Ray Neff
Dr. Ray Neff was a health sciences professor at Indiana State University with a chemistry background. He was a leading proponent of an alternative theory about the assassination of Abraham Lincoln and his killer, John Wilkes Booth. Neff died on September 11, 2009. His wife, Augusta, accompanied him on his research trips. She was a frequent witness to his findings and is referred to in the notes of Dark Union [see below] when he uses we to describe or recount discoveries or findings. Augusta died on December 30, 2013. They are buried together in Marshall, Illinois.
Neff is the co-author of Dark Union along with Leonard Guttridge, a writer of numerous other histories, many dealing with exploration and discovery. The book proposes an alternative view to the conventional version of Lincoln's assassination. While it mentions the theory that Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton was involved in the assassination conspiracy, the book dismisses it and suggests that John Wilkes Booth took on the role of assassin largely for personal reasons. Dark Union also contends that Booth escaped, eventually settling in India, as it was James W. Boyd who was actually shot in the barn at Garrett's farm. Documents in a collection housed at Indiana State University and donated by Neff and Guttridge deal, in part, with the subject matter of Dark Union. The theory advanced in the book is in marked contrast with the version of the assassination proposed by Edward Steers, Jr.
Neff is also one of many historians who traces the roots of Lincoln's assassination to the Dahlgren Affair, one of the very few areas where he and Steers agree.
Ray Neff was the editor or author of other works. For example, he published a well-received family history and edited a new edition of Civil War memoirs written by Lafayette C. Baker. A book by Neff, China Gold, was issued after his death by his son Robert and made available on Amazon.com. Neff never intended for this book to be published, as he felt it needed extensive revision. It deals only indirectly with any of the people mentioned in Dark Union.
References[edit]
- Neff-Guttridge Collection of Lincoln assassination and related materials at Indiana State University
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