Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1909-02-10
SAW LINCOLN SHOT.
Capt. Catch Tells of Great Tragedy.
Was First to Reaci, Martyr.

city February seth. .@
lie, is Capt, Oliver G.. Catch, now
in his I'D year. a retired farmery
whose home is near this city. He
was the first man to enter Lincoln,s s.
box in Ford's Theatre after John
Wilkes Booth had fired the. bullet
that stilled the heart of the great
emancipator.
Uhtilrecently Capt. Catch has been
reticent upon the subject. With
even his closest friends he refused to
discuss the great tragedy Recently,
however, he was &prevailed upon to
give an account of the. shooting and
the history-making. event he witness.
ed on. the fatal night. To cores
pondent he talked for an hour, re-
peating and amplifying the story re-
Gently told by him.
Capt. Catch and his brother, Dr.,
Charles Catch, now dead, left Wash
ington during the excitement follow
ing the assassination of Lincoln
without giving their names to the
| e'"'i'oii'iSo' ehu IL hSNSl 10
them that their testimony was want
ed. 1T wasn't necessary" says
Capt. Catch. .
Capt. Catch, while hardly more
than boy, enlisted in the army, and
was captured by the Confederate
troops and imprisoned until March,
1864, when he escaped from his cap
tors and returned to his home, which
was then at Milford, near here. There
he met his brother, DR.. Catch. To-
gether theyawe to Washington on
Official business. On Friday night,
April IA, 1S65-Good Friday-they
went to Ford's Theatre, attracted
thither by the announcement that
President Lincoln was to be a guest.
Our seats were in the balcony,
and had we desired we could have
touched the sentry stationed at the
entry of the box to be occupied by
the President" Catch. declares. "In
fact. we were so close to the Presi-
dents box that we could hear him
chuckle at the jokes of the play, but
we couldn't see him."
During an intermission in the
play, which was the elder Sother's
great success, "The American Cou-
sin," Capt. Catch and his brother,
cramped from sitting in one posture,
stretched themselves. AS they did so
they noticed handsome young man
watching the show from a position
against the wall near Lincoln's box.
1t was John Wilkes Booth, who mur-
dered Lincoln.
Il saw him edge toward the box"
Capt. Catch says. Suddenly he en-
tered the passageway. A few sec
onds later we heard a shot. Bedlam
reigned in the audience
"A man-Maior Rathborne, Lin
coins guest, it was-rushed from
the Presidents box and shouted:
Get DOCTOR My brother said he
was physician, and he and / were
dragged into the Presidents box. My
brother raised Lincoln's head to
probe for the bullet, and the index
finger of his left hand came in con-
tact with a jagged hole at the back
OF Mr.. Lincoln's head. When he
Withdrew his hand it was filled with
the Presidents brain, which was ooz-
ing out at the CHASTITY hole"
Capt. Gatch's brother told those in
the box that the, wound was fatal,
and o1vicnl n hot
taken to private residence near
tie theatre, and not to the White
louise, as was suggested.
A shutter was hastily secured as
stretcher. and Capt. Catch and his
brother, with Others, raised the Pres
ident from the floor of the box and
carried him down the stairs and out
| of the theatre,
The sobbing of the people and the
hoof-beats Of the approaching cav
airy regiment, which was hastily
Summoned, were the only sounds on
the street. Lincoln was tenderly
carried to little house across the
street from the theatre, and the great
men of the nation called to look at
| him before death came. His wife,
| too, was at his side.
Capt. Catch and his brother re-
mained in the house, and when Lin
coin died, early the following morn
ing, they assisted in carrying his
body to the funeral car which bore
it away.
Capt. Catch and his brother then
| returned n tho