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OPENING SCENE:
Radio chimes and Spotlight on the Narrator….
[WPHT Logo on Screen]
NARRATOR
You are listening to Chris Stigall on Talk Radio
WPHT, 1210 on your Radio dial.
Spotlight onto Chris Stigall sitting at his desk….
STIGALL
It’s the evening of April 15th, Tax Day, and to help
you get past that bit of unpleasant business, here
are a few notable things that happened on this day
in history:
In 1452 Leonardo DaVinci was born;
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In 1912 HMS Titanic sank after striking an iceberg
in the North Atlantic taking more than 1,500 souls,
including four Union League members, with it;
In 1947 Jackie Robinson took to Ebbets Field and
became the first African American to play in a
Major League baseball game;
Oh…and one more item; 150 years ago today,
Abraham Lincoln died after being shot by a lone
gunman named John Wilkes Booth; OR was he?
Tonight’s presentation of sights and sound will
take us through time to explore the true story of the
events that led up to that fateful night. Tonight we
present to you an historical account: YOU ARE
THERE!
[title sequence run]
[april 14, 1865 on screen]
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NARRATOR
This is WPHT, Talk Radio 1210 from Washington
DC. Now…Chris Stigall.
STIGALL
Good evening ladies and gentlemen; It is April 14,
1865 and we are coming to you from our studios in
the Federal City, Washington DC!
The City is celebrating the end of the War, General
Grant is the toast of the town and Ford’s Theatre is
dedicating tonight’s performance of “Our
American Cousin” to him. We have received word
that the President and Mrs. Lincoln are in the
audience tonight at Ford’s Theatre. We take you
live to WPHT Reporter: Lawrence Gobright at
John Ford’s Theatre on 10th street.
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[Pic of Ford’s Theatre on screen]
GOBRIGHT
Good Evening Chris. I am outside of Ford’s
Theatre on 10th Street. I am here with Kate Warne,
of the Pinkerton Detective Agency. She was one of
the people responsible for seeing to Mr. Lincoln’s
safe arrival in the District of Columbia back in
1861. Mrs. Warne, can you tell us a bit about your
association with the President?
KATE WARNE
Of course. It was 1861, President Lincoln had just
been elected. A you know, seven states left the
Union and teams of assassins were sent out to kill
him even before he could take the oath of office.
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Some dubbed it "The Baltimore Plot”. You know,
it’s a good thing we figured out a plan to get him to
Washington safely. Uh, that silly hat that Harper’s
Bizaare pictured him wearing…”
[Harper’s Bizarre Pic on screen]
GOBRIGHT
Mrs. Warne I understand you are the first female
detective in the nation. You are employed by Alan
Pinkerton, founder of the Pinkerton National
Detective Agency. Can you tell our listeners more
about this Plot?
[Fords back on screen]
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KATE WARNE
Eight teams of assassins were working
independent of one another to kill Mr. Lincoln.
(catching herself) Al…uh…Mr. Pinkerton reported
this to Army commander General Winfield Scott
devised a plan to have Mr. Lincoln evade the
danger under the guise that he was traveling as my
invalid brother... under an assumed name. Oh, he
took a beating in the press for all the security.
They called him a COWARD. Ever since, he has
travelled with MUCH less security.
GOBRIGHT
Is it true that during the train ride you did not sleep
for several nights?
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KATE WARNE
Very true, for two nights as I accompanied Mr.
Lincoln in disguise. We made our way by train
from Philadelphia to Harrisburg…Baltimore and
eventually to Washington. At the Pinkerton
Agency “We never sleep.” I’m sorry, I must get
into the theatre, intermission is almost over.
STIGALL
Lawrence, I’m sorry, but we need to break in.
Ladies and Gentlemen, we have Breaking News
from Lafayette Square, Secretary of State Seward
has apparently been attacked. We now go live to
WPHT Reporter Hannah Cutler on scene at the
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Secretary’s residence on Lafayette Park, just across
from the President’s Mansion.
[Seward’s House pic on screen]
CUTLER
Chris, it is beginning to look like pandemonium
here at Lafayette Square tonight. Chris…Chris…
there is a man over here, I’d like to get. Sir, can
you join us here.
SEWARD SERVANT
(panicked) Someone needs to help him…
Secretary Seward, he’s been harmed bad.
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CUTLER
Sir, can you tell us what happened?
