, I carried this paper to Thompson. All these persons, named Thompson, Clay, Cleary, etc., represented themselves in the service of the confederate government. Received this dispatch in October last. Clay claimed to represent the war department. They approved the burning of our Northern cities, and they represented themselves as having full powers from the rebel government act, without referring their projects to Richmond—Thompson and Clay both said so. The attempt to burn New York city I know they were engaged in, and went to Washington three days before it happened to communicate it. They approved also of the St. Albans raid. In regard to raiding, Mr. Clay had the funds; he said he had always plenty of money to pay for anything that was worth paying for. I know they deposited in different banks. Clay said not to tell Sanders what they entrusted to me; he said that he was a very good man to do their dirty work; that he associated with men they could not associate with; that he was very useful in that way. I inferred from Beverly Tucker’s words that they had delayed the assassination, waiting for the approval from Richmond.

[Transcription by Larinda Agee, Berea Community Middle School]

Source

Newspaper Archive

Rights

This item is in the public domain and may be reproduced and used for any purpose, including research, teaching, private study, publication, broadcast or commercial use, with proper citation and attribution.

Tags

Cite this Item

Janesville Gazette. "Trial of the Assassins". Janesville Gazette. Remembering Lincoln. Web. Accessed May 23, 2025. https://rememberinglincoln.fords.org/node/924

Creator

Janesville Gazette

Publisher

Janesville Gazette

Date

June 8, 1865

Full Title

Racine, Wisconsin Reaction: Wisconsin Daily News

Description

A report from the Wisconsin Daily News published on April 16, 1865, regarding the reaction to President Abraham Lincoln's assassination in Racine, Wisconsin. The whole city was in shock, except two men who publicly rejoiced over his death. An angry mob ensued and the two men had to be rescued by the sheriff.

Source

Milwaukee Public Library

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This item is in the public domain and may be reproduced and used for any purpose, including research, teaching, private study, publication, broadcast or commercial use, with proper citation and attribution.

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Cite this Item

Daily Wisconsin News. "Racine, Wisconsin Reaction: Wisconsin Daily News". Remembering Lincoln. Web. Accessed May 23, 2025. https://rememberinglincoln.fords.org/node/923

Creator

Daily Wisconsin News

Date

April 16, 1865

Material

Microfilm

Full Title

La Crosse Reactions

Description

With the news of President Lincoln's death, the people of La Crosse, Wisconsin, reacted in a similar manner as thousands throughout the country did. Business were closed, and the rest of the buildings of this Mississippi River town were in mourning.The article addresses that although Secretary of State William Seward was attacked he was not in fact killed, although it speculates that his attendant was. Further down, under "Solemn Services," the newspaper informs its readers that a prayer service will be held in one of the town's churches. Although Ford's Theatre is over a thousand miles from this town, the vast majority of the citizens of La Crosse took the news almost personally, and mourned accordingly.

Rights

This item is in the public domain and may be reproduced and used for any purpose, including research, teaching, private study, publication, broadcast or commercial use, with proper citation and attribution.

Tags

Cite this Item

La Crosse Daily Republican . "La Crosse Reactions". Remembering Lincoln. Web. Accessed May 23, 2025. https://rememberinglincoln.fords.org/node/919

Creator

La Crosse Daily Republican

Date

1865

Full Title

“The Great Crime in Washington- Proclamation by the Mayor”

Description

Editorial published in the Daily Wisconsin News on April 15, 1865, discussing the recommended stopping of all city activities by Major of Milwaukee, Abner Kirby. His proclamation states that “all the dwellings and business places of our city forthwith be clad with mourning, as a token of the deep and common sorrow that prevails...”

Transcription

The Great Crime at Washington-- Proclamation by the Mayor.
MAYOR’S OFFICE,
Saturday Morning, April 15th
The joy of the nation is turned to mourning! The Chief Magistrate of our Country is reported to have been villainously slain at the hands of an assassin, and the life of our Secretary of State taken by a still more infamous hand.
Therefore, I, Abner Kirby, Mayor of Milwaukee, do hereby recommend that all the dwellings and business places of our city forthwith be clad in mourning, as a token of the deep and common sorrow that prevails; and that the people, abstaining from all excitement improper for such solemn occasion, postpone their ordinary business duties today, and that in all the churches tomorrow such services be performed as will duly express the great and general grief.
Abner Kirby, Mayor.



