Springfield daily republic. [volume] (Springfield, O. [Ohio]) 1887-1888, 1888-04-21

w w 1 held in my hands las
night some of the mos
ghastly relics Of tine history of our country
These were two plain pillow cases, staine.
with blood and clotted with brains The
were yellow with age, and the crimson of th
blood had faded, but the great stains hai
dyed nearly the whole of the pillows, an,
where the brains had oozed out the cloth wa
thick and matted l handled also a bloc,
stained quilt, which was originally a beauti
full piece of Irish worsted work, and tn
colors Of which, strange to say, were red
white and blue. The blood was spatteret
over this quilt as over the pillows, and th,
purple stains had diseolored its beauty.
examined the stains carefully, and though
shuddered l looked again and again at tn,
CHASTITY sight.
And it is worth looking at, too, for it wa.
on these clothes that Abraham Lincoln, just
twenty-three years ago last Sunday
breathed his last These clots of brain.
helped to work out the problems of the late
war, and that dark red blood fed the heart OF
the kindest president the United States has
known.
Il straight young man of medium height
with pleasant face, stood by me as looked
and, taking the clothes, showed me here and
there the spots where the president had laid.
This young man was the son of the owner OF
the house in which Llncoln died He was a
well grown boy when the assassination took
place, and he is now, / judge, about 40 years
of age HIS name is Peterson, and he was
I6 years old when the assassination took
place.
''On this pillow case,n said he, President
10 -,x-ha ha 6,-S+ ~,
but it soon became saturated with blood, and
Secretary Stanton asked me for another /
brought him this taking up the second,
"and on this he died.
"The scenes are fresh now as if they had
happened but yesterday. l was at home for
my Easter vacation, and my father lived in
the brick house just opposite Ford's theatre.
This theatre was then the leading one of
Washington, and a box was always reserved
for Lincoln. / was well acquainted with the
theatre people, and knew the ins and outs
well. Lincoln attended the theatre often,
and he was surprised one time to see young
Tad on the stage, dressed up to represent one
Of the minor characters. He did not know
him at first, but his actions seemed strangely
familiar, and when he saw who it was he
burst into a hal hal which called the atten-
ton OF the house TO his D0x-
Il knew Wilkes Booth very well, and he
sometimes slept at our house. He was a tall,
well made young fellow, and he had large
black eyes and luxuriant black hair. He was
g nervous, errstic, strange man; and it is a
curious thing that he slept in our house a
week before this deed was done, and under
this same coverlid upon which Lincoln died.
The assassination, you know, occurred on
the night of the 14th of April, and saw
Booth that morning riding a little sorrel
mare down Pennsylvania avenue. 1t was not
Ear Off from Willard's hotel that / saw him.
and was then on my way to play ball on
the grounds just below the White House
When the game was over l went home and
had supper. After supper went TO the thea
tire, but did not go TO Ford's, as had often
seen the american Cousin,n but went TO
another theatre, where Aladdin and the
Wonderful Lamp was being played As
started out to go to the theatre saw the
presidents carriage drive up to Ford's. and
President Lincoln and some other gentlemen
and ladies got out. After / had been at the
theatre but short time the manager came
to the front of the stage and said that the
performance had 20 stop. as the. president
had been shot at Fo,d's The crowd made a
rush for the doors, and | tried to 60 home.
As / reached the corner of Tenth and E
streets, a block away from the theatre,
heard some men gathered around fellow
WON they had caught hold of. and yelling:
..IIang himl hang him. They were standing
under q sycamore tree, and one of them sug
gested that it was a good place TO string him
up. The wretch was poor fellow who had
nothing to do with the assassination but
wIom they suspected. l pushed my way
past these men, and finally got to the door of
nv fathers house Two soldiers were in
front of it. l tried to pass them, but they
said: ''You can't go in. The president is ly-
ing in there.
.'But live here,' l replied.
'sThat makes no difference, you can't 60
i'm returned the soldiers.
II will see if | can't get in" l muttered to
myself as ! slipped around TO a shutter
which knew co,s1 be opened, and climbed
into the window The first man l met was
nv father, and be told me the president was
living in the room the actor Matthews had
formerly occupied, and that he wanted me
TO help him Ny sister was at school at
Bethlehem, Pa, and my mother was there
with her. So l was practically alone with
my father"
did Lincoln die in the room into which
he was first carried!'
YES, but this room has not been well rep
resented in the pictures of the scene 1t was
a small narrow room in the rear of the house
and just at the end of the entrance hall Il
was about ten feet wide and fifteen feet long
1t Was very plainly furnished, and the walls
sre covered with brown and white stripes
of paper running up and down from the floor
to the ceiling Some engravings and photo
graphs were hanging on the walT' there Mr..
Peterson pointed to some cheap pictures upon
the walls of his room where we were sittln,),
.sand these pictures were among them The
furniture of the room was very simple
There was merely bureau, little black
walnut bedStead and few chairs
When came in the president was l-iag
on the bed. HIS face looked ghaS ", a Il tie
blood was stili flowing from his wol Il pla
the pillows The blood flowed st an / tle
pillows were saturated A nu.l5-r o, tie
cabinet, including Edwin Stanton. Sa,rlon
P Chase. Secretary Wells and others, stood
beside the bed, and several doctors were
present. Charles Sumner sat on the Led
hold ig the presidents hand, and sobbcd Ike
"A -. H. TIe.c Were tears in the eyes Of
ne.riv ..v,-T. man pr sent. and now and tae-
they tried TO speak with the PRESIDENT BCJ
he was unconscious He lay with his head
on this pillow, and his eyes, all bioot shot,
almost protruded from their sockets lilS
face twitched, and it looked as though he
was trying TO speak, but suppose the action
of his features was involuntary"
.sWas Mrs. Lincoln PRESENT. asSeL
.'No, at this time she was in an ao joining
room, and Robert was there trying 20 COM
fort her. She was sobbing and crying, and
during that night she came now and tfe't to
She bed and bar7t into flood of tear! and
then went away, sobbing, into the other room.
The doctors wanted some not water and bot
ties and asked me TO get them for them. We
had hot fire in the kitchen, and l had the
cook put the hot water in the bottles and