, 1865-06-05

|
c4Dpd. had knowlsdge tda. JET Dlvls
uns the bead of the ao-calied Contxde1ats
| States, was called its Prs dent, ard had crp-
trol Of lis civil administration. General Car
| roll WAS prekent wbtu 5urratt brought the
dispatches from Rtrhmood. and wh1a they
were one or two others. Goneral
Carroll. Of Tcnnessee. then SAID be
| was norr aux'ous that Mr. johnson should
b: killed than any one else. He sai1: Il II the
DAMNED prick -luuse was not Ill. Il by sotQebo-
dy" be would kill I'm hims:l.. He referred 10
V'er-fEesidt Mt johnson. His expression w..
Woru ul contempt Tor tailor 1t melns
tailof'a torse. Btoth was kpoan il Canada
by the tieh1ame Of" Pet" l think have
beard Thompson 80 call him, certainly
Clesry. Kennedy. who fred the city Of New
York. end ~aa ext cntrd, WIS spuken nf -
havfrg pelfo, med that deed By authority Of
17ompson. Ihis US communicated 10 n~ 81
IhoMpson hit'sselT, tr In CONVERSATION In his
Fresehcc. Thompson So d Kennedy deserved
10 be bHngta, and be was devalish glad he
Was hanged, for he was stupid fellow, aud
had mausged thit gs vcry badly.
james b. M.Hitt testlfed-I am physi-
clan and have been In Caasda about year;
IN October and November last, WAS In Toson-
70; met George Young there. a rehel from
HI intucky also Colonel Sle-1e. from Eeu-
tncky. Young said to me, "wa have soma.
thing Of much more importance thaa auy
raids" He told me 1t was de.rrmtued that
they had pl.nty Of tslends in Washington,
ard called Mr. Liulo ia damuet Old IT,.
lspt." ] Afterwards saw George N. Sand 4rs
and Colonel Steele together. C.,lonnl Steele
Eaid, "the damned old tyrant never will
serve another ttrm II be iseiected." Sanders
said At the same time, The would keep
himself mighty close II he did serve another
telm:" In Montreal, in February las-, I
heard Sanders name number OF persons
ready and willing to remove the Presloent.
Wee President, the Cabinet aud some of the
let ding Generals Of the United States and
be aadtd that there Wasany nrnount II money
10 accomplish this Furposr, meaning the as-
tassinatlOn Of theae pe1sons. Hs then read q
letter, which h~ said be had received from the
President Of onr Coufederacy, meaning Jetfcr-
son Davis, and which lriter Justified him ia
making any arrangements that be could To
accomplish such object. There WIS NJ ct
ing at that time Of these rebels. and letter
wss, ttat II the 6outheruefs IN the Canadxa
AID the States we're willing to be governed by
sutb = tyrapt as 1iocoln, he {Dav,s} did not
wish 10 lecogu1ze them Us friends, and that
be approved ehthe proposition to assassinafc
b m. Colonel B1eele read the letter, also
Captain Scott, George Yo1ug and Hill, all
lebels- This meeting wss apout the mid
Ole OF last February. Az the meeting Sau-
dcrs named sozae OF the persona Who were to
accomplish the assassination, aud among
theu, he named J. ", Booth, whom I had
teen In Montreal y October. He also named
and Harrison. Harold went by the name OF
Harrison Ihenrd Susratt name men toned,
mud Harold. There WIS person named
whom they called "Piug fooaceq:" I saw
heart snd soul in this 1na ter bit WAS cou.
sin to Bralc, who was hsnged n New York.
He added, tlat II theg could dispose Of LIN
coin, II would be IN easy matter to disposa Of
Ar. johnson in ZONE Of Ills drunken rcvel1ies;
that i they could dispose Of the Ptcsldenr,
sewa cf nld be disposed of, i. would satisfy
the people North, aud that a peace could be
obtained that tht ; had endeaYorcd to beins
nae nj . war with England, but Mr. esw1td,
through his ene'g ~ and ssgac1ty, had thwart-
ed their efforts, md for that reason they
wanted TO get rid f him.
On the 5lh Ct 9th r april last met HaF-
PER, WHO said that they were going to the
States to "kick up the daDnedtst st row, such
as had ntyer been heard OF {" he ndded thattf
I did not hear Of the d.ath Of Old abe, the
TIcc-Presldent, and of General Dix, in less
than ten days, I might put hlm d1Wn ~ q
DAMNED fool. That was On the 9th Of april.
