Last Witness to President Abraham Lincoln Assassination I've Got A Secret
Why Hacker News recommends it
HN commenters link it whenever Lincoln, the Civil War, or how recent history really is comes up, as striking footage of a living witness to the assassination.
What it is
A 1956 episode clip of the game show I've Got a Secret in which 95-year-old Samuel J. Seymour appears as the mystery guest. He was the last living eyewitness to Lincoln's assassination at Ford's Theater, and the panel tries to guess his secret.
Recommended by 0 HN commenters across 0 different months, 2019 to 2026.
What Hacker News said
Cites spc476 · 2019-03 · on “Nation's only Civil War pensioner collects $73 a month from VA (2017)”
The 10th President of the United States, John Tyler, has two grandsons still alive today [1]. And the last witness to Lincoln's assassination appeared on TV [2]. So someone receiving a pension from the Civil War doesn't seem too far fetched. [1] [LINK] [2] [this video]
Cites teabee89 · 2020-06 · on “Last Person to Receive Civil War-Era Pension Dies”
This reminds me that there is video footage online today of a person who witnessed President Lincoln's murder: [this video]
Cites funwares · 2022-03 · on “The Frog of War”
To add specifically to the Lincoln assassination: One of the eyewitnesses appeared on a gameshow as mystery guest in 1956 (shortly before passing away) [this video]
Cites Spirograph7 · 2023-02 · on “Abraham Lincoln, America’s First Tech-Lawyer”
You realize there were many many witnesses in that theater. This video of the last surviving eyewitness was making the rounds a few years ago [ [this video] ]. Also I did not know there were conspiracy theories about the LINCOLN assassination. It's very quaint!
Cites eco · 2023-10 · on “Mark Twain filmed by Thomas Edison in 1909”
Reminds me of this 1956 clip from the show I've Got a Secret with the last living eyewitness to the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. [this video]
Cites fortran77 · 2026-04 · on “Teddy Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln in the same photo”
"Last Witness to President Abraham Lincoln Assassination on 'I've Got A Secret' Television Show" [this video]