The Last Living Witness to the Lincoln Assassination, 1956

Susan reporting:

Most of the videos we've featured here have their share of silliness mixed into the history. This one, however, isn't silly at all.  It's just plain amazing.

Consider it a double-dose of real history. Filmed in the Golden Age of television game shows, it's a clip from the popular series I've Got a Secret. The game was simple enough: regular folks with surprising careers, experiences, or histories – their "secrets" – try to stump the celebrity panel, who ask a limited number of questions.  This elderly gentleman's secret, however, is far from usual. Samuel J. Seymour is 96 years old, and as a five-year-old boy attending Ford's Theatre as a treat on April 14, 1865, he saw John Wilkes Booth assassinate President Abraham Lincoln. It's one more reminder of how relatively short American history is, and a poignant one at that.
Many thanks to Patrick O'Neil, Assistant Professor of History, Methodist University, Fayetteville, NC for sharing this video with us.