Samuel J. Seymour

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Samuel J. Seymour
Born
Samuel James Seymour

(1860-03-28)March 28, 1860
Easton, Maryland, U.S.
DiedApril 12, 1956(1956-04-12) (aged 96)
Arlington County, Virginia, U.S.
Resting placeLoudon Park Cemetery
Baltimore, Maryland
Known forLast surviving person to witness the assassination of U.S. President Lincoln

Samuel James Seymour (March 28, 1860 – April 12, 1956) was an American man who claimed to be the last surviving person to witness the

U.S. President Lincoln
on April 14, 1865.

Personal life

Seymour was from

Arlington, Virginia. He worked as a carpenter and contractor, and lived most of his later life in Baltimore. He married Mary Rebecca Twilley.[1] He died April 12, 1956, at the home of his daughter in Arlington, survived by five children, thirteen grandchildren and 35 great-grandchildren. He was buried at Baltimore's Loudon Park Cemetery
.

Witness to Lincoln assassination

In 1954, at the age of 94, Seymour gave his account of the assassination to the journalist Frances Spatz Leighton.[2] This was the first occasion on which he told his story in a public forum.[3]

Seymour claimed that on April 14, 1865, when he was five years old, Sarah Cook, his nurse, along with his godmother Mrs. Goldsborough, who was the wife of his father's employer, took him to see Our American Cousin at Ford's Theater in Washington, D.C., where they sat in the balcony across the theater from the presidential box.[2] He said he saw Lincoln come into the box, waving and smiling. Later, "All of a sudden a shot rang out ... and someone in the President's box screamed. I saw Lincoln slumped forward in his seat." Seymour watched John Wilkes Booth jump from the box to the stage. He remembered that, not understanding what had happened to Lincoln, he was very concerned for Booth, who broke his leg, reputedly, in the jump.[2]

In 2018, Ford's Theatre published an essay expressing skepticism about Seymour's witness account. The museum said it was "curious" that Seymour didn't publicly share his childhood memory until the age of 94. It also noted that there is no documented record proving that Seymour, Sarah Cook, or Mrs. Goldsborough was present at the theatre when Lincoln was shot.[3]

I've Got a Secret appearance

Seymour on I've Got a Secret in 1956.

Exactly nine weeks before his death, Seymour appeared on the February 9, 1956, broadcast of the CBS TV panel show I've Got a Secret.[4] After arriving in New York City he suffered a fall, which left him with a noticeable swelling above his right eye. Host Garry Moore, after bringing Seymour on stage, explained the injury and that he and the show's producers had urged Seymour to forgo his appearance on the show; that Seymour's doctor had left the choice up to his patient; and that Seymour very much wanted to appear.[5]

During the game, Seymour was first questioned by panelist

Winston cigarettes
.

See also

References

  1. Newspapers.com
    .
  2. ^
    Newspapers.com
    .
  3. ^ a b Queen, Melissa (December 31, 2018). "I've Got a Secret: Evaluating Historic Truth". fords.org. Retrieved May 24, 2023.
  4. DCist. Gothamist. Archived
    from the original on February 5, 2018. Retrieved June 15, 2018.
  5. ^ Moore, Garry; Seymour, Samuel J.; Cullen, Bill; Morgan, Henry; Ball, Lucille (February 9, 1956). "Last Witness to President Abraham Lincoln Assassination". I've Got a Secret. CBS. Archived from the original on 2021-12-21. Retrieved 2 August 2020 – via YouTube.
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