This channel is not monetized (UA-cam does not pay me to make the videos). To help keep the channel going, please consider supporting it on: patreon.com/Lifeinthe1800s www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=K9FRYU2E9LTU8
Amazing! I'm watching a man from 91 years ago tell me about an historical event that he was a witness to 156 years ago. Thank you for sharing! Closest thing I'll ever get to a time machine!
I absolutely agree. It's amazing. Breathtaking. A personal account of a historical event, 156 years ago. I never thought I would ever be able to witness this.
As I’ve studied history it’s amazing how facts can be totally distorted, and some totally missing. The number one ingredient is exaggeration, some people have a tendency to exaggerate, even good people.
@@ronniebishop2496 Even our family history that is passed down to us can be exaggerated. Where I was born and raised everyone and his brother claimed to be related to Jesse James. :)
I worked in a senior home last year and one of the gentlemen who lived there who was 98 told me how he spoke to and had pictures with Civil War veterans. I was fixing something in his apartment one day and he pulls out photographs of him as a young boy in the 1930's at a gathering for Civil War vets. There he was standing next to an old man in an Union Army uniform. I was speechless. It shows how young the United States is and how we must appreciate our history and those who lived it.
It’s really interesting that in 80 years somebody will have the same experience as you. Talking to somebody who takes to a veteran in 2020-30. Except this time, that veteran will be of the assassination of JFK
Not quite as far back, but I met George Takei (Star Trek) in person once. He was arrested and sent to the Japanese-american internment camps when he was 5 years old in the early 40's
I get perturbed when our young beautiful America country has historical landmarks destroyed or taken down by people who dont care about our rich history. What about us whom DO CARE about American history? Just saying.
He bought the $1 ticket.. so he was also a man of some means. We forget the value of a dollar. This man was on point and I for one, am extremely grateful for his testimony.
That was about 17 dollars in today’s money. The median wealth back then was $3000, or about 52,000 in today’s money. Less than half if the median wealth today. The only reason they could go was because it was good Friday & the end of the war.
It's been said already but I feel it bears repeating: The look of pain on his face after he talks about Lincoln dying in that house says everything we need to know about how momentous and terrible an event this was.
@@kileylarios5844 A good question. Aside from being a witness to the Lincoln assassination, I don't know. The video doesn't provide his name and I'm not sure it was ever given (I presume it was but who knows if we still have that info).
When I was eight years old, I met my father's Great-Uncle, who was 108 years old at the time. He was still quite lucid and knew who I was, and told me he'd heard I was interested in Civil War history[the Centennial of the Civil War was just beginning]. He told me about how his father had taken him and his older brother up to Cleveland to view President Lincoln's body as the Funeral train for Lincoln had stopped in Cleveland on it's way to Springfield.
My wife's great uncle, William J. Ferguson, was the call boy on stage that night. He stood next to Laura Keene as Booth leaped to the stage. He later authored a book about his experiences before we during and shortly after Lincoln's assassination. He became a stage and silent film actor in the subsequent 50 years hence. My wife grew up in his house in Pikesville, Md.
@@12yearssober I worked pretty close to a fellow in a factory who was in The Battle of the Bulge. I did not know this till I read it in his obituary. sure wish I knew it back when I was worked next to him then I would of bugged him to no end if he would of related some stories to me.
@@howardquinn5911 Fascinating. Novelist F. Scott Fitzgerald (named for Francis Scott Keyes, an earlier ancestor perhaps collateral, who wrote The Star Spangled Banner) was a great nephew or so of the only woman hanged, on same day and scaffold as a few men (there are photographs on UA-cam), as an accomplice after the fact, evidently having in the near aftermath helped Booth escape fleeing authorities.
WOW! I just cannot believe I just heard a man who was actually THERE speak of it! Thank you so much for putting up this video! It is mind blowing in that it gives one the strange feeling of actually going back a bit in time.
After watching this video, the thought crossed my mind that this man was recalling an assassination which occurred 60 years ago from the date of his discussing the event. I remember the day President Kennedy was shot, school was dismissed early. I walked home to find my mother, a staunch Republican, sitting in front of our B&W T.V. sobbing. The news coverage lasted several days without commercials; nobody in my neighborhood was allowed to go outside and play. The adults would stop talking whenever us kids would be around. Life seemed to stop for a time. It was the start of what would become a miserable decade of protests, assassinations, and anarchy in the streets. And despite what some know nothings claim, the decade ended with men walking on the moon. Just one Boomers' recollection of events from 50+ years ago.
you did not experience anarchy in the streets. your timeframe experienced the opposite of Law and Order, which is Chaos and DisOrder.. law n order bedfellows. Anarchy means FREEDOM for the individual...a decentralization of power.. to be given back to the individual and to be free, one must take responsibility. Allowing a representative to speak for you on a political platform isn't taking responsibility for yourself; it's an adherence and submission to cult policies and procedures.
@@keetahbroughPractically no society in the history of man or other apes (except perhaps orangutans) functioned without leaders. Pure anarchy is not natural to humans. It's a social construct that ignores anthropology.
I do remember the day Kennedy was killed very clearly too. Being in Canada, we lived it quite differently. But Kennedy was a great President in times that were ominous with constant fear of a nuclear holocaust. In fact, I could say that the Bay of Pigs invasion and the Cuba blockade were as major and terrible events as Kennedy'assassination. Kennedy, Kruchtchev and Castro were holding the fate of the world in their hands and we never came any closer to WW3 and my little boy's mind got the feeling that this could mean the end of the world. I felt the angst in my parents' looks and demeanor. But back to Kennedy's assassination: as a very young Canadian (I was 9), Kennedy was a good person who was the victim of a Cuba sympathizer (the version of the moment back then), and you know what I found the worst in that event? He was father to 2 young kids, and that's the closest reality the event had to my own existence. That these 2 young kids had their dad's killing being played on and on, day in and day out, and that John Jr didn't quite realize the grim meaning of it, being so young. It's very easy to realize the familiarity of history if an event happened in your own lifetime. Sixty-five years is almost nothing on the history scale.
Absolutely~!~ It was the best ~President Of The United States~ President Abraham Lincoln~!~ The only man who truly wanted to Free The Slaves,, and takes a bullet to the back of the head for doing so ................... ~!~
@@MikeSmith-fs9wh If in 1865 he was in his late teens or early 20s (adult independent enough to buy a highest~price seat in the orchestra, then after the shooting go alone to the porch next door to observe after events, then in 1930 he would be at least in his early 80s. There is a separate UA-cam video of an old man guest on a late 1950s or early 1960s episode of the tv game show I've Got a Secret, whose secret was that he was at age 5 in the audience of Ford's Theatre the evening Lincoln was shot.
My niece and I took the Ford's Theater tour several years ago, which included a tour of the Petersen House, directly across the street. To stand in the room where President Lincoln died was surreal. If you ever find yourself in Washington, please spend a few hours and take this tour. Well worth it.
This video should be installed at Ford's Theater or at the Petersen House. This is an eyewitness account of what happened. It must be preserved for all of history to hear. A very important film.
That was extremely interesting and chilling... The way this elderly man closed his eye momentarily after he said that’s where the president died the following morning. I remember learning about President Lincoln in my 5th grade History Class in 1968.
Yes! And to listen to a straight, accurate chronological narrative that isn't peppered with "he was like sitting in like the first row and like there was this like bang... it was crazy..." seems unreal. Every word this man spoke conveyed information -- virtually no filler.
@@BlueEyes-gp8lg I've read that American literacy rates were actually higher before compulsory education was enacted through the efforts of people like Horace Mann. Somehow people were motivated to learn to read because it made sense for them to do that, not because they were coerced into it.
@@generalyellor8188 exactly. His account conflicts with the history books. He said very little was said just before the shooting, but all other accounts say the assassination occurred in the middle of a long dialogue between the 2 main characters.
This man lived through the assassinations of three presidents during a 36 year period: Lincoln in 1865, Garfield in 1881, and McKinley in 1901. In addition, Warren Harding died in office seven years prior to this interview.
@@jamesa2482 Woodrow Wilson was the worst president and in general one of the worst people to ever live. He was unanimously voted by political experts on both sides to be the lowest of the low.
This is the type of History that needs to be shown and watched by all. A real survivor of that tragic night tells the story as he witnessed it. What a blessing it was recorded and filmed.
An amazing tale of a true historical event. I'm soon to be 51 and my grandmother lived from 1908-1996. Her grandfather was in the 53rd Ohio infantry regiment. He lived from 1840-1925. He was at the Battle of Shiloh, the entire Vicksburg campaign, the entire Atlanta campaign and in the March to the Sea. He survived it all, but was hard of hearing from the battle noise. Hr told my grandmother some amazing true stories of the civil war from a real union soldier. She shared some of this with me. Never forget the past. RIP grandma Nadine
This is priceless! I'm a history teacher and we are covering the Civil War and watching documentaries along with it. The students are enthralled with President Lincoln. I can't wait to share with them!
