Posted on 05/18/2025 7:06:51 AM PDT by Homer_J_Simpson
Special Dispatch to the New-York Times.
WASHINGTON, Wednesday, May 17.
An increased crowd was in attendance at the Assassination Trial to-day, and the room was uncomfortably crowded. Among the auditors were a few ladies with whom curiosity had got the better of a sense of propriety, and token them to the court-room, where they must have felt ill at ease during their stay.
The first question asked by the new comers, "Which is PAYNE?" he being by common consent the king villain of them all. He absorbs the greater part of the attention of the audience, and you hear continually such expressions as, "Did you ever see such a perfect type of the cut-throat? What a monster he is, to be sure. Had BOOTH hunted the world over, he could not have found a more fitting tool for his work. He is constitutionally an assassin," etc.
As yet no testimony has been offered against PAYNE, except what was introduced on Saturday, showing his intimacy with JOHN H. SURRATT, and his visit to Mrs. SURRATT's house.
Mr. SEWARD's nurse, ROBINSON, who saw the attack made upon the secretary, and had an encounter with the criminal, and others of Mr. SEWARD's household, were in the witness-room to-day, but were not called. It is expected these witnesses will be on the stand tomorrow, and we shall then have the whole history as to PAYNE's attack upon the SEWARD's.
We have in the testimony of this afternoon the proof of BOOTH's long preparation for the assassination., amongst other things his purchase of a horse upon which one of his party rode on the night of the assassination, and the fact that this horse was purchased upon the accommodation of Dr. MUDD, who accompanied Booth in November last to a neighbor's house,
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
First session: November 21, 2015. Last date to add: May 25, 2025.
Reading: Self-assigned. Recommendations made and welcomed.
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Link to previous New York Times thread
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The Trial of the Assassins: Testimony Concerning Dr. Mudd’s Operations – 2-6
The Rebel Ram Stonewall: Her Arrival at Havana – 7
From the Southwest: Paroling Dick Taylor’s Forces – 7
From North Carolina: The North Carolina Railroads Again in Operation – 7
The Rights of Colored Citizens: Curious Affair in Philadelphia – 8
The Assault on Mr. Seward; Interesting Details – 8
From Washington – 9-10
They say Fort Jefferson has great fishing.
Imagine the challenge of putting together incontrovertible and irrefutable evidence in the era before electronic communications. Photography was in its infancy. You had to depend on memories and finding the witnesses. I’m sure there was lots of hearsay and second hand information.
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