, 1884-08-26
A Renaissance
Of the ASSASSINATION of Abraham
Lincoln.
The Manager of Ford's Opera House
Gives His RecoIIectIons of the
Terrible AnaIr-An Odd
Experience.


In the office at Fords opera house, and Hurry
Ford IN u vein Of "reminiscences, led Mr.. Ford'a
mind back a score OF years to the events at
tending the assassination Of President Lincoln
at the Tenth Street theatre. THE day OF the
assassination said Mr.. Ford, about ~ m,
Booth came down Tenth street 10 the theatra
and stepped there ~ read a letter. can re-
member very well seeing him sitting ON the
steps outside. | told hun then that President
Lincoln and Gen. Grant were coming 10 the
theatre thai night. / said that President
Lincoln and Gen. Grant would occupy one
box, and added, as II joke TO tease him, that
Jef Davis and Gen. Lee would be in ANOTHER.
box-Ha-deaoanrud- ten. Iee very vigor-
ously for having surrendered the sword OF
Virginia. That evening. after tho perform
ance began, he came TO the theatre, and as
he passed the bo1-ohlce he looked into the
window and, putting his arm through,
placed u cigar which he had partly snoked
on a shelf inside and said in a mock heroic
style;
Whoe'er this cigar dares displace
Must meet Wilkes Booth face u face.
Their he passed into the theatre.
"Did he ever return for the cigarf asked
The Star reporter
No. Those were The last words | ever
heard him speak. He must have said them
~ HAA7i'aA HHAf AeA-HAAn liAA1f-Ah htfllA1f ntit
already laid, and IL was part of the plan, us
l heard afterwards, that Payne wa to assas-
sinate Seward, Atzerott should kill johnson
at the Kirkwood house, and Booth shoot the
president simultaneously. SO he knew just
what he was going u do, and how much time
he had.
Later in the evening continued Mr..
Ford. Eve heard IA pistol shot in the theatre.
Joe Sessford and were in the treasurer's
Office. We thought at first that It was the
pistol fired by Asa Tronchnrd in the play
Laura Kcene WIS playing Our American
Cousin, but then il struck us us a little too
early in the evening. We opened "A little
window that looked into the theatre and saw
Booth crouching on the stage will a knife in
his hand. Even then we could not tell what
had happened. and no one seemed 10 know.
We thought at first that some one had in
suited Booth and he had pursued the man
across the stage. A few minutes, which
seemed an hour, passed before the whole ter
rible truth was known"
"You were among those who were ar
rested were you notf7 asked The Star na-
porter.
Il wns arrested, | think, ON the Sunday
following the assassination, and taken down
to the old Carroll prison, fronting upon the
capitol grounds. | was treasurer Of the
theatre. and my brother, James X. Ford, bet
ter known Us Dick Ford, was manager. Ny
brother, John T. Ford, who owned the thea
TIRE. YVES arrested at his home in Baltimore
ti. lis return from Richmond. He had
fgu Gown there to see our uncle, mothers
OILY brother, William Greaner. Nearly
rNti3 enc around hero professionally related
To looth was arrests d, and the Virginia ind
Maryland farmers along the river, who were
A. NJ
ia any way, by harboring him, given him
food or shelter, or boats. were arrested, and
they We're all sent TO prison where | was. So
we had plenty OF company.
Did | enjoy III Wen, l would not have
missed the experience for II great deal. 1t
was a rare mixture-deserters, bounty
Jumpers and prisoners OF state, governors,
legislators and men Of every station. Still IL
was rather rough the first week. We were
kept in close and solitary confinement.
Each man had n room by himself and was
not allowed to leave it or 10 see any one.
remember hat when my brother was brought
in l saw him in the yard. The guards would
not let me 60 to him or speak to him. After
Joh 7. was arrested his family came over
from Baltimore. His wife applied to Score
tary Stanton for n pass to go to the prison
and see him, and Stanton refused. There we
were left alone IN our dungeons in dreadful
uncertainty. ] remember the day OF tho
funeral ceremonies at the capitol. l could
see nothing, but could hear the solemn boom.
ing Of guns, the dismal beating of mufhed
drums, playing dead marches, and the
steady tramp Of feet. That was not very
cheering music for our ears. We did not
know but the people in their excitement
would mob the prison and lynch us, for some
Of the men arrested had been stoned in the
street. Our fare was coarse prison food
soup and boans and dry hread.n