In the 1950's, there was a 90 plus year old man on the show, "I've Got A Secret", who was a 5 or 6 year old, at Ford's Theater when Lincoln was shot! This show is still on U-Tube if viewers are interested!
I SAW IT. ITS ON UA-cam SOMEWHERE. HE WAS BORN IN 1860 .HE WAS 5 WHEN HE WENT TO FORDS. IN 1955 AT 95 HE WENT ON TV AFTER APPEARING IN A MAGAZINE. IT WAS A GLORIOUS MOMENT FOR HIM..BUT HE DIED A FEW WEEKS LATER.
It’ll be the same for the 22nd century, people in the future will be fascinated by the stories of today, we still have living witnesses of jfk’s Assassination and Queen Elizabeth is still reigning, so it’ll be a lot of stories to tell later if you’re still alive in the later future
@@iamamousee1182 JESUS will be reigning on the earth at that time and not too far away from now 2021. The world will be a different place then, holy, righteous, and peaceful.
@@slaveofYAH Hope so, but I don't think anyone that has died will be reincarnated. It is OUR jobs to make it happen, not to let some imaginary deity do it for us, like some miracle
@@pgronemeier thats sad, for me its more difficult cuz the english we learn at school is british english, so the american accent makes it more difficult
When UA-cam was launched I said it was the dumbest idea "who wants to watch other peoples hone videos?" I have never been more wrong about anything in my life.
@@double_initial I know - its amazing how wrong you can be. But I got Facebook right - I said it would be a cyber pox on humanity and it is... You win some you lose some LOL
@@piccalillipit9211 Agree 100%. If you have the time you can blow a whole day on youtube lol. Like anything else though, just takes a little time to wade through the crap. I have a FB page but can't remember the last time I even logged in.
Later that year or so, American poet Walt Whitman wrote "Lilacs That Once in the Dooryard Bloomed," a meditation on the long, long train funeral cortege carrying Lincoln's body from Washington D.C. back for burial in his home state of Illinois.
The last man to have seen the face of Lincoln died in 1963 at age 75. He was a boy of 13 when he saw the dead face of Lincoln in his tomb, after it had been opened the last time, in Sept. 1901, before they then covered him and his coffin in ten feet of concrete.
This brings history to life. I am a Civil War buff and I really appreciate this. It's so sad to think that after all of the worry and grief that President Lincoln went through in the previous four yrs. he only had less than a week to enjoy our victory.
It was rough. It was the 8th deadliest war of that century and the deadliest for America, roughly around 620,000-1,000,000 died and a assassination of a president. Must of been a crazy time.
@@TugIronChief common sense. People today believe the white soldiers of norther aggressors were putting their lives on the line to free blacks. Folks just don't think things through.
@@TugIronChief if he only succeeded at one thing at least it was in beating the South. If you believe the Morrill Tariff started the war you might want to go back & read Alexander Stephens Cornerstone speech. Documented proof from the CSA Vice President that will always fly in the face of Lost Cause idiots who insist secession was about tariffs.
His job was done, there's no need to stick around on this planet afterwards - dude is busy. Same exact thing happened to Patton after winning the war - a freak accident. Or JFK after the bay of pigs - their jobs were done. They're better off reincarnating. All 3 the same dude btw. They've got bigger fish to fry nowadays. Chamberlain was the most important key figure in the Civil War and he lived afterwards because he still had to be a teacher. " Chamberlain gained the name "Bloody Chamberlain" at Quaker Road. Chamberlain kept a Bible and framed picture of his wife in his left front "chest" pocket. A Confederate shot at Chamberlain. The bullet went through his horse's neck, hit the picture frame, entered under Chamberlain's skin in the front of his chest, traveled around his body under the skin along the rib, and exited his back. To all observers Union and Confederate, it appeared that he was shot through his chest. He continued to encourage his men to attack". Even death afraid of this man - bullets will move if you've still got shit to do. "In all, Chamberlain served in 20 battles and numerous skirmishes, was cited for bravery four times, had six horses shot from under him, and was wounded six times.[16][17]" Divine intervention only happens if it's necessary.
I remember in the 70s thinking how the 50s were twenty years earlier which was the same time span as the 1920s were in the 1940s when I was born. The same 20 years that the 1940s were when I was a teenager on college student. It feels different when you are talking about two time periods that you lived through compared to a time period you're in to a time period from before your birth and memory.
That ancient tragedy is re-lived and brought to us not only by his super clear and concise English, but by those closed eyes at the end of the story that say much more than words
The point is that it's not ancient at all. 1865, I mean. It wasn't even that long ago. It was SO recent that we have video like this of people who were there recounting the event. Imagine seeing a video of, say, someone who actually witnessed the killing of Julius Caesar - now THAT would be insane because that was thousands of years before cameras existed. Or video of someone who was there during the Norman invasions. Of course we'll NEVER see any videos like that because it was far too long ago - but for the late 1800s? That's recent. To put it into perspective...I am talking to you here, in 2023. I was born in the 1980s, about 120 years after Lincoln died - BUT my Great Grandfather, who I ACTUALLY MET and who was around until I was a teenager - was born in 1903 - and HIS father was born in 1862, when Lincoln was still alive (albeit in another country). My Great, Great Grandfather was spoken about to us directly by our great grandfather, which means we received first-hand accounts of a man born during the time of Lincoln. My Great, great grandparents lived into the 1960s, and my mother was alive by then - so my mother can tell me RIGHT NOW about her memories of them, even though they were born 160 years ago. But for some, the connection is even MORE recent: there are people alive right now whose PARENTS were alive at that time, when Lincoln was shot, in 1865. How? Well, men can father children at any age - and sometimes have much younger wives. So imagine a man at 85 years old had a son- the man was born, let's say, in 1850 and was 15 when Lincoln was shot. 85 years later, he gets a much younger woman pregnant - someone who is, say, 40. 85 years after 1850 is 1935. Now, that man conceived in 1935 was born 9 months later, in 1936. Meaning he is now 87. If his father lived to, say, 100, then he has DIRECT memories of living with his father until he was a young teenager. During that time, his father could have told him MANY direct accounts of those events - including the assassination of Lincoln. Meaning, in other words, there's only ONE generation between this 87 year old man telling you what his father told him of seeing Lincoln shot when he was 15 years old and you HEARING THE STORY FROM HIS SON! Food for thought. Not so ancient, after all, when you think of it that way. Even for me, I have photos of myself with my great grandparents who were born around 1903 and who told us DIRECTLY about their childhood during 1918, when the old RUssian empire fell and their country gained independence again. I got to grow up with someone in my own family who remembered something that happened more than a CENTURY ago.
I am grateful to have heard this preserved fragment of American history by your presentation. Gratitude to those who recorded and to those who now present.
It's mind blowing just how young our country and to actually be able to see people talk about their experiences that I have allways pictured in my head while reading my history book is amazing. There is no comparison. His words and emotions make me feel as if you are there. Thx for sharing.
We should consider ourselves blessed to have the technology to actually see and hear the past like we do. It is just so sad that people do not feel so interested in history and repeat past mistakes because of it.
Take this as a reminder to get to know the elderly in your family and your life. They won't be here forever and now is your chance. I didn't think about it until after my parents and grandparents were gone and now I have a million questions that won't be answered.
Me too. Former husband’s grandmother, there would have been stories. Her father was born ten years after That Night, but there would have been family stories. But take a cue. Try one of the Ancestry free trials. One thing leads to another, it’s a wondrous addiction. In April, the 1950 Census will be released.
@Bill B Don't be saddened, be delighted. You know more about him and his story than you give yourself credit for. Start. It's easy to organize using Ancestry. Three or more times I've uncovered military service never known to the family. No one....seemingly...to benefit from it. But that's short- sited, generations from now, someone will find of interest. It's our duty to get it down. War heroes and those who waited for them to get home. We have these divine tools to use to release them in memory for all they've done. Brother in law I never met, killed in Vietnam....no one knew what had happened. Not an inkling. Found information readily, where, when, how. I felt his wink when I got it done. You're welcome, I said, and winked back.
Man is that the truth. My dad died two years ago at the age of 94. I had questions for him almost on a daily basis. Mostly about his service in ww2 in Europe and the Pacfic but as got older my questions changed. He was the source of everything I know about his side of our family history, and most interestingly what it was like growing up and living through almost a century of history and change. I still have many questions but sadly no answers will be forthcoming. Everyone stay safe.
@@janetowens7288 Don’t give up….get to work. It’s so amazing and such a good feeling to get it started. I’ve found stuff….the list is long as your arm. Service records are amazing. In the case of Marines, there’d be an enlistment photograph. Spotty with other services, photos didn’t make it back to get filed. Get Dad on the Registry at the World War II Memorial in Washington. Can post a picture for a small fee, but at least his name. Link here is for service records. They’re phenomenal and timely. Records are slow at Archives, they charge too. The nominal fee by Golden,is way worth it because it’s sure to be complete. If it’s there, you'll get everything. In my dads file….he had had malaria for months before he went to the doctor. File showed all the battles the Marines fought. When I got it, my dad was 96, but he remembered as I was pointing out the details. He didn’t know his mother spoke German. She had answered he Census before he was born, answered to German fluency. I so loved Ken Burns The War, but didn’t want to play it for him. Too ….well, you know….. Ancestry has a short time freebie, credit card needed, but you can quit. It’s the complexity of learning a board game, up and running in no time flat. www.goldenarrowresearch.com We need to get this down for their descendants, we owe them.
