Seven or eight years ago Sarah and I were watching old episodes of I’ve Got a Secret from the 1950s. One specific guest stood out and gave me the chills – Samuel James Seymour, he was in Ford’s Theater the night that Abraham Lincoln was shot:
The episode was from 9 Feb 1956. This is part of what was so amazing to me, my parents were children when this episode aired. And here I was watching a video recording of a man who was there, in the theater, when the assassination happened on 14 April 1865. He was 5 years old at the time. Mr. Seymour passed away just two months after that episode.
If you’ve ever had that feeling of a connection with history you understand how I feel when I watch this.
3 replies on “Samuel James Seymour and the Lincoln Assassination”
I was just looking around the Internet today and found this post by accident. Samuel Seymour is my great-grandfather. His daughter Lula is my grandmother. As a child I remember sitting and listening to his stories about the Lincoln assassination and about his adventures at sea (he almost drowned) and about the Indian teepees he saw. He was very interesting. If you remember on the show they gave him a can of Prince Albert chewing tobacco. THAT was his most prized possesion! He didn’t care about the money, the celebrities etc. Just that tabacco!!
Sharon
Wow, it really is a small world! Thanks for commenting, it is amazing to have such a connection to history.
Sharon, Samuel Seymour is my great-grandfather as well. His daughter, Mary Irene is my grandmother. As a child I was always fascinated watching him strike wooden matches and put them out in his mouth. Though I was very young at the time (4), I actually remember watching the program when it aired. What a surprise to connect with family in much the same manner as I too was just looking around the Internet in search of family info.
God bless, King Williams (son of Harvey A. Williams)