[Transcription by: Kyra S., Dr. Susan Corbesero’s Class, Ellis School, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania]

Source

Milwaukee Public Library

Rights

This item is in the public domain and may be reproduced and used for any purpose, including research, teaching, private study, publication, broadcast or commercial use, with proper citation and attribution.

Tags

Cite this Item

Daily Wisconsin News. "“The Great Crime in Washington- Proclamation by the Mayor”". Remembering Lincoln. Web. Accessed May 23, 2025. https://rememberinglincoln.fords.org/node/917

Creator

Daily Wisconsin News

Date

April 15, 1865

Full Title

Grand Rapids Herald Articles

Description

In a retrospective, the Grand Rapids Herald sought the perspectives of local residents who remembered the day Lincoln was assassinated. Harvey J. Hollister recalled the intense grief felt by many in Grand Rapids and the ways in which they practiced collective, public mourning. Next, the article quoted extensively from two editorials by the Grand Rapids Eagle, one on the day the war ended on April 8, 1865, and one immediately after the assassination on the 15th. These were included to be representative of the broader shift in Northern public opinion from optimism to disillusionment in this short span of time. In the subsequent article, Big Rapids, Michigan, resident J. P. Huling described his memories of being an audience member at Ford’s Theater the night of the assassination. Furthermore, he remembered details of Lincoln’s funeral as well as the two times he saw Lincoln before the president’s death.

Transcription

[penciled in at top of page] [1899] The Grand Rapids H[cut off]

Was a Day of Great Sorrow

----------

The Assassination of
President Lincoln
Thirty-Four Years
Ago Still Fresh in
the Mind of the
People—How the
News of the Trag-
edy Was Received
in Grand Rapids,
April 15, 1865.

It was just 34 years ago yesterday that
the sad news swept over the country that
“Honest Old Abe,” the martyr president,
had died by the assassin’s knife. Doubly
sad was it because of the frame of mind
in which it found the people. The tidings
of the surrender of Lee’s entire army and
the probably downfall of the confederacy
had but the week before thrown the cou-
try into an ecstacy of joy, and the cele-
brations of that glad news were still go-
ing on and on the faces of all the smile of
great joy reflected the feeling of every
heart. Then like the bolt from the clear
sky fell the news that Lincoln had after
years of toil in behalf of his loved coun-
try at last made the supreme sacrifice
and had crossed the river to enter into
the welcome that surely awaited him on
the other side.

To those who were living at that time
the recollection of that dark 15th of April
is still as fresh as if the happening had
been but yesterday.

Harvey J. Hollister was at the time liv-
ing in the city and recalls most vividly
the scenes of what he terms the saddest
and strangest day he ever spent.

Said Mr. Hollister in describing how
the news was received here: “My wife
and I were walking down to the bank to-
gether about 9 o’clock in the morning
and the first thing which attracted our
attention was the strange actions of the
people on the street. On the face of
every one we met we notice a look of
the most abject sorrow. So remarkable
was it that we became most anxious to
know the reason. It was but a week be-
fore that we had helped to celebrate
when the news of Lee’s surrender reach-
ed us, and we thought that the war was
over and now the people looked more
somber than after the greatest defeats

[illustration of Ford’s Theater]

[Caption] [FORD’S THEATER, WASHINGTON]

which we had suffered. Men would stop
and look into each other’s faces and then
as they shook hands, tears would begin
to roll down their cheeks and they would
separate without a word.

“At last we reached the telegraph of-
fice and found it crowded with a lot of
silent men. Leaving my wife outside, I
crowded in and soon learned the sad
news. It is impossible to describe the
utter feeling of bewilderment which pos-
sessed us all. I felt as if the very
ground had been cut from under me. We
had by that time come to know and ap-
preciate the magnificent qualities and in-
finite wisdom of the president and each
man that morning wept as though he had
lost a dear friend or some member of his
own household.