Kind of dark when you think about it. The eyewitness got such a close up view, but for the same kind of reason, so did Boothe. If there's an innocent weakness, evil will exploit it to take life and peace.
Sitting in an orchestra seat nearly directly under Lincoln's upper "box seat," he too was a close ear witness, able to verify for history the quiet onstage before Booth entered Lincoln's box seat balcony, and then from behind the president the sound as Booth shot him. Too he verified what history books have said, that Booth (an actor who likely had done Roman tragedies, perhaps Shakespeare's Julius Caesar) yelled out the Latin "sic semper tyrannis," in English "such always is tyranny."
I toured Ford’s theater and The Petersen House last week, April 17th, to be precise, and took pictures inside the theater and Petersen House. To randomly scroll through UA-cam and stumble onto this video eyewitness account is remarkable -- I am ecstatic to get more information on the site where Lincoln died and all that went on, on that harrowing day in 1865. Thank you to whoever uploaded this to UA-cam.
"When he told that story in 1930, it had already been 65 years since Lincoln had be assassinated and he still gives precise and very detailed information liked it happened the day before for him."
My grandfather vividly remembered hearing about Pearl Harbor, living through the the Cuban Missile crisis, Kennedy/MLK assasinations/etc. Even towards the end when he didn't remember his children being born or their names(dementia). I'm sure I'll always remember 9/11 and several other events. Memory is a weird thing.
People used to have a much better capacity for memory. They were more observant. Our attention span has suffered greatly because of technology (specifically our phones)
@@BM-fz9yc I also believe it has a lot to do with why there are so many Attention Deficit diagnoses these days. The technology all going so fast and not allowing all the senses to take in a scene before moving to the next. People interrupt each other and miss the important parts of conversations and act on half information. It is frustrating when they don’t slow down, and think things through, plan what you need, plan for mistakes, and have daily goals. I think this all began with the remote control. (I want it now thinking). I agree technology is changing our daily human thought process. I suppose technology is now giving us the imaginary worlds we used to think up on our own. Probably not healthy either. If you ever get a chance, read the letters of William Cody. (Buffalo Bill) to his wife. They are on display in a fabulous 4 story museum complete with theater in Cody, Wyoming. You will be amazed at how the English language was written. So eloquently and with description leaving a sensation of having actually tasted a meal simply just written down. The museum is modern and has a theater. Off subject but yes the people’s brains are being reprogrammed for sure. It is difficult to even communicate with younger people anymore as they have different definitions for the words I use and sometimes mis understand what I am saying only because they changed the meaning of a word or how much emphasis the word means. Holding a camera 20’ away from someone is now considered “shoving a camera in their face.” By some. It is a confusing world with all the exaggerated and animosity people have for one another now. Before people were kinder and not so “me” oriented. What happens in the future is going to be more than I can handle. I am already lost in translation with how they changed the world. Maybe one day these young people will understand what we have been trying to tell them. That the world changes….it’s not that we got old and stupid. So many young people cannot improvise and find a way to make it work with what’s available. These are very important skills and the way this world is going, Old people may be the only ones who remember how to do things before technology.
Though not 'well travelled', I have been to both Ford's Theater and to the Petersen House across the street in the late 1990s. The box at Ford's where Lincoln had sat was displayed as it had been at the time of the assassination. His hat, coat, and the Derringer (not revolver) used by Booth were displayed in a glass case at the basement level. The theater was surprisingly small, the Petersen house more so with very narrow staircase and tiny rooms. The bedroom where Lincoln died was preserved as it had been, a placard explaining the events and how Lincoln's feet and legs had overhung the short bed. The sense of history, sorrow, and tragedy was palpable even after 130 and more years.
Some people are just d***heads. That's why it got thumbs down. Actually Boothe used a single shot Derringer. But the narrator is in his 80's, it happened long ago, nobody there in the audience probably knew what it was until later. Details tend to fade a bit over 3/4 of a century plus.
How utterly fascinating. The way these people talked puts us to shame. Well spoken well mannered. I’m really enjoying these videos. Thank you for finding them
If Lincoln had lived out his second term there would probably not been the bitter Reconstruction period and we wouldn't still be dealing with the racism that still plagues the U.S.
@@mikefannon6994 People always try to bring race into history. News flash, racism has always been alive everywhere. We shouldn’t let it cloud history of nations. For example if I went to some parts of Africa my head would be on a stick. Racism is a minuscule part of history.
One could argue Lincoln was responsible for the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people as this war was started on the premise of secession which was entirely permissible within the constitution.
@@mikefannon6994 seeing how you brought it up proves there would still be it. Racism is an issue on any side. I have seen it in any color of Americans, black, white, red, Asian, etc. Why I knew a couple of black teens when I was a teenager that would hurl racist remarks at each other for their different skin tones in dead earnest. It isn't a one way road for sure. But it isn't really that big of an issue. Just some people have revived the movment and feeling to get what they want. Look at me, white with black great grandparents. And black some number of grandparents on the other side. We know 100% that my Dad's side were escaped slaved.
You can’t put any stock into that. When that happens someone’s opinion literally means nothing. It’s coming from an individual with no concept or rational understanding therefore, the opinion is meaningless. 😁
Amazing! I was always fascinated with everything that surrounded Lincoln’s assassination. As for folks like this and the things that they saw decades prior, he reminds me of our next door neighbor when I was growing up. She lived to be 107, was the state’s oldest citizen, and could recall things from 100 years earlier with perfect clarity. Living with her daughter and son-in law, she still did all of their cooking and cleaning until her death. Originally from Italy, she was a mean Italian cook! Very few can say that they’ve eaten a fantastic Italian dish that was cooked by a centenarian. I happen to be one of them!
Thank you so much for restoring the film. But - I rather wish you had not added the music. It seems inappropriate to the subject, and distracting. There is no music that could possibly make the story more gripping than it is. Again, though, thank you for the restoration.
Thank you for posting this Life in the 1800s and thank you Michael King for producing this video. This is an amazing account of the Lincoln's fateful day. I trust (hope) the original film is being properly cared for. It seems in this day and age a lot could be done to digitally restore and preserve this film.
John Wlikes Booth's elder brother ( Edwin Booth) saved Lincoln's son (Robert Todd Lincoln) life a few months earlier. The world is a very strange place.
2030 is almost 8 years away now. It's strange to think how by that time, the equivalent of this man talking about the Lincoln assassination in 1930, will be like hearing about something that happened in 1965.
@@reubster529 I'm not even 20 and I can truthfully say the same as you, my grandparents - all but 1 of them, 3/4 - were alive when this was filmed, they were the WW2 generation.
I had similar feelings when I visited Fords Theater, the JFK assassination site in Dallas, and the MLK assassination site at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis. My mind wants to try to envision "how it was" on those dates in 1865 and 1963 and 1968. The feelings I get are really "heavy" (as we used to say in the '60's).
Try visiting the Native American sites, where complete tribes where wiped off this earth. There are so many places. It will make you break down and cry for people whose names were never known. The horror these people went through. Evil is the worst kind of ember. It must be confined and not be allowed a toe hold.
I visited the Ford Theatre and Peterson house years ago. What a fascinating look at history it was. Thankfully they preserved these buildings for generations to experience a moment in American history and appreciate America 🇺🇸
What amazing testimony. Imagine this man being present when such a tragic event in America's history happened. I wish they had asked him more questions, I was hanging on every word!
This is amazing,I'm glad that someone actually had the frame of mind to record people like this preserving and eye witness to history,I've watched this video ten times thank you for sharing
There's an episode of a 50's TV game show (What's My Line, I think) with a 95 year-old contestant who witnessed this as a child. Amazing that one life could span from the Civil War to TV.
@@xavierbrown8053 He was on I'VE GOT A SECRET dated Feb. 8, 1956. He was 5 years old at the time of the assassination and was the last survivor of those in the theater that night. He died just a couple months later.
I think it's silly for people to "correct" this man's statement. He was there and these commenters weren't so you may think you know everything but maybe you don't. It's the height of arrogance to correct an eye witness when you weren't born for many years later.
It's not silly, really. It is pretty well established that eyewitness testimony is one of the most unreliable forms of evidence. Human memory and visual perception are quite malleable, which can often lead to false memories or bad testimony. Virtually all contemporary accounts of that night state Booth shot during a loud moment during the play. This man's testimony some 65 years later can't possibly overturn all of the other contrary evidence. It should also be noted that there is no name or age attributed to this man, so it definitely should be looked at with scrutiny. COULD he have been there? Sure. But people claim all sorts of things with little to no supporting evidence. Someone's word alone is rarely sufficient.
