1 00:00:00,560 --> 00:00:04,000 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff You Missed in History Class from housetof 2 00:00:04,120 --> 00:00:13,960 Speaker 1: works dot com. Hello, and welcome to the podcast. I'm 3 00:00:14,000 --> 00:00:17,600 Speaker 1: Sarah Dowdy and I'm Delaney Charcoateboarding and around Christmas this year, 4 00:00:17,760 --> 00:00:22,200 Speaker 1: listener Hillary sent us the book Assassination Vacation by Sarah Vowel, 5 00:00:22,280 --> 00:00:26,920 Speaker 1: about the assassinations of three U S Presidents, Lincoln, Garfield, 6 00:00:27,000 --> 00:00:30,000 Speaker 1: and McKinley. And before I started the book, I figured, 7 00:00:30,040 --> 00:00:33,919 Speaker 1: of those three, I'd probably know the most about Lincoln's assassination, 8 00:00:34,400 --> 00:00:38,640 Speaker 1: at least the scene for its theater, the circumstances Lincoln 9 00:00:38,800 --> 00:00:42,080 Speaker 1: shot point blank in the head, and the players involved, 10 00:00:42,159 --> 00:00:46,760 Speaker 1: the actor John Wilkes Booth and his motley crew of conspirators. 11 00:00:47,240 --> 00:00:50,720 Speaker 1: But I hadn't realized the entire breadth of the attack. 12 00:00:50,800 --> 00:00:53,559 Speaker 1: The attack on Lincoln was really just one part of 13 00:00:53,720 --> 00:00:56,920 Speaker 1: three planned assassinations that were supposed to go down that night. 14 00:00:57,560 --> 00:01:01,200 Speaker 1: And I hadn't realized the intensiveness of the man hunt 15 00:01:01,240 --> 00:01:05,480 Speaker 1: for Booth either, or the strange, sad stories about peripheral 16 00:01:05,520 --> 00:01:09,720 Speaker 1: figures involved, like Booth's brother, the President's son, the Lincoln 17 00:01:09,800 --> 00:01:13,080 Speaker 1: theater guests. The night of the assassination. It really proved 18 00:01:13,120 --> 00:01:16,279 Speaker 1: to be a more in depth and more fascinating story 19 00:01:16,280 --> 00:01:19,360 Speaker 1: than I had imagined. So in this podcast, we're going 20 00:01:19,400 --> 00:01:21,839 Speaker 1: to talk about what happened the night of April fourteenth, 21 00:01:21,920 --> 00:01:25,000 Speaker 1: eighteen sixty five at Ford's Theater, but also some of 22 00:01:25,000 --> 00:01:27,919 Speaker 1: the events that happened long before that and long after. 23 00:01:28,440 --> 00:01:30,520 Speaker 1: And if you're a Lincoln buff, we hope that you 24 00:01:30,560 --> 00:01:33,600 Speaker 1: will get to hear your favorite weird detail or conspiracy 25 00:01:33,640 --> 00:01:36,760 Speaker 1: theory about this, And if you're not, then you're probably 26 00:01:36,800 --> 00:01:39,840 Speaker 1: going to be in for some surprises. It's sometimes fascinating 27 00:01:39,880 --> 00:01:43,240 Speaker 1: to extend the story beyond the point that we're used 28 00:01:43,240 --> 00:01:46,360 Speaker 1: to hearing, which for most people is probably Booth jumping 29 00:01:46,520 --> 00:01:50,240 Speaker 1: over the railing of the President's box and escaping. But 30 00:01:50,320 --> 00:01:53,760 Speaker 1: the first semi surprise of this podcast is going to 31 00:01:53,840 --> 00:01:56,440 Speaker 1: be that John Wilkes Booth, who is now of course 32 00:01:56,480 --> 00:01:59,640 Speaker 1: famous firstly as an assassin and secondly as an actor, 33 00:02:00,120 --> 00:02:02,600 Speaker 1: was really a pretty big star. I always kind of 34 00:02:02,640 --> 00:02:05,840 Speaker 1: imagined him as a middling actor in that fact was emphasized, 35 00:02:06,200 --> 00:02:08,720 Speaker 1: you know, just to make it all the stranger that 36 00:02:08,760 --> 00:02:12,760 Speaker 1: he was an assassin. He was, however, a member of 37 00:02:12,800 --> 00:02:15,959 Speaker 1: a great theatrical family, albeit kind of a lesser member. 38 00:02:16,000 --> 00:02:19,800 Speaker 1: But that's just because the other family members were so famous. 39 00:02:20,120 --> 00:02:23,200 Speaker 1: Booth had been born in Maryland in eighteen thirty eight. 40 00:02:23,240 --> 00:02:27,519 Speaker 1: He was the ninth of ten children of Junius Brutus Booth, 41 00:02:27,600 --> 00:02:31,040 Speaker 1: who was an English actor very famous in England who 42 00:02:31,040 --> 00:02:33,760 Speaker 1: had moved to the United States in eighteen twenty one. 43 00:02:34,360 --> 00:02:38,720 Speaker 1: Booth Sr. Was one of the most famous Shakespearean actors 44 00:02:38,760 --> 00:02:41,639 Speaker 1: in the country, maybe second only to Edwin Forest he 45 00:02:41,840 --> 00:02:46,360 Speaker 1: might remember from last year's Astor Place riot, and partly 46 00:02:46,400 --> 00:02:50,120 Speaker 1: to keep Junius Brutus from getting too wild on the road, 47 00:02:50,160 --> 00:02:53,680 Speaker 1: he had a drinking problem. His three sons got into 48 00:02:53,880 --> 00:02:57,040 Speaker 1: theater two and the middle boy, Edwin, became a star 49 00:02:57,200 --> 00:02:59,760 Speaker 1: to really rival his father. We're going to talk about 50 00:02:59,840 --> 00:03:03,720 Speaker 1: him a bit more later. The youngest, meanwhile, John Wilkes, 51 00:03:03,840 --> 00:03:07,720 Speaker 1: had a rockier start with his theatrical career until he 52 00:03:07,840 --> 00:03:12,400 Speaker 1: joined a Shakespearean company based in Richmond, Virginia. Yeah. Once 53 00:03:12,400 --> 00:03:14,959 Speaker 1: with that company, he toured the country, including the South, 54 00:03:15,040 --> 00:03:18,520 Speaker 1: and became celebrated for his good looks and athletic acting. 