An Incredible Tale

 

The fellow was known to be honest.  His father was revered for his high moral standards and the young fellow had inherited that trait, or at least learned it from his dad.  Still, the story he told was just too incredible to believe.

But why would he lie about something like that?

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The mind-boggling tale took place when the man was at the Jersey City railroad station, waiting for a train that would take him to Washington, DC.  He explained, “The incident occurred while a group of passengers were late at night purchasing their sleeping car places from the conductor who stood on the station platform at the entrance of the car. The platform was about the height of the car floor, and there was of course a narrow space between the platform and the car body. There was some crowding, and I happened to be pressed by it against the car body while waiting my turn. In this situation the train began to move, and by the motion I was twisted off my feet, and had dropped somewhat, with feet downward, into the open space, and was personally helpless, when my coat collar was vigorously seized and I was quickly pulled up and out to a secure footing on the platform. Upon turning to thank my rescuer I saw (him)”

The man recognized his rescuer.  “I expressed my gratitude to him, and in doing so, called him by name.”

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How about a little historic perspective?

These events took place during the Civil War, sometime around 1864.  Abraham Lincoln was president and a popular one he was.  He would lead the country through those troubled times and bring the war to a finish.  Lincoln would end slavery in the United States while ensuring the republic would remain intact.

But on April 14, 1865, while attending a production at Ford’s Theater, President Lincoln was seated in a private box.  He and his wife, Mary Todd Lincoln, were enjoying the comedy, Our American Cousin.  A well-known actor slunk into the box.  As everyone knows, John Wilkes Booth put the barrel of a pistol against the back of Lincoln’s head and pulled the trigger.  The president fought to stay alive for more than nine hours but was declared dead at 7:22 a.m. April 15.

The nation reacted with shock.  Lincoln’s political friends and enemies alike called for the quick capture and execution of the assassin.  Booth was cornered in a barn by Union troops and killed during the capture attempt.

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After the murderer’s death, the country remained heart-broken and angry.  Since the killer was dead, they had no target for their lust for vengeance though.  The bitter populace turned its attention on his family, assuming they were secessionists and hated Lincoln as much as the assassin had.  You see, John Wilkes Booth had two brothers who were also famous actors.  The public retaliated against Edwin and Junius Brutus Booth Jr. by boycotting their performances.  The unfortunate siblings could no longer find work in their chosen profession, or any other for that matter.  Soon they were on the verge of financial ruin.  Their future looked bleak, until…

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The young man in the account at the beginning of this post wrote a letter to the editor of Century Magazine, Richard Gilder, in 1909.  The letter recounted the story of his near-accident on that railroad platform.  He wrote the letter I quoted earlier, explaining that he had felt himself pulled back to safe footing, thus avoiding almost certain death.  He said, “Upon turning to thank my rescuer I saw it was Edwin Booth, whose face was of course well known to me, and I expressed my gratitude to him, and in doing so, called him by name.”

Edwin was not a secessionist.  On the contrary, he was a strong supporter of Abraham Lincoln and a Unionist, something which had formed a rift between him and his brother, the ill-fated John Wilkes Booth.

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When he was reached for comment, Edwin said he well-remembered the incident but didn’t know the identity of the young man whose life he had saved.

On that day in the middle of the Civil War, well before his brother would assassinate President Abraham Lincoln, Edwin Booth had reached out to keep another human being from getting horribly mangled or killed.

So why was the story so hard for people to believe?  Because the man he’d saved was none other than Robert Todd Lincoln, the oldest son of President Abraham Lincoln.

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What are the odds of that?

 

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(above) Robert Todd-Lincoln was the only surviving son of President Abraham Lincoln.  (below, left to right) John Wilkes Booth and his brothers Junius Brutus Jr. and Edwin performed a production of Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar in 1864, just five months before the Lincoln assassination.  Edwin would save the life of Robert Todd-Lincoln mere months before his brother assassinated the president.