@@Swede1066 "This man's testimony some 65 years later can't possibly overturn all of the other contrary evidence." I am in agreement with almost all you say, but you make your own counter-argument. Which is: who is to say that all of the other "contrary evidence" is correct? I, too, have always heard that Booth knew this play (Our American Cousin) quite well, and waited until the biggest laugh line before opening the door to Lincoln's booth. It makes perfect sense, but is it TOO perfect? No one really knows because there was no audio or video in those days. All of the stories about Lincoln's assassination have been passed down by no one OTHER than "eye witnesses," the very same type of evidence you say is questionable, right?
@@Swede1066 And the comments section of UA-cam by anonymous, unedited writers is a font of absolute truth, right? Sometimes I wish the comments sections would be universally shut off on here and the videos could stand on their own. It’s like being forced into a lunatic’s existence with millions of voices never giving us a moment’s peace.
@@kevinivers geesh, dont read them then if they annoy you that much, especially if they ‘force you into a lunatics existence.’ 🙄Having ‘millions of voices’ is called freedom, and silencing people is censorship…who wants to live in a tyrannical world like that!
Love this kind of thing. I'm 55 now, knew men in my youth who, in their great age, who had fought in the Spanish - American War and WWI. My father fought in the South Pacific. I came along late in life for my parents. My mother grew up in house with two old ex-slaves still being part of the family in their great age.
Wow.. I am flabbergasted. I’ve never thought that I would have the opportunity to experience a testimony from such a historic event as such. Thank you for this
Interesting to hear him describe Booth’s jump onto the stage where “he kind of staggered.” Has a very contemporary ring to it because of our constant use (overuse) of the phrase “kind of.”
My Grandmother was born in 1911. Before the Wright brothers discovered the secret of manned flight. She lived into the computer age, dying in 2005. I'd give anything to have her back and ask her all the things I failed to ask her when she was still with us. Such as what did her mother think about women getting the vote in 1920? What was it like to see an airplane above your house for the first time? She ended up traveling by air many times, since one of her daughters move half a country away, but I wonder what it felt like the first time she realized she'd be able to do that. I have a hundred other questions I wish I'd had the sense to ask.
My grandmother was born in 1918 and passed away in 1997. I'll never forget our conversation way back in the late 70s. She had worked for decades for a regional Gas company in central California and was the bookkeeper in charge of accounts receivables and payables. The owner sold the business to a large company ( Pargas ) and moved the office to Visalia. That was only 10 minutes away from my grandmother's home so the distance was not the problem. The problem, she explained to me, was this new accounting and record-keeping system that used this insanely complicated and useless new machine called a " computer" . She literally retired early because she could not stand this "useless contraption". It was too stressful to operate. How times have changed I miss her every day....
@@thomasmalatesta7331 I worked as a data entry associate at an insurance company when everything started to become computerized in the late 70s and your grandmother was right. At the time, it seemed like computers were causing more problems than they solved. "We can't help you because the computer is down" began to be a common joke. No matter who you called with a problem, the phone company, electric company, government agencies, banks etc. It was a universal excuse.
Very good thank you. It is so strange to see the thumbs down numbers. I can't imagine what kind of "special person" would thumbs down real history. Sad.
Thanks for posting. I love these historical videos preserved for future generations. It's like having a piece of history relived at any moment in time. They say a picture is worth a thousand words. I think vintage video like this is worth much more. 👍
![Sisters' Grandfather Was a Soldier in American Revolutionary War -Enhanced Video/Audio [60 fps]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/vDfQLKIMGHY/mqdefault.jpg)
This channel is not monetized (UA-cam does not pay me to make the videos).
To help keep the channel going, please consider supporting it on:
patreon.com/Lifeinthe1800s
www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=K9FRYU2E9LTU8
It costs nothing to keep the channel going . So quit e begging.
Thanks for taking the time to upload all this footage to youtube. It's very fascinating stuff :p
@@acidangel111He just wants to keep his channel going mate, he isn’t begging
@WhyTheHeckNot I know many Creators that do it for fun and have NEVER begged. Fun fact.
Yes its funny how all these people happen to remember they saw it 40 years after it happened!
Amazing! I'm watching a man from 91 years ago tell me about an historical event that he was a witness to 156 years ago. Thank you for sharing! Closest thing I'll ever get to a time machine!
We are getting closer to time travel, but in the mean time, I agree with you completely.
I absolutely agree. It's amazing. Breathtaking. A personal account of a historical event, 156 years ago. I never thought I would ever be able to witness this.
@@Ellexis time travel won't happen, because we would have met time travelers
I'm glad he was filmed. I didn't know that there were eyewitnesses living in the age of "talkies".
@@Berengier817 time travel to the future is possible... in a manner of speaking.
It's one thing to read history, it's something else entirely to listen to a man who was there while it was being made.
As I’ve studied history it’s amazing how facts can be totally distorted, and some totally missing. The number one ingredient is exaggeration, some people have a tendency to exaggerate, even good people.
I think he's full of shit. John Wilks Boothe never said "death to tyrants." In fact he never said anything.
@@ronniebishop2496 agreed
Here’s another eye witness. This gentleman was a kid when he was at Ford’s Theatre. ua-cam.com/video/1RPoymt3Jx4/v-deo.html
@@ronniebishop2496 Even our family history that is passed down to us can be exaggerated. Where I was born and raised everyone and his brother claimed to be related to Jesse James. :)
I worked in a senior home last year and one of the gentlemen who lived there who was 98 told me how he spoke to and had pictures with Civil War veterans. I was fixing something in his apartment one day and he pulls out photographs of him as a young boy in the 1930's at a gathering for Civil War vets. There he was standing next to an old man in an Union Army uniform. I was speechless. It shows how young the United States is and how we must appreciate our history and those who lived it.
It’s really interesting that in 80 years somebody will have the same experience as you. Talking to somebody who takes to a veteran in 2020-30. Except this time, that veteran will be of the assassination of JFK
Not quite as far back, but I met George Takei (Star Trek) in person once. He was arrested and sent to the Japanese-american internment camps when he was 5 years old in the early 40's
My father who served in World War Two, and would be 101. if alive, told me that there were many Civil War vets around when he was a kid.
@@garymorris1856 how cool is that!
I get perturbed when our young beautiful America country has historical landmarks destroyed or taken down by people who dont care about our rich history. What about us whom DO CARE about American history? Just saying.
The way he paused and closed his eyes tells us how emotional and traumatic the experience was.
I thought the same when I saw his painfull face.
He bought the $1 ticket.. so he was also a man of some means. We forget the value of a dollar. This man was on point and I for one, am extremely grateful for his testimony.
What the hell does this even mean?
@@landonschertz2325 probably just some hogwash about the human spirit.
$1 in 1865 is equivalent to $17.17 in 2020. So no, we didn’t forget. The value of a dollar has changed.
Not necessarily, that's 15$ in today's money. We just pay stupid amounts of money for stupid things nowadays. Consumerism.
That was about 17 dollars in today’s money. The median wealth back then was $3000, or about 52,000 in today’s money. Less than half if the median wealth today. The only reason they could go was because it was good Friday & the end of the war.
It's been said already but I feel it bears repeating: The look of pain on his face after he talks about Lincoln dying in that house says everything we need to know about how momentous and terrible an event this was.
Who is he
@@kileylarios5844 A good question. Aside from being a witness to the Lincoln assassination, I don't know. The video doesn't provide his name and I'm not sure it was ever given (I presume it was but who knows if we still have that info).
Is he alive or dead
@@kileylarios5844 Unknown, but we can presume one or the other.
Probably dead
Thankfully these people were smart enough to record and get a lot of these interviews especially with Civil War veterans before they passed away.
Is this man dead?
@@kileylarios5844
Not yet.
He’s employed by IBM as an IT Technician.
So he fake?
@@kileylarios5844 he is dead, or he would be more than 156 years old
Who was he
When I was eight years old, I met my father's Great-Uncle, who was 108 years old at the time. He was still quite lucid and knew who I was, and told me he'd heard I was interested in Civil War history[the Centennial of the Civil War was just beginning]. He told me about how his father had taken him and his older brother up to Cleveland to view President Lincoln's body as the Funeral train for Lincoln had stopped in Cleveland on it's way to Springfield.
That would have been awesome to hear from someone who actually lived it.
My wife's great uncle, William J. Ferguson, was the call boy on stage that night. He stood next to Laura Keene as Booth leaped to the stage. He later authored a book about his experiences before we during and shortly after Lincoln's assassination. He became a stage and silent film actor in the subsequent 50 years hence. My wife grew up in his house in Pikesville, Md.
That is an incredible family story. I am glad you had the opportunity to know your father's Great-Uncle and hear his stories.
@@12yearssober I worked pretty close to a fellow in a factory who was in The Battle of the Bulge. I did not know this till I read it in his obituary. sure wish I knew it back when I was worked next to him then I would of bugged him to no end if he would of related some stories to me.
