Saturday, August 7, 2010

AS SEEN ON TV: JOHN F. PARKER

JOHN F. PARKER

AS SEEN IN:
'Branded'

AS PLAYED BY:
Chris Alcaide

From Wikipedia:
John Frederick Parker (May 19, 1830 – June 28, 1890), was one of four men detailed to act as United States President Abraham Lincoln's bodyguard on April 14, 1865, the night Lincoln was assassinated at Ford’s theater.

He was responsible for guarding the entrance to the president's box. He is known to have at first stayed at his assigned post, but then wandered away in order to catch a glimpse of the play. During the intermission, Parker went to a nearby tavern with Lincoln's footman and coachman. It is unclear whether he ever returned to the theater, but he was not at his post when John Wilkes Booth shot the president. Parker was charged with neglect of duty and tried on May 3, 1865 but no transcripts of the case were kept. The complaint was dismissed on June 2, 1865. Parker remained on the police force until 1868 when he was fired for sleeping on duty. He died in Washington on June 28, 1890.
But he didn't spend all those intervening years in Washington, D.C. He traveled the West, where Edwin Booth finally caught up with him with the intent to kill him.....

BCnU!

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