The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1902-12-10
Lincoln Conspiracy and
Its COnSpirdtOrS.sasasas
copyrighted 1902 by The Baltimore Americana


actions other than to relieve the dull mo-
Hotony naturally investing country life-
The morning of my arrival i'm the city was
principally occupied in the pursuit OF pleas
IRE, accompanied by few selected ae-
quaintances and friends. Toward noon
returned to the residence of my father, who
was residing at that period in the city,
when from younger brother, who had also
been a schoolmate of John w. Booth.
learned that Booth desired me 10 call upon
him at the Barnum Hotel, at which place
he was stopping.
At this period l knew nothing of John
Wilkes Booths political sentiments, nor
had the remotest idea of the result which
would follow the visit. / merely called
upon him as a companion and friend OF my
boyhood, which was most natural. l had
not seen Booth since 1851 when we parted
with one another at school. Separated from
one another, our vocations called us to dif-
ferent pursuits. and he, as an individual,
like the many that clustered around school
boy days vanished from the everyday scenes
of my life. As he became eminent I'm his
profession memory brought him back. but
we never met from 1851 until that latter
part of 1864.
MEETING WITH BOOTH.
The visit was made according to his re-
quest, and for the first time in thirteen
years we looked upon each other. Fatal
that meeting to me. for through il the iron
was entered deep into my soul and caused
me to lose confidence in the human race 1
found Booth possessed of wonderful power
in conversation and became perfectly in
fafr ted n his al ma and r.
ing. Instead of gazing upon the counte-
nance of the mild and timid schoolmate of
former years beheld deep-thinking man
of the world before me. with highly distin-
guished marks of beauty, intelligence and
gentlemanly refinement, different from the
common order of man and one possessing
an uninterrupted flow of conversational
power in which all the characteristics of
different natures were combined.
Booth invited me to his room, where the
current items of the times we're freely
talked over, intermingled with escapades of
schoolboy days. 1t not until Michael
O'Laughln, one of his earliest friends and
associates i'm youth, had arrived and was
introduced that the subject, which no
doubt was uppermost in his cOursing
thoughts, was disclosed, and from all that
1 could then CLEAN and subsequently Ii is
my firm conviction and belief that 1t was an
enterprise created or at least had it's origin
in Booths own visionary mind and totally
disconnected with any person or persons in
the service of the Confederate States gov
eminent.
Booths object was to undertake the alb
duction of Abraham Lincoln, convey him to
Richmond, turn him over to the Confeder-
ate States government to be held as a
hostage for the exchange of prisoners, as
the United States government had refused
to exchange them. By SO doing it would
strengthen the force of the Confederate
army and be the means of filling up to some
extent their depleted ranks. He pictured
in most glowing terms how easy it could
be accomplished.
THE PLANS OUTLINED.
Often Abraham Lincoln, attended by no
one except his carriage driver, visited the
hospital over the Anacostia bridge He pro-
posed to intercept him on one of these
visits, take him, coachman and all, drive
through the lower counties of Maryland
place him in boat, cross the Potomac to
Virginia and thence convey him to Rich
mond. Everything was prepared for this
end, boat purchased and moored, to be
moved at moments notice. and a boat
man in waiting constantly at his bidding.
When the brain was to a great exten,
| clouded by drink and reason, in a measure
| had lost it's power of concentrating
| thought O'Laughlin and myself entered
into the enterprise with Booth, after takins
an oath to secrecy and good faith. The
| undertaking was for the sole purpose oi
| bringing about an exchange of prisoners
The contemplated design within itself wa.
purely humane and pathetic in it's prin
| ciples, void of all ambitions, aspirations OF
ACKNOWLEDGMENT, and legitimate as an &C
| of war.
| There was no violence contemplated In
the execution of the design other than tn,
seizure of the body or person of Abraham
| Lincoln and his conveyance to Richmond
| Va, as has already been set forth, as VIC
lence would have been in fiat contradiction
to his avowed purpose and the object to b.
attained. When l entered into the com
bination with him, my condition prevente,
me from giving it its proper consideration
otherwise would never have been mike,
1 up in the affair.
| NO MERCENARY INCENTIVE.
| Men often do things upon the spur of tn
moment which they never would have don
| had they carefully looked and weighed tn
subject under discussion. OF course ha,
| the attempt been made and we should hav
| proved successful. or we had been taken O
| captured during it's undertaking, the conse
quences attending it would have been of ;
very serious nature. There was no propel
ling force brought to bear, neither was as
sent to his proposition obtained unde
promise of pay or reward. No. 1t was TIL
free outpourng Of each heart. stripped O
all mercenary motives or thought, whcl
| impelled the action of each.
The enterprise being deemed feasible an
productive of good. we jointly entered int
the plan as an act of honorable purpose
humanity and patriotism being the bindin
links to nerve us in the accomplishment O
the design.
That was my first acquaintance wit
Michael O'Laughlin, and we three, Booth
O'Laughlin and myself, comprised at tina
period the only persons engaged in the af
fair. The entire afternoon was spent i
company with. Booth. discussing measure
TIC be adopted for the furtherance of hi
newborn enterprise. IL was calculated {
accomplish the undertaking before tn
coming election in the month OF Novembel
Everything having been arranged satisfaC
| .l.,+f f,, a