@@howardquinn5911 Fascinating. Novelist F. Scott Fitzgerald (named for Francis Scott Keyes, an earlier ancestor perhaps collateral, who wrote The Star Spangled Banner) was a great nephew or so of the only woman hanged, on same day and scaffold as a few men (there are photographs on UA-cam), as an accomplice after the fact, evidently having in the near aftermath helped Booth escape fleeing authorities.
WOW! I just cannot believe I just heard a man who was actually THERE speak of it! Thank you so much for putting up this video! It is mind blowing in that it gives one the strange feeling of actually going back a bit in time.
After watching this video, the thought crossed my mind that this man was recalling an assassination which occurred 60 years ago from the date of his discussing the event. I remember the day President Kennedy was shot, school was dismissed early. I walked home to find my mother, a staunch Republican, sitting in front of our B&W T.V. sobbing. The news coverage lasted several days without commercials; nobody in my neighborhood was allowed to go outside and play. The adults would stop talking whenever us kids would be around. Life seemed to stop for a time. It was the start of what would become a miserable decade of protests, assassinations, and anarchy in the streets. And despite what some know nothings claim, the decade ended with men walking on the moon. Just one Boomers' recollection of events from 50+ years ago.
you did not experience anarchy in the streets. your timeframe experienced the opposite of Law and Order, which is Chaos and DisOrder.. law n order bedfellows. Anarchy means FREEDOM for the individual...a decentralization of power.. to be given back to the individual and to be free, one must take responsibility. Allowing a representative to speak for you on a political platform isn't taking responsibility for yourself; it's an adherence and submission to cult policies and procedures.
@@keetahbrough Try living in Syria or Afghanistan if you think anarchy is a utopia.
@@keetahbrough and?
@@keetahbroughPractically no society in the history of man or other apes (except perhaps orangutans) functioned without leaders. Pure anarchy is not natural to humans. It's a social construct that ignores anthropology.
I do remember the day Kennedy was killed very clearly too. Being in Canada, we lived it quite differently. But Kennedy was a great President in times that were ominous with constant fear of a nuclear holocaust. In fact, I could say that the Bay of Pigs invasion and the Cuba blockade were as major and terrible events as Kennedy'assassination. Kennedy, Kruchtchev and Castro were holding the fate of the world in their hands and we never came any closer to WW3 and my little boy's mind got the feeling that this could mean the end of the world. I felt the angst in my parents' looks and demeanor.
But back to Kennedy's assassination: as a very young Canadian (I was 9), Kennedy was a good person who was the victim of a Cuba sympathizer (the version of the moment back then), and you know what I found the worst in that event? He was father to 2 young kids, and that's the closest reality the event had to my own existence. That these 2 young kids had their dad's killing being played on and on, day in and day out, and that John Jr didn't quite realize the grim meaning of it, being so young.
It's very easy to realize the familiarity of history if an event happened in your own lifetime. Sixty-five years is almost nothing on the history scale.
And he still felt the pain of that day.
Absolutely~!~ It was the best ~President Of The United States~ President Abraham Lincoln~!~ The only man who truly wanted to Free The Slaves,, and takes a bullet to the back of the head for doing so ................... ~!~
What is this guy talking is he alive or dead and what is his name
I still feel JFK's assassination. Anyone alive then probably remembers the darkness and grief felt throughout the country.
@@kileylarios5844 Well, in 1930 he was about 70 years old or older, so...
@@MikeSmith-fs9wh If in 1865 he was in his late teens or early 20s (adult independent enough to buy a highest~price seat in the orchestra, then after the shooting go alone to the porch next door to observe after events, then in 1930 he would be at least in his early 80s.
There is a separate UA-cam video of an old man guest on a late 1950s or early 1960s episode of the tv game show I've Got a Secret, whose secret was that he was at age 5 in the audience of Ford's Theatre the evening Lincoln was shot.
My niece and I took the Ford's Theater tour several years ago, which included a tour of the Petersen House, directly across the street. To stand in the room where President Lincoln died was surreal. If you ever find yourself in Washington, please spend a few hours and take this tour. Well worth it.
I just passed by it on my bike ride home! :)
It's about the only thing left from that time in that area
@SkyCop Wife What was the name of the Theater? I did a little research and found one named Temple Theater, but I don't think that's the one.
I agree it is something i will never forget
I went there on a class trip a few years back and it really does feel surreal
Been there.
Exactly as you say.
This video should be installed at Ford's Theater or at the Petersen House. This is an eyewitness account of what happened. It must be preserved for all of history to hear. A very important film.
They should put it in the walls.
@@TheUltimateGC That'd be pretty spooky. Good idea!
Yes very good idea
I agree.
We don't know if it's even legit.
That was extremely interesting and chilling... The way this elderly man closed his eye momentarily after he said that’s where the president died the following morning. I remember learning about President Lincoln in my 5th grade History Class in 1968.
"From whence..." "the sharp report of a revolver"....love it.
Back when most Americans were actually educated and had a measure of class.
He said "whence". From whence is unnecessary repetition.
Yes! And to listen to a straight, accurate chronological narrative that isn't peppered with "he was like sitting in like the first row and like there was this like bang... it was crazy..." seems unreal. Every word this man spoke conveyed information -- virtually no filler.
@@BlueEyes-gp8lg I've read that American literacy rates were actually higher before compulsory education was enacted through the efforts of people like Horace Mann. Somehow people were motivated to learn to read because it made sense for them to do that, not because they were coerced into it.
@@BlueEyes-gp8lg
'Educated.'
The gun that killed Lincoln WAS NOT a revolver.
It's amazing what the old people can teach us because of what they've seen over the years. Better pay attention to them while we have them!
Not all of them. And certainly not everything they say.
Better yet, interview them about their key experiences and witness to historically significant events and life changes.
People are people young or old. There’s some terrible old people trust me
@@generalyellor8188 exactly. His account conflicts with the history books. He said very little was said just before the shooting, but all other accounts say the assassination occurred in the middle of a long dialogue between the 2 main characters.
@@jackpow2004 Wrong. An Act had just ended, when the shooting occurred. There are historical eyewitness statements to back that up. Try again.
This man lived through the assassinations of three presidents during a 36 year period: Lincoln in 1865, Garfield in 1881, and McKinley in 1901. In addition, Warren Harding died in office seven years prior to this interview.
Yep and Woodrow Wilson died 6 years before this interview was taken.
@@jamesa2482 Woodrow Wilson was the worst president and in general one of the worst people to ever live. He was unanimously voted by political experts on both sides to be the lowest of the low.
@@JesusChrist2000BC and? Did I give my opinion of him? No… I just said he died 6 years before this video was made.
@@JesusChrist2000BC I already know all of that so I don’t know why you’re giving me a history lesson.
@@jamesa2482 Jesus always thinks he knows everything, such a daddy's boy, thinks he can walk on water. 😉😆
This is the type of History that needs to be shown and watched by all. A real survivor of that tragic night tells the story as he witnessed it. What a blessing it was recorded and filmed.
I show it in my classroom to my students each year.
An amazing tale of a true historical event. I'm soon to be 51 and my grandmother lived from 1908-1996. Her grandfather was in the 53rd Ohio infantry regiment. He lived from 1840-1925. He was at the Battle of Shiloh, the entire Vicksburg campaign, the entire Atlanta campaign and in the March to the Sea. He survived it all, but was hard of hearing from the battle noise. Hr told my grandmother some amazing true stories of the civil war from a real union soldier. She shared some of this with me. Never forget the past. RIP grandma Nadine
Does that mean your grandmother's grandfather was one of Sherman's men? Or was he under someone else?
My grandma was the same age but lived until 2000. They lived through the Depression with little children, very tough life.
Rest in peace, Mrs. Nadine!!
@Jeff Curtis write her stories down for your descendants!!!
This is priceless! I'm a history teacher and we are covering the Civil War and watching documentaries along with it. The students are enthralled with President Lincoln. I can't wait to share with them!
I currently work perhaps 3 blocks from Ford's Theater. Each time I walk by, I feel the weight. It still exists.
In the 1950's, there was a 90 plus year old man on the show, "I've Got A Secret", who was a 5 or 6 year old,
at Ford's Theater when Lincoln was shot! This show is still on U-Tube if viewers are interested!
I SAW IT. ITS ON UA-cam SOMEWHERE. HE WAS BORN IN 1860 .HE WAS 5 WHEN HE WENT TO FORDS. IN 1955 AT 95 HE WENT ON TV AFTER APPEARING IN A MAGAZINE. IT WAS A GLORIOUS MOMENT FOR HIM..BUT HE DIED A FEW WEEKS LATER.
Interesting background here…..en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assassination_of_Abraham_Lincoln
@@robertchesnosky3508 loop
Yeah, at first I thought this guy was him.
Yes, I did see that one Ron
It is so neat that there are recordings of people who lived back in the 1800's and tell their story on film later on in life.
It’ll be the same for the 22nd century, people in the future will be fascinated by the stories of today, we still have living witnesses of jfk’s Assassination and Queen Elizabeth is still reigning, so it’ll be a lot of stories to tell later if you’re still alive in the later future
@@iamamousee1182 The 22nd century kids will be like "what was TikTok?" "What is COVID?".
