"They Have Killed Papa Dead! The Road to Fords Theatre, Abraham Lincoln's Murder, and the Rage for Vengeance. By: Anthony S. Pitch

"They Have Killed Papa Dead! The Road to Fords Theatre, Abraham Lincoln's Murder, and the Rage for Vengeance. By: Anthony S. Pitch

"They Have Killed Papa Dead! The Road to Fords Theatre, Abraham Lincolns Murder, and the Rage for Vengennce was written by Anthony S. Pitch. Pitch is an author of many known history books, and was awarded several prizes including the Arline Custer Memorial Prize. This book was published by Steerforth Press and was copyrighted in 2008. He is also someone who is sought for public speaking. This book is mainly about the events leading up to Lincoln’s assassination, his actual assassination and all the events that took place after the assassination.
Overall I absolutely enjoyed reading this book. I have a very busy life and don't have much time to read or learn more about our nation’s history so upon registering for my history class I was excited to read books about things I don't know much about. I believe Pitch wrote this book to try and get clear the things that really happened in the assassination of President Lincoln.
This book jumps around a little bit but it more or less talks about the conspirators, the assassin, the events leading up to the assassination, the assassination itself, and all the events that occurred afterwards which includes their hunt for the murderers and the trial. The following I will be talking about all the clues that lead to the arrest of almost all the co-conspirators.
Everywhere they looked they found clues that lead them to the next co-conspirator, and all theses actually started in the same hotel that Lincoln was brought to and that died in, the Kirkwood House Hotel. Here they found evidence that a man named Atzerodt was staying a floor beneath the president, and he indeed had something to do with the assassination. They searched his room and found several items that happened to be Booths personal items, which included a trunk full of receipts and letters Booth received. One of these letters that was tucked away in there gave the next clue that pointed to two men named mr. Arnold and mr. O'laughlin. When they found Mr. Arnold he only confessed to being a part of the plan to kidnap him for ransom of some confederate POWs, but that he never thought Booth would kill the President. They were soon tipped off about a boarding house where people had seen Booth associate with a Mr. Surratt who was the son of Mrs. Surratt. So the police got a search warrant and went to look for the two men. Of course everyone denied ever having seen or talked to them but it did instill guilt in a couple of the people who resided there. One being a boarder who went to the authorities later that day and another who was a servant who, on the day of the shooting heard 3 men come in and tell Mrs. Surratt about it, then they changed their clothes, burnt any and all papers that revealed their plans. The servant told her aunt, who then told her boss, who then went to the authorities. The authorities then went back to Mrs. Surratt's house to arrest everyone in the house. Upon them leaving there was a knock at the door and it happened to be man named Mr. Payne who also ended up being another co-conspirator in the assassination, so they ended up arresting him also.
As the news about the assassination spread more names of co-conspirators started coming about and one of these were Mr. Atzerodt. He fled from the hotel and headed up North. He tried getting out of town as soon as possible but he was stopped by picketers. He wasn't worried though because he was able to hitch a ride with a farmer who was headed the same way as he. Once he made it to his destination it wad but ere days until he was tracked down and found at his cousins. He was then taken to be questioned with all the men who were arrested.
The next event actually happened to be the funeral of President Lincoln. Thousands of people attended his viewing at the East room in the White House. After the second day of viewing they then took him in a horse drawn hearse followed by carriages filled with colleagues, friends and relatives. However the one important lesson that didn't attend was his wife. Many people didn't like her and thought she was crazy even more so after his murder. One weird account was of her buying one thousand dollars of mourning gifts a month before he was killed. The called the taking away of his body through the town to the train station a parade because many people came to watch and follow the hearse.
The last of the conspirators was Mr. Harold and Mr. Booth. They were on their way to their escape route when Booth fell off his horse and broke his leg. They then had to take a detour to a Dr. Mudds house where he fixed his leg, shaved and fled out of thee before the marshals came for them. The doctor knew who he was and realized what he did but he helped them get away anyways, which came back to him when he was arrested for co-conspiracy. They got out of town quickly and eventually got across the river where they were yet to be found and put on trial.
The most memorable story was when they talked about Lincoln's funeral. I thought it was amazing how they emphasized how many people were outside the White House and mourning for one of the best Presidents. What I also found was great was the fact that people closed down their businesses for the day to watch his body depart the city. The most memorable quote was when they called Mrs. Surratt's house "the house where the egg was hatched". And when you think about it, it really is true. Her house was where they met and planned this horrific event.
In conclusion this is a great book to read. If you enjoy learning about history by reacting books of actual accounts of what happened this is the book for you. It goes into almost every little detail of this huge event in history. I enjoyed it because it was a book I had to read for class, and one that I never would have picked out myself because I don't have much time to enjoy reading.