[Pic of Seward]
SEWARD SERVANT
I’m one of Mr. Seward’s servants. Mr. Seward was
in bed on account’o breakin’ his jaw in an
accident. A large man come to the door an’ said he
had medicine from the Doctor. Mr. Frederick, the
Secretary’s son wouldn’t let him up to see the
Secretary, so the man bashed open his skull with a
pistol. He then pulled out a knife and hurt a few
more men ‘till he got to Mr. Seward. Mr. Seward
fought hard but he’s hurt real bad. That man then
ran out ‘the house screamin’ “I’m mad, I’m mad.”
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CUTLER
Keep calm friend, help’s on the way.
Christopher, there you have it. We are now
learning that a man named Lewis Thornton Powell
just tried to kill Secretary of State Seward and
instead left him severely injured with knife
wounds to the face. He almost killed five other
men including Seward’s son Frederick.
STIGALL
Hannah, this is Chris. We need to break in here.
There is apparently a situation across town at
Ford’s Theatre, we are going back to WPHT’s
Lawrence Gobright at Ford’s Theatre…Lawrence?
[Ford’s theatre on screen]
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GOBRIGHT
Chris, The only word to use to describe the scene
is CHAOS. Information is still very sketchy as to
what exactly took place here. What we do know is
that President Lincoln has been shot. He had only
one body guard protecting him at the theatre.
While we are waiting for more …Chris…one
moment please…Miss Keene, Miss Keene, could
you join me please. Chris, I have Miss Laura
Keene with me. Miss Keene is of course a
renowned actress and the star of this evening’s
performance of Our American Cousin. Miss
Keene, can you tell us what happened?
[Playbill on screen]
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LAURA KEENE
(in shock, and stammering) He shot the President.
John Wilkes Booth shot the President. It’s so
terrible…Mr. Lincoln looked so terrible. And that
young Major Rathbone, Johnny slashed him with a
large knife. The full theater saw Johnny jump onto
the stage and yell something before he ran off.
GOBRIGHT
Miss Keene, can you tell us about the President.
LAURA KEENE
It was my last performance. The President so
loved this play; I knew that before he arrived and I
took note of his pleasure as I was performing.
After it happened they let me up to his box and I
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cradled his head in my lap. He wasn’t breathing
and a young doctor felt about his head and found a
clump of blood. As he cleaned it out, the President
started to breathe, but he bled so terribly much…
see!”
GOBRIGHT
Where is the President now?”
LAURA KEENE
They’ve taken him across the street to a house
owned by Mr. Petersen. (very much in shock)
General Grant was to have been at the play but he
apparently went to see family in New Jersey. I
can’t believe that Johnny has done this monstrous
thing…”
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GOBRIGHT
That was Miss Laura Keene, clearly in a state of
shock. This was to have been her final
performance and the profits from the performance
were to be her retirement gift. President Lincoln is
in grave condition at the Petersen House.
STIGALL
Lawrence, did anyone know that the President
would be in attendance?
GOBRIGHT
No, Mr. Lincoln was a somewhat unexpected guest
this evening.
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STIGALL
I do want to recap what we know so far. The
President was shot at approximately 10:20 p.m.
during the second scene of the third act of the play.
By the time he was taken to the Petersen House,
the attending doctors had determined that nothing
could be done for him.
GOBRIGHT
WAIT, Chris, I’m joined now by Mr. James
Ferguson, owner of the Greenback Saloon, which
is next to Ford’s Theatre. Mr. Ferguson, you were
in the audience this evening?
[Grant pic on screen]
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FERGUSON
I was. Mr. Ford came to me this afternoon and
told me that my favorite, General Grant was going
to be present at the theatre to night and had secured
a box. I went in the theatre and engaged seats 58
and 59 on the opposite side from the Presidents
box. When the President came in I saw that
General Grant was not with him but I still kept
watch of the box expecting General Grant to come
in knowing that if he came in he would go in the
same box with the President.
GOBRIGHT
When did you notice something was wrong?
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FERGUSON
After the curtain went up for the 3rd act when I saw
Mr. Booth go to the door leading to the passage of
the private box which the President occupied and
try the door. In a moment afterwards I was
looking with an opera glass to see who was with
the President. I then heard the report of the pistol
and saw Mrs. Lincoln scream.