Hc mentioned The name OF Booth aa ono OF
their friends there; be. said they had
plenty Ct friends In Washington, and that
fifteen or twenty were going. he had start
cd to 80 TO Washington as early as the Stu,
together With others. I communicated this
iact on the 10Th Of April To Justice Of the
sintttou, communicated It to the Govern
mint Harper returned to Cansda after the
assassination. Ind conversation with c.
g. Clay in Toronto, IN February LAST he
spoke OF the letter Of Davis, which Sanders
lad exhibited he seemrd to understand the
nhA nrfo Nff fk1o faff nrI snJA 1a
thought the end would justly the means.
6nuatt WAS pointed out to me In Toronto,
las. FetruatJ, think. I saw Boob there
two CT three times, and sat at table with h.m
cuce, at the st. Lawtnce, with Sanders,
eco1t and Steele; they were conyeTsing With
Booth, snd drinking With him at Sandcts' ex-
change, saw Harold In Canada, In Febru-
Richard Montgomery testldcd-I kncw Ja-
cob Thompson, Clement g. Clay, whom
lave met tn Canada number of times since
The summer of 1864 up to thls time; also.
George n. Sanders, J. z. Holcombe, Beverley
Tucker, w. c. Cle1ry, Harrington, Hicks,
and others, rnder fictitious MAIN 3. Thomp-
Clay WIS Holt. and Lacy, and Tracy. Jacob
Thompscn said he bad friends Of the Confed-
craey all over the Northern States,
willing TO 60 any lengths, and that
he could, at any time, hava the ty-'
rsat pat .u Of T.: s 6 su ns Wsns
hot CT nsider 1t q crime, and that it would be
done for the canse Of the ConfcdeFacy. In
January, 1865, Thompson said, at Neutral
that proposition had been made to him to
rid the world OF the tyrauts Lincoln, Stan
ton, GFant. and some otness tbat be knew
able to execute anything they would under.
take TINT be was In favor Of the
proposition. but deferred hts answer
until he had consulted his Government,
at Richmtna; that he was then only
whiting their approval. He thought 1t wopld
South, to have them {the tytants) ki1ied. In
The summer Of 16G4 I repeated what NJ.
Thompson first told me, to &. G. Clay, who
said That he was really desoted to our causs,
and II adj to 80 my lengths, to do my thing
under the sun to saveit. have seen Payne,
'he prisoner, 4 number Of times In Canlda,
about the Falls, In the summer Of 'G4, and
also at the Queen's Ho1el, in Toronto, Can
ada West, where I conversed with him. l
had Lad IN interview With Mr.. Thompson;
several Others had sought an interview while
Ivas eli seted, and had been refused. On
leaving 1hompson's r o.a, 1.aw Payne Ia the
Clay, talking to him Mr.. Clay stopped me,
MD finished his conlersat:on with tnts man,
in an undo: tone. When he left the. be SAID,
await for nc Il will return" He soon came
hack, and tade me goodbye, and asked
whcre he could see me after time I told
this man Payne in Clay . absence, md asked
him who be was. He esatd, "Oh, rm Cana
dian,'' which wss to say, don't wish you to
ask me anything more. mentioned him
to Clsy when I met him after time; Clay
asked, "whal did he sayr' told him, and
City answered .'Thst,s 90, be y Canadian"
and laughed; be added, /" We rr1st HIM"
and his conduct WAS M indication that their
intercourse Wae of very confidential nature.
l have been In Canada since the assassina-
tfon; few days after, met Beverly Tucker
at Montreal. Be said :. Nj. Lincoln de:eryed
as eng aDa and ha aps pt1
bad the boys mad not been allowed to 30
when they wanted to. Heretelrtd to III. men.
had q conversation with Wm. c. Cleary,
and told him what Mr., Thompson said IN
-Jsnuasy. He said that Booth was one Of the
PARTIES to whom Thonpaon had referred he
said. also, That IL was too bad that the whole
woI had not been done, referring to Tue as
sassina'ion. CleoIy, who Was 4 contldant of
Ar. Thcmpeon, told m. 50. Thompson said
Clsary Was close-mouteed man. Cleary
also said that they lad better Look out, We
have not done yet" He remarked thar they
would never be conquercd-wouldn never give
up. He also said that Booth had visited
Thompson in the winter and In the summer,
These parties knew they were suspected Of
the assassination few days at er, and oere
dtstr'ying 9Ttat many papers, 90 they told me.
OCT: d Us Government detective IN Caua-
da, and assumed the name Of James Tno1up.
son, though never registered it. but always
SONIC other name. AlJ whole object was 10
serve the Government. saw this cipher
tfouud among Booths edects), in Mr.. Ciay's
house. at St. Cath=rtne's, in the summer Of
1861. carried dispatches from Canada to
G.rdonsville, and received reply, which
carried back. ] came through Washington
each time. and delivered tile dispatches to
the United States Glve, nneut received the
Dispatch at Gordonsville from 1Isn In the