Eerie Lincoln Assassination Photos
Donk is reading an amazing book right now called Manhunt: The 12-Day Chase for Lincoln’s Killer, by James L. Swanson. It is a brilliantly-written blow-by-blow account of the assassination of Lincoln, attempted assassination of Secretary of State William Seward and the events of the next 12 days as the conspirators attempted to allude the authorities.
Those of you who have been reading my blogs for a long time know that I’m fascinated by Lincoln, and what I love about this book is that it gives more detail than I ever even knew existed on Lincoln’s assassination. Most books on Lincoln just give you a few pages, but all 400 pages of this book concentrate only on the assassination and manhunt.
Anyway, since I’m digging it, I figured I’d post some cool pictures related to Lincoln’s assassination. Check them out:
The rocking chair Lincoln was sitting in when he was shot
Placard says it all
The contents of Lincoln’s pockets at the time of his death.
The Box at Ford’s theater in which Lincoln was shot, taken the day of his death.
This photo of Lincoln’s deathbed in the Petersen House was taken only a couple of hours after the President was removed. You can still see the blood on the right side of the pillow.
This psycho, Lewis Powell, is the guy that stabbed William Seward as he lay in his bed with massive injuries suffered from a carriage accident a few days prior. Powell also knocked a hole in the skull of Seward’s son, who afterwards wandered around the house in a stupor, touching the massive wound and saying “It is…” over and over again. Earlier, while tangling with Seward’s son and others, Powell stared at them and said: “I’m mad. I’m mad.”
William Seward a few years after the attempted assassination. Notice how the one side of his face slouches and his damaged neck is strategically covered by his collar.
The hanging corpses of conspirators/assassins Mary Surrat, Lewis Powell, David Herold, and George Atzerodt.
Great blog, Donk.
Not sure how the “bold” thing happened, I didn’t plug in any tags. Also, I do realize that this blog was not necessarily about anything more than a healthy fascination with his assasination.
There are just some things I feel passionately about and get a bit carried away. ‘Stepping down off my soap box now.
VALERIE – I will DEFINITELY check that book out!
KARL ROVE – True enough. I’m a big grant fan myself. He had the courage to shed the blood that needed to be shed for a conclusive victory. Also, he rose up from nothing and numerous failures.
PAGAN – I heard Panic at the Disco is using it for their next cover. You “bold” girl!
TOUCHING – yeah, the moron broke his leg when his spur got caught in the american flag as he jumped from the Box to the stage. Sweet symbolism.
Once on stage he brandished the knife and yelled: Sic Semper Tyrannus (Thus Always Tyrants)
KATHRYN – I implore you to read some biographies on Lincoln. While it is true that he was a racist, his views on blacks shifted drastically in later life, particularly during the Civil War as blacks fought courageously for their country.
In addition, Lincoln faced a delicate balancing act with the Emancipation Proclamation. He had to make sure that it was not so radical that the “Border States” would defect to the Confederate side.
In history, all things are relative, so while Lincoln certainly was a racist, when compared to others of the time such as Wilkes Booth for example, he was FAR to the left when it came to black rights. And in the end, bottom line, he took a stance many begged him not to by issuing the Proclamation.
KATHRYN – All viewpoints are welcome on the Donk’s blogs.
And one last point: Lincoln and his advisers were clever – they knew that once the Civil War ended, with a free South, that the pressure on the border states to emancipate THEIR slaves would be such that they would have to do so.
This is practically interesting! Woot!
Okay Donk… I now have The World History of Photography in front of me. I could weightlift with this thing; it’s like 10 pounds! There are several references to Lincoln throughout the book, a couple of portraits (one is really quite beautiful), and then an 8-page section on the execution of the Lincoln conspirators. There is a portrait of John Wilkes Booth and portraits of four conspirators. Lewis Powell, shown above, is listed as Lewis Payne in my book, so something is listed incorrectly. There are a bunch of photos from the hanging, including one that shows the coffins and open graves. I find the prints themselves beautiful, the subject matter, morbidly fascinating. We all have that dark side that makes us want to look, don’t we?
