Lincoln Dead, But Lede Buried

 

One hundred fifty-six years ago yesterday, according to the Associated Press at the time, a man and his wife went to a play, and something happened:

On the night Abraham Lincoln was shot, April 14, 1865, Associated Press correspondent Lawrence Gobright scrambled to report from the White House, the streets of the stricken capital, and even from the blood-stained box at Ford’s Theatre, where, in his memoir he reports he was handed the assassin’s gun and turned it over to authorities. Here is an edited version of his original AP dispatch:

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WASHINGTON, APRIL 14 — President Lincoln and wife visited Ford’s Theatre this evening for the purpose of witnessing the performance of ‘The American Cousin.’ It was announced in the papers that Gen. Grant would also be present, but that gentleman took the late train of cars for New Jersey.

The theatre was densely crowded, and everybody seemed delighted with the scene before them. During the third act and while there was a temporary pause for one of the actors to enter, a sharp report of a pistol was heard, which merely attracted attention, but suggested nothing serious until a man rushed to the front of the President’s box, waving a long dagger in his right hand, exclaiming, ‘Sic semper tyrannis,’ and immediately leaped from the box, which was in the second tier, to the stage beneath, and ran across to the opposite side, made his escape amid the bewilderment of the audience from the rear of the theatre, and mounted a horse and fled.

The groans of Mrs. Lincoln first disclosed the fact that the President had been shot, when all present rose to their feet rushing towards the stage, many exclaiming, ‘Hang him, hang him!’ The excitement was of the wildest possible description...

Not-so-bright correspondent Lawrence Gobright got around to reports of Lincoln's likely mortal wound several paragraphs later, following a description of the rocking chair Lincoln was sitting in, a description of the pistol used in the assassination, and a listing of those surrounding the dying/ dead President, among other crucial factoids.  

It's not known whether Gobright managed to interview Mrs. Lincoln about the assassination, and if it was he who asked the apocryphal question, "Other than that, how was the play?"

(h/t LGM)