“The grief at that time was different
from that which I ever saw before or
since in its personal character. The com-
on people had come to have implicit
confidence and trust in the wisdom of
the president and when the news reached
us that he was gone it was as though
we had suddenly been told that our last
and only hope had failed.

---------

“Business was stopped at once and all
places were closed and the mayor issued
a proclamation that all flags be hung at
half mast and that all business cease for
the day. The people crowded into the
streets and meetings were held which
were all pervaded by the same spirit of
absolute grief which was reflected in the
face of every passerby. Monroe street
was one mass of black from head to foot
and the residence portion of the city was
all draped: everything of a black color
being utilized to express in this only
available way the intense sorrow which
was in every one’s heart. The next day
which was Sunday, the services in every
church were of a memorial character
and Lincoln’s greatness was eulogized by
men who struggled with their emotions
and who utterly failed to find the words to
express the sorrow they felt. At first it
was thought that the work was that of
emissaries of the confederacy and the
wrath of the people found vent in the im-
precations against a power that would
avail its unholy purposes.

“I recall exactly the words which one
man said when he turned from the office
after hearing the news. They were:
‘Well, the south has lost the best friend
she ever had,’ and as he spoke the tears
ran down his cheeks in torrents.”

---------

Two editorials clipped from the Grand
Rapids Eagle of the issues of April 8 and
9 show the strong revulsion of feeling


which passed over the populace at the
time when the news of the death of the
president reached here. On April 8 the
editor wrote of Lee’s surrender thus:

[written in smaller font] [The end has come. The morning is so far
advanced that the sun of peace shows his edge
above the horizon, presaging a cloudless day—
a day that shall not go down again until time
shall be no more—a day that shall glow with
universal freedom and blossom with progress.

Last night the nation lay down divided, dis-
tracted, bleeding—a giant in battle-harness
matched against his brother. This morning we
wake, still in battle-harness, the greatest.
grandest, freest, most powerful nation on earth.
Today our kindly, generous, wise, great-hearted
president, Abraham Lincoln (whom nations at-
tempted to sneer down but yesterday), stands
the central figure of the nineteenth century.
“Honest Old Abe” stands at least one hundred
feet taller than any other ruler in Christen-
dom today.

There is but one fleet in all of the world
whose flag had been floated and been tried in
actual battle; and Vice Admiral Farragut
waits the order of President Lincoln wither to
direct its thunders.

There is but one army of veterans in the
world—privates and generals—and Lieutenant
General Grant directs that, with Sherman and
Sheridan, Thomas and Meade as his lieuten-
ants, and with Robert E. Lee and his host as
their captives.

And over this ruin and this triumph, this fall
and this glory, brothers strike hands again,
and the states unite in the old but grander fam-
ily circle as one nation, under one flag, with
one president. And freedom seals the compact
for all. The Declaration of Independence be-
longs now to all the states, and the souls of
the martyrs of liberty are marching on with
John Brown’s.

Let the bells ring, then, and the cannon
thunder. Let all our citizens join in the dem-
onstration of joy. Let us hold one grand, uni-
versal, enthusiastic joy meeting this evening at
some suitable place, either within or without
doors, and congratulate each other. Let every
building in the city blaze with light this even-
ing.]

How different sounds the words of the
same writer in the next issue, on the
15th:

[written in smaller font] [“Vale!” “Vale!”

The wine of life is spilled; the royal cup of
fine gold is broken. Domestic faction, with
horrible instruction, has taught the nation the
utter malignity of secession. Treason has done
its worst, and on our noblest. The bloody dag-
ger’s point has reached the nation’s soul, with
poison in its wound, to carry grief, horror and
consternation through our veins; and as the
numbness of the shock wears off, and the heal-
ing begins, it will wake a fever of fury whose
end and effect none can foretell.

The times are dark again. Sudden and dis-
astrous eclipse has rushed upon the morning
of peace and returning fraternity, but a mo-
ment since without a cloud upon its glory, or
a chill in its breath of balm.

All is again uncertainty; state policy and
chance, government and faction, law and an-
archy, freedom and slavery, battle and truce,
revenge and mercy, order and chaos, jostle each
other in the dark, and no man can see whther
the majestic ship of state (whose cable has
been cut in the night by the assassin’s knife,)
is drifting; whether out of this event shall
come evil or good to the nation and the world;
whether we shall again moor in the haven of
peace and union, or have but opened the har-
bor to be mocked with out last glimpse of na-
tional brotherhood.

