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Civil War Blog

A project of PA Historian

The Architecture of Ford’s Theatre & Laura Keene

For the purpose of determining whether it was possible for Laura Keene to move through a crowded theatre on the night of the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln and get to the State Box, actual architectural renderings of the theatre were located and examined.  In 1963, in conjunction with a major restoration of the theatre, […]

The Lincoln Flag Hoax

Only one conclusion can be drawn from the analysis of the story of the Lincoln Flag of the Pike County Historical Society:  the flag is a hoax.  In today’s post, after summarizing the major events in the development of the Lincoln Flag story, a revelation will be made, that if true, will make moot all […]

Jeannie Gourlay and the Lincoln Flag

At a small county museum in northeast Pennsylvania [The Columns, Milford, Pike County], a large 36-star American flag is on display.  The museum claims with certainty that the flag was used as a cushion under the head of Abraham Lincoln as he lay mortally wounded in the State Box in Ford’s Theatre the night of […]

The Credibility of William Withers Jr. – Lincoln Assassination Witness

On the evening of 14 April 1865, William Withers Jr. was the leader of the orchestra at Ford’s Theatre in Washington, D.C.  When John Wilkes Booth fled the theatre after firing the pistol shot that would result in the first assassination of a U.S. president, he supposedly encountered Withers who was standing near the rear […]

The Credibility of William J. Ferguson

Today’s post is a look at the credibility of Abraham Lincoln assassination witness, William J. Ferguson.  Ferguson was the longest surviving member of the cast of Our American Cousin, the Tom Taylor comedy that was playing at Ford’s Theatre the night that Abraham Lincoln was assassinated.  As a witness to the assassination, his tale of […]