Fortune's Fool: The Life of John Wilkes Booth
Page 48
89
Alexis de Tocqueville, Democracy in America (Garden City, N.Y.: Anchor, 1969), chap. 19.
90
Whitton, Wags of the Stage, p. v.
91
John H. Hewitt, Shadows on the Wall; or, Glimpses of the Past (Baltimore: Turnbull Bros., 1877), pp. 60–61.
92
Fuller, “Kunkel and Company,” p. 102.
93
“A Noted Southern Theatre Gone,” Illustrated American, vol. 19 (April 18, 1896), p. 521.
94
Philadelphia Press, April 22, 1917; Atlanta Constitution, March 11, 1888; Richmond Daily Times, Feb. 27, 1887; George Wren, statement, April 19, 1865, 6/491–96, NA M599.
95
Valentine theatrical memoranda, VRHC; Richmond Times-Dispatch, June 29, 1924.
96
Alfriend, “Recollections,” pp. 603–4; entry for Thomas M. Alfriend, Henrico Co., Va., Census of 1860, p. 427. My understanding of Alfriend owes much to Patricia C. Click and Kevin C. Ruffner.
97
Fuller, “Kunkel and Company,” p. 105; Samples, Lust for Fame, p. 30.
98
“Friend’s Warehouse,” vol. 4, Family History Folio Collection, Jones Memorial Library, Lynchburg, Va.
99
Edward A. Wyatt IV, “Three Petersburg Theatres,” William and Mary College Quarterly Historical Magazine, vol. 21 (April 1941), pp. 106–8; Richmond Daily Enquirer, Nov. 12, 1859.
100
Baltimore Sun, Dec. 9, 1906.
101
James Branch Cabell, Let Me Lie: Being in the Main an Ethnological Account of the Remarkable Commonwealth of Virginia and the Making of Its History (New York: Farrar, Straus, 1947), p. 151.
102
James Branch Cabell, Ladies and Gentlemen: A Parcel of Reconsiderations (New York: Robert M. McBride, 1934), pp. 267–69. The pack of cards is owned by the Virginia Historical Society.
103
New Orleans Daily True Delta, Jan. 17, 1861; Spirit of the Times, June 28, 1862.
104
Spirit of the Times, June 28, 1862.
105
Baltimore Sun, Nov. 11, 1906.
106
Atlanta Journal, Jan. 20, 1924.
107
Iline Fife, “The Theatre during the Confederacy” (Ph.D. dissertation, Louisiana State University, 1949), p. 28.
108
Leonard Grover, “Lincoln’s Interest in the Theatre,” Century Illustrated Monthly Magazine, vol. 77 (April 1909), p. 943. I have reversed Grover’s sentences for clarity.
109
Baltimore Sun, Feb. 10, 1907.
110
Samples, Lust for Fame, p. 205.
111
Richmond Daily Times, Feb. 27, 1887.
112
New York Clipper, May 7, 1859. The license was issued under the name of John Clarke Sleeper. Issue Book LSN (1851–65), Folio 568, dated April 25, 1859, Marriage Licenses Issues, Baltimore City, Md., Hall of Records, Annapolis.
113
Asia to Jean Anderson, n.p., n.d. [Philadelphia, July 1859?], Clarke Letters, MdHS.
114
Clarke, Booth, p. 79.
115
“Notable Players of the Past and Present, No. 42,” New York Clipper, Oct. 15, 1910.
116
New York Clipper, April 30, 1859, and May 5, 1860.
117
Robert M. Sillard, Barry Sullivan and His Contemporaries: A Histrionic Record (London: T. F. Unwin, 1901), vol. 2, p. 20.
118
Alfred Bates, ed., The Drama: Its History, Literature, and Influence on Civilization, 20 vols.) (New York: AMS Press, 1970), vol. 19, p. 133.
119
Sillard, Barry Sullivan, vol. 2, p. 20.
120
Wilson, Booth, p. 17.
121
Diary note of Oct. 6, 1891, Valentine theatrical memoranda, VRHC.
