Cipriano Ferrandini

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Cypriano Ferrandini
Cypriano Ferrandini
Born	1823 Corsica
Died	December 20, 1910 (aged 86–87) Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.
Resting place	Saint Mary Catholic Cemetery, Baltimore
Occupation(s)	Barber, Southern sympathizer, alleged conspirator

Cypriano Ferrandini (1823 – December 20, 1910) was a barber from

On the nights of February 21 and 22, 1861,

Role in alleged conspiracy

There is disagreement among historians as to whether a plot to assassinate Lincoln in Baltimore actually existed and Ferrandini's role in such a plot.

acquired, and which Norma B. Cuthbert edited for publication in 1949.

The only purported contemporary account of Pinkerton is the transcript of his 1861 journal. Pinkerton's account relies upon one agent and two sources to document Cypriano Ferrandini as the leader of the assassination plot. His agent met with Cypriano and reported the extent of the plot. In Spy of the Rebellion (1883),^[3] Pinkerton asserts that in addition to his spy Howard, he also met with Captain Ferrandini (whom he calls Fernandina), at Guy's Monument Hotel. At Guy's, Pinkerton reports that "Fernandina cordially grasped my hand, and we all retired to a private saloon, where after ordering the necessary drinks and cigars, the conversation" turned to the assassination and Ferrandini was asked "Are there no other means of saving the South except by assassination?" "No replied Fernandina, ... He must die – and die he shall, And, ... if necessary, we will die together." To illustrate his story, Pinkerton included a drawing of himself seated at a table with Ferrandini standing, hand upraised as if clutching a dagger.^[3] Pinkerton later began to doubt Ferrandi's boast.^{[citation needed]}

Eighteen days before the alleged timing of the terrorist attack on Lincoln, Cypriano Ferrandini appeared before a

investigating rumors that efforts would be made to prevent the President-elect from reaching his inaugural, or if he did manage to get to Washington, seriously disrupt the ceremonies. The committee had been formed at the end of January when the Union appeared to be rapidly dissolving. Ferrandini told the committee the following February that he made his secessionists views very clear and had no problems admitting that he was engaged in applying his military training to a group dedicated to preventing the "Northern Volunteers" from passing through Maryland.

See also

• Baltimore Plot
• American Civil War spies
• Allan Pinkerton
• John Wilkes Booth
• Ward Hill Lamon
• George Proctor Kane
• Hattie Lawton

Notes

• Cuthbert, Norma Barrett (ed.). Lincoln and the Baltimore Plot, 1861. (1949). Note that the factual content of this entry is based upon the on line biography by Dr. Edward C. Papenfuse at the Maryland State Archives web site: http://www.msa.md.gov/megafile/msa/speccol/sc3500/sc3520/014400/014473/html/14473bio.html.
• Evitts, William J., A Matter of Allegiances- Maryland from 1850-1861(Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press,1974). Professor Evitts assessment of Ferrandini has been strengthened by Michael J. Kline, The Baltimore Plot. The First Conspiracy to Assassinate Abraham Lincoln (Yardley, Pennsylvania: Westholme Publishing, LLC, 2008).
• Pinkerton, A. (1883). The Spy of the Rebellion; being a true history of the spy system of the United States Army during the late rebellion. Revealing many secrets of the war hitherto not made public. Comp. from official reports prepared for President Lincoln, General McClellan and the provost-marshal-general. New York, G.W. Carleton & Co.
• United States. Congress. House. Select committee of five, appointed January 9, 1861 (1865). See: https://archive.org/details/allegedhostileor00unit

References