Most people know that John Wilkes Booth shot President Abraham Lincoln in Ford’s Theatre on April 14, 1865.  What many people don’t know is that Lincoln’s assassination was part of a larger conspiracy, one meant to disable the entire United States government.  In addition to Booth, federal agents identified eight other people involved in the plot to kill the president and key members of his cabinet.  At their trial, four were sentenced to prison terms; the remaining four were sentenced to hang, an order that was carried out on July 7, 1865.  Mary Surratt was among those executed, making her the first woman to be executed for a crime in the United States.

After the execution, the gallows used in the execution were disassembled and moved to the Old Arsenal in Washington, D.C., the pieces hidden in a pile of timber to discourage souvenir seekers.  In 1885, the Secretary of the Kansas Historical Society heard of the scaffold’s location and wrote to the Quartermaster, requesting a piece for the society’s collections.  He received a nearly three-foot long, rectangular-shaped piece of wood.  It is part of the Society’s collections to this day.

Could this piece of wood really be part of the gallows on which the Lincoln conspirators hanged?  In 2009, Barry Cauchon, a researcher who focuses on the conspirators and their execution, began an in-depth study of the gallows fragment.  Using primary source documents from the Kansas Historical Society and other sources, as well as photos of the gallows from the day of the execution, Cauchon set out to prove the authenticity of the artifact.  After three years of work, he will present his findings at a special program funded through a grant from the Kansas Humanities Council. Cauchon will speak at the Kansas Historical Society at 7 p.m. Saturday, February 2, 2013, and at 2 p.m. on Sunday, February 3, 2013.  Washburn University history professor Rachel Goossen will speak about the historical events that led to the execution and Museum Registrar Nikaela Zimmerman will discuss the artifact’s provenance.  The program is free to the public.

Photos of the gallows fragment are forthcoming. 

See the Execution of the Conspirators photo held by the Library of Congress for a view of the whole gallows. 

Post by KSHS Museum Registrar Nikaela Zimmerman

Search the Thomas County Cat newspaper and related titles from 1885-1891 on Chronicling America.

The premier issue of the Thomas County Cat was published in Colby, Kansas, on March 12, 1885. It was the first newspaper in Thomas County, which was not officially organized until October 8, 1885. Although the number of pages in each issue fluctuated between four and ten, the Cat maintained a six-column folio format, weekly publication on Thursdays, and a Republican affiliation. The Cat proclaimed it was “celebrated for its originality” and acknowledged itself as the “Official County and City Paper.” In 1885, Thomas County had only 981 inhabitants, two-thirds of which were single and male. From a rather inauspicious beginning of fourteen subscribers during its first month, circulation swelled to 960 five years later in 1890, exceeding the population of Colby by at least one hundred and equaling one issue for every six residents of the county. 

A motto appeared on the first issue only: “It purrs for Thomas County.” General interest and adoration towards the newspaper’s chosen mascot led it to be referred to as simply “the Cat”. In the first address to subscribers, publishers D.M. Dunn and Eugene P. Worcester wrote: “The Cat will purr for Thomas county, and what we deem the best interests of all her people…The Cat has velvet paws, but will not allow the fur to be stroked the wrong way. To all concerned it would be well to remember that a Cat has nine lives, and farther [sic] that a Cat is greatly attached to a place where located.” The Cat was printed in a 12’ x 14’ sod structure, which was also used as a boardinghouse. The newspaper readership expanded when “the editor agreed to take anything but native fuel as payment for subscriptions.” Later, the Cat moved to the first frame building in Colby, located at 452 N. Franklin Street.

The Thomas County Cat experienced frequent administrative changes in the mid-1880s. During its short six-year tenure, the paper had at least nine known editors and publishers. In November 1890, the Cat absorbed the Brewster Gazette, also published in Thomas County. A few months later in February 1891, the Cat was absorbed by the Colby Tribune, which continued until 1925.

Search the Thomas County Cat newspaper and related titles from 1885-1891 on Chronicling America.