The president is dead—the greatest, purest,
kindest soul Heaven and man ever conspired
to crowd with public honors—the surest, saf-
est, truest friend, leader and reflex of the peo-
ple. Great beyond his times, he was at once
the greatest, grandest hero of history and the
kindest and commonest of the crowd of men.
his last act was a benediction. Rather than
disappoint the populace who expected his pres-
ence at the theater, he went to his death,
though both he and his wife were ill; thus fall-
ing a sacrifice in this little, this homely, this
common and natural act, which his death has

[illustration of John Wilkes Booth]

[Caption] [J. WILKES BOOTH]

guilded with immortality. He was of the peo-
ple; he died in a sense for the common peo-
ple. He was the pattern of the common peo-
ple and the ripe fruit of American democracy;
at the same time the unchallenged peer of his-
tory, and the certain master of living great-
ness. Heaven’s evident and commissioned in-
strument he was crowned with success and
with immortality in the same week.

Secretary Seward dies with his master and
his friend. So two great souls—the greatest, in
all, that the world held in all its bounds—step
into glory abreast, both crowned with all that
makes life honorable, and both clothed with
that raiment that makes death glorious. Such
a pair, so matched and sustained in all good
graces, so loved and mourned, have never in
one hour knocked at the pearly gate nor met
such glorious welcomed within.]

Such was the spirit of the people ad-
mirably reflected in the columns of the
paper of the day which was heralded abroad
that the assassin had been run down and
shot the people only regretted that he
met with such an easy fate.

WAS PRESENT AT FORD’S THEATER.

---------------------

Big Rapids Merchant Talks of the National Horror

Enacted 34 Years Ago at Washington.

[written in smaller font] [Special to Grand Rapids Herald.]

Big Rapids, Mich., April 15.—J. P. Hul-
ing, one of our leading merchants, was
present at Ford’s theater, in Washington,
the evening that has since gone into his-
tory as marking one of the greatest trag-
edies of modern times. President Lincoln
was assassinated by J. Wilkes Booth,
April 14, 1865, 34 years ago today, and
Mr. Huling, in response to a request, told
his personal experience substantially as
follows:

“I served during the rebellion in Com-
pany C, Seventeenth United States in-
fantry, and after receiving my discharge,
I visited the city of Washington on bus-
iness, arriving there April 14, and that
evening, by invitation of James T. Hale,


the representative in congress from my
district, the Eighteenth Pennsylvania,
accompanied him to Ford’s theater, where
we expected to pass a pleasant hour or
two. As we strolled down to the theater,
we little thought that in a short time the
whole nation would be bowed in grief at
a tragedy which was to be enacted in
our presence. We passed to our seats and
soon the curtain rose and the play pro-
ceded. After Booth had committed his
shocking crime and leaped from the booth
to the stage, my friend and myself, who
were both familiar with the play, were
saying that we could not recall anything
like that when seeing the play at other
times. Then there was quite a stir
among the audience, and two or three
men leaped upon the stage and from
there into the president’s box, and in a


short time we knew what had happened.
The audience was all excitement at once,
and we didn’t know but what the plot
was to include part of these who sat in
the body of the house, for there were lots
of southern sympathizers in Washington
at the time.

[boldface] [Saw Lincoln Only Twice.]

The retails of that sad affair are fa-
miliar to everyone, and need not be re-
peated now. I saw Abraham Lincoln but
twice in my life; when he was on his
way to Washington to be inaugurated,
and once as he was driving down Penn-
Sylvania avenue. I did not see him at
Ford’s theater, as the curtains of the
box where he sat were drawn. A few
days after he was assassinated, from the
roof of a building, I watched the process-
sion as they escorted his remains to the
capitol. I looked upon his noble face for
the last time as he lay in state in the
great rotunda of the capitol. When Pres-
ident Lincoln was on his way to Wash-
ing he stopped at the Jones house, which
is now called the Commonwealth hotel,
in the city of Harrisburg, and which at
that time was run by my uncle, Wells
Coverly, and I was there the day that
Abraham Lincoln stopped there. I was
recently reading an article in one of the
magazines which seems to convey the
idea that when he left this hotel he went
out the back door and got into a hack.
The facts are that in order to avoid the
great crowd that had gathered in front
of the hotel to catch a glimpse of him,
he was taken from the hotel through a
hall to the private residence of my uncle
and from there took the hack. I stood on
the sidewalk when he came out, and saw
the people down the street watching for
him at the hotel entrance, and a great
many of them saw him when he got
into the hack, but none recognized him
and he was aboard cars and speeding
away before the crowd found that he had
gone.