122
Philadelphia Times, June 7, 1893; San Francisco News Letter, Sept. 9, 1876.
123
Philadelphia Times, June 7, 1893; clipping, Booth Scrapbook, p. 195, Fawcett Theatre Collection, Hodges Library, University of Tennessee, Knoxville; The Season (New York), Jan. 14, 1871.
124
Alfriend, “Recollections,” p. 604.
125
Wilson, Booth, p. 18.
126
Richmond Whig, May 2, 1859.
127
New York Clipper, May 7, 1859.
128
William Winter, Life and Art of Edwin Booth (New York: MacMillan, 1893), pp. 194–95.
129
Samples, Lust for Fame, p. 34.
130
Clapp and Edgett, Players of the Present, p. 304.
131
Richmond Times-Dispatch, Sept. 14, 1924.
132
Townsend’s Langdon interview, LFFRC.
CHAPTER 3. LIONS AND FOXES
1
Alfriend, “Recollections,” p. 604.
2
Cast list in New York Clipper, Aug. 20, 1859; Fuller, “Kunkel and Company,” pp. 131, 134.
3
New York Daily Tribune, Oct. 29, 1877; playbill of May 24, 1859, Medford Town Hall, Medford, Mass., American Antiquarian Society, Worcester, Mass.
4
Adams to “Dear Reakirt,” Long Branch, N.J., 2/59–63, NA M599.
5
Baltimore Sun, Jan. 20, 1907.
6
Arthur Byron to David R. Barbee, n.p., March 11, 1939, Folder 265, Box 5, Barbee Papers, Georgetown University Library.
7
Samuel J. T. Moore Jr., Moore’s Complete Civil War Guide to Richmond (Richmond: Moore, 1978), pp. 71–72. Later known as Ford’s Hotel, it is the site of the State Library.
8
Second Annual Directory for the City of Richmond, 1860 (Richmond: W. E. Ferslew, 1860), p. 52.
9
Richmond Dispatch, Sept. 5, 1859; Richmond Daily Examiner, Sept. 5, 1859.
10
New York Clipper, Sept. 10, 1859; playbill in Fuller, “Kunkel and Company,” pp. 134–35.
11
George Colman, The Heir at Law: A Comedy, in Five Acts (New York: S. French, 1872), pp. 67–71.
12
Richmond Enquirer, Sept. 8, 1859.
13
New York Clipper, Oct. 1, 1859.
14
Richmond Enquirer, Sept. 8, 1859; New York Clipper, April 22, 1865.
15
Townsend, Life, Crime, and Capture, p. 22.
16
Baltimore Sun, Jan. 20, 1907.
17
Alfriend, “Recollections,” p. 604.
18
Beale File, Folder 280, Box 5, Barbee Papers, Lauinger Library, Georgetown University.
19
Richmond Dispatch, Feb. 2, 1902.
20
Crutchfield to Valentine, Richmond, July 5, 1909, VRHC.
21
Louis H. Manarin and Lee A. Wallace Jr., Richmond Volunteers: The Volunteer Companies of the City of Richmond and Henrico County, Virginia, 1861–1865 (Richmond: Westover, 1969), pp. 248–51; Lee A. Wallace Jr., 1st Virginia Infantry (Lynchburg, Va.: H. E. Howard, 1984), p. 6; Philip Whitlock, “Recollections,” manuscript (1908–13), VHS. The Grays roster included Elliott, Alfriend, Phillips, Caskie, the three Bossieuxs, and Whitlock himself.
22
George W. Libby, “John Brown and John Wilkes Booth,” Confederate Veteran, vol. 38 (1930), p. 138.
23
Agnes M. Bondurant, Poe’s Richmond (Richmond: Poe Associates, 1978), 143n.; scrapbook of J. M. Bossieux, VRHC.
24
Whitlock, “Recollections,” p. 90.