[pic of Booth jumping]
At the same time I saw Booth jump off the balcony
and fell on the stage. The very moment he struck
he yelled “Sic Semper Tyrannis.” As he came
across the stage facing me he looked me right up in
the face and he said “I have done it.” and shook the
knife. It was as frightening as staring into hell!
[Picture of VP Johnson]
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STIGALL
Lawrence, I’m sorry, I do want to jump in here,
there is a report of a possible attack, or a plot to
attack, Vice-President Johnson. Have you heard
anything of that on the scene there?
GOBRIGHT
I have not, Chris. But, I’m joined now by
Secretary of War Edwin Stanton. Mr. Secretary,
are you aware of a possible plot against VicePresident Johnson tonight?
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STANTON
I am not aware of that report at this time. Clearly
there is treachery afoot here in the Federal City.
We do not currently know where the VicePresident is. Members of the cabinet are gathering
at Peterson House now, but I will maintain order in
this city and in the government.
GOBRIGHT
But who is currently making decisions?
STANTON
As of now, I am in control here in the Federal City.
The location of the Vice-President is irrelevant.
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GOBRIGHT
Is there anything that can be done right now?
[Scene inside Peterson House on screen]
STANTON
Regrettably, no. It’s but a matter of time. I’ve
endeavored to insure that as many witnesses as
possible are interviewed and their testimony taken
so that we have a record of evidence to apprehend
and deal with this band of assassins.
GOBRIGHT
Assassins? Do you believe there is a conspiracy?
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STANTON
It’s obvious there is a conspiracy; his path had
been made clear for escape from the theater! HE
HAD A HORSE WAITING! This attempt to
decapitate the government WILL FAIL! Every
traitor shall be found and hanged.
GOBRIGHT
What is happening at this moment sir?
STANTON
(direct, without much compassion, Matter of
factly) I’ve assigned Corporal James Tanner to
take witness statements. I’ve ordered that Mrs.
Lincoln be removed from the room; I simply could
not tolerate her hysterical screams and we’ve work
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to do. You must excuse me sir, the doctors are
calling for me.
[7:22am, April 15th, 1865 on screen]
GOBRIGHT
The interrogation of the witnesses took place
between midnight and 1:30 this morning. The
crowds are waining a bit here on 10th street.
Wait…Chris, Secretary Stanton is about to address
the press…
[screens go black]
STANTON
It happened at 7:22 a.m. “Now he belongs to the
ages.”
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Lights go out in the ballroom and a bell rings
seven times (to signify the hour) then lights go
on and Stanton is addressing troops at stage set
left.
STANTON
Let the stain of innocent blood be removed from
the land by the arrest and punishment of the
murderers. Every man should consider his own
conscience charged with this solemn duty and rest
neither night or day until this be accomplished.
troops fan throughout the auditorium passing
out the flyers.
[Screen shows the date April 26, 1865.]
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STIGALL
It was 12 days ago that this drama began inside
Ford’s Theatre, and it appears that it may finally be
coming to an end at a tobacco farm in Virginia
owned by a Mr. Richard Garrett. We take you now
to Hannah Cutler who has been following this
story since it began. Hannah?
CUTLER
Thank you Chris. I’m here with Lieutenant
Edward Doherty of the 16th New York Cavalry,
who's men have been pursuing the actor John
Wilkes Booth since the assassination of President
Lincoln twelve nights ago. Lieutenant, what can
you tell us about the current situation.
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DOHERTY
Mam, twenty six men are under my command. We
have been in pursuit of Mr. Booth in his attempt to
evade us and we are now within sight of our goal
to capture him.
(GUN SHOT)
CUTLER
What was that? Chris, there was just a gun shot
and the Lieutenant ran off. Please stand by… The
lieutenant is coming back… Lieutenant, can you
tell us what has happened?
DOHERTY
I can report that Booth the Assassin is dead.
Sergeant Boston Corbett, under my command, shot
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Mr. Booth through the neck. He was instantly
paralyzed, we took him to the lawn of the house
and he has since died. If you will excuse me, I
have to see to this situation.
[On screen: April 27, 1865]
STIGALL
This just in we have received the final autopsy
report on actor, turned Presidential assassin John
Wilkes Booth. Army Doctor Woodward, of
Philadelphia, reports that Booth’s left leg was
broken. The cause of death was a gun shot wound
in the neck severing the spinal chord. Paralysis of
the entire body was immediate. Booth was
conscious for a time after the injury.