Since that April night in Washington I
have traveled over this country of ours
a great deal, and although there was a
large crowd at the theater, I have never
met, to my knowledge, a single person
that was there. I had witnessed many
sad and exciting scenes on the battle-
fields in the war that was then going on,
but nothing that I ever experienced gave
me more of a shock than did that tragedy
when we realized what had happened.
That night, and the days immediately fol-
owing, were the most exciting times I
ever saw. Little did I think at that time
that I should live to see our people, who
were divided and embittered, reunited,
and the federal and confederate soldier
fighting side by side under the stars and
stripes.”

Source

c.00130 - John Edison Papers

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Educational use only, no other permissions given. Copyright to this resource is held by Michigan State University and is provided here for educational purposes only. It may not be reproduced or distributed in any format without written permission of the University Archives & Historical Collections, Michigan State University.

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Cite this Item

Grand Rapids Herald. "Grand Rapids Herald Articles". Michigan State University Archives & Historical Collections. Remembering Lincoln. Web. Accessed May 23, 2025. https://rememberinglincoln.fords.org/node/859

Creator

Grand Rapids Herald

Publisher

Michigan State University Archives & Historical Collections

Date

April 16, 1899

Material

Newspaper

Dimensions

6.75" x 22.25"

Full Title

New York Herald 1865

Description

New York Herald newspaper regarding the Lincoln assassination and identifying John Wilkes Booth as the shooter.

Transcription

"IMPORTANT. ASSASSINATION OF PRESIDENT LINCOLN. The President Shot at the Theatre Last Evening. SECRETARY SEWARD DAGGERED IN HIS BED, BUT NOT MORTALLY WOUNDED. Clarence and Frederick Seward Badly Hurt. ESCAPE OF THE ASSASSINS. Intense Excitement in Washington. Scene at the Deathbed of Mr. Lincoln. J. Wilkes Booth, the Actor, the Alleged Assassin of the President."

"Major General Dix, New York:-
This evening at about 9:30 P.M., at Ford's Theatre, the President, while sitting in his private box with Mrs. Lincoln, Mrs. Harris and Major Rathburn, was shot by an assassin, who suddenly entered the box and approached behind the President. The assassin then leaped upon the stage, brandishing a large dagger or knife, and made his escape in the roar of the theatre. The pistol ball entered the back of the President's bead and penetrated nearly through the head. The wound is mortal. The President has been insensible ever since it was inflicted, and is now dying. About the same hour an assassin, wheahter the same or not, entered Mr. Seward's apartments, and under pretense of having a prescription, was shown to the Secretary's sick chamber. The assassin immediately rushed to the bed and inflicted two or three stabs on the throat and two on the face. It is hoped the wounds may not be mortal. My _______ is that they will prove fatal. ___a nurse alarmed Mr. Frederick Seward, who was in an adjoining room, and he hastened to the door of his father's room, when he met the assassin, who inflicted upon him one or more dangerous wounds. The recovery of Frederick Seward is doubtful. It is not probable that the President will live through the night. General Grant and wife were advertised to be at the theatre this evening, but he started to Burlington at six o'clock this evening. At a Cabinet meeting, at which General Grant was present, the subject of the state of the country and the prospect of a speedy peace were discussed. The President was very cheerful and hopeful, and spoke very kindly of General Lee and others of the confederacy, and of the establishment of government in Virginia. All the members of the Cabinet except Mr. Seward, are now in attendance upon the President. I have seen Mr. Seward, but he and Frederick were both unconscious.- Edwin M. Stanton, Secretary of War."

