545

Lincoln Assassination Letter

Currency:USD Category:Collectibles / Autographs Start Price:500.00 USD Estimated At:NA
Lincoln Assassination Letter
“Winners will be notified after the auction ends and once all bids have been processed to determine the winner for each lot”
Historically detailed 1898 two page letter written from ''A.C. Richards'', police superintendent and witness to Lincoln's assassination at the Ford's Theater. Addressed to Louis Weichmann whose controversial testimony was the key evidence in convicting Mary Sarratt, the first woman executed by the United States federal government. Richards gives his first hand account of the the hours after the assassination and uncovering the conspiracy: ''…within an hour or later perhaps after the assassination when she (Laura Keen [sic]) told me that the man that jumped from the theater box, in which the President was witnessing the play, was Wilkes Booth. She did not know whether he shot the President or not…[I] obtained information that Surratt was often in the company of Booth…these facts led me to pay that house a visit…Mrs. Surratt answered very promptly. The house was dark so far as I could discover but there was no delay in the response of Mrs S to the bell. She appeared dressed as a lady of her station might be expected to dress of an evening…she had not retired for the night but was evidently waiting in a dark house for someone to call. When I informed her why I had called after informing her of the assassination she expressed no surprise or regret. In fact she only answered such questions as I asked her in the briefest possible terms…She seemed entirely self-possessed and did not seem in the least affected when I said to her that president Lincoln had just been assassinated and that Booth and her son were suspected of being implicated in the crime…'' Each page measures 8'' x 10''. Minor separation at the folds and toning else very good.