55 00:03:18,960 --> 00:03:22,160 Speaker 1: But the intensity of Booth's political opinions made him a 56 00:03:22,160 --> 00:03:25,560 Speaker 1: bit of an odd ball. He was extremely pro slavery, 57 00:03:25,680 --> 00:03:29,880 Speaker 1: anti Lincoln, and an ardent supporter of the Confederacy. While 58 00:03:29,960 --> 00:03:32,959 Speaker 1: some historians suggest Booth served as a Confederate agent during 59 00:03:32,960 --> 00:03:35,120 Speaker 1: the war, the only thing stopping him from taking a 60 00:03:35,200 --> 00:03:37,640 Speaker 1: more active role for his cause was a promise that 61 00:03:37,680 --> 00:03:40,480 Speaker 1: he made for his mother so he wouldn't actually enlist 62 00:03:40,520 --> 00:03:43,680 Speaker 1: in the army. So by the autumn of eighteen sixty four, 63 00:03:43,800 --> 00:03:48,160 Speaker 1: Booth started making plans to kidnap President Lincoln, drawing in 64 00:03:48,240 --> 00:03:51,800 Speaker 1: other conspirators to meet at Mrs Mary Sarat's Washington, d c. 65 00:03:52,120 --> 00:03:55,280 Speaker 1: Boarding house, and Booth, for one, already had a pretty 66 00:03:55,280 --> 00:03:59,080 Speaker 1: good in with the President, despite his earlier flings with actresses, 67 00:03:59,240 --> 00:04:02,600 Speaker 1: including an incident reported by Thomas Lowry in America Civil 68 00:04:02,600 --> 00:04:05,920 Speaker 1: War when he actress Henrietta Irving tried to stab Booth 69 00:04:05,960 --> 00:04:09,600 Speaker 1: in the chest, grazing his face and stays, yes, he 70 00:04:09,640 --> 00:04:12,200 Speaker 1: had away with the ladies, I guess. But Booth's current 71 00:04:12,240 --> 00:04:15,360 Speaker 1: girlfriend was the daughter of an ardent abolitionist U S. 72 00:04:15,360 --> 00:04:19,520 Speaker 1: Senator Lucy Hale, So with Lucy as his date and 73 00:04:19,680 --> 00:04:23,039 Speaker 1: his ind to the Lincoln circle, Booth even got a 74 00:04:23,120 --> 00:04:27,280 Speaker 1: prime seat at Lincoln's second inaugurlar address, ragging to a 75 00:04:27,320 --> 00:04:30,760 Speaker 1: friend that he had had a really great chance to 76 00:04:30,839 --> 00:04:33,440 Speaker 1: kill the president. Then you can even see Booth in 77 00:04:33,560 --> 00:04:37,120 Speaker 1: the picture of Lincoln giving his address. The kidnapping plans 78 00:04:37,200 --> 00:04:41,359 Speaker 1: ultimately kept falling through, though, and soon enough the motive 79 00:04:41,440 --> 00:04:44,800 Speaker 1: to stage at kidnapping in the first place disappeared. So 80 00:04:44,880 --> 00:04:47,240 Speaker 1: the point of kidnapping instead of killing had been to 81 00:04:47,440 --> 00:04:52,080 Speaker 1: exchange Lincoln for Confederate prisoners of war. But on April 82 00:04:52,200 --> 00:04:57,760 Speaker 1: nine sixty the war ended, so what are you gonna do? Ironically, though, 83 00:04:57,880 --> 00:05:01,039 Speaker 1: it was Lincoln's speech on reconstruct Action, which took place 84 00:05:01,200 --> 00:05:03,360 Speaker 1: just a few days after that on the White House 85 00:05:03,440 --> 00:05:07,240 Speaker 1: lawn that really fired up Booth made him decide that 86 00:05:07,520 --> 00:05:10,360 Speaker 1: he didn't want to give up the plan of kidnapping. 87 00:05:10,440 --> 00:05:13,000 Speaker 1: He wanted to escalate it to something more. He had 88 00:05:13,040 --> 00:05:17,239 Speaker 1: attended that speech with co conspirator Louis Powell and left 89 00:05:17,279 --> 00:05:21,200 Speaker 1: it swearing that it would be Lincoln's last speech. So 90 00:05:21,279 --> 00:05:24,520 Speaker 1: the right opportunity for Booth came almost immediately when he 91 00:05:24,560 --> 00:05:27,080 Speaker 1: read in the paper that the President and Mrs Lincoln 92 00:05:27,400 --> 00:05:30,320 Speaker 1: were due to attend a performance of Our American Cousin 93 00:05:30,640 --> 00:05:34,200 Speaker 1: at Ford's Theater in d C the night of April fourteen. So, 94 00:05:34,279 --> 00:05:38,279 Speaker 1: after months of plotting for more elaborate scenarios he swung 95 00:05:38,320 --> 00:05:41,359 Speaker 1: into action. He lined up his co conspirators into a 96 00:05:41,440 --> 00:05:45,919 Speaker 1: three pronged attack which was meant to cripple the government. Powell, 97 00:05:46,040 --> 00:05:49,560 Speaker 1: a former Confederate soldier, would assassinate the Secretary of State 98 00:05:49,600 --> 00:05:53,719 Speaker 1: William Seward with the help of David Harold. George at Serat, 99 00:05:53,800 --> 00:05:57,200 Speaker 1: a German immigrant and former boatman for Confederate spies, would 100 00:05:57,200 --> 00:06:02,080 Speaker 1: assassinate Vice President Andrew Johnson, and Booth himself would assassinate Lincoln. 101 00:06:02,600 --> 00:06:05,520 Speaker 1: And all these attacks would take place at approximately ten 102 00:06:05,640 --> 00:06:08,680 Speaker 1: pm on that night. So the morning of the assassination, 103 00:06:08,800 --> 00:06:12,080 Speaker 1: Booth was spotted with Lucy Hale, whose father was probably 104 00:06:12,120 --> 00:06:15,480 Speaker 1: at that same time meeting with Lincoln about his new 105 00:06:15,480 --> 00:06:19,040 Speaker 1: appointment to Spain. Lucy Hill's father was looking to get 106 00:06:19,040 --> 00:06:21,480 Speaker 1: out of DC along with his daughter, get her away 107 00:06:21,480 --> 00:06:25,760 Speaker 1: from crazy actor Booth. But at about six pm that night, 108 00:06:25,839 --> 00:06:29,000 Speaker 1: Booth entered Ford's Theater, which was pretty empty at that point, 109 00:06:29,000 --> 00:06:32,479 Speaker 1: and tampered with the door to the President's box, fixing 110 00:06:32,480 --> 00:06:34,400 Speaker 1: it so that the outer door of the box could 111 00:06:34,440 --> 00:06:38,360 Speaker 1: be jammed from the inside. After that, he just had 112 00:06:38,560 --> 00:06:41,559 Speaker 1: hours to kill, you know, trying to pass his time. 113 00:06:41,960 --> 00:06:45,840 Speaker 1: The theater's conductor, William Withers Jr. Who was pretty paked 114 00:06:45,839 --> 00:06:49,520 Speaker 1: to have the song he had composed performed for the 115 00:06:49,520 --> 00:06:52,839 Speaker 1: President that night, was also killing time and spotted Booth 116 00:06:52,880 --> 00:06:56,440 Speaker 1: at an actor's bar nearby the theater, and according to 117 00:06:56,480 --> 00:07:00,440 Speaker 1: a Richard Sloan article in American Heritage, Withers even heard 118 00:07:00,480 --> 00:07:03,600 Speaker 1: somebody joke quote, oh, Booth will never be as great 119 00:07:03,640 --> 00:07:07,560 Speaker 1: an actor as his father, which sounds like fighting words 120 00:07:07,600 --> 00:07:10,160 Speaker 1: most of the time with Booth, but Booth just replied, 121 00:07:10,200 --> 00:07:13,320 Speaker 1: pretty coolly, quote, when I leave the stage for good, 122 00:07:13,440 --> 00:07:17,200 Speaker 1: I will be the most famous man in America. So 123 00:07:17,320 --> 00:07:20,520 Speaker 1: during the third act, Booth re entered the theater and 124 00:07:20,560 --> 00:07:23,760 Speaker 1: walked into the President's box. He waited for a line 125 00:07:23,760 --> 00:07:26,120 Speaker 1: in the play that he knew would get big laughs. 