Burial For Mrs. Wynkoop.
Burial For Mrs. Wynkoop.

BURIAL FOR MRS. WYNKOOP.

Death Tuesday Takes Survivor of Troupe Playing Night Lincoln Was Assassinated.


____________

(Illustration on Picture Page.)

Mrs. Frank Wynkoop.

Her Death Recalls Historic Tragedy--Mrs. Frank
Wynkoop, who was buried Thursday, witnessed the
assassination of President Lincoln from the stage of
Ford's Theater in 1865. Inset is a likeness of her as
member of the troupe nearly sixty years ago.
1

    The body of Mrs. Frank Wynkoop, an actress at the theater where President Lincoln was assassinated, was laid to rest Thursday in Inglewood Mausoleum, after services at the chapel of George A. Fitch. Mrs. Wynkoop's death on Tuesday leaves, it is believed, only two survivors of the troupe that played in Ford's Theater at Washington the night of April 14, 1865. She died Tuesday at her home, 232 East Avenue 38, at the age of 78 years.
    Though Mrs. Wynkoop was of southern birth, she had the most kindly feeling for Lincoln, because she and her mother obtained from him a pardon for her young brother, who had been caught as a blockade runner and seemed likely to be shot as a spy. She was then known as Helen Truman, which name she kept through her long stage career.

HEARD FATAL SHOT

    She and her mother had pawned their jewelry to go to Washington to intercede with the President--it was In the closing days of the war when Federal troops occupied most of Virginia, where her home was--so she remained in Washington and obtained a small part in the Ford Theater Stock Company.
    Telling a short time ago of her experiences Mrs. Wynkoop said she frequently saw both the President and Mrs. Lincoln at the theater. She said she saw John Wilkes Booth standing in the rear of the President's box a moment or so before the assassination, and that he nodded to her. She did not actually see the shooting, having turned to go to her dressing-room, but heard the shots plainly.

MENACED BY BOOTH

    With other members of the company, she was under suspicion for several days and was not permitted to leave Washington, though she was at no time arrested. Because of her southern birth, she was not allowed to leave until the following autumn, when she went to New York and got a stage engagement
    Booth, on his way out of the theater, passed Mrs. Wynkoop and another actress within a few feet and lunged at them with a knife to keep them back.
    Mrs. Wynkoop's description of these scenes In the theater was extremely vivid. She retained a recollection or them up to the very last.
    Mrs. Wynkoop's first stage engagement was in the company headed by Mr. And Mrs. William Florence. "Billy" Florence in later years was better known as the founder of the Order of the Mystic Shrine.
    She leaves her husband. Frank Wynkoop, also a retired actor.2


Sources:

[1] Unknown, "Looking Through the Lens at Bits of Life," The Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles, Saturday, 3 May 1924, p. 6.

[2] Unknown, "Burial For Mrs. Wynkoop, Death Tuesday Takes Survivor of Troupe Playing Night Lincoln Was Assassinated," The Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles, Saturday, 3 May 1924, p. A5.

Created September 6, 2004; Revised September 8, 2004
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