Eagle River review. [volume] (Eagle River, Wis.) 1890-1927, 1906-07-13
Tells of Death of Lincoln.

Inter Ocean.
Tells of Death of Lincoln.
One of the few men living to-day,
the only man in Indianapolis, and per-
haps in the Hoosier State, who can re-
call the assassination of Abraham Lin
coin. the martyr President, April Ia,
1865. as an eye witness of the tragedy
is Professor William H. De Motto, an
inspector in the science department Of
the Indiana Institute for the Deaf and
Dumb.
Professor De Motto is now rs years
old, and is one Of the pioneer residents
of the city. He was seated in the Ford
Theater when the historic event took
place. 1t was expressly to see Presi-
dent Lincoln and General Grant, who
was to have accompanied him to the
theater, that he, with two friends, had
decided to attend He and his friends
were among the closest spectators of
the deed of John Wilkes Booth, the
assassin, and as the body of Lincoln
was borne from the theater they could
''have dipped their hands in the mar
tyr's blood" as Professor De Motto ex
presses 1t.
Professor De Motto can relate much
of interest about the stirring times
which followed the surrender of Gen
eral Lee of the Confederate Army to
General Grant. And particularly
graphic is his account of the assassi-
nation. II was serving at the time"
states Professor De Motto, lin Wash
ington as military and sanitary agent
for Indiana, an office created by Gov
ernor Morton, to look after the In
diana soldiery which was disabled or
in need of attention for other reasons.
Ny attendance at the theater resulted
from the presence of two friends who
wished to see Lincoln and Grant. Pres
ident Lincoln was seated partially be-
hind a flag which draped the box.
Grant had not yet arrived. Mrs. Lin
coin was in plain view, and we were
waiting for the President to move that
we might have a better view of his
face, when we noticed a tall, slender
man, dressed neatly in black, pass
along the balcony and into the Presi
dents box. We heard a pistol shot
and then saw the man step to the front
railing of the box, and with a light,
graceful motion spring toward the
stage. A spur on his heel caught the
flag and he fell with one leg crushed
under him. We saw him rise and stag
ger to his feet. Then raising aloft a
dagger his words, sic semper tyran-
MIS- Kissed in a stage whisper, fell
clearly on our ears. He walked in
a deliberate manner diagonally across
the stage and disappeared in the wings.
mot until actors Of the company had
come before us and exclaimed, The
President is shot!' did the audience
realize the tragedy they had witnessed.
Booth had escaped. Some histories
have it he said, The South is aveng-
ed If he said these words / did not
hear them"
Professor De Motto describes in an
interesting manner the scenes that fol-
lowed. He states that a feeling Of awe
at Tue DOlIlueSS anu TIC dWlulueSS Vi
the deed seemed to Cypress the crowds
so that there were no demonstrations
of a riotous nature until after the body
was removed. He was one of the few
who were permitted to see the body Of
the President at the White House fol-
lowing his death.
Professor De Motto rarely speaks of
the experience which was his in being
a witness of one of the most notable
events of history. He has been per-
suaded only once or twice to address
audiences of students at the institute
where he is an instructor, and never
outside He states that the reminis-
cence has depressing and saddening
effect He has frequently noted the
deaths Of witnesses of the tragedy in
newspapers, and believes he is one of
the very few survivors of that historic
audience-American Tribune.