 Fords Theatre |
A short walk north of the Mall is Ford's Theatre. The Ford brothers had invited the president to come to a performance, realizing that his presence would fill the Theatre. Lincoln sent word that He, Mrs. Lincoln and Gen. and Mrs. Grant would attend on Friday night |  The Presidential Box |
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The Lincolns arrived late with a young
engaged couple, not the Grants. During the third act John Wilkes Booth entered the hall
outside the box, barred the door, entered the presidential box and shot the president with
a Derringer. He then leaped to the stage to make his getaway. To the right is the banner the Ford brothers hung from the presidential box. Booth caught his spur on this banner as he leaped to the stage, breaking his leg. |
 Treasury
Guard Banner |
About three minutes after the shot, William T. Kent entered the box. Two others had entered before him, one being a surgeon, who asked Mr. Kent for his knife to cut open the President's clothing. Mr. Kent then left the theatre, intending to return to his room when he noticed he had lost his key. Returning to the presidential box, he began to look for his key. As he looked, his foot knocked against something metallic. When he reached down to see what it was he realized he had found the pistol that Booth had used. |
. . . . . . . The surgeon, realizing that the President's injury was mortal, saw no need to take him to a hospital, instead, he and several others carried the President out of the theatre. When they had reached the street, a man opened the door of the Peterson house across the street and motioned for them to bring the President over there. |
 The
Peterson House |
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From that time until dawn of April 15, 1865, the family, the cabinet, and the nation could only wait. |
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At 7:22 A.M. of the morning of April 15, 1865, Abraham Lincoln passed away, leaving a mourning family and nation(both north and south). |  |
| all pictures on this page are copyright S.T. Lang, 1999 |