25
Richmond News Leader, Feb. 12, 1937; Wirt Armistead Cate, “A History of Richmond, 1607–1861,” unpublished typescript (1943), p. 924, VRHC; Richmond Daily Enquirer, July 30, 1859; Richmond Times-Dispatch, May 6, 1933.
26
Richmond Daily Enqu
irer, Oct. 19, 1859; T. P. August, Col., First Regt. of Va. Vols., to Gov. Wise, Richmond, Oct. 20, 1859, “Executive Papers/John Brown’s Raid/Expenses,” Box 472, LOV; James O. Hall, “John Wilkes Booth and John Brown,” Surratt Courier, vol. 11 (Nov. 1985), p. 1. For a well-written overview, see Tony Horwitz, Midnight Rising: John Brown and the Raid That Sparked the Civil War (New York: Henry Holt, 2011).
27
R. H. Sherar, autographical manuscript, Paola, Kans., June 13, 1914, Boos Collection, courtesy of Bill Luetge.
28
New York Sun, Feb. 13, 1898.
29
John H. Claiborne, Seventy-Five Years in Old Virginia (New York and Washington: Neale, 1904), p. 141.
30
Alfriend, “Recollections,” p. 603.
31
Clarke, Booth, p. 108.
32
Grover, “Lincoln’s Interest in the Theater,” p. 943.
33
Russell, manuscript biography of Murdoch, pp. 1744ff, HTC.
34
Atlanta Constitution, March 11, 1888; Beale File, Folder 280, Box 5, Barbee Papers, Lauinger Library, Georgetown University.
35
New York Times, Oct. 27, 1859.
36
Richmond Enquirer (weekly ed.), Nov. 29, 1859.
37
This correspondence may be seen in Boxes 473–77, LOV. Arson, in Richmond Daily Enquirer, Nov. 19, 1859.
38
Libby, “John Brown and John Wilkes Booth,” p. 138.
39
Richmond Dispatch, Feb. 2, 1902.
40
New York Clipper, Dec. 3, 1859.
41
Richmond Dispatch, Feb. 2, 1902. The assistance of Valentine W. Southall Sr. is gratefully acknowledged.
42
Barnes interview with Carter W. Wormeley, in “With Players in War Times” (1907), clipping in VRHC.
43
Russell biography of Murdoch, pp. 1744ff., HTC.
44
Richmond Daily Enquirer, Nov. 7, 17, 1859; New York Clipper, Dec. 3, 1859.
45
Interview with Mr. and Mrs. Logan B. Shutt, n.p., Aug. 31, 1938, Micou-Daniel Papers. Collected by the Rev. Paul Micou and his nephew Richard M. Daniel in the 1930s, these papers consist of research notes and interviews, many with older residents of Charlestown. They are used with the kind permission of Mrs. Richard M. Daniel. My dear friend Cameron Moseley was characteristically generous in bringing them to my attention.
46
Libby, “John Brown and John Wilkes Booth,” p. 138; Richmond Times-Dispatch, July 7, 1929; Alexander W. Weddell, Richmond, Virginia, in Old Prints, 1737–1887 (Richmond: Johnson, 1932), p. 203.
47
Richmond Times Dispatch, July 2, 1916; John O. Taylor, “John Brown,” typescript, n.d., p. 1, VHS.
48
Crutchfield to Valentine, July 5, 1909, VRHC.
49
Henry Hudnall, “Organization of First Company and John Brown Raid,” Contributions to a History of the Richmond Howitzer Battalion, pamphlet no. 1 (Richmond: Carlton McCarthy, 1883).
50
New York Herald, Dec. 26, 1859; Richmond Times-Dispatch, May 1, 1904, courtesy of Angela Smythe.
51
J. Lucius Davis to the Ladies of Charlestown, Richmond, Va., Jan. 30, 1860 (printed), Gibson Papers, Jefferson County Museum, Charles Town, W. Va.
52
Redman and Gibson, bill to Captain Elliott, Nov. 20, 1859, with statement of George W. T. Kearsley, Charlestown, June 7, 1860, in Box 452, Auditor of Public Accounts, Harpers Ferry Fund, Accounts and Vouchers, Entry 145, RG 48, LOV.
