19. Lewis Powell
A fact often forgotten in the discussions of Lincoln’s assassination is that his killer, John Wilkes Booth, was not acting alone. Instead, he was part of a conspiracy that had as its aim the killing of not only Lincoln but also his vice president, Andrew Johnson, and Secretary of State William H. Seward. The conspirator responsible for the murder of William H. Seward was Lewis Powell.
Powell visited the home of Seward, under the guise of a messenger delivering medicine as Seward had recently been injured. When a family member demanded the medication from Powell and denied him entry to Seward’s room, Powell attempted to shoot him. When the gun misfired, he beat the man with the gun. He entered Seward’s room and stabbed him several times. Powell also stabbed a guard and messenger while fleeing the scene. Everyone he injured in the attack made a full recovery.
The infamous image of a young Powell in wrist irons aboard the USS Saugus is another picture which could very believably be from our time. It isn’t hard to imagine the photo being part of a Vogue shoot meant to look vintage with his youthful, clean shaved face and a somewhat whimsical pose. It is hard to believe the photo was taken shortly before his military tribunal and execution for playing a role in the assassination of an American president.