"POSTSCRIPT. DEATH OF THE PRESIDENT!! Condition of Secretary Seward. Ten Thousand Dollars Reward Offered for the Arrest of the Assassins. J. Wilkes Booth Identified as the Murderer of the President."

"To Major General Dix:-
The President continues insensible and is sinking. Secretary Seward remains without change. Fredrick Seward's skill is fractured in two places, besides a severe cut upon the head. The attendant is still alive but hopeless. Major Seward's wounds not dangerous. It is now ascertained with reasonable certainty that two assassins were engaged in the horrible crime, Wilkes Booth being the one that shot the President, and the other a companion of his whose name is not known, but whose description is so clear that he can hardly escape. It appears from a letter found in Booth's trunk that the murder was planned before the 4th of March, but fell through then because the accomplice backed out until "Richmond could be heard from." Booth and his accomplice were at the livery ____ at six o'clock last evening, and left there with their horses about ten o'clock, or shortly before that hour. It would appear that they had for several days been seeking their chance,but for some unknown reason it was not carried into effect until last night. One of them has evidently made his way to Baltimore-the other has not yet been traced.---Edwin M. Stanton, Secretary of War."

"To Major General Dix, New York:-
Abraham Lincoln died this morning at twenty-two minutes after seven o'clock.---Edwin M. Stanton, Secretary of War."

"Our Special Washington Despatch. Washington, April 15-8 A.M.
The President died at half-past seven o'clock this morning. The bells throughout the city are tolling. The public departments and most of the places of business are closed. Secretary Seward is pretty comfortable this morning, the wounds inflicted upon him not being dangerous in themselves, but serious for his advanced age and previously weak-condition. Mr. Frederick Seward is very dangerously wounded, his skull having been fractured by a blow from the butt of a pistol in the hand of the assassin. The most profound sensation prevails here and the deepest realization of the irreparable loss which the nation has sustained pervades the minds of the people."

Source

Montgomery County Historical Society

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Use of this item for research, teaching, and private study is permitted with proper citation. Reproduction of the item requires our written permission for publication, broadcast or commercial use. Request for such must be made in writing, outlining in detail the items to be reproduced and requested use of the reproduction. For permission, please contact Victoria Johnston at vjohnston@lane-mchs.org.

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U.S. Department of War, Washington D.C.. "New York Herald 1865". Remembering Lincoln. Web. Accessed May 23, 2025. https://rememberinglincoln.fords.org/node/839

Creator

U.S. Department of War, Washington D.C.

Date

April 15, 1865

Full Title

"John Wilkes Booth Shot and Killed"

Description

News article with bylines: J. Wilkes Booth shot and killed, His accomplice Harrold captured, Booth's body and Harrold's in Washington. The article gives details of the capture.

Source

Springer Collection, Oakland University Special Collections

Rights

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Cite this Item

Louisville Daily Journal. ""John Wilkes Booth Shot and Killed"". Louisville Daily Journal. Remembering Lincoln. Web. Accessed May 23, 2025. https://rememberinglincoln.fords.org/node/807

Creator

Louisville Daily Journal

Publisher

Louisville Daily Journal

Date

April 28, 1865

Material

newspaper

Full Title

Wilkes Booth and his Dead Body [From the Cincinnati Union of Sunday]

Description

News article with details of what happened to the body of John Wilkes Booth.

