(Article originally published in the July 2014 edition of the Surratt Courier)
As time
has passed and the events of April 14, 1865 have been retold in countless books
and articles, it’s amazing to see the amount of interest the Assassination of
President Abraham Lincoln still brings. In a packed theatre in front of a large
audience, actor John Wilkes Booth made history by giving his last performance
in front of an audience by shooting Lincoln. With over a hundred eyewitness in
the crowd that night it’s rather difficult to name all those in attendance. One
guest in Washington that night was former Wisconsin Governor Leonard J.
Farwell.
Leonard
J. Farwell was born in Watertown, New York in 1819 and he later moved to
Milwaukee, Wisconsin in 1840, just prior to Wisconsin becoming a state. Upon
arriving in Wisconsin Farwell was able to purchase large amounts of land that
would become beneficial financially in the future. Later in 1847 Farwell left
Milwaukee for Madison where he was able to secure his future political plans
when he made large improvements to the city itself.
In 1852 Farwell
was elected Governor of Wisconsin and was also the first governor to be elected
from the Whig Party. Some of his well-known accomplishments as governor was
abolishing the death penalty in Wisconsin and replacing it with “Life in
Prison.” Leonard Farwell would serve another year as governor after this and he
left the governorship in 1854. As a former governor, Farwell still had a drive
for politics. So in 1860 the former governor began serving in the assembly.
After the election of Abraham Lincoln, Leonard Farwell
was offered a job in Washington by the Lincoln Administration. In 1863, the
former governor and assemblymen left Wisconsin and set out for a new life in
Washington, D.C. It was this position at the U.S. Patent Office that Farwell
would serve until 1870.
On the night
of April 14, 1865 the city of Washington, much like other parts of the country
was in celebration of the ending of the American Civil War. The four years of
killing and hardship felt touched so many lives. The night of the 14th
President Lincoln, his wife Mary along with Major Henry Rathbone and his
fiancée Clara Harris, all went out for a relaxing evening at Ford’s Theatre. However,
it wasn’t long before what was supposed to be a joyous night out, turned into a
night of terror.
As John Wilkes Booth fired the fatal shot, the play came
to a halt and the crowd went silent. The next thing many eyewitness remember
was seeing Booth leap out of the presidential box, land on the stage and race
out the back. With the crowd in a panic
Governor Farwell raced over to the Kirkwood House to inform Vice-President
Andrew Johnson of the news. Farwell and Johnson had been friends for a while by
this point,[i]
and it was Farwell who ordered guards to be placed at the vice-presidents
door.
On June 3, 1865 Leonard Farwell gave testimony about his
version of events. Farwell stated “On the evening of the 14th of
April last, on leaving Ford’s Theater, I went immediately to the Kirkwood
House, to the room of Vice-President Johnson. I should think it was between 10
and half-past 10 o’clock. I found the room door locked. I rapped, but receiving
no answer, I rapped again, and said in a loud voice ‘Governor Johnson, if you
are in the room, I must see you’…. I did not see anyone apparently lying in
wait near Mr. Johnson’s door.”[ii]
The
press would declare Farwell a hero and credited him with saving the life of the
Vice-President. The Cincinnati Enquirer wrote in an article dated April 18,
1865 ran the headlines “How Johnson’s life was saved.”[iii]
The article states “Suspecting that an attempt would also be made on the life
of the Vice-President, he (Farwell) rushed from the theater to Mr. Johnson’s
room, which he reached within five minutes after the shooting of the
president.”[iv]
When the Vice-President finally opened the door and let Farwell in, “Mr.
Farwell told him of the murder.”[v]
Although we now know the Vice- President was not in any real
danger at this time, since Atzerodt had backed out and wanted no part in any
killing. Atzerodt was the only one of Booth’s group of assassins that didn’t
attempt what he was supposed to do. However, this wasn’t known on the night of
the assassination and Andrew Johnson would be, unlike Lincoln, well protected.