There’s also an 1863 photo of dead soldiers from the Civil War that is haunting, especially in the context of how many soldiers died in that war. I’d post some photos but I don’t want to bog your site down further (and I probably don’t have permission to do so anyhow). I can’t recommend this book enough though. It is really amazing. As an aside, the professor that taught me the history of photography is mentioned in the book! He used to work at Eastman Kodak and met all the greats over the last 60+ years.
As for Lincoln’s remarks and actions, which should he be judged by? Didn’t Thomas Jefferson believe in racial equality, yet did nothing? He said change should come from the younger generations. I don’t really get that logic, but that’s my understanding of his attitude.
VALERIE – Thanks for sharing that stuff. Now I HAVE to get my hands on that book. I believe Powell’s alias was Payne and he still gets listed under that name sometimes.
As for Jefferson, now you’ve touched a nerve with Donk. Jefferson was a world-class, cowardly A-Hole who should thank his lucky stars that history has decided to paint him in such a flattering light. He was on the wrong side of almost every issue, including slavery, The French Revolution (which he favored even as The Terror raged, taking countless lives) and the Federal Government (He favored a disasterously weak one). Oh yeah, and he was a backstabbing politician of the first order, sending surrogates to destroy his enemies, allowing him to claim the moral highground
old pix r so spooky…
I hated history growing up and despite being in AP History in HS my recollection of things is abyssmal (our alcoholic teacher had something to do with it too, I wager). Now I wish I had paid more attention. So Jefferson, I don’t know much about him but wouldn’t doubt he was a “cowardly A-Hole,” as you say. But then, it seems most politicians are cowardly a-holes.
VALERIE – LOL. good point. i guess some things never change, huh?
Presidential history is always fun ain’t it? Have you ever been to the theatre? I went their last year when I was in D.C/
DAN – The one time i went to DC, Ford’s was fuckin CLOSED!
DonkeySosa- Yeah, Grant is definitely one of my favorites as well, although I didn’t know a lot about him until recently. I’ve been reading a lot of Civil War books too. Hancock was very interesting as well. I think that if he was in charge at Fredericksburg they may have won that battle. They had the chance to take the hills before Lee got in there but they were held back.
This is really interesting and spooky. I love history, neat.
I’ve been to Seward, AK but never saw a pic of the man is it the same one I wonder – time for research.
What is the case that is folded out from the photo of his belongings, do you know?
fascinating
KARL ROVE – Another guy that you gotta give some props to is Lee. People were begging him to take his army to the woods for a guerilla campaign that could have gone on for years. But Lee did the honorable thing and surrendered
TAMMY – I think that’s his billfold. Interesting note: That bill you see is actually a Confederate bill!
DonkeySosa- Yeah. If it wasn’t for Lee I really don’t think the Civil War would have lasted more than a few months. And surrendering like that definitely gives him some credit.
Of course I had relatives who fought with Chamberlain so I’m still biased toward him. I love looking for my relatives who fought in the Civil War. There’s a great site to look that stuff up by last name or location,
http://www.itd.nps.gov/cwss/
I’ve used it many times.
Why does this obsession not surprise me? I think it’s beard-envy.
KARL ROVE – Awesome site. I will say this though – I hate Lee for choosing to fight for the South. He was offered the Generalship for the North and turned it down. A-Hole
Starless – LOL. Hmmmm, you might be on to something there.
Oh, definitely. But he decided to defend his state instead of trying to keep the country together. There were other Virginians who stayed in the Federal Army so I don’t quite understand his choice.
And we can’t forget Sherman. While I don’t know a lot about his personal life I do know that he kicked ass and took names across the South.
sure, he was a psycho, but Lewis Powell was kinda cute…so was Booth.