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Lincoln assassination letter,

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detailed eyewitness account of events surrounding the assassination of Abraham Lincoln in Ford's Theatre on the evening of April 14, 1865: four-page manuscript letter datelined "'Montauk', Navy Yard, Wash. D.C. April 15th 1865.9 P.M." (sent April 30), from U.S. Navy surgeon Dr. George B. Todd to his brother: "The few hours that have intervened since the terrible (underlined) tragedy of last night have served to give me a little clearer brain…Yesterday about 3 P.M. the President (underlined) and wife drove down to the Navy Yard and paid our ship a visit…In the evening nearly all of us went to Ford's Theatre. I was very early, and got a seat near the President's private box…About 10:25 P.M. a man came in…I heard a man say "there's Booth"…he…was near the (President's) box door when he stopped…the door was opened and he walked in…I heard the report of a pistol…Booth jumped out of the box onto the stage, holding in his hand a large knife and shouting so loud as to be heard all over the house, ['Sic semper Tyranus'…]", 8 x 10 in., [minor separation at folds, light soiling, minor fading]; with a clipped article from [Baltimore and Ohio Magazine], February, 1926, in which the letter is reproduced, 11 x 8 in., [rough edges], and a 4 x 6 in. albumen photograph of the interior of the U. S. monitor "Montauk", [long tear]. Provenance: Private Collection. Dr. George B. Todd informed the local telegraph office of the event, whereupon the news was relayed to the nation. He was one of the surgeons who performed the autopsy on the body of John Wilkes Booth, which took place aboard the Montauk. This letter was also published in the book [We Saw Lincoln Shot], University Press of Mississippi, Jackson, 1995, pages 71-72.

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