(LINCOLN ABRAHAM) [Gardner Alexander; photographer] Lewis Po

Sale 2310 - Lot 162

Price Realized: $ 2,640

?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price

Estimate: $ 1,000 - $ 1,500

(LINCOLN, ABRAHAM.) [Gardner, Alexander; photographer.] Lewis Powell, a.k.a. Payne, one of the Lincoln assassination conspirators. Albumen photograph, 8 x 6 1/4 inches; pasted at corners to early paper mount, captioned on mount "Lewis Payne who attacked Seward." Washington, 1865

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Additional Details

Lewis Thornton Powell (1844-1865) was an Alabama native and Confederate Army veteran who had been wounded and captured at Gettysburg. He soon escaped, but came to Baltimore as a spy for the final weeks of the war, using the assumed name Lewis Payne. His assigned role in the Lincoln conspiracy was to kill Secretary of State William Seward, which he nearly accomplished. Seward and four others were wounded in the knife assault. Powell was captured, tried, and sentenced to death under the Payne name. All known photographs of Powell were taken while he was awaiting trial aboard the U.S.S. Saugus. This particular image appears to be unknown, but is similar to others attributed to Alexander Gardner.