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[Screen shows the date of July 7, 1867]
STIGALL
Today is July 7th, 1867 and those who set out to
destroy the government of this nation have almost
all met with their demise. Joining me in our
studios is General Henry Burnett, prosecutor of
those involved in the plot. General Burnett –
‘consumatum est?’
[Pics of named individuals up on screen as
mentioned]
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BURNETT
Yes, Chris, it is finished. Booth is, of course, dead,
as are the other conspirators: Mary Surratt, Lewis
Powell, David Herold and George Atzerodt.
Surratt is the first woman executed by our
government for her role.
Three other conspirators, Samuel Arnold, Michael
O’Laughlen and Dr. Samuel Mudd were sentenced
to life in prison on June 29th, 1865.
Edman Spangler received a sentence of six years
imprisonment. We are still in Pursuit of John
Surratt, Mary’s son, who fled to Europe and made
his way to the Vatican where he became a Papal
guard. He is currently on the run, but we are
closing in on him.
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Thus ended the story of the Lincoln Assassination
Conspirators.
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Page 1 of 4
Conclusion of Lincoln Assassination Program – 15 April 2015
TURZANSKI
Tragedy touched the lives of many who mourned the loss of
Lincoln….
Kate Warne, who protected him from assassins in 1861, died of
pneumonia seven years later at the age of thirty-eight.
Boston Corbett, the man who shot Booth, became both a
national hero and the object of constant death threats. Paranoia
sent him westward to Kansas where he had run-ins with the law,
spent time in a mental asylum, and eventually escaped into the
western wilderness, never to be heard from again.
Major Rathbone was haunted by guilt over failing to stop Booth
that night. He descended into an ever-deepening madness and in
1883 killed his wife, Clara, as she protected their three children
from his murderous rage. He was declared criminally insane,
and died in an asylum in 1911.
Page 2 of 4
Conclusion of Lincoln Assassination Program – 15 April 2015
For Mary Todd Lincoln, that night at the theater was to have
been a new beginning. Two years earlier, their eleven-year-old
son, Willie, died of typhoid fever at the White House. The day
they went to Ford’s, she and her husband spoke of traveling
through the capitals of Europe. It all slipped away as she held
his hand and the fatal bullet struck him. Six years later, their 18year-old son, Tad, died of heart failure. The loss of three sons
and her husband was all too much to bear. Mrs. Lincoln was
committed to an asylum, was eventually entrusted to her sister’s
care, and died in 1882 at the age of 63.
But the greatest concentration of tragedy coming out of
Lincoln’s Assassination was reserved for the vanquished people
of the Confederacy. Booth had meant to avenge his beloved
South; instead doomed it to a terrible fate. Northern politicians
waved the bloody shirt and made reconstruction as punitive and
difficult as possible. As for the souls Lincoln fought to free,
they would need to wait another century for emancipation to
find its way to equality under the law.
Page 3 of 4
Conclusion of Lincoln Assassination Program – 15 April 2015
And that brings us to the enduring message of Lincoln: America,
though impaired by the human frailty that afflicts all nations,
indeed is the last, best hope of mankind – and it is so because of
the basic moral goodness of her people. They may practice and
condone evils such as slavery; but they also correct their sins,
often at great personal cost, because the struggle to give in to the
angels of our better nature never ends.
And so we leave you tonight with the words of George Boker, a
founder of the Union League – from his eulogy for the League’s
patron and inspiration, President Abraham Lincoln.
EULOGY/Fanfare for the Common Man
TURZANSKI
The Philly Pops Brass will now favor us with President
Lincoln’s favorite song, followed by one that is a signature
selection at the Union League.
After the Philly Pops Brass plays Dixie and The Battle
Hymn of the Republic
Page 4 of 4
Conclusion of Lincoln Assassination Program – 15 April 2015
From all of us at the Union League of Philadelphia and the
Abraham Lincoln Foundation, thank you for joining us this
evening. Safe travels to your homes and please say a prayer of
thanksgiving for the life and example of our 16th President,
Abraham Lincoln. The Blessings of Providence have brought us
to this place and time for a purpose: Now and always, “Love of
Country Leads!” Good Night and God’s Speed!
[Portrait of Lincoln on screen]
EULOGY/Fanfare for the Common Man
STIGALL
This is Chris Stigall. On Behalf of Talk Radio
1210 WPHT, I wish you all a good night. E
Pluribus Unum!
At End: bows
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