@@2Addictive And, someone will reply, "Viruses."
@@iamamousee1182 JESUS will be reigning on the earth at that time and not too far away from now 2021. The world will be a different place then, holy, righteous, and peaceful.
@@slaveofYAH Hope so, but I don't think anyone that has died will be reincarnated. It is OUR jobs to make it happen, not to let some imaginary deity do it for us, like some miracle
Incredible to hear a man speak about a major event in history he witnessed in person we only know from history books.
The magnitude of that horrific day affected this poor man all of his life. May he R.I.P.
how much reddit karma do you have to have to catch 2nd hand PTSD from a man who witnessed lincoln's assassination.?
@OpusDeFocus,Amen.🪦.
bro, THANK YOU so much for the subtitles, im from spain and this really help me a lot to understand what he’s saying
Cheers to you from Austin, Tx, USA. I hope you are doing well in Spain.
What's (not) funny is, there are Americans who probably couldn't understand his English w/o the subtitles...
@@pgronemeier thats sad, for me its more difficult cuz the english we learn at school is british english, so the american accent makes it more difficult
UA-cam allows for a sort of time travel. Without it, finding this story out of random chance and circumstance would be hard if not impossible.
When UA-cam was launched I said it was the dumbest idea "who wants to watch other peoples hone videos?"
I have never been more wrong about anything in my life.
@@piccalillipit9211 Indeed I said the same thing. I also said "Who the hell would want to watch a video on their phone?"
@@double_initial I know - its amazing how wrong you can be. But I got Facebook right - I said it would be a cyber pox on humanity and it is... You win some you lose some LOL
@@piccalillipit9211 Facebook? Never heard of it. Oh, you mean Myspace! Ooooh!
@@piccalillipit9211 Agree 100%. If you have the time you can blow a whole day on youtube lol. Like anything else though, just takes a little time to wade through the crap.
I have a FB page but can't remember the last time I even logged in.
Imagine being him on that porch and seeing the president carried by you. One of the biggest moments in american history
Later that year or so, American poet Walt Whitman wrote "Lilacs That Once in the Dooryard Bloomed," a meditation on the long, long train funeral cortege carrying Lincoln's body from Washington D.C. back for burial in his home state of Illinois.
One of the *saddest*.
Imagine that indeed 😳
He probably didn't think much of it.
@@shibenikvaysyor8309 By biggest he meant saddest.
I didn't see this interview coming. Well done. Thanks for uploading it. Health and happiness.
When I was a kid (1960's) the last man to have seen the face of Lincoln was still alive. His mother had taken him to view Lincoln lying in state.
And there will be many people in the year 2100 who will have seen you ;)
The last man to have seen the face of Lincoln died in 1963 at age 75. He was a boy of 13 when he saw the dead face of Lincoln in his tomb, after it had been opened the last time, in Sept. 1901, before they then covered him and his coffin in ten feet of concrete.
This brings history to life. I am a Civil War buff and I really appreciate this. It's so sad to think that after all of the worry and grief that President Lincoln went through in the previous four yrs. he only had less than a week to enjoy our victory.
It was rough. It was the 8th deadliest war of that century and the deadliest for America, roughly around 620,000-1,000,000 died and a assassination of a president. Must of been a crazy time.
@@TugIronChief amen. The man was a tyrant. His double dealings with banksters caught up to him.
@@TugIronChief common sense. People today believe the white soldiers of norther aggressors were putting their lives on the line to free blacks. Folks just don't think things through.
@@TugIronChief if he only succeeded at one thing at least it was in beating the South. If you believe the Morrill Tariff started the war you might want to go back & read Alexander Stephens Cornerstone speech. Documented proof from the CSA Vice President that will always fly in the face of Lost Cause idiots who insist secession was about tariffs.
His job was done, there's no need to stick around on this planet afterwards - dude is busy. Same exact thing happened to Patton after winning the war - a freak accident. Or JFK after the bay of pigs - their jobs were done. They're better off reincarnating. All 3 the same dude btw. They've got bigger fish to fry nowadays. Chamberlain was the most important key figure in the Civil War and he lived afterwards because he still had to be a teacher. " Chamberlain gained the name "Bloody Chamberlain" at Quaker Road. Chamberlain kept a Bible and framed picture of his wife in his left front "chest" pocket. A Confederate shot at Chamberlain. The bullet went through his horse's neck, hit the picture frame, entered under Chamberlain's skin in the front of his chest, traveled around his body under the skin along the rib, and exited his back. To all observers Union and Confederate, it appeared that he was shot through his chest. He continued to encourage his men to attack". Even death afraid of this man - bullets will move if you've still got shit to do. "In all, Chamberlain served in 20 battles and numerous skirmishes, was cited for bravery four times, had six horses shot from under him, and was wounded six times.[16][17]" Divine intervention only happens if it's necessary.
Hard to believe but this is equivalent to discussing the 1950's with someone today
I remember in the 70s thinking how the 50s were twenty years earlier which was the same time span as the 1920s were in the 1940s when I was born. The same 20 years that the 1940s were when I was a teenager on college student. It feels different when you are talking about two time periods that you lived through compared to a time period you're in to a time period from before your birth and memory.
That ancient tragedy is re-lived and brought to us not only by his super clear and concise English, but by those closed eyes at the end of the story that say much more than words
The point is that it's not ancient at all. 1865, I mean. It wasn't even that long ago. It was SO recent that we have video like this of people who were there recounting the event. Imagine seeing a video of, say, someone who actually witnessed the killing of Julius Caesar - now THAT would be insane because that was thousands of years before cameras existed. Or video of someone who was there during the Norman invasions. Of course we'll NEVER see any videos like that because it was far too long ago - but for the late 1800s? That's recent. To put it into perspective...I am talking to you here, in 2023. I was born in the 1980s, about 120 years after Lincoln died - BUT my Great Grandfather, who I ACTUALLY MET and who was around until I was a teenager - was born in 1903 - and HIS father was born in 1862, when Lincoln was still alive (albeit in another country). My Great, Great Grandfather was spoken about to us directly by our great grandfather, which means we received first-hand accounts of a man born during the time of Lincoln. My Great, great grandparents lived into the 1960s, and my mother was alive by then - so my mother can tell me RIGHT NOW about her memories of them, even though they were born 160 years ago.
But for some, the connection is even MORE recent:
there are people alive right now whose PARENTS were alive at that time, when Lincoln was shot, in 1865.
How?
Well, men can father children at any age - and sometimes have much younger wives. So imagine a man at 85 years old had a son- the man was born, let's say, in 1850 and was 15 when Lincoln was shot. 85 years later, he gets a much younger woman pregnant - someone who is, say, 40. 85 years after 1850 is 1935. Now, that man conceived in 1935 was born 9 months later, in 1936. Meaning he is now 87. If his father lived to, say, 100, then he has DIRECT memories of living with his father until he was a young teenager. During that time, his father could have told him MANY direct accounts of those events - including the assassination of Lincoln. Meaning, in other words, there's only ONE generation between this 87 year old man telling you what his father told him of seeing Lincoln shot when he was 15 years old and you HEARING THE STORY FROM HIS SON!
Food for thought. Not so ancient, after all, when you think of it that way. Even for me, I have photos of myself with my great grandparents who were born around 1903 and who told us DIRECTLY about their childhood during 1918, when the old RUssian empire fell and their country gained independence again. I got to grow up with someone in my own family who remembered something that happened more than a CENTURY ago.
THIS is what makes @UA-cam incredibly useful and interesting.
Thanks for this Video!
These archives are invaluable! Thank you so much for sharing! You could see the man's deep sorrow even so many years later!
Amazing that this was filmed. Thank you for sharing it with us. I have never heard an eyewitness tell about that terrible night.
I am grateful to have heard this preserved fragment of American history by your presentation.
Gratitude to those who recorded and to those who now present.
It's mind blowing just how young our country and to actually be able to see people talk about their experiences that I have allways pictured in my head while reading my history book is amazing. There is no comparison. His words and emotions make me feel as if you are there. Thx for sharing.
We should consider ourselves blessed to have the technology to actually see and hear the past like we do.
It is just so sad that people do not feel so interested in history and repeat past mistakes because of it.
The way he looks after his last words of testimony is very special, he talked with his eyes and facial muscles.
Take this as a reminder to get to know the elderly in your family and your life.
They won't be here forever and now is your chance.
I didn't think about it until after my parents and grandparents were gone and now I have a million questions that won't be answered.
Me too. Former husband’s grandmother, there would have been stories. Her father was born ten years after That Night, but there would have been family stories.
But take a cue. Try one of the Ancestry free trials. One thing leads to another, it’s a wondrous addiction. In April, the 1950 Census will be released.
So true. One of my great regrets.
@Bill B Don't be saddened, be delighted. You know more about him and his story than you give yourself credit for. Start.
It's easy to organize using Ancestry. Three or more times I've uncovered military service never known to the family. No one....seemingly...to benefit from it.
But that's short- sited, generations from now, someone will find of interest.