126 00:07:26,120 --> 00:07:27,880 Speaker 1: I mean, remember, he was an actor, so we would 127 00:07:27,880 --> 00:07:31,040 Speaker 1: have known that sort of thing. Then he bust into 128 00:07:31,040 --> 00:07:33,240 Speaker 1: the inner door and shot Lincoln in the back of 129 00:07:33,280 --> 00:07:36,560 Speaker 1: the head with a forty four caliber garranger. Booth had 130 00:07:36,600 --> 00:07:39,600 Speaker 1: been expecting General and Mrs Grant to also be in 131 00:07:39,640 --> 00:07:42,160 Speaker 1: the box, and that's what the papers had announced, so 132 00:07:42,280 --> 00:07:44,360 Speaker 1: that's pretty much what he thought was going to happen. 133 00:07:44,400 --> 00:07:46,520 Speaker 1: But the Grants had turned down the invite, and Booth 134 00:07:46,560 --> 00:07:50,920 Speaker 1: instead found the Union officer, Major Henry Rathbone and his 135 00:07:50,960 --> 00:07:54,960 Speaker 1: fiance Clara Harris. So Rathbone of course that's what has happened, 136 00:07:55,000 --> 00:07:57,560 Speaker 1: and he kind of tussles with Booth, getting slashed in 137 00:07:57,600 --> 00:08:00,920 Speaker 1: the arm before Booth jumps over the boxes railing shouting 138 00:08:01,320 --> 00:08:05,920 Speaker 1: seeks semper tierness, thus always to tyrants, and he caught 139 00:08:05,920 --> 00:08:08,560 Speaker 1: a spur on the American flag, landed on the stage 140 00:08:08,560 --> 00:08:12,160 Speaker 1: below and broke his leg. From there, the conductor Withers 141 00:08:12,240 --> 00:08:15,600 Speaker 1: ran into him again. Withers, who had taken an underground 142 00:08:15,600 --> 00:08:18,520 Speaker 1: passageway around to the stage to question why his special 143 00:08:18,560 --> 00:08:21,400 Speaker 1: song that he had written kept getting pushed back. He 144 00:08:21,480 --> 00:08:24,960 Speaker 1: heard a pistol shot the thump, and then found himself 145 00:08:25,000 --> 00:08:28,400 Speaker 1: face to face with Booth, a flashing mad Booth to 146 00:08:28,760 --> 00:08:32,319 Speaker 1: Booth managed to escape down the passage out to an 147 00:08:32,320 --> 00:08:35,839 Speaker 1: alley and then on horseback to Maryland. We're going to 148 00:08:35,920 --> 00:08:38,880 Speaker 1: pick up with him later. But what about the other conspirators, 149 00:08:38,880 --> 00:08:42,280 Speaker 1: because remember this was a three pronged attack. We know 150 00:08:42,440 --> 00:08:45,320 Speaker 1: things must have not worked out quite according to plan, 151 00:08:45,400 --> 00:08:48,240 Speaker 1: because Johnson did go on to become president, he lived, 152 00:08:48,559 --> 00:08:51,600 Speaker 1: and Seward went on to buy Alaska from Russia for 153 00:08:51,880 --> 00:08:55,520 Speaker 1: seven point two million dollars, something that was mocked at 154 00:08:55,520 --> 00:08:59,520 Speaker 1: the time called Seward's folly. But enough on that Atserat, 155 00:08:59,720 --> 00:09:04,360 Speaker 1: who was commission to kill the vice president, just completely 156 00:09:04,440 --> 00:09:06,880 Speaker 1: chickened out. I think he went out drinking instead and 157 00:09:06,960 --> 00:09:11,640 Speaker 1: got nowhere near Johnson Powell, though, did some pretty serious 158 00:09:11,720 --> 00:09:15,040 Speaker 1: damage to the Seward family. He arrived at their home 159 00:09:15,280 --> 00:09:19,240 Speaker 1: under the guise of a pharmacy delivery boy. Um. He 160 00:09:19,480 --> 00:09:22,800 Speaker 1: went into Seward's house where the Secretary of State was 161 00:09:22,920 --> 00:09:25,880 Speaker 1: laid up after a very serious carriage accident. He had 162 00:09:25,920 --> 00:09:30,160 Speaker 1: broken an arm and his jaw, and uh that those 163 00:09:30,240 --> 00:09:34,000 Speaker 1: injuries required pretty serious banishing to his face and head, 164 00:09:34,040 --> 00:09:37,200 Speaker 1: which is a key point here. So when Paul entered 165 00:09:37,200 --> 00:09:41,560 Speaker 1: the home and was trying to deliver his medicine, Seward's 166 00:09:41,600 --> 00:09:44,960 Speaker 1: son Frederick met him but wouldn't allow him upstairs to 167 00:09:45,080 --> 00:09:48,600 Speaker 1: deliver the items personally. So at that point Paul pulled 168 00:09:48,640 --> 00:09:51,320 Speaker 1: out a gun tried to shoot Frederick, but found that 169 00:09:51,360 --> 00:09:54,800 Speaker 1: his gun wouldn't fire and pistol whipped him instead. Then 170 00:09:54,840 --> 00:09:59,880 Speaker 1: he charged up the stairs started slashing Seward Bedrooden Sewar 171 00:10:00,120 --> 00:10:03,240 Speaker 1: with a bowie knife in front of Seward's daughter too, 172 00:10:03,960 --> 00:10:08,520 Speaker 1: until finally the military officer who had been assigned to 173 00:10:08,840 --> 00:10:13,920 Speaker 1: Seward during his convalescence grappled with Powell and uh Seward's 174 00:10:13,960 --> 00:10:18,160 Speaker 1: other son joined into um ended up getting injured. A 175 00:10:18,360 --> 00:10:21,040 Speaker 1: colleague of Seward's got injured to Powe really did some 176 00:10:21,120 --> 00:10:25,880 Speaker 1: serious damage, but did manage to escape. Nobody was killed 177 00:10:25,960 --> 00:10:29,560 Speaker 1: in this incident. Seward and his son's