St. Cloud Democrat. [volume] (Saint Cloud, Stearns County, Minn.) 1858-1866, 1865-08-03
THE AssAssINATION.

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-Fbilays Is poison, III. L;neol. and
shoot Ar. Stantos- Poisoaisg Orgaused )
14ni,aal resem0l dsees of tic Assas.ins- IN
'sressiss .omparisons,
Correspondence eftAe PsW.bmy nMmeyrial.
WAsntNcroS, Tuesday. July IL, 1865.
In all the mass Of testimony taken before
tho Military Commission, little has been
elected showing the extent Of completely
in the assassination plot. My own i'm
preston and that Of several western .peo-
ple with whom / c4nverscd, in. the north.
ern part Of the city, the morning after the
murdered President Lincoln, was that it
was an event not unexpected to a large
number Of the native inhabitants. The
news was certainly received with an ,exul-
tation which quickly disappeared Us the
temper Of the yankees became apparent.
From what saw and heard that morning,
thought that if Booth were arrested. any
attempt at trying him here would be a
farce, from the probability Of getting one
or more conspirators on any jury which
might be cmpanneled. have seen no such
naughty insolence on the faces of women,
or triumphant chuckle on that Of men,
since the Early raid, when young men
rushed out to aid him, aud old men and
women chuckled at the prospect of his ia
king Washington. ... .,....,. ... -.
have talked with an intelligent colored
woman who says ''She was in the crowd at
Secretary Stanton's door on the evening of
the assassination; that che was IN charge
Of several children; and to prevent their
being hurt placed then, in the angle formed
by the steps and wall of the house, so that
she and they we're almost Behind Mr.. Stan
ton while he stood on the steps speaking to
the people; that a man in heavy dark
coat, with his hat drawn over his face,
edged his way in amongst the children,
and kept his head moving from side to side
as if trying to get good look at Mr. Stan
ton, while he kept his right hand down at
his side, and she thought he had pistol
in it. She became alarmed, and spoke aloud
to colorea man near, asking him to come
and stand between her and that man, for
he had a pistol. The colored man came
and took the position she desired, and the
other moved off. The story was hard to
believe, but her daughter stated that she
came home that evening quite excited, say
ing there was a "'sp,c,ouseharacter in the
crowd, and she thought he wanted to shoot
Mr.. Stanton" I have reason to believe
Mr.. Stanton knew of this, and expected to
the last that she would be examined by the
/ Commission.
On q visit to Mrs. Lincoln, the day she
left for Chicago. said to her that had
always expected slavery would poison Mr..
Lincoln, as it did Presidents Harrison and
Taylor. The idea appeared new to her,
and recalled the fact that her husband had
been very ill for several days, from the eff:
fects of dose of blue pills, taken shortly
before his second Inauguration. She I'D
be was not we'll, and appearing to require
his usual medicine, blue pills, he sent Ia
the drugstore in which Harold was employ.
ed last, and got dose, and gave them to
him at night, before going to bed, that
| next morning his pallor terrified her.
ellis face" said she, pointing to the
bed beside which she sat, "was. white as
that pillow-case, as it lay just THERE" she
exclaimed, laying her hand on the pillow
''whitc, and such deadly white; US he
tried to rise, he sank back again, quite
cvercome!''
She described his anxiety to be up, there
was so much to do, and her persistence and
his oppressive languor in keeping him ir
bed for several days; said he and she boil
thought it so strange that the pills shoult
affect him in that way; they never hat
done so before, and both concluded the,
would get no more medicine there, as tn.
attendant evidently did not understand ma
king up prescriptions. Could this hav,
been the time spoken of in that letter pro
duced on the trial, in which it is said til,
cup had failed once?
| know an officers widow who spent som,
time with her husband in Georgia Will,
Gen. Mitchell was in command. She ha.
told me of pretended Union woman, in
small town where they were stationed, VIII,
kept boarding house for Union officers o
the large number of invalids among hel
boarlers, aud her especially renarking tn
excessive and peculiar pallor Of these in
valids; soon the number Of deaths attract
ed attention, aud an Investigation was or
dered Of the charge that this female fen,
has been poisoning her boarders. Will
the case was pending some order change,
the troops occupying the town and my in
formant never learned how the matter end
ed, but her description Of the pallor Of til
victims SO comedies with Mrs, Lincoln
account OF our Martyrs appearance afte
the taking Of the blue pills, that it has &C
CURED to me those monsters may hav
some peculiar method Of poisoning. More
over, it is highly probable that our politi
cal assassinations are not YET over. 2:' 'ia
"A conversation was overheard, the latte
part Of last month, on q dark night between
a knot of men, who distinctly detailed !.
plan for shooting President Johnson on tn
4th.' The speakers were to station them
selves at different points in the crowd, ant
while he should be speaking at Gettysburg