American Brutus

by Michael W. Kauffman

  John J. Toffey was assigned to guard prisoners at Lincoln Hospital. Letter of April 17, courtesy of William Toffey; O.R. I:46 (3) 778; The announcement was given in General Orders No. 66, Adjutant General’s Office, O.R. I:46 (3) 788, issued April 16.

  Dispatch 194, John F. Potter to Seward, April 24, 1865, in RG 59, microcopy T-222, reel 6, National Archives; The Examiner was quoted in Forney’s Progress, November 22, 1879, 22. Reactions in Richmond are described in a letter from Charlie Morrell to his brother Isaac, dated April 17, 1865, courtesy of the recipient’s granddaughter, Gertrude Beidler. Ewell’s reaction is in the New York Herald, April 17, 1865, 1, and his note to Grant is in O.R. I:46 (3) 787; Special Order 56, issued on April 17 by Sherman’s adjutant, L. M. Dayton, on the general’s orders. O.R. I:47 (3) 239.

  Greeley incident is from Edward Everett Hale, ed., James Russell Lowell and His Friends, as quoted by the Frederick, Maryland, Citizen, clipping provided by Mark S. Zaid; The Baltimore Sun, April 19, 1865, 2; Shaw’s killing has always been presented as a case of political retaliation, but Jesse Glass, who has studied the case, believes it was the result of a personal feud. The Baltimore Sun, September 13, 1992, and personal correspondence with the author; William T. Clark to his sister Ida, April 19, 1865, in the files of the National Park Service.

  Telegrams relating to Keene and Harry Hawk: Butler papers, Library of Congress; Thomas Quinn, of Baltimore, quoted by William F. Morgan in a letter to the War Department, LAS 2:70; Richards to Ingraham, April 15, in RG 393 (1) entry 5454; “Dixie” punishment is given in RG 393 (1), entry 2347, old book 17, p. 302. Ford defended his staff by explaining that Mr. Lincoln himself had called it a “captured tune” the night before they played it. The Baltimore Sun, April 19, 1865, 1.

  Junius Booth Diary, Mugar Memorial Library, Boston University; LAS 4:117; Washington Daily Constitutional Union, April 21, 1865, 1; Quincy Kilby typescript, Princeton University Library. Kilby was an intimate friend of the Tompkins family. Edwin’s letter to Asia is quoted in Clarke, Unlocked Book, 130; Winter, Life and Art of Edwin Booth, 400–1; Mary Ann’s reaction is reported by Mrs. Thomas Bailey Aldrich, Crowding Memories (Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1920), 70–73.

  Clarke, Unlocked Book, 127.

  Elizabeth Dixon letter; National Intelligencer, April 17, 1865, 2.

  Reminiscences of Robert Brewster Stanton, Manuscripts Department, New York Public Library; unidentified clipping in the Columbia Historical Society. The six men were John C. Weaver, William Reith, Eli Morey, David Frantz, John Richardson, and Antonio Bregazzi. Mose Sandford, a Quartermaster Department worker, wrote to a friend on April 17 describing the clothes left in the coffin. Sandford enclosed a swatch from the bloody shirt. Files of the National Park Service, Ford’s Theatre.

  John P. Usher letter, April 16, in the Manuscripts Division, Library of Congress; William T. Clark letter, April 19, National Park Service files, Ford’s Theatre; Whig Press (Middletown, New York), April 20, 1865, 2, in LAS 7:623; Richardson, Messages and Papers of the Presidents, 6:305; Welles, Diary, 252.

