The Indianapolis journal., 1894-01-14
SAW LINCOLN KILLED
Strange Visions of a Merchant PO-
liceman the Night Ofthe Tragedy.
Saw the Assassination Vividly i'm Three
Distinct Dreams-Identifica
tiOn of Booth.

'If 1 should tell you Of a dream / had
once, you would brand me the biggest liar
in Indianapolis" said the the owner of a
head grown white in the Merchant police
service Of this city. The Merchant officer
and one or two acquaintance sat around
a midnight lunch in a North Pennsylvania
street restaurant. Drea m-life and the mys-
terry Of occult vistations was the topic of
the diners. The speaker continued in an
earnest tone:
Several of the principal actors IN this
dream of mine are long since dead. and the
only man that could bear witness TO the
truth of my story is among those laid to
rest"
The earnest and subdued manner in which
the grey-haired old Merchant officer spoke,
aroused an importunate curiosity in the
listeners, and the possessor of the strange
story was at first disncined to talk, but
finally he consented TO relate the details of
romantic dream 50 wonderful and start
ling that at the conclusion of the narrative
the hearers arose from the table with in
credulity pictured upon their faces. Never
theiesS the heretofore unblemished reputa-
ton for truthfulness possessed by the Mer-
chant policeman vOucheS for his story and
those OF his Intimate friends who have heard
IL from his own lips credit it as the unvar-
nished truth. The realistic description of a
vivid dream Of which the relator was the
victim many years ago has to deal with an
event Of national interest.
During the stormy period of the rebellion
B, resided on Noble street near Massachu-
setts avenue. He was employed in a store,
the proprietor of which died a few years
ago. On the night of April 10, 1861 a date
made memorable by the assassination OF a
PRESIDENT ne was unusually tired and sought
his couch at an early hour, calmly oblivious
or the tragedy that about TO be en-
acted in the city of Washington. Some
where between 9 and 10 o'clock he fell into
a restless slumber that seemed TO be ac-
companied by a dream of more than or
dlnary distinctneSs. AT that time Is. was a
fancy he saw himself and wife inside a
great chamber that seemed to be populated
with grand ladies and gentlemen. The
scene was not unlike q fancy ball although
the guests did not appear to be dancing.
There was music and flowers and bright
gowns, and Il. recalls his dream being of
particularly pleasing nature until the feS-
tiyitieS were interrupted by tragedy
While in the midst of gay pleasure, b. saw
tall man step out upon the floor. Instant
ly another man followed and as he stepped
TO the back of the first drew a pistol from
his pocket. Without hesitation he placed
the weapon 10 the head of the tall man and
confusion was on. B. plainly saw the
wounded man fail to the floor but did not
see his face. Neither did he get a glimpse
OF the features of the murderer. However,
ne Instantly awoke with feeling of horror.
The dream was yet vivid in his mind and
he arose from his bed. few turns about
the room restored his nerves and he lay
down again, but for some time was unable
TO WOO back his sumber After a half
hours rolling and tossing he fell into dose
and then slept soundly.
1t was few minutes past midnight when
again awoke, this time startled and weak
He had been visited by the same dream,
1t was not the fact that he saw a. man
coolly shot down in a ballroom that af-
fected him this time, but it was something
familiar about the scene that unnamed
him. The details were similar to the first
visitation, except that he had seen the
faces of both men. The tragedy seemed
frightfully real-the flashing barrel of the
pistol under the gas light and the puff of
smoke that ascended toward the ceiling
as the dying man fell to the floor. The
face OF the murderer was a strange one to
b., but it's features were indelibly i'm
printed on his mind. The victim he rec
ognized only too WELL There could be no
mistake The murdered man was Abraham
Lincoln. With a sickening feeling OF dread
the victim of the ghastly dream dragged
himself from his bed and began to pace the
floor. The night was quiet and he walked
out into his yard. He saw no one and
heard no sound that indicated the near ap-
proach of woeful tidings. He turned to
the house again, but was unable to sleep
until nearly o'clock.
At that hour he went off into peaceful
nap, which lasted but few minutes. For
the third time he viewed the deliberate
murder of Lincoln. Again he Clearly recoe-
niZed the face of the President and secured
a full view of the assassin. He sprang
from his bed and awoke his wife, telling
her that he was feeling bad and could not
sleep. She remarked his haggard face and
suggested that he go over to the grocery
and buy a loaf of bread for breakfast. The
nearest grocery was at the corner of Noble
street and Massachusetts avenue, two
squares from his home. B. walked over
to the store and found the proprietor in
earnest conversation with a customer The
latter soon departed and the proprietor
turned his attention to B. why" re-
marked the former, you look as white as
a ghost what's the matter with your
bad dream and began to relate his expert
ence of the night He had spoken but a
few words when the groceryman exclaimed:
Haven't you heard the news? President
Lincoln was assassinated at SIS O'Clock
last night" The effect of the startling
chair, half fainting He returned to his
wife, ate his breakfast and repaired TO his
work. During the day he related his
dreams to his employer. The latter made
day wrote the details of the dream to q
friend I'm Washington. A week later he
received from the capital photograph and
summoned B., who was ignorant of the
Washington correspondence His employer
held the picture before him with the ques-
ton:
did you ever see that face before?'
For an instant puzzled expression came
over the face of B. Closely he scrutin-
lied the features portrayed in the photo
graph, then suddenly he gasped:
Why that's the man 1 saw in my
dreams; i saw him kill Lincoln" Three
weeks later the original of the picture was
captured. The friend of BIS employer
had taken enough interest in the account
of the dream to secure photograph Of j.