recovered um, but 178 00:10:29,760 --> 00:10:32,800 Speaker 1: his wife died just a few weeks after because of 179 00:10:32,880 --> 00:10:37,760 Speaker 1: the double shock of the carriage accident and then this violent, 180 00:10:37,840 --> 00:10:40,719 Speaker 1: bloody attack in her home. Just to return and kind 181 00:10:40,720 --> 00:10:42,840 Speaker 1: of pick up with the Lincoln portion of the story, 182 00:10:42,880 --> 00:10:46,560 Speaker 1: Lincoln meanwhile, is dying from head wound. The first doctor 183 00:10:46,600 --> 00:10:49,200 Speaker 1: on the scene was Charles sab and Taft, who ordered 184 00:10:49,200 --> 00:10:52,360 Speaker 1: Lincoln to be removed to the nearest home. The president 185 00:10:52,400 --> 00:10:55,040 Speaker 1: was brought across the street to the lodging house of 186 00:10:55,080 --> 00:10:58,319 Speaker 1: William Peterson and placed diagonally across the bed because he 187 00:10:58,360 --> 00:11:02,040 Speaker 1: was too tall to just lie on it properly. While 188 00:11:02,040 --> 00:11:04,760 Speaker 1: the surgeon General cared for the president. Dr Taff stayed 189 00:11:04,760 --> 00:11:07,560 Speaker 1: in attendance, journaling the next morning that he had held 190 00:11:07,760 --> 00:11:10,559 Speaker 1: Lincoln's head almost all throughout the night he talked about 191 00:11:10,600 --> 00:11:13,600 Speaker 1: how heavy it was to just hold it there all night. 192 00:11:14,160 --> 00:11:18,160 Speaker 1: The president was pronounced dead at seven two am, and 193 00:11:18,200 --> 00:11:21,920 Speaker 1: then the Secretary of War, Edwin M. Stanton proclaimed, quote, 194 00:11:22,320 --> 00:11:24,640 Speaker 1: now he belongs to the ages. One of the more 195 00:11:24,760 --> 00:11:29,160 Speaker 1: famous quotes about Lincoln. In the president's pockets were a 196 00:11:29,240 --> 00:11:33,200 Speaker 1: pocket knife, two pairs of glasses, and a Confederate five 197 00:11:33,280 --> 00:11:37,440 Speaker 1: dollar bill, which I think is the most unusual item there. Okay, 198 00:11:37,559 --> 00:11:40,480 Speaker 1: so after the President dies, of course, the next day 199 00:11:40,840 --> 00:11:44,600 Speaker 1: was Easter Sunday, which was the absolute perfect time to 200 00:11:44,679 --> 00:11:49,960 Speaker 1: compare Lincoln's death to Jesus's sacrifice from pulpits across the country. 201 00:11:50,000 --> 00:11:53,720 Speaker 1: So everybody is talking about Lincoln and everybody is talking 202 00:11:53,760 --> 00:11:58,400 Speaker 1: about his assassin. After an autopsy, Lincoln lane state at 203 00:11:58,400 --> 00:12:00,720 Speaker 1: the White House and the Capital the for being sent 204 00:12:00,840 --> 00:12:03,880 Speaker 1: on a thirteen day train trip back to Springfield with 205 00:12:04,240 --> 00:12:08,040 Speaker 1: plenty of open casket viewings. Um just to sign note here. 206 00:12:08,160 --> 00:12:10,600 Speaker 1: Vale notes in her book that this was really great 207 00:12:10,720 --> 00:12:14,720 Speaker 1: publicity for the new trend in embalming, seeing the president 208 00:12:15,040 --> 00:12:17,880 Speaker 1: so many days after he had been killed. Meanwhile, as 209 00:12:17,920 --> 00:12:20,959 Speaker 1: the President's body is traveling around the search for Booth 210 00:12:21,000 --> 00:12:24,160 Speaker 1: and his accomplices, as heating up. It's the largest man 211 00:12:24,320 --> 00:12:26,560 Speaker 1: hunt to that date, and it was helped along by 212 00:12:26,600 --> 00:12:29,959 Speaker 1: the Secretary of Wars one hundred thousand dollar reward, which 213 00:12:30,000 --> 00:12:34,160 Speaker 1: incidentally also helped shore of the historical record because, according 214 00:12:34,200 --> 00:12:37,560 Speaker 1: to a Smithsonian article by James Swanson, so many of 215 00:12:37,600 --> 00:12:41,120 Speaker 1: Booth's trackers documented the experience because they were trying to 216 00:12:41,160 --> 00:12:43,120 Speaker 1: get a piece of the rewards, so a lot of 217 00:12:43,120 --> 00:12:46,080 Speaker 1: them did. It was split up among many different people. 218 00:12:46,600 --> 00:12:49,640 Speaker 1: But after fleeing forwards Theater, Booth had met up with 219 00:12:49,720 --> 00:12:52,520 Speaker 1: David Harold, who, if you remember, was supposed to be 220 00:12:52,559 --> 00:12:56,520 Speaker 1: on the Powell Seward assassination team. He had left Powell 221 00:12:56,520 --> 00:13:00,440 Speaker 1: though behind at the Seward house. Those two who high 222 00:13:00,440 --> 00:13:04,240 Speaker 1: tailed it for the Maryland home of Dr Samuel Mud 223 00:13:04,280 --> 00:13:07,559 Speaker 1: who set Booth leg and then they spent five nights 224 00:13:07,760 --> 00:13:10,400 Speaker 1: and five days in the woods waiting to cross the 225 00:13:10,440 --> 00:13:13,920 Speaker 1: Potomac into Virginia. They had a little help, though, yeah. 226 00:13:13,920 --> 00:13:17,920 Speaker 1: A Confederate agent named Thomas Jones brought them food and newspapers, 227 00:13:18,640 --> 00:13:22,080 Speaker 1: and it was a big disappointment when Booth read those papers. 