[Lincoln Assassination]. George L. Porter Autograph Document Signed "G.L. Porter / Asst. Surg. U.S.A." One page, 5" x 7", "U.S. Arsenal Washington D.C.," n.d. Dr. George Porter was a young Union Army surgeon when he was ordered by Secretary of War Edwin Stanton to oversee the burial (in secret) of Lincoln assassin, John Wilkes Booth. He then took charge of the medical care of the eight other assassination conspirators during their imprisonment and trial and, following the hangings of four (Mary Surratt, Lewis Powell, David Herold, and George Atzerodt), he made the official pronouncement of their deaths.

Here, writing from the prison where the conspirators were housed and hanged and where Boothe's body was initially buried, he gives leave to a Private Clark, "Hospital Attendant . . . to be absent from this Post from 6 P.M. untill [sic] 6 A.M." Folds with slight mat burn through the middle of the document. Signature is bold.