  Cabinet meeting is mentioned by Edwin Stanton in M-473, 88:1020; Notes of Dr. Charles S. Taft, at McGill University, identifies those present as Dr. Joseph K. Barnes, Dr. Charles H. Crane, Dr. Robert King Stone, Dr. Joseph J. Woodward, Dr. Edward Curtis, Dr. William Notson, and himself. Autopsy report of Dr. Woodward is in Record Group 94, TR11 Special File 14, D776, in the Treasure Room of the National Archives; Dr. Robert King Stone testimony in Poore, 1:250; The ball was often described as .41 caliber, and Dr. Barnes said that it was made of Britannia metal, an alloy of tin, antimony, copper, and lead. However, it was actually made of plain lead. It is now too corroded for an accurate measurement, but a recent examination by the FBI laboratory showed it to be consistent with a .41-caliber ball typically used in the .44-caliber weapon. The ball is now on display in the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, along with the skull fragments and probe. NPS File for catalog number 3224, Accession 190. For a modern study of Lincoln’s wound, see John K. Lattimer and Angus Laidlaw, “Good Samaritan Surgeon Wrongly Accused of Contributing to President Lincoln’s Death: An Experimental Study of the President’s Fatal Wound,” Journal of the American College of Surgeons 182 (May 1996): 431–48; Helen R. Purtle, “Lincoln Memorabilia in the Medical Museum of the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology,” Bulletin of the History of Medicine 32 ( January 1958): 73–74; Original memorandum on the bullet is in LAS 7:666.

  The Baltimore Sun, April 18, 1865, and Turner, Mary Todd Lincoln, 224; On Sunday, Stanton ordered the 22nd U.S. Colored Troops up from Petersburg to participate in the funeral. O.R. I:46 (3) 816, and James Otis Moore, letter of April 23, in Perkins Library, Duke University.

  Chapter 13: “I believe he would have murdered us, every one”

  Various rumors circulated in Bryantown. Daniel Monroe heard that the assassin was Edwin Booth (Poore, 3:491); John H. Ward said that foreign-born soldiers with Dana could not pronounce Booth’s name, and called him “Boose” (Poore, 2:64); Eleanor Bloyce heard the news, but did not hear any name given for the assassin (Poore, 2:48); Leonard S. Roby said that the soldiers he spoke with did not know who the assassin was (Poore, 3:207). For Boyle’s reputation, see E.D.R. Bean in Poore, 3:211; Leisurely ride: see George Booz [Booth] in Poore, 3:336–37. See also testimony of John F. Hardy in Poore, 3:432, and Francis Farrell in Poore, 3:419.

  Sarah Frances Mudd affidavit dated July 6, 1865, in the Ewing Family Papers. A copy is in the records of the Pardon Attorney, RG 204, file B596, National Archives; Captain R. Chandler, acting on Dana’s information, ordered the arrest of “Boyd or Boyce” and John Surratt, the two supposed assassins. RG 393 (2), entry 6714; book 186, Mudd in LAS 2:1029; Samuel Cox, Jr., wrote about the contraband mail in the margins of his own copy of the Thomas A. Jones book, now in the Maryland Historical Society. I have used Cox’s account of Booth’s departure rather than Mudd’s original version. Though Cox got the information from Mudd secondhand, it seems more candid and perfectly logical, given the doctor’s predicament. For Mrs. Mudd’s plea to delay reporting, see the affidavits of Sarah Frances Mudd, Elizabeth A. Dyer, and Sylvester Mudd, all dated June 16, 1865, in the records of the Pardon Attorney, RG 204, file B596, National Archives.

  Jim Ferguson and Mary Ellen Cecil were not married until 1867. Unidentified 1876 clipping in the George Alfred Townsend Papers, Maryland State Archives, and District of Columbia marriage records; The “Ephesian dome” was the temple of Diana (or Artemis) at Ephesus, which was allegedly burned by Herostratus in 356 B.C. For Booth’s quote, see New York World, April 25, 1865, 1. An unidentified schoolmate from St. Timothy’s later gave the same story. See Clarke, Unlocked Book, 155–57; The mainstream view of Booth’s motives remains that expressed by Stanley Kimmel in The Mad Booths of Maryland, passim.