228 00:13:22,120 --> 00:13:24,920 Speaker 1: People hated him. He thought that he would be considered 229 00:13:24,920 --> 00:13:28,480 Speaker 1: a hero, the destroyer of a tyrant, and he journaled 230 00:13:28,520 --> 00:13:31,320 Speaker 1: all of these feelings, complaining that people were talking about 231 00:13:31,400 --> 00:13:35,400 Speaker 1: him as a quote common cutthroat. Once in Virginia, Booth 232 00:13:35,400 --> 00:13:38,520 Speaker 1: and Harold wound their way to the farm of Richard Garrett, 233 00:13:38,520 --> 00:13:41,520 Speaker 1: where they stayed under assumed names. Though they must have 234 00:13:41,559 --> 00:13:44,319 Speaker 1: seemed like desperate men, the Garretts allowed them to sleep 235 00:13:44,320 --> 00:13:46,880 Speaker 1: in their tobacco barn, but actually locked them in at 236 00:13:46,960 --> 00:13:50,000 Speaker 1: night so that they wouldn't steal any horses. That night, 237 00:13:50,000 --> 00:13:53,640 Speaker 1: Lieutenant Edward Dougherty, in charge of the sixteenth New York Cavalry, 238 00:13:54,000 --> 00:13:57,960 Speaker 1: along with detectives Luther Baker and Everton Conquer, tracked the 239 00:13:58,000 --> 00:14:01,160 Speaker 1: men to the farm. The Garretts dog started barking at 240 00:14:01,160 --> 00:14:03,520 Speaker 1: the sound of horses, and so Booth and Harold of 241 00:14:03,520 --> 00:14:06,400 Speaker 1: course woke up. They tried to escape, but found themselves 242 00:14:06,440 --> 00:14:09,120 Speaker 1: locked in, and by the time they were trying to 243 00:14:09,200 --> 00:14:12,840 Speaker 1: kick out aboard, the farmhouse was surrounded. So old man 244 00:14:13,040 --> 00:14:16,079 Speaker 1: Garrett and his sons were pushed around a bit by 245 00:14:16,080 --> 00:14:19,320 Speaker 1: the search party until they admitted where the men were 246 00:14:19,360 --> 00:14:22,240 Speaker 1: in the tobacco barn. One of the sons was even 247 00:14:22,280 --> 00:14:25,240 Speaker 1: forced to enter the barn and try to disarm Booth. 248 00:14:25,280 --> 00:14:28,160 Speaker 1: Nobody else wanted to go in. Booth basically told him 249 00:14:28,200 --> 00:14:30,640 Speaker 1: he sold me out, get out, or I'll kill you. 250 00:14:31,160 --> 00:14:35,560 Speaker 1: But despite having a whole cavalry, the law enforcement officers 251 00:14:35,640 --> 00:14:37,880 Speaker 1: really kind of dizzerd about what to do, because they 252 00:14:37,960 --> 00:14:40,800 Speaker 1: did have orders to bring back Booth alive. He was, 253 00:14:40,840 --> 00:14:44,080 Speaker 1: of course wanted for questioning, but nobody wanted to get 254 00:14:44,200 --> 00:14:47,240 Speaker 1: killed either, and everybody fully expected that that would happen 255 00:14:47,280 --> 00:14:50,280 Speaker 1: if they had a face to face with the armed 256 00:14:50,280 --> 00:14:54,160 Speaker 1: and desperate Booth. So their solution was burned the barn. 257 00:14:54,680 --> 00:14:57,520 Speaker 1: Harold begged to be let out, and he eventually is 258 00:14:57,640 --> 00:15:00,520 Speaker 1: let out. Booth, on the other hand, poses kind of 259 00:15:00,680 --> 00:15:03,600 Speaker 1: challenge to Baker, makes them a little proposition combat on 260 00:15:03,680 --> 00:15:07,160 Speaker 1: open ground Booth against the cavalry just as long as 261 00:15:07,240 --> 00:15:10,720 Speaker 1: they back up from the barn door. He creepily mentions 262 00:15:10,760 --> 00:15:15,440 Speaker 1: to Baker how honorable he's been the whole time. He says, quote, Captain, 263 00:15:15,560 --> 00:15:18,240 Speaker 1: I have had half a dozen opportunities to shoot you, 264 00:15:18,560 --> 00:15:21,800 Speaker 1: but I did not. So at this point Baker realizes, oh, yeah, 265 00:15:21,840 --> 00:15:25,360 Speaker 1: I'm holding this candle. So he loses that target. You 266 00:15:25,360 --> 00:15:27,480 Speaker 1: can see him through the barn, the cracks in the 267 00:15:27,520 --> 00:15:30,160 Speaker 1: barn wall. Yeah, he gets rid of that, but he 268 00:15:30,280 --> 00:15:33,320 Speaker 1: declines Booth's offer. He says, quote, we did not come 269 00:15:33,320 --> 00:15:35,320 Speaker 1: here to fight you. We simply came to make you 270 00:15:35,360 --> 00:15:38,480 Speaker 1: a prisoner. Booth reduces the demands of his offer. At 271 00:15:38,480 --> 00:15:40,440 Speaker 1: that point, he says that he'll come out and fight 272 00:15:40,480 --> 00:15:42,560 Speaker 1: if the men just back off from the door just 273 00:15:42,600 --> 00:15:45,680 Speaker 1: a little bit. Give me a chance for my life, 274 00:15:45,720 --> 00:15:49,840 Speaker 1: he says. But that just was not happening. So Booth says, well, 275 00:15:49,960 --> 00:15:53,120 Speaker 1: my brave boys prepare stretcher for me. But the way 276 00:15:53,160 --> 00:15:55,080 Speaker 1: it went down was actually more like a bonfire. They 277 00:15:55,120 --> 00:15:57,600 Speaker 1: finally sent the bar set the barn on fire. The 278 00:15:57,640 --> 00:16:00,360 Speaker 1: barn goes up in flames really fast, and in the 279 00:16:00,360 --> 00:16:02,960 Speaker 1: panic of Booth trying to get out, he gets shot 280 00:16:03,000 --> 00:16:06,120 Speaker 1: by a sergeant Boston Corbett, who, as a sad note, 281 00:16:06,520 --> 00:16:09,240 Speaker 1: was possibly a mad hatter. He did go insane, and 282 00:16:09,280 --> 00:16:11,680 Speaker 1: it might have been because of the mercury used in 283 00:16:11,720 --> 00:16:16,640 Speaker 1: hat making. Back to Booth, though, he was caught before 284 00:16:16,760 --> 00:16:20,120 Speaker 1: he even hit the ground from getting shot by Boston Corbett, 285 00:16:20,440 --> 00:16:23,240 Speaker 1: and he was presumed dead. In fact, though he was 286 00:16:23,360 --> 00:16:26,080 Speaker 1: paralyzed from the neck down. He could talk a little 287 00:16:26,120 --> 00:16:28,440 Speaker 1: bit and move his eyes, but he couldn't swallow the 288 00:16:28,440 --> 00:16:30,920 Speaker 1: water that was offered to him. He had to watch 289 00:16:30,960 --> 00:16:34,920 Speaker 1: as Colonel Everton Conger checked his pockets and removed money 290 00:16:35,040 --> 00:16:38,000 Speaker 1: and keys and tobacco in a compass. When Conger went 291 00:16:38,040 --> 00:16:41,200 Speaker 1: into an inner pocket, he found the diary Booth had 292 00:16:41,200 --> 00:16:43,800 Speaker 1: been keeping, you know, lamenting the fact he wasn't a 293 00:16:43,920 --> 00:16:49,320 Speaker 1: national hero, plus five photos of different ladies. One was 294 00:16:49,360 --> 00:16:53,120 Speaker 1: a lesser known actress, two were pretty famous leading ladies 295 00:16:53,160 --> 00:16:56,480 Speaker 1: of the day. One was a Subrette type actress who 296 00:16:56,480 --> 00:16:59,080 Speaker 1: was married to a violinist, and then the last one 297 00:16:59,440 --> 00:17:02,920 Speaker 1: was Lucy Hales. So