February 2013 Auction Ends Thursday, February 28th, 5pm Pacific
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 2/28/2013
Compelling autograph letter signed by Almarin C. Richards, Washington DC Police Superintendent and attendee at Ford's Theatre the night of President Lincoln's killing. Here, Richards writes to Louis Weichmann, the prosecution's chief conspiracy witness, detailing the moments of the assassination and investigation immediately after. Richards searched for suspected conspirators John Wilkes Booth and John Surratt at the boardinghouse of Mary Surratt, John's mother. In part: ''...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...'' Four pages on two sheets (front and verso) measure 8" x 10". Minor separation at the folds and toning else very good.
Compelling Eyewitness Letter to President Abraham Lincoln's Assassination Uncovering the Conspiracy -- ''...The man that jumped from the theater box, in which the President was witnessing the play,...
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