  The description of Prince George’s County was dated four years after the assassination, but little had changed there (and nothing for the better) in the postwar years. Unidentified clipping in the Lincoln Obsequies Scrapbook, Rare Book Room, Library of Congress; Regarding Herold’s photograph, see Van Benthuysen and James A. McDevitt in M-619, 456:567 and 456:574, and an April 22 letter from Brevet Brigadier General Charles H. Crane, of the Surgeon General’s office, which mentioned the photo lab’s work. Robert E. Batchelder Autographs catalog number 63 (1987). The photos were printed by a lab in the Surgeon General’s office.

  An interview with the Sewards was reported in the Cincinnati Commercial, December 8, 1865, 4; Dr. Verdi gave his prognosis in the Western Homeopathic Observer 2 (May 15, 1865), for a copy of which I thank Dr. Blaine V. Houmes; Thomas B. Gunning, “Treatment of Fracture of Lower Jaw by Interdental Splints,” New York Medical Journal 4 (1867): 23–29; For an excellent overview of Secretary Seward’s treatment, see John K. Lattimer, M.D., “The Stabbing of Lincoln’s Secretary of State on the Night the President Was Shot,” Journal of the American Medical Association 192 (April 12, 1965): 99–106; Frederick Seward in Surr
att Trial, 252; A previously unused source on the Sewards’ progress were the morning and evening reports of the Surgeon General. For some reason, General Barnes telegraphed these reports to Stanton, whose office was in plain sight of his own. On April 20, Stanton began forwarding them to General Dix for dissemination to the press. They appear in M-473, reels 88 and 89. Frederick Seward returned to work in October.

  Samuel Beckwith in The Washington Post, April 1, 1915, 2:5. Though Grant ordered the arrest of John T. Ford, most of his attention was directed at demobilizing the army and advising General Sherman on terms of surrender for Johnston, Mosby, and others still under arms. B. A. Hill’s investigation was reported to Stanton on April 16, Stanton Papers, reel 9, Library of Congress; Resumption of the rail service in Stanton to Morris, April 15, in M-473, 88:1022; Edward Murphy in LAS 5:241–47; John Caldwell lent Atzerodt the money (Poore, 2:148). Lucinda Metts lived at 182 West Street (now 3213 P Street). Atzerodt’s connection to Mrs. Metts has not been determined, but Montgomery County marriage records connect several people of her family (with its variant spelling “Metz”; here I use her own spelling) with the Richters. Atzerodt’s aunt was married to Frederick Richter. High Street is now Wisconsin Avenue, and the Cunningham Tavern still stands at Wisconsin and O streets. Details on the events at Tennallytown (now Tenleytown) are in the court-martial records of Lewis F. Chubb in RG 153, case file MM2513, National Archives.

  Philadelphia Evening Bulletin, November 1, 1911. My thanks to Steven J. Wright.

  Thomas in LAS 6:377; It is often suggested that Booth and Herold avoided going through Bryantown because Dr. Mudd had warned them of the military presence there. In fact, we have no reason to suppose they ever intended to go through a populated area in the first place. Herold said that he had relatives at Patuxent City, and he might have gone there in search of a carriage. It is not far from Hughesville. Herold in LAS 4:451, 460.

  For Major Waite’s report on the “skirmish,” see O.R. I:46 (3) 870; Dr. Richard Neale and two other men were committed to the Old Capitol, charged with attempting to assassinate Union soldiers. I found no record that they were prosecuted. Commitments to the Old Capitol, RG 111. Swan in LAS 6:227; Charles County land records give the name as Oswell Swann, but I take the spelling from the family, and from Swan’s death certificate. For family information, I am indebted to Swan’s grandnephew, Ricky Robinson.