I don't know if Lucy maybe 298 00:17:02,920 --> 00:17:05,080 Speaker 1: had a surprise when she heard the news he had 299 00:17:05,200 --> 00:17:08,720 Speaker 1: five photos in his pocket. But his official last words 300 00:17:08,760 --> 00:17:12,320 Speaker 1: were tell mother, I die for my country. But he 301 00:17:12,520 --> 00:17:16,479 Speaker 1: also had a few other last requests. He kept on 302 00:17:16,640 --> 00:17:19,760 Speaker 1: asking to be able to examine his lifeless hands. He 303 00:17:19,920 --> 00:17:21,960 Speaker 1: begged the soldiers to kill him. It sounds like a 304 00:17:22,000 --> 00:17:26,640 Speaker 1: really gruesome, really horrible death. He died by the morning 305 00:17:26,880 --> 00:17:31,640 Speaker 1: of April. Booth's body was secretly buried that then reentered 306 00:17:31,680 --> 00:17:34,040 Speaker 1: a few years later at a Stanley plot in Baltimore. 307 00:17:34,520 --> 00:17:37,879 Speaker 1: But the wild conspiracy theories began almost right away. The 308 00:17:37,920 --> 00:17:41,520 Speaker 1: main one, of course, was that Booth didn't die. Instead, 309 00:17:41,960 --> 00:17:45,320 Speaker 1: as the theory goes, he escaped, took the name John 310 00:17:45,359 --> 00:17:48,800 Speaker 1: st Helen and went west. He told a lawyer in 311 00:17:48,880 --> 00:17:52,400 Speaker 1: Texas that he was Booth, but left town in nineteen 312 00:17:52,440 --> 00:17:55,359 Speaker 1: o three. Then the lawyer saw clipping that a David E. 313 00:17:55,680 --> 00:17:59,159 Speaker 1: George committed suicide in Oklahoma and had confessed he was 314 00:17:59,240 --> 00:18:03,200 Speaker 1: Booth before dying. The lawyer recognized the photo as that 315 00:18:03,320 --> 00:18:07,520 Speaker 1: of none other than st Helen. George's body was mummified, 316 00:18:07,680 --> 00:18:11,000 Speaker 1: which I'm not sure quite why, and it toward freak 317 00:18:11,080 --> 00:18:14,359 Speaker 1: shows as Booth's body until at some point it went missing. 318 00:18:14,760 --> 00:18:18,480 Speaker 1: So the Baltimore City Circuit Court has been petitioned even 319 00:18:18,480 --> 00:18:22,199 Speaker 1: fairly recently, to have Booth's body exhumed, including by some 320 00:18:22,280 --> 00:18:27,160 Speaker 1: of Booth's own relatives, but they've declined for two reasons. One, 321 00:18:27,640 --> 00:18:31,200 Speaker 1: there's really not much basis for this claim. It's probably 322 00:18:31,280 --> 00:18:35,760 Speaker 1: Booth buried at the memorial. Secondly, though it would involve 323 00:18:35,840 --> 00:18:38,920 Speaker 1: exhuming a lot of the other Booths in the family plot, 324 00:18:39,000 --> 00:18:43,720 Speaker 1: almost all of those kids of Junius Brutus are buried there, 325 00:18:43,920 --> 00:18:47,840 Speaker 1: and it's not really clear where each individual family member 326 00:18:47,840 --> 00:18:50,439 Speaker 1: is located. So now that we at least kind of 327 00:18:50,480 --> 00:18:53,160 Speaker 1: no think we know what happened to Booth, what happened 328 00:18:53,160 --> 00:18:55,520 Speaker 1: to the rest of his companions while they were also 329 00:18:55,840 --> 00:18:59,240 Speaker 1: snatched up. Over the time, Harold surrendered at the barn 330 00:18:59,359 --> 00:19:02,679 Speaker 1: as we mentioned, and Powell At, Surat, and the boarding 331 00:19:02,680 --> 00:19:05,840 Speaker 1: house owner Mary Surratt were taken in and those four 332 00:19:05,880 --> 00:19:08,800 Speaker 1: were all found guilty of murder and sentence to hang. 333 00:19:09,200 --> 00:19:12,400 Speaker 1: Surat's sentence is still kind of controversial though, since while 334 00:19:12,520 --> 00:19:15,360 Speaker 1: she definitely knew about the kidnapping plan, she may not 335 00:19:15,440 --> 00:19:19,120 Speaker 1: have known everything about the murder also found guilty and 336 00:19:19,160 --> 00:19:22,200 Speaker 1: sentenced to prison. Where Dr Mud, the guy who had 337 00:19:22,240 --> 00:19:26,240 Speaker 1: set Booth leg, Samuel Arnold who had been in on 338 00:19:26,280 --> 00:19:30,560 Speaker 1: the kidnapping plot but had dropped out earlier, and Michael O'Laughlin, 339 00:19:30,680 --> 00:19:33,399 Speaker 1: who had also dropped out of the plot before it 340 00:19:33,400 --> 00:19:37,520 Speaker 1: turned to a murderous one. And then finally Edmund Spangler, 341 00:19:37,560 --> 00:19:40,879 Speaker 1: who had worked at Ford's theater, got a six year sentence. 342 00:19:41,320 --> 00:19:46,040 Speaker 1: There's another conspirator, though, Mary Sarratt's son, John Surratt Jr. 343 00:19:46,480 --> 00:19:50,280 Speaker 1: Who wasn't caught for a remarkable twenty months. I mean, 344 00:19:50,440 --> 00:19:53,800 Speaker 1: consider again, this was the largest man hunt to date. 345 00:19:53,920 --> 00:19:56,520 Speaker 1: They were all out looking for this guy. When he 346 00:19:56,600 --> 00:20:01,160 Speaker 1: finally was apprehended, he wasn't even convicted of crime. So 347 00:20:01,320 --> 00:20:05,720 Speaker 1: it's questionable whether John Throughout Jr. Was even in Washington, 348 00:20:05,800 --> 00:20:08,040 Speaker 1: d C. The night of the assassination, and of course 349 00:20:08,080 --> 00:20:11,720 Speaker 1: he denied it. But after it he fled to Montreal, 350 00:20:11,800 --> 00:20:13,639 Speaker 1: where he was hidden by a priest for a while 351 00:20:14,000 --> 00:20:17,000 Speaker 1: and eventually put on a boat to Liverpool, where he 352 00:20:17,080 --> 00:20:20,600 Speaker 1: made his way to Rome and, according to a Don 353 00:20:20,680 --> 00:20:25,200 Speaker 1: Bryson article in America's Civil War, actually enlisted in the 354 00:20:25,240 --> 00:20:30,520 Speaker 1: Papal Infantry Guards there, which sounds pretty bizarre and surprising 355 00:20:30,560 --> 00:20:33,800 Speaker 1: that Suratt finally revealed his identity. He had a hard 356 00:20:33,840 --> 00:20:37,360 Speaker 1: time keeping that information to himself, and the Vatican