Appalling circumstance! The President dead! Escape of the Murderer!
Front page of the Herald Extra, Newburyport, Massachusetts newspaper, April 15, 1865
Transcripts:
NEWBURYPORT, APRIL 15, TWO O’OLCK. APPALLING CIRCUMSTANCE! THE PRESIDENT IS DEAD! Escape of the Murderer! ATTEMPT ON THE LIFE OF SECRETARY SEWARD. J. Wilkes Booth, the Actor, the Assassin. Washington, April 14. As si1ent Lincoln and wife visited the theatre this evening, for the purpose of witnessing the performonce of the American Cousin. It was announced in the papers that Gen. Grant would also be present, but that gentleman took the late train of cars for New Jersey. The theatre was densely crowded, and everybody seemed delighted with the scene before them. During the third act, and while there was a temporary pause for one of the actors to enter, a sharp report of a pistol was heard, which merely attracted attention, but suggested nothing serious until a man rushed to the front of the President’s box, waving a long dagger in his right hand, exclaiming, ” Sic semper tyrannis” and immediately leaped from the box, which was in the seeond tier, to the stage beneath and ran across to the opposite side, making his escape amid the bewilderment of the audience from the rear of the theatre, and, mounting a horse, fled. The scream of Mrs. Lincoln first disclosed the fact to the audience that the President had been shot, when all present rose to their feet, lunging toward the stage, many exclaiming: “Hang him! hang him!” The excitement was of the wildest possible description, and of course there was an abrupt termination of the theatrical performance. There was a rush toward the President’s box, where cries were heard ” Stand back and give him air!” ” Has any one stimulants?” On a hasty examination it was found that the President had been shot through the head above and back of the temporal bone, and that some of the brain was oozing out. He was removed to a private house opposite the theatre, and the Surgeon General of the Army and other surgeons were sent for to attend to his condition. On an examination of the private box blood was discovered on the back of the cushioned rocking chair on which the President had been sitting, also on the partition and on the floor. A common single barrellee pocket pistol was found on the carpet. A military guard was placed in front of the private residence to which the President had been conveyed. An immense crowd was in front of it, all deeply anxious to learn the condition of the President…”
Questions:
The shooting of the President is described in graphic detail. Do you think this is different from the way news articles are written today? Why or why not?
Does the article name the sources from which it gathered the information about the assassination? Do you think it is based on eyewitness accounts or heresay? Explain your thoughts.
How do you think that this event affected news coverage for the time period?