  For the story of Jack Scroggins’s death, see Donald Yacovone, ed., A Voice of Thunder: The Civil War Letters of George E. Stephens (Urbana and Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 1997), 163–64, 190–91; a refutation appeared in the New York Tribune, March 4, 1862; One variant gave the slave’s name as Jackson Smook, and another named Thomas Jones as the killer. For variants on the story, see Cora Frear Hawkins memorandum, February 4, 1953, in the Stern Papers, Library of Congress, and George Alfred Townsend, “How Wilkes Booth Crossed the Potomac,” Century Magazine, April 1884. Mrs. Hawkins took notes from her many conversations with Bettie Johnson, a former servant of the Coxes.

  The house still stands, but has been altered since Cox’s time. It originally had wings on either side of the main structure, but the left wing was destroyed before the Civil War, and the right was torn down in 1975. Rich Hill was deeded to Samuel Cox (1819–80) in 1849, including 845½ acres. A letter from Rudolph Carrico to J. Matthews Neale dated July 24, 1959, gave a full title abstract. It is in the papers of Philip Van Doren Stern, Manuscripts Division, Library of Congress; Samuel Cox interrogation report by Colonel Olcott, in Holt Papers, vol. 92, document 6769; Swan in LAS 6:227. According to Lafayette Baker, Mary Swann (no relation to Oswald Swan) saw Booth holding his hand up to the lantern, showing Cox the tattooed initials on the back of his hand. The story is suspect, however, because it originated with Baker, and because Mary always claimed to have protected her master. In a statement to Colonel Wells, Mary said that she saw the fugitives, but they did not come into the house. See Cora Frear Hawkins memorandum; Swann to Baker in LAS 6:162 and Swann to Wells, LAS 6:160.

  Cold front: RG 393, Part 1, entry 5459, 413:102. Samuel Cox, Jr., letter to Mrs. Bradley T. Johnson, July 20, 1891, in Virginia Historical Society; Jones, J. Wilkes Booth, 73–74.

  The Nation’s Sacrifice: Abraham Lincoln. A Sermon Preached at the Church of the Redeemer, Cincinnati (Cincinnati: Robert Clarke & Co., 1865), 7–8, 13, 14; Cleveland Leader, April 17, 1865, 4. Reverend Thome preached at the Detroit Street Congregational Church.

  Edwin Booth to Adam Badeau, April 16, copy in the Sterling Library, Yale University; Edwin returned to New York that day with Orlando Tompkins and Henry Jarrett, according to the diary of William Warren, in the Roland Reed Collection, Howard University; Asia did not explicitly state that she looked through the papers beforehand, but she implied it by saying, “I opened the packet alone, and destroyed an envelope. . . .” Clarke, Unlocked Book, 127; Sleeper Clarke in LAS 7:410; Both letters are in the Treasure Room of the National Archives.

  Cottingham in M-619, 458:391 and claim report, RG 233, file HR39A-H4.1; Jones’s smuggling case was laid out in O.R. II:2, 861, and his plea to Seward is on p. 860. His release was delayed by a letter from Frederick Seward dated December 20, 1861, advising that he be transferred to Fort Lafayette in New York Harbor. O.R. II:2, 874. I assume this was urged by Seward’s father, who had received Jones’s pleas for mercy, as well as Allen Pinkerton, who considered Jones a dangerous character.

  Some of those summoned: William P. Wood in Washington Sunday Gazette, February 22, 1885, 1; Lafayette Baker and New York Police, O.R. I:46 (3) 783; Stanton to Baker in M-473, 88:1018; George H. Sharpe, O.R. I:46 (3) 851–53; Robert Murray, M-619, 456:358; John Young, O.R. I:46 (3) 783; Stanton relieved James O’Beirne of his regular duties on Sunday. M-619, 458:106 and O’Beirne in claim file, RG 233.

  Roger D. Hunt and Jack R. Brown, Brevet Brigadier Generals in Blue (Gaithersburg, MD: Olde Soldier Books, 1990), 212, 658; Howard Murphet, Hammer on the Mountain: The Life of Henry Steel Olcott (Wheaton, IL: The Theosophical Society, 1972), 7–8, 15–21; Welles, Diary, 265. Welles also said that Olcott probably acted with good intentions.