agreed 357 00:20:37,440 --> 00:20:41,199 Speaker 1: to extradite him, but before that could actually happen, he 358 00:20:41,480 --> 00:20:45,840 Speaker 1: escaped from six Papal soldiers, made his way to Naples 359 00:20:46,040 --> 00:20:49,439 Speaker 1: and then got on a ship to Alexandria, Egypt, where 360 00:20:49,560 --> 00:20:52,199 Speaker 1: he finally got off the ship and ran into the 361 00:20:52,240 --> 00:20:55,960 Speaker 1: American authorities. So after they caught him, you know, the U. S. 362 00:20:56,040 --> 00:21:01,200 Speaker 1: District attorney desperately wanted to convict Surat, but the prosecution 363 00:21:01,359 --> 00:21:04,560 Speaker 1: was pretty weak and the trial ended in a hung jury. 364 00:21:04,920 --> 00:21:08,880 Speaker 1: An attempt to rein indict him on the same charges, 365 00:21:08,920 --> 00:21:12,880 Speaker 1: was eventually dismissed after the statute of limitations on those 366 00:21:12,920 --> 00:21:15,680 Speaker 1: charges had passed, though throughout went free. Kind of one 367 00:21:15,720 --> 00:21:21,240 Speaker 1: of the stranger sides of the whole Lincoln conspiracy story. Okay, 368 00:21:21,280 --> 00:21:24,040 Speaker 1: so what about some of the lesser known victims of 369 00:21:24,040 --> 00:21:29,120 Speaker 1: this assassination, including Lincoln's theater guests who we mentioned briefly. Well, 370 00:21:29,560 --> 00:21:33,120 Speaker 1: Major Henry Rathbone, who tried to stop Booth from escaping 371 00:21:33,119 --> 00:21:35,960 Speaker 1: and was stabbed in the arm, was still blamed for 372 00:21:36,080 --> 00:21:38,920 Speaker 1: not stopping the killer. It started to drive him insane. 373 00:21:38,960 --> 00:21:41,479 Speaker 1: This is the guilt from this. Eventually, he and Clara 374 00:21:41,560 --> 00:21:44,399 Speaker 1: married and they had children and moved to Germany, but 375 00:21:44,480 --> 00:21:47,159 Speaker 1: he ended up shooting and killing her, and he was 376 00:21:47,200 --> 00:21:50,320 Speaker 1: actually going to try to kill their children too, before 377 00:21:50,600 --> 00:21:55,200 Speaker 1: a nanny stopped him. There is also one final twist 378 00:21:55,359 --> 00:21:58,879 Speaker 1: to this whole story, and it involves an old, seemingly 379 00:21:59,000 --> 00:22:03,760 Speaker 1: nonsensical word game type statement, and that is Booth saved 380 00:22:03,880 --> 00:22:07,159 Speaker 1: Lincoln's life. Okay, so we're not trying to make some 381 00:22:07,240 --> 00:22:10,439 Speaker 1: sort of commentary on Lincoln's reputation through the ages or 382 00:22:10,480 --> 00:22:14,240 Speaker 1: something having to do with his being assassinated. It's actually 383 00:22:14,240 --> 00:22:17,320 Speaker 1: a fact booth saved Lincoln's life, but it's a different 384 00:22:17,400 --> 00:22:20,920 Speaker 1: booth and a different Lincoln. So it's pretty well known 385 00:22:21,080 --> 00:22:25,240 Speaker 1: how much family tragedy Mrs Lincoln faced. Only one of 386 00:22:25,280 --> 00:22:29,240 Speaker 1: her four sons lived to adulthood, so when her eldest son, Robert, 387 00:22:29,359 --> 00:22:31,960 Speaker 1: came of age to fight in the Civil War, Mrs Lincoln, 388 00:22:32,000 --> 00:22:35,280 Speaker 1: having already lost two of her boys, refused to let 389 00:22:35,359 --> 00:22:38,359 Speaker 1: him go fight. The President was kind of embarrassed by it, 390 00:22:38,400 --> 00:22:41,960 Speaker 1: but Robert instead went off to college and only joined 391 00:22:42,000 --> 00:22:45,640 Speaker 1: up the army in February eighteen sixty five, and even 392 00:22:45,680 --> 00:22:47,920 Speaker 1: then in a pretty cushy position. He was a member 393 00:22:47,920 --> 00:22:50,920 Speaker 1: of General Grant's staff. He got to see Lee's surrender. 394 00:22:51,359 --> 00:22:54,840 Speaker 1: He wasn't really in too much danger. At one point 395 00:22:54,840 --> 00:22:58,840 Speaker 1: in college, though, about eighteen sixty three or eighteen sixty four, 396 00:22:59,000 --> 00:23:01,520 Speaker 1: somewhere in there, he was traveling from New York to 397 00:23:01,600 --> 00:23:05,000 Speaker 1: d C. When his train stopped in Jersey City. Robert 398 00:23:05,119 --> 00:23:07,600 Speaker 1: later recalled that a crowd was standing on the platform 399 00:23:07,720 --> 00:23:10,600 Speaker 1: waiting to buy sleeping car places. When the train began 400 00:23:10,640 --> 00:23:14,760 Speaker 1: to move, he somehow got knocked over and dropped in 401 00:23:14,800 --> 00:23:18,119 Speaker 1: the gap between the platform and the train, so he 402 00:23:18,160 --> 00:23:20,480 Speaker 1: couldn't move, he could have been crushed. I mean, it 403 00:23:20,520 --> 00:23:24,720 Speaker 1: sounds just like a horrifying, scary situation. Suddenly he felt 404 00:23:24,720 --> 00:23:28,200 Speaker 1: someone grab his collar and haul him up, and that 405 00:23:28,240 --> 00:23:31,640 Speaker 1: person was Edwin Booth, who was, of course a super 406 00:23:31,680 --> 00:23:34,200 Speaker 1: famous actor. It would be almost as if Brad Pitt 407 00:23:34,240 --> 00:23:36,879 Speaker 1: came in and saved your life. That was the comparison 408 00:23:36,960 --> 00:23:39,840 Speaker 1: I was thinking of, if you suddenly are lifted out 409 00:23:39,840 --> 00:23:42,639 Speaker 1: of the train pit and you're looking at one of 410 00:23:42,640 --> 00:23:46,200 Speaker 1: the most famous people of your day. Unlike his younger brother, 411 00:23:46,280 --> 00:23:49,960 Speaker 1: though Edwin Booth was a supporter of the Union in 412 00:23:50,040 --> 00:23:53,880 Speaker 1: Lincoln and considerably more even tempered, he had um kind 413 00:23:53,880 --> 00:23:56,280 Speaker 1: of gone off the rails earlier in life and had 414 00:23:56,400 --> 00:23:59,280 Speaker 1: ended up missing his wife's death in eighteen sixty three 415 00:23:59,280 --> 00:24:01,880 Speaker 1: because he was who drunk. So he had really sobered 416 00:24:01,960 --> 00:24:05,280 Speaker 1: up and kind of had much more moderate opinions than 417 00:24:05,359 --> 00:24:08,879 Speaker 1: thumb members of his family. Um, he did learn whose 418 00:24:08,880 --> 00:24:11,240 Speaker 1: life he saved, that he'd saved the President's son when 419 00:24:11,280 --> 00:24:13,760 Speaker 1: he got a letter from a friend who had fall 420 00:24:13,800 --> 00:24:17,080 Speaker 1: on Grant Staff, who had heard Robert Lincoln telling the story. 