I have received several condolence calls today.
I thank those of you who have taken the time to reach out.
April 14th is a date heavy with meaning.
After Spring has Sprung, April has Fooled, Passover has passed the Last Supper, and HE has risen . . . (usually he has) . . . there comes . . .
Ford’s Theater, The Blood-Stained Rocker . . . and of course . . .
THE BLOODY PILLOW.
This April 14th looms larger than ever – being the 150th anniversary of Lincoln’s Assassination.
We Americans like to count our tragedies (and victories) in lump sum mostly even numbers >>> so this day April 14 2015 rings loud for Lincoln lovers everywhere.
150 YEARS LATER …> the Cult of Lincoln is bigger than ever!!!
Last week I was walking in my bar sprinkled neighborhood and saw a t-shirt hanging in a window with Lincoln’s face and this directive:
Drink Up Bitches!
Lincoln’s face can be seen on polo shirts, dress shirts, and a zillion t-shirts featuring our 16th Prez playing drums, holding guns, brandishing swords – and adorning the ever popular “FreeThe Sleeves” sleeveless t-shirt.
When the hell did this dude with the beleaguered face get so hip?
I could go into cycles and psychology and Illinois and Obama . . . but will save that for another day.
While commemorating this tragic assassination and ruminating upon what happened to Reconstruction without the guiding hand of Father Abraham —
And please feel those feelings – they are deep deep “What Ifs” submerged just beneath the surface of the American Consciousness . . .
I want to encourage you historical sleuths, Lincoln freaks, and intrigue nuts to look up the history between the assassinator John Wilkes Booth’s family, and that of the esteemed Barrymore Family.
Louisa Lane Drew
I have always found JWB’s family history (look up John Wilkes of England) to be a fascinating twist in this story of murder at Ford’s Theater.
I don’t think that many folks today realize how well known the Booth actors were in their day. They were the movie stars of their time – the premier Acting Dynasty in the United States.
It’s as if today, a Baldwin brother assassinated . . . well . . . not exactly, but I think you get my point.
Today, I mourn a shot that heard round the world because it so instantaneously changed the face of America. We will never know how this nation would have recovered under the guidance of a man so able to bring together disparate views and warring factions.
The evening of April 14, 1865 was the end of many dreams and sent our young nation off on a very different trajectory – all by the hand of one famous actor man.
AMADAES 
I’ve often wondered if Lincoln would have modified or changed anything his policies, opinions or the nation’s view at large of the Native American population if he had lived longer. Most of what I have found in that regard is not very favorable – but he was far from being alone in that at the time. The Cherokee and Sioux certainly suffered mightily during his administration. Lincoln’s refusal to address the Cherokee grievances was probably the largest contributing factor to them aligning with the Confederates.
It’s hard to say for certain – but it is something I’ve wondered. Lincoln certainly had the capacity for introspection and the ability to change his views as he learned more about issues.
Oh how I love your comments!!! Thank you!!! Lincoln was far from being a perfect man no matter how deified. His policy toward women also has moments of horror. Just check out how he refused to allow Doctor Mary Edwards Walker a commission so she could eat and get paid during the war!!! Other men appealed to him on her behalf but he refused…and of course he wasn’t an abolitionist either….
What I do believe is that he was a genius politician with an enormous capacity to allow disparate voices and then in the end make a very almost dictatorial unilateral decisionRemember Lincoln and martial law..?
And I do believe that though he hails from my beloved East Tennessee…Johnson was not up to the task before him.
Blogs are silly because you really cannot get Into much discourse so thank you for comments…more from me soon!
PS: How funny that today I was looking at our genealogy on Chapman side and not far back ggm was Cherokee to go along with Chickasaw!
Very interesting. So what about the Barrymores? I’m intrigued.