Detailed letter of Lincoln assassination
purchased for $14,375 at Dallas auction

The most detailed eyewitness account of the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln sold recently at a Dallas auction for $14,375.

The 11-page letter was written by W. Martin Jones, a secretary to several Washington politicians who was sitting in front of the private box that had been prepared for Lincoln and his presidential party.

The letter was among numerous items in the Dow Collection of Abraham Lincoln memorabilia that sold for $803,889 at a Historical Americana auction conducted Jan. 24 by Heritage Auctions in Dallas. The 302-lot Dow Collection held historical rarities not seen in more than four decades that were collected beginning in 1963 by the late Donald P. Dow, second-generation owner of Dow Art Galleries of Fort Worth.

Jones, in his letter, describes how the theater had been packed amid rumors that Lincoln might be attending the performance and how cheers erupted when he arrived.

He then recalls the moment a shot rang out around the theater and the chaos that resulted when the audience realized Lincoln had been murdered by actor John Wilkes Booth.

The letter was written to a friend, Capt. H. Bowen, 10 days after the assassination.

Jones noted that the theater was filled and the play, “Our American Cousin,” opened soon after eight o’clock.

“I occupied a front seat in the first section from the private box fitted up for the Presidential company,” Jones wrote. “In the middle of the first scene of the first act, the attention of the actors and audience was attracted by the rustling of silk and other movements to the rear of the dress circle. The tall and manly form of President Lincoln greeted the anxious eyes of the assembly. Cheer upon cheer welcomed him as he passed to the entrance of his box.

“He paused a moment to gratify those whose cheers seemed to die away, and then followed Mrs. Lincoln into the box, and was shut from the view of most of the assembly.

"The President, as usual with him, had no guard – except that which in the greatness and goodness of his heart he deemed sufficient.

“The play went ‘smoothly on,’ and the attention of the audience became so engrossed in it that little thought was given to other subjects,” he added. “All was still. Sharp and clear, amid the silence that reigned in that vast theatre, sounded the report of a pistol. All eyes were turned whence came the unwelcome noise. A thousand thoughts flashed through my mind in an instant. This was a comedy not a tragedy, why this sound of fire arms? There must be a mistake.

“The shot first appeared to me, in the position which I was occupying, as having been made behind the scenes – to the right of the audience. It was but an instant, and the slim form of a man with face of livid whiteness, stopped in front of the box in which was seated the President.

“The words ‘Sic Semper Tyrannis’ was hissed between compressed lips. Another instant and the form had vaulted over the balustrade and upon the stage below – a distance of over twelve feet.

“The words ‘The President’ and ‘Assassination’ were murmured by persons in the assembly just as the form struck the stage. Turning one ghastly look upon the awe stricken people before it, with a long glittering dagger raised high above its head and with rapid strides, it disappeared behind the scenes. In an instant the stage was filled with actors and audience.

“A surgeon immediately clambered or was lifted from the stage to the box.

Laura Keene stepped forward and endeavored to restore quiet, but suddenly, as if seized with a new thought, she rushed to the President’s box, and taking the head of the murdered man in her lap, did what she could to bring back the life that was fast passing away.

“This in the public theatre of Washington the life blood of the illustrious Chief Magistrate of the Nation stained the robe of an actress. The theatre was soon after cleared of people, and the President removed to a private house on the opposite side of the street.”

Jones then recounts Lewis Payne’s attack on Secretary of State Seward and the filling of the streets with troops.

“On the morning of Saturday, April 15, the slow and solemn tolling of the church bells in the city, announced that ‘Abraham Lincoln is dead!’”

Experts say the letter is the finest and most detailed description of the assassination in existence.

Heritage Auction’s Don Ackerman said that Martin’s report “is by far the finest, most detailed account of the killing known to exist.”

“The most amazing thing about the account is that it comes directly from the hand of someone who was actually there in the theater when Booth killed Lincoln. The letter is so well-written and descriptive that you almost feel like you’re there in the theater.”