The last surviving witness to the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln actually appeared on a tv game show in 1956. Mr. Samuel Seymour appeared on "I've Got a Secret" in this video:
A newspaper published an interview with the Mr. Seymour:
In February 1956, two months before his death, 96-year-old Samuel J. Seymour appeared on the CBS television show "I've Got A Secret." His secret: he witnessed Abraham Lincoln's assassination when he was five years old.
Sure enough, Seymour has been widely recognized as the last surviving person in America who had been present at Ford's Theatre the night of Lincoln's assassination on April 14, 1865.
According to the Washington Times, Seymour attended the Ford's Theatre performance as a young boy with family friends. He was told upon arriving in Washington, “Sammy, you and I and Sarah are going to a play - a real play. And President Abraham Lincoln will be there."
Seymour's recollection of the event includes a shot ringing out, someone in the President's box screaming and Lincoln slumping forward in his seat. He also caught a glimpse of John Wilkes Booth jumping from the box to the stage.
Link to newspaper interview.
11 comments:
The assassination of lincoln was tragic. His death had lasting hurtful effects on Mississippi far more than the actual war.
My grandfather, as well as several old timers, swore john wilkes booth is buried in guntown.
7:25
I heard the same thing, he hid in Guntown and never left his sisters house, there were some cuff links with his intials discovered at one time !
What an amazing near-century to have witnessed - from the Civil War to the Cold War.
7:25
Why did the assassination of Lincoln hurt Mississippi more than the actual war itself? Surely you aren't referring to his plans to deport the African Americans, who are only here today because he was killed, are you?
Won't purport to speak for 7:25, but I think -- conventional wisdom agrees -- that Reconstruction would have been less painful for the Deep South had Lincoln lived.
@10:04
DING! DING! DING! DING! DING!
EXCELLENT post KF!
good post, he could have been the last living person to have seen Abe at that age. at least still having some memory of seeing him.
Those of you who still believe Lincoln had a warm spot in his heart for people of color (Lincoln called them negroes in his speeches) need to read up on history. You can start with the Lincoln-Douglas Debates.
FALACY ALERT: 10:23 has an opinion and thinks it will become more viable if he says 'conventional wisdom' agrees with him.
But, to his credit, 10:23 doesn't 'purport'.
I'm sorry to hear about the shooting of Mr. Lincoln, he was a great man and I hope they catch whatever sonofabitch did this.
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