By Madison Butkus
Hometown Weekly Reporter
Retired Massachusetts Superior Court Justice Dennis J. Curran stopped by the Medfield Public Library (MPL) to present on "The True Story Behind the Lincoln Assassination: The Nest That Hatched Evil.” This presentation is an incredible lecture from his series “Great Trials That Changed History: A Judge’s Perspective.”
Upon entering the Meeting Room, attendees were given a folder containing additional research and background information surrounding the Lincoln assassination. Curran also brought posters, books, and a slideshow presentation to better help visualize this topic.
When starting this discussion, Curran pointed out that while John Wilkes Booth pulled the trigger that killed Abraham Lincoln, this was only a small chapter in a much larger story and Booth was not the only one who had a hand in his murder. In fact, Curran discussed in great detail four myths of the Lincoln Assassination: Booth acted alone, Dr. Samuel Mudd (who set Booth’s broken leg) was an innocent country doctor, Mary Surratt (a middle-aged innkeeper) had no involvement in Lincoln’s assassination, and the Confederate government was not involved in Lincoln’s assassination.
In total, there were three different assassination attempts put towards Lincoln: The Baltimore Plot, Bell Island, and Ford’s Theatre. All three of these attempts, Curran explained, were set up by the Knights of the Golden Circle, in which Booth was a member. While Lincoln was assassinated on April 14, 1865, the first attempt was planned in 1864.
Curran went into great detail of each of these three attempts, and how Lincoln was able to avoid the first two. He also depicted Lincoln as the type of president who did his job no matter what and had the type of mindset that “If they are going to kill me, they just will, but I have to do my job for this country.” With this in mind, it made it rather difficult at times to keep Lincoln safe by his staff.
While going through his presentation, audience members sat in awe of the information they were being given. It can be safe to say that many attendees walked out of this discussion learning many different aspects about Lincoln and his assassination that they had not previously known before.
This presentation comes just in time of the 159th anniversary of this tragic event next month. Furthermore, Curran is due to return to the MPL in the fall to present on the Salem Witch trials. For more information about Dennis Curran and his work, please visit his website www.judgedenniscurran.com.
