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Celebrating Lincoln's Death Brings Murder.

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A good war-date Union officer's letter, written by Michigan native 1st Lt. Hiland H. Weaver, 3rd Iowa Battery, 4p. quarto, ink, Ordnance Office, 1st Div. 7th A.C. , Little Rock, Arkansas, April 22, 1865, and reads in part: "...Hattie it is one year ago last night since I parted with you at Chicago and long will it be remembered by me if I should live to an old age...I hope I may never be called on to have the same thing to go through again...the shock which appeared to strike everyone with such force begins to wear off but it is very slow you will hardly hear any one say a word about it. Everyone feels as if they would like to have the handling of those fellows. I know I should and then I do not know what to do with them for hanging is not enough and I do not know what would be and again what would it amount to kill one or two of such fellows. Why the lives of ten thousand of such men would not recompense for one man like Lincoln. I hope they will get hold of the men anyway for they should not be allowed to pollute the face of the earth any longer. But I am afraid they will make their escape. But if there is a God and he is merciful I am sure they will be brought to justice at no very distant day. Hattie I witnessed the execution of man yesterday he murdered a man only a few weeks ago. He was hung and I could stand and see five hundred of such men hang the way I feel now as well as not. When they hung that spy here I thought it was hard but since the assassin of the President sometimes I feel as if I could help hang all the Copperheads and Rebels in the United States but I know it would not be right and I want to see justice done the world over and as we cannot do anything to the perpetrators of the deed that is equivalent to the damage done let us come as near as we can and hang every one that we can get hold of who have been implicated in the matter either directly or indirectly and I do not think it would do any hurt to hang a few of those leading men of the Knights of the Golden Circle and I believe if they would take some of them that it would not be a very hard matter to find who the assassinators were if nothing more. Which would do all good and loyal citizens and the soldiers in general a great deal of good...there was a man in the 12th Kansas who said he was glad of it, the Major Comdg the Regt. told the men if they heard another man say anything of that nature to knock him down on the spot with the first thing they could get their hands on and it was not but a few moments after that this same man said he wished it had been done two years sooner and he had hardly got the words out of his mouth when one of the men stuck him with a billet of wood and the man has since died from the blow and that is the way every one should be served who use such language....the Rebels and Copperheads must keep very dark until this thing passes over if they wish to live long for the soldiers and a great many citizens are getting very desperate..." VG.

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