Transcription

Wilkes Booth and his Dead Body. -
[From the Cincinnati Union of Sunday}
The Louisville Courier has the following:
“Wilkes Booth, whose body Secretary Stanton took so much pains to dispose of, so that no man should ever know the spot where it was buried, is reported to be in Europe. The story is that the man who ‘Boston Corbett’ so heroically shot, and whose body Stanton refused to exhibit to any one that ever saw Booth, was a poor wretch hired by the assassins to personate Booth, in order to facilitate the escape of the latter. Whether there be or be not any truth in this story, it will never cease to be a suspicious circumstance connected with the fate of Wilkes Booth, that Stan-ton refused to deliver the body that was brought up from Virginia to his friends or even to let them look upon it.”
Dating a couple of months from the time that Booth, the assassin of President Lincoln, was shot and killed by Boston Corbett, in the attempt to capture him, sensation stories like the above have been of frequent occurrence. Of course there is not a shadow of truth in the tale of Booth being still alive. The body was fully recognized as being that of Booth, and although tales were told about it be-ing secretly taken out to sea and sunk, and others about it being buried at mid-night, in an obscure place, by two men employed by Government, and who were sworn to secrecy, yet facts, known to but few, and carefully kept from the newspa-per press, show that the body was given over to the relatives of Booth, and that it was buried in either New England or in Canada.
The facts, as we had them at the time on authority not to be doubted, are as follows:
A few days before the body of Booth so mysteriously disappeared, our informant, a resident of New York, and favorably known as a dramatic writer, was called upon after bank hours to cash the draft of an undertaker, a near neighbor, who stated that he had received an order from the Booth family, to repair to Washington with a coffin, and there to receive the body of John Wilkes Booth, which would be surrendered to him on their order, and to convey it North for burial. The under-taker said he would return, and pass through New York, en route with the body, on a Thursday evening, or on Friday morning of the same week.
The morning after the undertaker left Washington, the report came by telegraph that the body had mysteriously disappear-ed—that it had been secretly buried—one report said in an old field, another in the Penitentiary yard, and still another that it had been taken to sea and sunk.
The undertaker did not return to his family until some days had elapsed. He came from the North, but declined to give any information relative to the place where John Wilkes Booth, under another name, had been buried. Should it get out, he said, the grave would be violated and the body removed, and the family were naturally anxious that this should not be.
These facts coming to us from the source they did, are more than sufficient to convince us, not only of the death of John Wilkes Booth, but that his body, with a pledge of secrecy freely given and fully kept, was given over to his family for burial, and that, except the relatives of Booth and the undertaker, no living being knows where the last remains of John Wilkes Booth are interred. No slab marks the last resting place of the assas-sin. The man who dug the grave knew not for whom it was intended, and in the burial permit was inserted a false name. In his unknown grave the assassin will lie until the grave gives up its sheeted dead, and all are called to judgement.

[Transcription by Alicia B., Ford's Theatre Society.]

Source

Springer Collection, Oakland University Special Collections

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This item may be reproduced and used for any purpose, including research, teaching, private study, publication, broadcast, or commercial use, with proper citation and attribution.

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Cite this Item

Louisville Courier. "Wilkes Booth and his Dead Body [From the Cincinnati Union of Sunday]". Louisville Courier. Remembering Lincoln. Web. Accessed May 23, 2025. https://rememberinglincoln.fords.org/node/806

Creator

Louisville Courier

Publisher

Louisville Courier

Date

September 18, 1866

Material

newspaper

Full Title

President Johnson

Description

Page 2 of the Portland Daily Press of April 18, 1865. It includes a portrait of the new president, Andrew Johnson. Other articles: Booth the Murderer of the President; Report of Sabbath Services Continued.

Source

Springer Collection, Oakland University Special Collections

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This item may be reproduced and used for any purpose, including research, teaching, private study, publication, broadcast, or commercial use, with proper citation and attribution.

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Cite this Item

Portland Daily Press. "President Johnson". Portland Daily Press. Remembering Lincoln. Web. Accessed May 23, 2025. https://rememberinglincoln.fords.org/node/795

Creator

Portland Daily Press

Publisher

Portland Daily Press

Date

April 18, 1865

Material

paper

Full Title

"Further about Booth's Capture, Some Additional Interesting Details"

Description

News article with headlines: Further about Booth's capture, Some additional interesting details, Account of the affair by Harrold, Booth's conversation with Lt. Baker, Proposal to bury him in mid-ocean, Statement of Sergt. Boston Corbett.

Source

Springer Collection, Oakland University Special Collections

Rights

This item may be reproduced and used for any purpose, including research, teaching, private study, publication, broadcast, or commercial use, with proper citation and attribution.

Tags

Cite this Item

Louisville Daily Journal. ""Further about Booth's Capture, Some Additional Interesting Details"". Louisville Daily Journal. Remembering Lincoln. Web. Accessed May 23, 2025. https://rememberinglincoln.fords.org/node/794

Creator

Louisville Daily Journal

Publisher

Louisville Daily Journal

Date

April 29, 1865

Material

paper