It's our duty to get it down. War heroes and those who waited for them to get home. We have these divine tools to use to release them in memory
for all they've done.
Brother in law I never met, killed in Vietnam....no one knew what had happened. Not an inkling. Found information readily, where, when, how.
I felt his wink when I got it done. You're welcome, I said, and winked back.
Man is that the truth. My dad died two years ago at the age of 94. I had questions for him almost on a daily basis. Mostly about his service in ww2 in Europe and the Pacfic but as got older my questions changed. He was the source of everything I know about his side of our family
history, and most interestingly what it was like growing up and living through almost a century of history and change. I still have many questions but sadly no answers will be forthcoming. Everyone stay safe.
@@janetowens7288 Don’t give up….get to work.
It’s so amazing and such a good feeling to get it started. I’ve found stuff….the list is long as your arm.
Service records are amazing. In the case of Marines, there’d be an enlistment photograph. Spotty with other services, photos didn’t make it back to get filed.
Get Dad on the Registry at the World War II Memorial in Washington. Can post a picture for a small fee, but at least his name.
Link here is for service records. They’re phenomenal and timely. Records are slow at Archives, they charge too. The nominal fee by Golden,is way
worth it because it’s sure to be complete. If it’s there, you'll get everything.
In my dads file….he had had malaria for months before he went to the doctor. File showed all the battles the Marines fought.
When I got it, my dad was 96, but he remembered as I was pointing out the details.
He didn’t know his mother spoke German. She had answered he Census before he was born, answered to German fluency.
I so loved Ken Burns The War, but didn’t want to play it for him. Too ….well, you know…..
Ancestry has a short time freebie, credit card needed, but you can quit. It’s the complexity of learning a board game,
up and running in no time flat.
www.goldenarrowresearch.com
We need to get this down for their descendants, we owe them.
Amazing how he got an up close view of that tragic event,times have changed with security issues regarding the President!!!!
Kind of dark when you think about it. The eyewitness got such a close up view, but for the same kind of reason, so did Boothe. If there's an innocent weakness, evil will exploit it to take life and peace.
Sitting in an orchestra seat nearly directly under Lincoln's upper "box seat," he too was a close ear witness, able to verify for history the quiet onstage before Booth entered Lincoln's box seat balcony, and then from behind the president the sound as Booth shot him. Too he verified what history books have said, that Booth (an actor who likely had done Roman tragedies, perhaps Shakespeare's Julius Caesar) yelled out the Latin "sic semper tyrannis," in English "such always is tyranny."
I toured Ford’s theater and The Petersen House last week, April 17th, to be precise, and took pictures inside the theater and Petersen House.
To randomly scroll through UA-cam and stumble onto this video eyewitness account is remarkable -- I am ecstatic to get more information on the site where Lincoln died and all that went on, on that harrowing day in 1865.
Thank you to whoever uploaded this to UA-cam.
"When he told that story in 1930, it had already been 65 years since Lincoln had be assassinated and he still gives precise and very detailed information liked it happened the day before for him."
My grandfather vividly remembered hearing about Pearl Harbor, living through the the Cuban Missile crisis, Kennedy/MLK assasinations/etc. Even towards the end when he didn't remember his children being born or their names(dementia). I'm sure I'll always remember 9/11 and several other events. Memory is a weird thing.
People used to have a much better capacity for memory. They were more observant. Our attention span has suffered greatly because of technology (specifically our phones)
@@BM-fz9yc I also believe it has a lot to do with why there are so many Attention Deficit diagnoses these days. The technology all going so fast and not allowing all the senses to take in a scene before moving to the next. People interrupt each other and miss the important parts of conversations and act on half information. It is frustrating when they don’t slow down, and think things through, plan what you need, plan for mistakes, and have daily goals. I think this all began with the remote control. (I want it now thinking). I agree technology is changing our daily human thought process. I suppose technology is now giving us the imaginary worlds we used to think up on our own. Probably not healthy either. If you ever get a chance, read the letters of William Cody. (Buffalo Bill) to his wife. They are on display in a fabulous 4 story museum complete with theater in Cody, Wyoming. You will be amazed at how the English language was written. So eloquently and with description leaving a sensation of having actually tasted a meal simply just written down. The museum is modern and has a theater. Off subject but yes the people’s brains are being reprogrammed for sure. It is difficult to even communicate with younger people anymore as they have different definitions for the words I use and sometimes mis understand what I am saying only because they changed the meaning of a word or how much emphasis the word means. Holding a camera 20’ away from someone is now considered “shoving a camera in their face.” By some. It is a confusing world with all the exaggerated and animosity people have for one another now. Before people were kinder and not so “me” oriented. What happens in the future is going to be more than I can handle. I am already lost in translation with how they changed the world. Maybe one day these young people will understand what we have been trying to tell them. That the world changes….it’s not that we got old and stupid. So many young people cannot improvise and find a way to make it work with what’s available. These are very important skills and the way this world is going, Old people may be the only ones who remember how to do things before technology.
He was wrong about the gun, though.
I'm 71 and I've lived thru a lot of historical events !
Though not 'well travelled', I have been to both Ford's Theater and to the Petersen House across the street in the late 1990s.
The box at Ford's where Lincoln had sat was displayed as it had been at the time of the assassination. His hat, coat, and the Derringer (not revolver) used by Booth were displayed in a glass case at the basement level.
The theater was surprisingly small, the Petersen house more so with very narrow staircase and tiny rooms. The bedroom where Lincoln died was preserved as it had been, a placard explaining the events and how Lincoln's feet and legs had overhung the short bed.
The sense of history, sorrow, and tragedy was palpable even after 130 and more years.
This is truly what it means to bring history to life.
How do you give this a thumbs down? This is amazing and you can feel the pain.
Some people are just d***heads. That's why it got thumbs down.
Actually Boothe used a single shot Derringer. But the narrator is in his 80's, it happened long ago, nobody there in the audience probably knew what it was until later. Details tend to fade a bit over 3/4 of a century plus.
You don't
How utterly fascinating. The way these people talked puts us to shame. Well spoken well mannered. I’m really enjoying these videos. Thank you for finding them
Wow. Thanks for sharing. Many years later and he's still visibly affected by the tragic death of The President. 😥
Wow.
Thanks to whoever filmed this and to whoever posted it.
And special thanks to the narrator for sharing his story.
1:58
Look at his facial expression when he’s finished speaking.
There’s a painful memory there.
This is amazing and Im so glad people had the forethought to record moments like this for us now!
It's so wonderful that we have these interviews to watch over and over if we like. Thank you for posting such grand interviews.
What I consistently notice about videos from before the '70s is that everyone is very well-spoken.
Wow. Truly amazing footage. You can see how upset he gets talking about when the President dies. It’s literally history speaking.
An incalculable loss to a vision of a newer America. Lincoln is now and remains among the better angels.
If Lincoln had lived out his second term there would probably not been the bitter Reconstruction period and we wouldn't still be dealing with the racism that still plagues the U.S.
@@mikefannon6994 People always try to bring race into history. News flash, racism has always been alive everywhere. We shouldn’t let it cloud history of nations. For example if I went to some parts of Africa my head would be on a stick. Racism is a minuscule part of history.
One could argue Lincoln was responsible for the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people as this war was started on the premise of secession which was entirely permissible within the constitution.
Mike Fannon Lincoln wanted to send them back. That’s why there is Liberia. I’m sure you already know this
@@mikefannon6994 seeing how you brought it up proves there would still be it.
Racism is an issue on any side. I have seen it in any color of Americans, black, white, red, Asian, etc.
Why I knew a couple of black teens when I was a teenager that would hurl racist remarks at each other for their different skin tones in dead earnest.
It isn't a one way road for sure.
But it isn't really that big of an issue. Just some people have revived the movment and feeling to get what they want.
Look at me, white with black great grandparents. And black some number of grandparents on the other side. We know 100% that my Dad's side were escaped slaved.
He was greatly impacted by this event. I thank him for sharing.
The fact that these videos are short and precise makes it perfect
Shame on the 30 people who disliked this remarkable piece of footage. It was fascinating to watch and hear this from a man who was there.
You can’t put any stock into that. When that happens someone’s opinion literally means nothing.
It’s coming from an individual with no concept or rational understanding therefore, the opinion is meaningless. 😁
Agreed.
“Hang ‘em, Lynch ‘em”
@@rumpelstiltskin5649You talk like the liberals who shot Lincoln.
There could be any number of reasons to thumb it down.
100% anyone who doesnt agree with your opinion on the value of something is obviously a bigot.
Who was *allegedly there.
WOW !!! What a valuable, incredible video of great historical significance.
It still affects him deeply, as he relates it, and you can see it in his face at the conclusion.
Amazing! I was always fascinated with everything that surrounded Lincoln’s assassination.
As for folks like this and the things that they saw decades prior, he reminds me of our next door neighbor when I was growing up. She lived to be 107, was the state’s oldest citizen, and could recall things from 100 years earlier with perfect clarity. Living with her daughter and son-in law, she still did all of their cooking and cleaning until her death. Originally from Italy, she was a mean Italian cook! Very few can say that they’ve eaten a fantastic Italian dish that was cooked by a centenarian. I happen to be one of them!
