Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1911-04-20
A LINCOLN ANNIVERSARY
President Was Assassinated For
ty-six years ago Friday.
Frcn1icd Crowds Eagerly DevOured
the slips Of Paper Put Forth by
Free Press az News Was
Received.

Forty-siN years ago last Friday. which
was also Good Friday. Pres. Abraham
Lincoln was assassinated in Tord's thea
tre' Washington, by J. Wilkes Booth. The
+ rec Press files contain the paper of
mat date and with subsequent editions
shed considerable light on the excitement
which prevailed in Burlington and other
places, and as to tho manner In which
news OF the presidents death was re-
ceived
At that date there were two Burlington
dailies. the Times. which was published
In the morning in the rear of the Postal
Telegraph office on Church street. where
Concert hall was afterwards located and
the Free Press, which came out in the
| afternoon and was published In Its pres
ent quarters The Bigelow brothers ed
tied the Times and the late @. G Bene-
| dict was the editor of the Free Press.
Both papers were small in size and were
OF four pages of five columns each. The
! first and fourth pages were entirely given
! UP to advertisements and the inside pages
consisted mostly OF editorial matter, with
| perhaps two columns of news, some of
! which came by letter.
| In the issue of the Free Press announc-
ing the assassination of the president. a
| column about three-fourths OF the length
Of n column in the Free Press of to-day
told tho story. Then followed three more
editions, which were run off by hand and
given to the newsbovs, a galley at time
| The second edition gave five inches Of
reading matter and was sold on the
streets. 1t a slip of paper, the width
OF a column. The third edition had nearly
10 inches of news and was bought wher
ever it appeared by an eager crowd
| Finally the demand for news was so great
that a fourth edition. giving merely three
| sentences of news, was devoured by the
frenzied crowd
The type was of course set by hand and
the papers were run off on hand press.
! which could not be operated fast enough
to satisfy tn, crowds and 1t was with
difficulty that the people were kept from
crowding into the press and editorial
rooms. In the complete paper heavy
rules of black were run the length of each
column.
The papers Of the following days tell Of
many acts of violence done in different
cities to those who expressed satisfaction
at the death Of the president or uttered
cher disloyal statements Men In this
we're obliged to cheer for the flag or re
ceve n coating of tar and feathers One
man. named Curtis, who was landlord OF
the Lake House, a hotel situated on Ba t.
terry street. was heard to say. when told
of the presidents death, that it was a
small loss The remark was repeat ed
and a crowd quickly gathered bent or
mischief, but Curtis had disappeared. Ir
the next days paper he denied making
the statement, but nevertheless kept out
of sight His denial brought forth {
sworn statement signed by r. McCollum
Jr.. in the presence of a justice of tbs
peace, that Curtis had said the president
death was a small lass. In Montpelier :
noted copperhead was made to cheer fol
the flag, as was one minister.
On the day OF the funeral, the store
and places of business We're all closed b'
order of Mayor \. l.. Catlin. In all Of The
churches services were held at noon auC
the bells were toled from ten until twelve
o'clock The Rev. L. G. Ware conducted
the services at the Unitarian Church
Prof. Nick. Petty at the Pine Street Meth
odist Church and George +, Edmund
, spoke at the White Street Church. wher
I the medical students attended in a body
The officers and soldiers. homo on slcI
leave. attended services at st Paul
Church. There were also services At 81
Mary's Cathedral Black was displaye
everywhere
In one column OF the paper is an adver
'isement for pictures Of the assassin, j
Wilkes Booth. stating that those wishin
q pictures Of this monster in human form
. might obtain them at Styles's photoRrap
, gallery and stating that from mis- appear
. ance one would hardly deem him cspabl
!, 81 so horrible n deed, This paper ais
l. has a dress OF black. The only othe
J, news in the paper aside from the accoun
/, of I!ncoln's funeral are two despatche
from the front and n letter describin
battle,
Most OF the Vermont troops were ST
- AZ the front at this time. Many Of tn
; regiments we're marching back rom Ap
, pomattoX. but the 9th. with Gen. r.
Peck, Surgeon W. S Vincent and other'
- was stationed in Richmond under TIA
| Z pfC n RiDlpV