421 00:24:17,119 --> 00:24:21,440 Speaker 1: As anybody would like, this super famous actor saved my life. Recently, 422 00:24:21,520 --> 00:24:25,200 Speaker 1: isn't that an interesting story? So after John Wilkes Booth 423 00:24:25,200 --> 00:24:29,520 Speaker 1: assassinated the President, Edwin Booth felt particularly devastated the loss 424 00:24:29,560 --> 00:24:32,920 Speaker 1: of a leader, he admired, the family, shame it caused, 425 00:24:33,000 --> 00:24:35,480 Speaker 1: and fear that he'd never be able to work again. 426 00:24:36,119 --> 00:24:38,720 Speaker 1: Booth did make a successful return to the stage in 427 00:24:38,800 --> 00:24:41,960 Speaker 1: January eighteen sixty six and his signature role of Hamlet, 428 00:24:42,240 --> 00:24:44,360 Speaker 1: and went on to found the Players in New York 429 00:24:44,440 --> 00:24:47,760 Speaker 1: City with Mark Twain and General Sherman. But the knowledge 430 00:24:47,800 --> 00:24:50,600 Speaker 1: that he had helped save a Lincoln helped get him 431 00:24:50,600 --> 00:24:53,359 Speaker 1: through the worst months after the assassination. We do have 432 00:24:53,440 --> 00:24:57,280 Speaker 1: one last spooky tidbit for you, though, relating to both 433 00:24:57,520 --> 00:25:02,679 Speaker 1: Edwin Booth and Lincoln's assassinate nation. During Edwin's eighteen ninety 434 00:25:02,760 --> 00:25:08,120 Speaker 1: three funeral, Ford's Theater collapsed, It wasn't rebuilt until the 435 00:25:08,240 --> 00:25:13,240 Speaker 1: nineteen sixties, and now it's under operation as a historical site. 436 00:25:13,520 --> 00:25:16,160 Speaker 1: All right, So let's take a listen to our listener 437 00:25:16,240 --> 00:25:22,080 Speaker 1: mail for the day. So I thought this one would 438 00:25:22,080 --> 00:25:25,600 Speaker 1: be appropriate since we last heard from listener Hillary, who's 439 00:25:25,600 --> 00:25:29,600 Speaker 1: sending us postcards through her tour of Europe, when she 440 00:25:29,680 --> 00:25:33,040 Speaker 1: mentioned she has a violin from the Civil War era, 441 00:25:33,200 --> 00:25:37,560 Speaker 1: so she especially likes Civil War era topics. Her latest 442 00:25:37,560 --> 00:25:42,000 Speaker 1: postcard is from Madrid, and she wrote after the concert 443 00:25:42,080 --> 00:25:45,440 Speaker 1: she played there, they're playing Prokopiev's Violin Can Share to 444 00:25:45,520 --> 00:25:47,960 Speaker 1: a number one. She said that her teacher met that 445 00:25:48,000 --> 00:25:51,400 Speaker 1: composer over that piece, and his second Violin can Share 446 00:25:51,400 --> 00:25:53,560 Speaker 1: Too was premiered in the hall where she played, so 447 00:25:53,600 --> 00:25:56,040 Speaker 1: there were all sorts of historical connections. Again, I really 448 00:25:56,080 --> 00:26:00,239 Speaker 1: like relating modern cultural events like this to historical It's 449 00:26:00,280 --> 00:26:03,760 Speaker 1: pretty neat, yes, and I continue to get even more jealous. 450 00:26:03,760 --> 00:26:05,919 Speaker 1: I just love the Drid, I know, one of my 451 00:26:05,960 --> 00:26:08,320 Speaker 1: favorite places. It sounds like it would be a nice 452 00:26:08,320 --> 00:26:11,240 Speaker 1: place to play violin too. Yeah, or do just about it, 453 00:26:11,280 --> 00:26:15,320 Speaker 1: just do anything. So thank you, Hillary. We do enjoy 454 00:26:15,480 --> 00:26:19,639 Speaker 1: getting your updates from your travels, and we enjoy hearing 455 00:26:19,720 --> 00:26:24,000 Speaker 1: from all of you guys, so please continue sending a suggestion. 456 00:26:24,600 --> 00:26:28,399 Speaker 1: I think Booth was suggested Edwin Booth was suggested pretty 457 00:26:28,480 --> 00:26:32,240 Speaker 1: recently today. I think it was today. It's so weird 458 00:26:32,320 --> 00:26:34,280 Speaker 1: when we get requests on a day that we're actually 459 00:26:34,280 --> 00:26:37,600 Speaker 1: recording the podcast of whatever the request is. Are not 460 00:26:37,680 --> 00:26:40,240 Speaker 1: as spooky as the theater falling down on the day 461 00:26:40,240 --> 00:26:43,240 Speaker 1: of the funeral. But still I do wonder if people 462 00:26:43,240 --> 00:26:46,400 Speaker 1: can like read our minds or frothing when it's happening. 463 00:26:47,000 --> 00:26:51,600 Speaker 1: Not I hope not to, but continues sending its suggestions. 464 00:26:51,960 --> 00:26:54,080 Speaker 1: We get so many of our ideas from you guys. 465 00:26:54,119 --> 00:26:57,800 Speaker 1: We're at History Podcasts at Discovery dot com. And if 466 00:26:57,800 --> 00:27:00,199 Speaker 1: you want to learn a little bit more about some 467 00:27:00,280 --> 00:27:02,960 Speaker 1: other things that happened during the Civil War era, maybe 468 00:27:02,960 --> 00:27:05,520 Speaker 1: you're a buff like Hillary is, we have an article 469 00:27:05,600 --> 00:27:08,720 Speaker 1: called how the Emancipation Proclamation worked, and you can find 470 00:27:08,760 --> 00:27:12,640 Speaker 1: that by searching on our homepage at www dot how 471 00:27:12,720 --> 00:27:19,520 Speaker 1: Stuff Works dot com. Be sure to check out our 472 00:27:19,520 --> 00:27:22,920 Speaker 1: new video podcast, Stuff from the Future. Join how Stuff 473 00:27:22,920 --> 00:27:25,840 Speaker 1: Work staff as we explore the most promising and perplexing 474 00:27:25,920 --> 00:27:30,320 Speaker 1: possibilities of tomorrow. The housetoff Works I Fine app has arrived. 475 00:27:30,440 --> 00:27:32,320 Speaker 1: Download it today on iTunes.