December 2020 Auction Ends Thursday, December 10th, 5pm Pacific
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 12/10/2020
Abraham Lincoln assassination letter from Almarin C. Richards, Metropolitan Police Superintendent responsible for tracking down the conspirators, to Louis Weichmann, chief prosecution witness at the conspirators' trial. This letter, dated 30 January 1901, is part of Richards' correspondence with Weichmann in preparation for Weichmann's book on the assassination. He declines to join Weichmann in an official request to the War Department to find out where John Wilkes Booth is buried. Booth was shot and killed by soldiers a few days after the assassination; his remains were in government custody for several years before being privately buried by the Booth family. Richards' letter reads in part, ''...I prefer not to place my signature to the enclosed letter to the Sec. of War inquiring as to the final disposition of the remains of J. Wilkes Booth by the War Department. I presume that if the remains were turned over to [Booth's brother] Edwin there was an agreement or understanding that the arrangement should not be divulged to the public as otherwise it would have long ago been reported what had been done with the body. The note would seem to put me in the position of seeking the information in question from a mere desire to gratify curiosity which I do not entertain...'' Intriguing letter whose subject matter -- doubts concerning the remains of a Presidential assassin -- mimics the events a century later with the body of Lee Harvey Oswald. 7.75'' x 9.75'' single page letter, written front and verso, is in very good condition.
Lincoln Assassination Letter by Policeman Who Hunted Conspirators -- ''...as to the...disposition of the remains of J. Wilkes Booth...''
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