Louis J. Weichmann
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Louis J. Weichmann (September 29, 1842 – June 5, 1902) was an American clerk who was one of the chief witnesses for the prosecution in the trial following the
assassination of Abraham Lincoln On April 14, 1865, Abraham Lincoln, the 16th president of the United States, was shot by John Wilkes Booth while attending the play '' Our American Cousin'' at Ford's Theatre in Washington, D.C. Shot in the head as he watched the play, L ...
. Previously, he had also been a suspect in the conspiracy because of his association with
Mary Surratt Mary Elizabeth Surratt (; 1820 or May 1823 – July 7, 1865) was an American boarding house owner in Washington, D.C., who was convicted of taking part in the conspiracy which led to the assassination of U.S. President Abraham Lincoln in 18 ...
's family.


Early life

Weichmann was born in
Baltimore Baltimore is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the 30th-most populous U.S. city. The Baltimore metropolitan area is the 20th-large ...
, the son of German immigrants. The family surname was originally Wiechmann, but as in the case of many who emigrated to the United States, the name underwent several phonetic spelling changes. His father Johann was a
Lutheran Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched ...
, and his mother Maria was a
Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...
. Johann Weichmann was a tailor by trade, and he moved with his wife and their five children first from the vicinity of Baltimore to Washington D.C., and later to
Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...
,
Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...
. Louis claims to have attended Central High School in the autobiographical work mentioned below. Central High School records show Louis Weichmann was a member of the 36th graduating class. He was admitted July 1856 and left in Sept. 1858 with a Partial Course Diploma. He wrote in his autobiographical work, ''A True History of the Assassination of Abraham Lincoln and of the Conspiracy of 1865,'' that he desired to pursue a career as a pharmacist, but, at the behest of his mother, he reluctantly agreed to study for the Roman Catholic priesthood. At the age of seventeen, he entered the seminary at St. Charles College in
Ellicott City, Maryland Ellicott City is an Unincorporated area#United States, unincorporated community and census-designated place in, and the county seat of, Howard County, Maryland, Howard County, Maryland, United States. Part of the Baltimore metropolitan area, its ...
. There, he met and befriended a fellow seminarian,
John Surratt John Harrison Surratt Jr. (April 13, 1844 – April 21, 1916) was an American Confederate States of America , Confederate spy who was accused of plotting with John Wilkes Booth to kidnap U.S. President Abraham Lincoln; he was also suspected of ...
. This friendship was to later have profound consequences for both of them. In 1862, a year after the outbreak of the
American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...
, both Weichmann and Surratt left the seminary without becoming priests. Weichmann went to Washington, D.C., where he taught school for two years at St. Matthew's Institute for Boys. After leaving this position in 1864, he became a clerk in the Department of War, headed by Secretary
Edwin Stanton Edwin McMasters Stanton (December 19, 1814December 24, 1869) was an American lawyer and politician who served as U.S. Secretary of War, U.S. secretary of war under the Lincoln Administration during most of the American Civil War. Stanton's manag ...
. Surratt had in the meantime become a courier and agent for the Confederacy, working out of Union territory. As a result of his earlier friendship with Surratt, Weichmann took lodgings in the boarding house of Surratt's mother,
Mary Surratt Mary Elizabeth Surratt (; 1820 or May 1823 – July 7, 1865) was an American boarding house owner in Washington, D.C., who was convicted of taking part in the conspiracy which led to the assassination of U.S. President Abraham Lincoln in 18 ...
, in Washington, D.C. This brought him into contact with the major conspirators involved in
Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln (February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was the 16th president of the United States, serving from 1861 until Assassination of Abraham Lincoln, his assassination in 1865. He led the United States through the American Civil War ...
's assassination. According to Weichmann's testimony at the trial of the conspirators,
John Wilkes Booth John Wilkes Booth (May 10, 1838April 26, 1865) was an American stage actor who Assassination of Abraham Lincoln, assassinated United States president Abraham Lincoln at Ford's Theatre in Washington, D.C., on April 14, 1865. A member of the p ...
,
David Herold David Edgar Herold (June 16, 1842 – July 7, 1865) was an American pharmacist's assistant and accomplice of John Wilkes Booth in the assassination of Abraham Lincoln on April 14, 1865. After the shooting, Herold accompanied Booth to the home o ...
, Lewis Payne, George Atzerodt, John Surratt, and others continually met at Mary Surratt's boarding house prior to the assassination. Weichmann testified that on the day President Lincoln was shot, April 14, 1865, he accompanied Mary Surratt to her other property in Surrattsville, (now Clinton, Maryland), where she delivered items that Booth later retrieved hours after the assassination. He further testified that Mary Surratt met with Booth no fewer than three times on that fateful day. Samuel Mudd, the doctor who treated Booth's broken leg on the night Lincoln was killed, and claimed to have no knowledge of the conspiracy, was linked by Weichmann's testimony to the events for which he was tried and found guilty as well. Augustus Howell, a blockade runner who worked with John Surratt, claimed during the trial that Weichmann provided the Confederates with classified information obtained by his position at the War Department. He supposedly hoped to obtain a better job from the Confederate government at Richmond in exchange for his services; however, these accusations were never substantiated.


Later life

In his later years Weichmann moved to
Anderson, Indiana Anderson is a city in and the county seat of Madison County, Indiana, United States. The population was 54,788 at the 2020 census. It is named after Chief William Anderson. The city is the headquarters of the Church of God and its Anderson ...
, where he opened a business school. One of his brothers, a Catholic priest, and two of his sisters had moved and settled there. Because of some lingering doubt as to the truth and motives of his testimony, Weichmann became a controversial and somewhat ostracized figure by many people. That Mary Surratt was the first woman tried and executed for a capital crime by the
federal government A federation (also called a federal state) is an entity characterized by a political union, union of partially federated state, self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a #Federal governments, federal government (federalism) ...
caused a backlash against him. There also were strong anti-Catholic elements that attempted to link Lincoln's death to a Catholic conspiracy. Partially because of this, he swore out an affidavit, shortly before his death, reaffirming that all his testimony concerning Abraham Lincoln's assassination was completely true. He died a few days later in Anderson, and is buried there at St. Mary's Cemetery. Despite his using the spelling Weichmann at the conspiracy trial, in all his official correspondence and as the author of his book, the original family spelling of ''Wiechmann'' appears on his
tombstone A gravestone or tombstone is a marker, usually stone, that is placed over a grave. A marker set at the head of the grave may be called a headstone. An especially old or elaborate stone slab may be called a funeral stele, stela, or slab. The us ...
.


References


Bibliography

*Weichmann, Louis J. ''A True History of the Assassination of Abraham Lincoln and of the Conspiracy of 1865'' (1975) *


External links


muddresearch.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Weichmann, Louis J. 1842 births 1902 deaths American people of German descent American prisoners and detainees Clerks People associated with the assassination of Abraham Lincoln People of Maryland in the American Civil War People from Anderson, Indiana People from Baltimore People from Philadelphia People from Washington, D.C. Prisoners and detainees of the United States military St. Charles College (Maryland) alumni Catholics from Maryland Central High School (Philadelphia) alumni