Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1881-10-20

dent was out of the way everything would
20 better. At first this was mere impres.
sion. It startled me, but the next morning
it came to me with renewed force, and be.
gan to read the papers with my eye on the
possibility that the President would have to
20, and the more read the more saw the
complication of public affairs. the more was
impressed with the necessity Of removing him.
This thing continued for about two weeks. l
kept reading the papers and kept being i'm
pressed, and the idea kept bearing and bear
ing down upon me that the only way to unite
the two factions of the Republican party and
save the republic from going into the hands of
the Rebels and Democrats was to quietly re-
move the President.
1.-TWO weeks after I conceived the idea my
mind was thoroughly settled on the inten-
ton to remove the President. | then pre-
pared myself. I sent to Boston for copy
of my book, "The TRUTH" and I spent "a
week in preparing that. cut out para
graph and line and a word here and there
and added one or two new chapters, put some
new ideas in it, and greatly improved it. |
knew that it would probably have large
sale, on account of the notoriety that the act
of removing the President would give me, and
I wished the book to 20 out to the public in
proper shape. That was one preparation for
it. Another preparation was to think the
matter all out in detail and to buy revolver
and to prepare myself for executing the idea.
This required some two or three weeks, and |
gave my entire time and mind in preparing
myself to execute the conception of removing
the President. never mentioned the con.
ception to a living soul. l did most of my
thinking in the park and on the street, and |
used to 60 the Arlington and the Riggs House
daily to read the papers. -.
"After I had made up my mind to remove
him, the idea when l should remove him
pressed me, and was somewhat confused on
that. l knew that it would not do to 60 the
White House and attempt it, because there
were too many of his employees about, and l
looked about for several days to try and get
good chance at him, and one Sunday (the
Sunday before he went to Long Branch) l
went to his church in the morning. 1t is
small frame building, and stood there at the
door moment was little late; the ser.
vices had progressed about onethird. no.
ticed the President sitting near an open win.
dow, about three feet from the ground, and |
thought to myself, that would be good
chance to get him. I intended to shoot him
through the back of the head and let the ball
pass through the ceiling; in order that no one
else should be injured and there could not
possibly be better place to remove man
than at his devotions. / had my revolver in
my possession when I first went to the church,
having purchased it about ten days before
the Presidents going to Long Branch. This
was the Sunday prior to his leaving for Long
Branch on Saturday. During that whole
week l read the papers carefully. | thought
it all over in detail. 1 thought just what
people would talk, and thought 'what tre.
mendous excitement it would create, and l
kept thinking about it all the week. l made
up my mind that the next Sunday 1 would
certainly shoot him if he was in church and
l got good chance at him. Thursday Of
the same week noticed in the papers that he
was going to Long Branch, and on the fol-
lowing Saturday he did 60 to the Branch for
Mrs. Garfeld's health. I went to the depot
all prepared to remove him. I had the re-
volver with me. had all my papers nicely
spoke to a man about carriage
to take me, as I told him, over near the Con.
gressional Cemetery. He said that he would
take me for 81, and seemed to be very
clever fellow and glad to get the job. l got
to the depot about 8 o'clock, and waited there
until the Presidents White House carriage
drove up" He did not kill him at that time,
he says, "because he did not have the healt TO
fire while Mrs. Garfield was with him, clinging
tenderly to his arm" Learning that the
President was to return on the following
Monday, Guiteau went again to the depot to
watch for him, but when the President reach
ed there so many people were about him that
the time did not seem opportune. All that
week, however, he says he watched for him
and tried at various times to get shot at
him, but did not succeed. How he dogged
him everywhere, day by day, is minutely
told. Finally he heard from the papers that
the President was going to Long Branch on
Friday, and we give at this point bis own
narrative of what befell
Il took my breakfast" he said "at the
Riggs House about 8 o'clock. [ ate we'll
and felt we'll in body and mind. went into
Lafayette Square and sat there some little
time after breakfast, waiting for o'clock to
come, and then went to the depot, and l
got there about ten minutes after 8. rode
there from the park in 'bob-tailei' car. l
left the Car, walked up to bootblack, got
my boots BACKED, and inquired for q man
named John Taylor, whom, two weeks before,
1 had spoken to about taking me out toward
Congressional Cemetery. They told me that
Taylor's carriage WAS not there, and there
we're three or four hackmen there who were
very anxious to serve me, and finally l no.
ticed colored man, and 1 asked him, What
will you take me out to the Congressional
Cemetery for?' He says, well, l will take
you out there for ST. All right said /, if
I want to use you will let you know At
that moment these two hackmen were pres
sing me to get my business and I said to
them, Keep quiet; you are too fast on this,
and 1 told this colored man privately that if
wanted his services would let him know
in few minutes then went into the depot
and took my private papers which | intended
for the press, Gncluding a revised edition of
my book, The Truth, a Companion to the
Bible,O and stepping into the news stand
asked the young man in charge if could
leave those papers with him for few mo.
ments, and he said Certainly and he took
them and placed them up against the wall on
top of some other papers. This was about
twenty minutes after 9, and went into the
ladies waiting room and looked around
saw there were quite a good many people
there in the depot and carriages outside, but
did not see the Presidents carriage. ex-
amined my revolver to see that it was all