Sunbury American. [volume] (Sunbury, Pa.) 1848-1879, 1868-02-08
LETTER OF II. J.. KENNEY, ESQ.


| Pu1LA WILMINGTON s. BALTIMORE II. II. CO.,
PHILADELPHIA, Dec. 80, 1867.
Altdn Pihie,ton, Esq, Chicago, ILL.,:
DEAR SIR: The pressure of my Office
duties has been such as to place it out of my
power to reply sooner to your letter of 18th
( inst, expressing wish for more detailed
statement than l gave you in mine of the
10th inst, respecting the journey of Prcsi-
dent Lincoln from this city to Washington
on the night of Feb. %, 1861.
You and met for the first time on the
afternoon of that day in the office of Mr. S.
NJ. FELTON,, the president of this company.
Mr.. FELTON, himself, and Mr. William Stearns,
! the master mechanic of this road, being pre-
sent. These conclusions were arrived at, as
to the best arrangements that could be made
for getting President Lincoln to Washington
IN such way as to defeat the plans which
were believed 10 have been matured for the
assassination, and to battle the vigilance
with which his movements were watched by
those concerned in that nefalous project.
The arrangements having been decided
upon, | proceeded to carry out the portion
OF them assigned to myself In so doing
gave orders to the conductor (Mr. John
Litzenberg) of the 10 so p. NJ. train of that
structions to do so from myself in person.
BY way of precluding surmises as to the
reason for this order, Mr.. Litzenberg was
informed that he would receive from my
own hand an important parcel which Pre-.
sedent FELTON, desired should be delivered
early in the morning to Mr.. Z. j. Allen, at
Wiilard,s Hotel in Washington.
Then at later hour | was TO meet You at
the depot Of the PENNSYLVANIA Railroad
Company, at West Philadelphia, in order to
bring President Lincoln from that point to
our depot, so timing his arrival at the latter
place as to secure, as far as possible, against
his presence there being noticed. Accord
ingly, proceeded to the West Philadelphia
depot, and we met there at about 10 p. Nj.
We had to wait but a short time when
special train arrived with but one passenger
car attached, from which President Lincoln,
with Mr.. Ward H. Lamon and a few other
gentlemen, officers of the Pcnnsy ylvania Rail-
road Company, alighted. Upon their alight-
ing, had the honor of being introduced by
you to President Lincoln, and be, with Mr..
Lamon, forthwith got into the carriage which
had been provided by you, and the driver of
which Was placed by you under my dircc-
tons as to his movements, SO that these
might be regulated with view of reaching
o"' N'NPoe @ 'S" ailti tbS iStSui
starting time of our train. This required
that we should while away our time for the
train from Harrisburg had arrived considera-
bly, earlier than was anticipated. Accord
ingly, after you had taken your seat in the
carriage with President Lincoln and Mr..
Lamon | took mine alongside Of the driver,
and directing him first down Market street
as far as Nineteenth, then up that street as
far as Vine street, and thence to Seventeenth
street, requesting him to proceed down that
street slowly, as if on the lookout for some
one, towards our depot. Upon reaching the
immediate neighborhood of the depot, the
carriage was turned into the nearest cross
street (Carpenter) so that its occupants
might alight in the shadow of the yard fence
there. The President and Mr. Lamou under
your guidance then entered the depot and
passed through to the sleeping car, where
you had secured berths for them. followed
at short distance, and delivering to the
conductor the parcel he was to wait for, gave
orders for the train to start. 1t was at once
put il motion, the time being 10 55 p. NJ,
five minutes after the regular time for start
ing.
These are the particulars so far as my
agency was involved in carrying out the
! programme.
Very truly yours, II. +. KENSEy,
Superintendent.