It wasn’t
until 1923 when the Wisconsin State Journal released their story about
Farwell’s actions that tragic night in 1865 where it mentioned Farwell being
inside of Ford’s Theatre on the night of April 14, 1865. On December 2, 1923
the state journal reported “Former Wisconsin Governor saw Lincoln shot.” The
reporter, Fred L. Holmes writes Farwell “Occupied seat opposite from
President’s box.”[vi]
Upon
closer reading one has to question why Farwell didn’t give a full statement of
what he saw take place inside Ford’s. To further my point, why didn’t Farwell
give his witness statement to the War Secratary Edward M. Stanton the night of
the assassination? In the 1923 article it says Farwell didn’t give his version
of what happened the night of April 14, 1865 until sometime “before his death.”
At this point one has to question the accuracy of these claims. With the
passage of time and with the great hype of the event, one can maybe think it
was more or less wishful thinking placing oneself at the scene of one of the
greatest tragedies in history.
In the 1923 article it continues on with Farwell saying
“as the President fell and the cry rang through the house that he was
assassinated, it flashed across my mind that there was a conspiracy…”[vii]
The discrepancy here in Farwell’s statement shows his memory was not clear by
this point. When exactly did Lincoln fall? He never did fall out of his chair
after being shot as Mrs. Lincoln was observed hanging on to the president. Two
of the best witnesses we have to the president not falling is from Major Henry Rathbone
and Dr. Charles Leale, who was the first doctor to arrive inside the president’s
box.
Major Rathbone gave his statement on April 15, 1865 as to
what he observed inside the Presidential Box. After John Wilkes Booth fired the
shot, Booth and Major Rathbone fought as Booth tried to make his escape. Booth
was able to escape by leaping out of the Presidential Box and onto the stage,
but not before slashing Rathbone on his arm. Rathbone’s remark regarding
President Lincoln was “his position was not changed. His head was slightly bent
forward and his eyes were closed.”[viii]
Dr.
Leale writes “As I looked at the President, he appeared to be dead. His eyes
were closed and his head had fallen forward. He was being held upright in his
chair by Mrs. Lincoln, who was weeping bitterly. From his crouched down sitting posture it was
evident that Mrs. Lincoln had instantly sprung to his aid after he had been
wounded and kept him from tumbling to the floor. By Mrs. Lincoln’s courage,
strength and energy the President was maintained in his upright position…”[ix]
So when
did Farwell actually see Lincoln fall? It’s also hard to judge Farwell’s view
of the Presidential box since his description of his seating was only mentioned
as being in “full view at our right.” While there is no disputing Governor
Farwell’s appearance at the Kirkwood House, where he notified Vice-President
Andrew Johnson with the news; his general description of the shooting of
Lincoln and the actions of John Wilkes Booth was something that was widely
published around the world.
The hype the assassination caused and the attention that
could be gained by being there would be something someone, like Governor
Farwell, could use for furthering ones career. Especially with one being
credited with saving the Vice-President’s life.
Governor
Leonard Farwell ended up leaving Washington, D.C. for Chicago in 1870 where he
started his own private patent office. Farwell’s business would fall victim to
the great fire of Chicago in 1871 and he later died in Grant City Missouri on
April 10, 1889.
http://calscornerblog.blogspot.com/2015/09/jeb-stuart-at-gettysburg.html
[i]
Steers, Edward. The Lincoln Assassination Encyclopedia. Harper Perennial Books,
2010.
[ii]
Steers, Edward. The Trial: The Assassination of President Lincoln and the trial
of the conspirators. The University Press of Kentucky, 2003.
[iii]
The Cincinnati Enquirer April 18, 1865.
[iv]
Ibid
[v]
Ibid
[vi]
The Wisconsin State Journal. December 2, 1923.
[vii]
Ibid
[viii]
Good, Timothy S. We Saw Lincoln Shot. University Press of Mississippi, 1995.
[ix] Leale,
Charles A. Lincoln’s Last Hours. New York, 1909. Reprint by Kessinger Legacy
Reprints.
