LS prepared by a clerk and certified as an official copy by "Jacob S. Strech, Capt.," two pages on two adjoining sheets, 7.75 x 10.25, April 15, 1865. Period manuscript copy of a telegraph dispatch from U.S. Provost Marshal General Noah L. Jeffries to Major Julius Hayden in Philadelphia, certified as an "official copy" by Hayden’s aide, Captain Jacob S. Stretch. The dispatch contains a description of assassination conspirator Lewis Powell, who had made an attempt on the life of Secretary of State William H. Seward. Initially unsure of Powell’s whereabouts or the direction of his escape, acting U.S. Provost Marshal General Noah L. Jeffries sent arrest-on-sight telegrams to nearby cities both north and south of Washington in an effort to widen the federal dragnet. Philadelphia, where Major Julius Hayden was provost marshal, was one of those cities. The description of Powell that Jeffries sent was related by William Bell, Seward’s butler, who had answered the door of the Seward home on that fateful night.
In full: "The following is a description of the assassin of the Honor. W. H. Seward, Secy. of State, and the Honor. Frederick Seward, Asst. Secy. You will use every exertion in your power and call to your aid the entire force under your control to secure the arrest of the assassin. Height Six and One Twelfth feet (6 1/12) Hair black, thick, full, and straight, no beard, no appearance of beard, cheeks red, the jaws, face moderately full. Twenty-two (22) or twenty-three (23) years of age. Eyes color not known, Large eyes not prominent, brows not heavy but dark face not large but rather round, complexion rather swarthy, nose straight and wellformed, medium sized mought, small lips, thin upper lip, protruded when he talked, chin pointed and prominent, head of medium size, neck short and of medium length, Hands soft small and fingers tapering, showed no signs of hard labor, Broad shouldered, Taper Waist, straight figure, strong looking man, manner gentlemanly but vulgar. Double breasted, collar, mixed of pink and gray spots, small was a sack over coat, pockets in side and one on the breast, with lappells on flaps, pants black common stuff, new heavy boots, voice small thin and inclined to tenor." In fine condition, with faint toning to the edges and repaired folds.
In the spring of 1865, John Wilkes Booth, actor and zealous Confederate sympathizer, wrote in his journal that he saw his cause as 'almost lost' and determined to do something 'great' to try and salvage it. With several conspirators, he put together a plan to create chaos and decapitate the federal government: he would shoot President Abraham Lincoln, George Atzerodt would murder Vice President Andrew Johnson, and Lewis Powell would kill Secretary of State William Seward.
On Good Friday, April 14, 1865, Booth went to Ford’s Theater where he knew that President Lincoln would be attending a performance of Our American Cousin with his wife and two guests. He shot Lincoln, who died the following day—April 15, 1865—at the nearby Petersen House. Seward was bedridden due to a carriage accident, so Powell went to his home in Lafayette Park in Washington, not far from the White House. He carried an 1858 Whitney revolver—a large and heavy gun—and was armed with a silver-mounted Bowie knife. Powell knocked at the front door of the house a little after 10:00 p.m. and William Bell, Seward’s butler, answered. Powell told Bell that he had medicine for Seward that he was to personally deliver. He was let in and Powell made his way up the stairs to Seward’s third floor bedroom.
At the top of the staircase, he was approached by Seward’s son, Assistant Secretary of State Frederick W. Seward. Powell related the same story that he had told Bell at the front door. Seward was suspicious of the intruder and told Powell that his father was asleep. Powell started down the stairs when suddenly he jolted around and drew his revolver, placing it upon Frederick’s forehead. He pulled the trigger, but the gun misfired. Panicking, he then smashed the gun over Frederick’s head continuously until Frederick collapsed. Fanny Seward, disturbed by the commotion, found her brother bloody and unconscious on the floor, with Powell running towards her. Powell ran to Secretary Seward’s bed and stabbed him continuously in the face and neck. He missed the first time he swung his knife down, but the third blow sliced open Seward’s cheek. The metal neck brace Seward was wearing was the only thing that prevented the blade from penetrating his jugular.
Secretary Seward rolled off the bed and onto the floor by the force of the blows to a spot where he could not be reached by Powell. Meanwhile, bodyguards had arrived on the scene, forcing Powell to flee. Running downstairs toward the front door, he exclaimed, 'I’m mad! I’m mad!,' then ran outside, untied his horse from a tree, and rode away. Atzerodt lost his nerve to make an attempt on the life of Andrew Johnson, becoming intoxicated in the bar of the hotel where the vice president was staying before drunkenly wandering the streets of Washington.
Powell was ultimately arrested on April 17th upon his arrival at Mary Surratt’s Washington boardinghouse with a pick-axe while she was being questioned by a party of military investigators. He had never left the area. He was hanged with his co-conspirators on July 7, 1865.
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