Thank you for posting this
Thank you so much for restoring the film.
But - I rather wish you had not added the music. It seems inappropriate to the subject, and distracting. There is no music that could possibly make the story more gripping than it is. Again, though, thank you for the restoration.
Thank you for posting this Life in the 1800s and thank you Michael King for producing this video. This is an amazing account of the Lincoln's fateful day. I trust (hope) the original film is being properly cared for. It seems in this day and age a lot could be done to digitally restore and preserve this film.
Wow! Poor guy. He's obviously still moved by the memory.
You can tell it shook him up quite a bit and rightfully so. Amazing footage !
Wow. I’ve never seen this before. Thank you. At its end the gentleman closed his eyes, it said volumes.
Amazing to watch this man talk about this. Many thanks for posting
John Wlikes Booth's elder brother ( Edwin Booth) saved Lincoln's son (Robert Todd Lincoln) life a few months earlier. The world is a very strange place.
2030 is almost 8 years away now. It's strange to think how by that time, the equivalent of this man talking about the Lincoln assassination in 1930, will be like hearing about something that happened in 1965.
What an amazing piece of history, how did I miss that on UA-cam until now?!
Absolutely wonderful! Thank you so much! I am speechless. ..
Thank you for taking the time to record this
A marvel and haunting. It's great the man was interviewed; talk about an eyewitness to history.
My grandparents were alive when this man said this, amazing really
You must be young. My grandparents were alive when Lincoln was assasinated.
@@annfrost3323 damn you aren’t that old
My dad was a year old and mom wouldn't be born for another 6 years when this was filmed. My grandparents at the time were 41 and 37.
@@reubster529 I'm not even 20 and I can truthfully say the same as you, my grandparents - all but 1 of them, 3/4 - were alive when this was filmed, they were the WW2 generation.
@@SStupendous Im around that age too. Large generation gap
Wow! It's so rare to get a real eyewitness account of someone actually witnessing something this historically important.
I've been watching these videos and I am amazed at how eloquent and well spoken people were at the time.
@@kld5034 thanks 👍
History before your eyes...amazing, how sad the story went.R I P -Mister President Lincoln
I had similar feelings when I visited Fords Theater, the JFK assassination site in Dallas, and the MLK assassination site at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis. My mind wants to try to envision "how it was" on those dates in 1865 and 1963 and 1968. The feelings I get are really "heavy" (as we used to say in the '60's).
Try visiting the Native American sites, where complete tribes where wiped off this earth. There are so many places. It will make you break down and cry for people whose names were never known. The horror these people went through. Evil is the worst kind of ember. It must be confined and not be allowed a toe hold.
I visited the Ford Theatre and Peterson house years ago. What a fascinating look at history it was. Thankfully they preserved these buildings for generations to experience a moment in American history and appreciate America 🇺🇸
What amazing testimony. Imagine this man being present when such a tragic event in America's history happened. I wish they had asked him more questions, I was hanging on every word!
Truly fascinating to hear the first-hand account of such a historic event. Many thanks for posting!
This is amazing,I'm glad that someone actually had the frame of mind to record people like this preserving and eye witness to history,I've watched this video ten times thank you for sharing
There's an episode of a 50's TV game show (What's My Line, I think) with a 95 year-old contestant who witnessed this as a child. Amazing that one life could span from the Civil War to TV.
Maybe this same guy?
@@Mr5thWave yes
His name was Samuel J Seymour
@@xavierbrown8053 He was on I'VE GOT A SECRET dated Feb. 8, 1956. He was 5 years old at the time of the assassination and was the last survivor of those in the theater that night. He died just a couple months later.
@@jehobden Right you are! And it's now on UA-cam.
Each of us is a living encyclopedia. It's amazing what we have seen in our lives. It's better than just reading it in a book.
so true. and most of us never truly realize that fact.
I think it's silly for people to "correct" this man's statement. He was there and these commenters weren't so you may think you know everything but maybe you don't. It's the height of arrogance to correct an eye witness when you weren't born for many years later.
It's not silly, really. It is pretty well established that eyewitness testimony is one of the most unreliable forms of evidence. Human memory and visual perception are quite malleable, which can often lead to false memories or bad testimony. Virtually all contemporary accounts of that night state Booth shot during a loud moment during the play. This man's testimony some 65 years later can't possibly overturn all of the other contrary evidence. It should also be noted that there is no name or age attributed to this man, so it definitely should be looked at with scrutiny. COULD he have been there? Sure. But people claim all sorts of things with little to no supporting evidence. Someone's word alone is rarely sufficient.
@@Swede1066 "This man's testimony some 65 years later can't possibly overturn all of the other contrary evidence." I am in agreement with almost all you say, but you make your own counter-argument. Which is: who is to say that all of the other "contrary evidence" is correct? I, too, have always heard that Booth knew this play (Our American Cousin) quite well, and waited until the biggest laugh line before opening the door to Lincoln's booth. It makes perfect sense, but is it TOO perfect? No one really knows because there was no audio or video in those days. All of the stories about Lincoln's assassination have been passed down by no one OTHER than "eye witnesses," the very same type of evidence you say is questionable, right?
@@Swede1066 And the comments section of UA-cam by anonymous, unedited writers is a font of absolute truth, right? Sometimes I wish the comments sections would be universally shut off on here and the videos could stand on their own. It’s like being forced into a lunatic’s existence with millions of voices never giving us a moment’s peace.
@@kevinivers geesh, dont read them then if they annoy you that much, especially if they ‘force you into a lunatics existence.’ 🙄Having ‘millions of voices’ is called freedom, and silencing people is censorship…who wants to live in a tyrannical world like that!
@@jasminebaum9343 Right. Turning off comments on a website run by a private company is “tyranny”. Get your head examined.
This is absolutely amazing! THANK YOU FOR TAKING THE TIME TO FIND THESE AMAZING CLIPS & POSTING THEM FOR ALL TO SEE!
I haven’t even watched the video and it’s amazing that we have this recorded.
Wow! The emotion I felt while listening to this man was incredible! I just wanted to hug him at the end.
Love this kind of thing. I'm 55 now, knew men in my youth who, in their great age, who had fought in the Spanish - American War and WWI. My father fought in the South Pacific. I came along late in life for my parents. My mother grew up in house with two old ex-slaves still being part of the family in their great age.
Really puts in perspective how young this country is.
And how close seemingly distant points in history are. WW1 is as close to the Civil War as it is to Vietnam. @@SinoLegionaire
@@SStupendous wow never even thought of that!
Wow.. I am flabbergasted. I’ve never thought that I would have the opportunity to experience a testimony from such a historic event as such. Thank you for this
Wow, you can see he still feels the sadness talking about it.
You can still see the grief in his face as he ends his comment and looks downward.
Interesting to hear him describe Booth’s jump onto the stage where “he kind of staggered.” Has a very contemporary ring to it because of our constant use (overuse) of the phrase “kind of.”
I read a biography if Lincoln, and apparently Booth broke his leg when he landed, hence the stumble. He still managed to get a horse and get away.
My Grandmother was born in 1911. Before the Wright brothers discovered the secret of manned flight. She lived into the computer age, dying in 2005. I'd give anything to have her back and ask her all the things I failed to ask her when she was still with us. Such as what did her mother think about women getting the vote in 1920? What was it like to see an airplane above your house for the first time? She ended up traveling by air many times, since one of her daughters move half a country away, but I wonder what it felt like the first time she realized she'd be able to do that. I have a hundred other questions I wish I'd had the sense to ask.
My grandmother was born in 1918 and passed away in 1997. I'll never forget our conversation way back in the late 70s. She had worked for decades for a regional Gas company in central California and was the bookkeeper in charge of accounts receivables and payables. The owner sold the business to a large company ( Pargas ) and moved the office to Visalia. That was only 10 minutes away from my grandmother's home so the distance was not the problem. The problem, she explained to me, was this new accounting and record-keeping system that used this insanely complicated and useless new machine called a " computer" . She literally retired early because she could not stand this "useless contraption". It was too stressful to operate. How times have changed I miss her every day....
@@thomasmalatesta7331 I worked as a data entry associate at an insurance company when everything started to become computerized in the late 70s and your grandmother was right. At the time, it seemed like computers were causing more problems than they solved. "We can't help you because the computer is down" began to be a common joke. No matter who you called with a problem, the phone company, electric company, government agencies, banks etc. It was a universal excuse.
pssst, Dec 17, 1903
@@googoo-gjoob lol
Yeah, if your grandmother was born in 1911, she was born 8 years after the first powered flight
Reminds me of talks I had as a boy with my great grandmother. Cherished memories!
Very good thank you. It is so strange to see the thumbs down numbers. I can't imagine what kind of "special person" would thumbs down real history. Sad.
Thanks for posting. I love these historical videos preserved for future generations. It's like having a piece of history relived at any moment in time. They say a picture is worth a thousand words. I think vintage video like this is worth much more. 👍