OHIO
Archaeological and Historical
PUBLICATIONS
ASSASSINATION OF
ABRAHAM LINCOLN
BY HONORABLE JAMES R. MORRIS.
[Some years ago Judge James R. Morris,
at the request of
Honorable M. B. Archer, now serving his
second term in the Ohio
State Senate, wrote on parchment his
recollections of the as-
sassination of Abraham Lincoln. This
manuscript, appropriately
framed, Senator Archer later presented
to the Ohio State
Archaeological and Historical Society,
in whose museum and
library building it is now on
exhibition. It is believed that the
readers of the QUARTERLY will be
interested in the account of
that tragic event from the pen of one
who was an eye witness
and former congressman from
Ohio.-EDITOR.]
WOODSFIELD, OHIO, July 26, 1897.
HON. M. B. ARCHER - DEAR SIR: - In
compliance
with your request I herewith give you my
personal recol-
lections of that astounding and ever
memorable tragedy,
the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, -
one of the
most remarkable men of this, or any other age, or coun-
try - a tragedy that shocked and amazed
the civilized
world.
I was not, on the 14th of April, 1865, a
member of
Congress as you have thought. My second
term, as a
member of that body, expired on the
fourth day of the
preceding month. I had gone to
Washington with a
friend, Captain W. M. Kerr, on some
business of his
connected with his service in the army.
On Friday,
April 14th, we had successfully
concluded the business
of our trip and decided to visit Ford's
theater.
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