Most people think of history as something locked inside heavy books—the kind you only open when a teacher tells you to. But history doesn’t live only on pages. Sometimes, it lives inside a person. Inside a memory. Inside a single moment that never truly fades.

For Samuel J. Seymour, history wasn’t something he studied later in life. It was something he witnessed at just five years old.

One ordinary night at the theater would become one of the most defining moments in American history—and Samuel would grow up to be the last living person to see it happen.

The 5-Year-Old Who Was There

Samuel J. Seymour was born in 1860, just one year before the American Civil War began. By the spring of 1865, the war was coming to an end, and Washington, D.C., was filled with a cautious sense of relief.

On the evening of April 14, 1865, Samuel’s father, a government worker, decided to take his young son to Ford’s Theatre in Washington, D.C. The play that night was Our American Cousin, and President Abraham Lincoln was in attendance, seated in a clearly visible box overlooking the stage.

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Samuel and his father were seated directly across from the president.

To a five-year-old, the night was exciting. The theater was bright and crowded. Actors spoke loudly. Everything felt big and overwhelming in the best way—until it didn’t.

Suddenly, a loud bang echoed through the room.

Samuel didn’t know it was a gunshot. He didn’t know its meaning. He only knew it was sharp, sudden, and terrifying.

That single sound turned an enjoyable evening into confusion and fear—and it would follow Samuel for the rest of his life.

How Samuel Remembered the Night

Samuel J. Seymour remembered the assassination the way a child would—not as a national tragedy, but as a series of strange and frightening moments.

He recalled hearing the shot, then screams coming from the president’s box. He saw Abraham Lincoln slump forward in his seat. Moments later, he watched a man—John Wilkes Booth—jump from the presidential box onto the stage below. Booth broke his leg but managed to flee the theater.

To Seymour, it didn’t look like an assassination or an escape. It looked like an accident.

In a later newspaper interview, Seymour remembered pleading with the adults around him, saying, “Hurry, hurry, let’s go help the poor man who fell.” It was the reaction of a child who didn’t yet understand what he had witnessed.

Samuel later explained that he didn’t truly grasp the significance of that night until many years later. All he knew at the time was that something was terribly wrong—and that everyone needed to leave the theater.

“I’ve Got a Secret” Game Show

By the 1950s, television had become a central part of American life. One popular CBS game show, I’ve Got a Secret, featured guests with unusual or surprising truths, which a panel attempted to guess.

In February 1956, a 95-year-old Samuel J. Seymour appeared on the show, dressed neatly in a suit and speaking calmly. When it was time to reveal his secret, he simply stated that he was the last living person to witness the assassination of Abraham Lincoln.

The room fell silent. The weight of the moment was undeniable. What sounded like a historical fact was also a deeply personal memory—one that had stayed with Seymour for decades. In interviews, he admitted that the event haunted him. He described recurring nightmares, saying he felt as though he was “shot” over and over again.

Where is Samuel Seymour Now?

Just two months after his television appearance, Samuel J. Seymour passed away. With his death, the final living connection to Abraham Lincoln’s assassination was gone.

Seymour's life bridged two vastly different eras—from the Civil War to the age of television. His story is a reminder that history isn’t shaped only by presidents, generals, or soldiers, but also by ordinary people—even children—who happen to be present when the world changes.

Seymour never dramatized his experience. He told his story simply and quietly, allowing one of the loudest moments in American history to speak for itself.

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