Samuel J. Seymour

Samuel J. Seymour
Born	Samuel James Seymour March 28, 1860(1860-03-28) Maryland, U.S.
Died	April 12, 1956(1956-04-12) (aged 96) Arlington, Virginia, U.S.
Resting place	Loudon Park National Cemetery 39°16′49″N 76°40′31″W
Known for	Last surviving person to witness the assassination of U.S. President Lincoln

Samuel James Seymour (March 28, 1860 – April 12, 1956) was the last surviving person who had been present in Ford's Theater the night of the assassination of U.S. President Abraham Lincoln on April 14, 1865. He was from Maryland and lived in Arlington, Virginia in his later years.

At age five, Seymour's godmother, Mrs. George S. Goldsboro, took him to see Our American Cousin. He claimed the two sat in the balcony on the side opposite Lincoln's box. Seymour reported that "I complained tearfully that I couldn't get out of the coach because my shirt was torn-anything to delay the dread moment-but Sarah (nurse Sarah Cook) dug into her bag and found a big safety pin. I shook so hard from fright, it caused Sarah to accidentally stab me with the pin. I hollered 'I've been shot! I've been shot!'."^{[citation needed]}

Once in the theater Seymour settled down. He saw the President across the balcony as he was waving and smiling at people. Seymour said "I began to get over the scared feeling I'd had ever since we arrived in Washington, but that was something I never should have done. All of a sudden a shot rang out-a shot that always will be remembered-and someone in the President's box screamed. I saw Lincoln slumped forward in his seat." Seymour did not actually see the assassination but did witness Lincoln's assassin John Wilkes Booth jump off the balcony and break his leg. In fact, he revealed that because he did not know Lincoln was shot or that Booth had shot him, his real concern was for Booth breaking his leg.

Just two months before his death at age 96, he appeared on the February 9, 1956 episode of the CBS TV quiz show I've Got a Secret as a mystery subject, in an episode in which Lucille Ball made an unusual appearance as a guest panelist. Seymour died at the home of Mrs. Irene (Horn) Hendley, his daughter in Arlington, Va. He had been in failing health since February when he fell in a New York City hotel while preparing to appear on "I've Got A Secret". He came on the show with his left eye swollen. Garry Moore had suggested he not appear, but Seymour insisted. In the episode, he was initially questioned by Bill Cullen but it was Jayne Meadows who guessed Seymour's claim to fame.

Samuel J. Seymour, who made his home in Baltimore, MD. for many decades, where he had made a living as was a carpenter and contractor, was survived by 5 children, 13 grandchildren and 35 great-grandchildren. He was interred at Loudon Park National Cemetery, in Baltimore, MD.

External links

• find a grave
• YouTube: I've Got a Secret