  Cottingham in M-619, 458:391–92; Joshua Lloyd in M-619, 456:492.

  Voltaire Randall and Eaton Horner in claim file, RG 233; M-619, 458:291.

  John H. Jack’s report on Canning is in LAS 5:50–57. Jack’s youngest child, incidentally, was a two-year-old boy named Edwin Booth Jack.

  Harry Langdon in the Baltimore American, March 17, 1907; comment in The Philadelphia Inquirer, April 28, 1865; Rogers’s arrest was mentioned in The Baltimore Sun, April 24, 1865; Washington Evening Star, April 21–24, 1865. Some of the best sources on the “Pennsylvania Booth” are in a collection of newspaper clippings at Lincoln Memorial University, Harrogate, Tennessee. National Intelligencer, April 18, 1865, 1. A few sources identify the man as Capt. Jacob Haas, but Haas was arrested in western Pennsylvania, not in the northeastern part of the state.

  During the day, McPhail went with Horner to arrest Mike O’Laughlen, but found that he had not yet returned from Washington. Memorial, in the Voltaire Randall claim file, RG 233; Van Tyne in Poore, 1:140; Brooke Stabler in LAS 6:136; Cobb in LAS 4:174, and Loughran in LAS 5:135.

  The amount on Baker’s handbill included the $20,000 offered by the Common Council of Washington, so the large “$30,000” heading was misleading. M-619, 455:732; Allen and Kirby in M-619, 455:599. When Baker suspected that Kirby had been holding out on him, he had both men arrested. Aquilla Allen and William Washington Kirby in M-619, 455:601 and 455:620; RG 393 (1), entry 5459, book 413, p. 96.

  Thomas Price in LAS 6:32–35 and Poore, 2:23–24; Clara Harris in the Washington Evening Star, April 17, 1865; The knife belonged to Harry Ford, who inadvertently left it behind after inspecting the box on Friday afternoon (Ford in Poore, 2:550–51). The items found in Lincoln’s pockets are now in the Rare Book Room, Library of Congress. For the disappearance of the flags, see Michael W. Kauffman, “The Revenge of Old Glory: History vs. Myth in the Linc
oln Assassination,” Lincoln Herald 104, no. 4 (Winter 2002): 143. Olin in Poore, 1:409–11, and Surratt Trial, 786; Evening Star, April 17, 1865, 1. James J. Gifford went into the box with Secretary Stanton on Monday, and observed that the hole in the door was hurriedly made with a left-handed augur bit. Gifford in Surratt Trial, 327.

  They may have gotten their instructions from Jones, or from Stoughton W. Dent. Just after putting Jones in touch with the fugitives, Sammy Cox informed Dr. Dent of what was going on. Cox letter to Mrs. Bradley T. Johnson, July 20, 1891; Jones, J. Wilkes Booth, 80; Margaret Powers letter to Stanley Kimmel, 1940, in Kimmel Papers, University of Tampa (Mrs. Powers had been a neighbor of Franklin Robey, and heard the details directly from him).

  James Leamon in Poore, 2:505.

  Junius Booth to Edwin, April 17, 1865, in the Hampden-Booth Library, The Players.

  H. W. Bellows letter to Police Superintendent John A. Kennedy, April 17, 1865, original in the Massachusetts Historical Society; Clarke, Unlocked Book, 131–33.

  Randall and Horner in claim file, RG 233; M-619, 458:322 and M-619, 458:291; Randall’s telegram is in M-345, reel 30; As Percy E. Martin discovered, Benedict Arnold had his name legally changed by the Maryland courts in 1840.

  Cottingham claim file, RG 233; Lovett in M-619, 456:488; Joshua Lloyd in M-619, 456:493.

  Mississippi River warning is in M-473, 88:1052; Chesapeake sighting was reported in the Intelligencer, April 16, 1865, 1; Adams to William H. Seward, dispatch number 969, published in Diplomatic Correspondence (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1866), 386.