53
Norfolk Southern Argus, Dec. 9, 1859. Taylor, “Brown,” p. 2, identifies the place as an old tin shop.
54
Alfriend, “Recollections,” p. 603.
55
Libby, “Brown and Booth,” p. 138.
56
Detroit Free Press, Jan. 5, 1897.
57
Alfriend, “Recollections,” p. 603.
58
New York Daily News, Nov. 25, 1865.
59
Booth’s service is documented in his pay claim (April 14, 1860) in Box 448, Harpers Ferry Fund, Accounts and Vouchers, Auditor of Public Accounts, Entry 145, RG 48, LOV.
60
Bill of Nov. 20, 1859, in Box 450, Auditor of Public Accounts, Harpers Ferry Fund, Accounts and Vouchers, Entry 145, RG 48, LOV.
61
Taliaferro to Wise, Charlestown, Nov. 27, 1859, in Box 477, Executive Papers, John Brown Raid, Expenses, RG 3 (Wise), LOV.
62
Richmond Enquirer (semiweekly ed.), Nov. 29, 1859.
63
Richmond Daily Enquirer, Nov. 24, 1859.
64
Libby, “Brown and Booth,” p. 138, which also contains the Collier anecdote.
65
“A Reminiscence of John Wilkes Booth,” Texas Siftings (Austin), Aug. 4, 1883.
66
“A Town under Marshall Law,” Richmond Daily Enquirer, Nov. 25, 1859; T. G. Pollock to Elizabeth L. Pollock, Charlestown, Nov. 21, 1859, Fireside Sentinel [Lloyd House Newsletter, Alexandria, Va., Library], Jan. 1989, p. 3.
67
Gibson Papers, Jefferson County Museum, Charlestown, West Virginia.
68
Regimental morning reports in RG 46, Virginia Department of Military Affairs, LOV.
69
Lucy Johnston Ambler, When Tidewater Invaded the Valley (Charles Town, W. Va.: Spirit of Jefferson Press, 1934), unpaginated.
70
Richmond Enquirer, semiweekly ed., Nov. 29, 1859.
71
Boxes 448–50, Auditor of Public Accounts Records, Harpers Ferry Fund, Accounts and Vouchers, Entry 145, RG 48, LOV.
72
Berkeley W. Moore to Isaac Markens, New York, N.Y., April 9, 1910, Markens Papers, VHS.
73
Taylor, “John Brown,” p. 1.
74
Spirit of Jefferson, Aug. 18, 1874.
75
Texas Siftings, Aug. 4, 1883.
76
Cameron Moseley, John Yates Beall: Confederate Commando (Great Falls, Va.: Clan Bell International, 2007, Special Memorial Printing), brings together many new facts.
77
The records of the Auditor of Public Accounts, Harpers Ferry Fund, contain receipts for forage furnished by Beall commencing Nov. 28, 1859, and a “Consolidated Return of Provisions” received and issued at Charlestown by George W. T. Kearsley, Feb. 4, 1860, documents sales of beef starting Nov. 29, 1859. Boxes 448–49, RG 48, Entry 145, LOV.
78
Pomeroy’s Democrat, Sept. 14, 1870; Confederate Veteran, vol. 9 (Jan. 1901), pp. 3–4; New York World, Feb. 8, 1925; Nashville Tennessean Magazine, Feb. 5, 1950.
79
Cincinnati Enquirer, July 2, 1885. Joseph H. Simonds, another longtime Booth friend, also stated that Booth and Beall were acquaintances. Interview of A. W. Smiley in Miller, John Wilkes Booth in the Pennsylvania Oil Region, p. 72.
80
Box 449, Auditor of Public Accounts, Harpers Ferry Fund, Accounts and Vouchers, Entry 145, RG 48, LOV.
81
Isaac Cocke to Benj. Cocke, Charlestown, Dec. 2, 1859, VHS.
82
New York Tribune (semiweekly ed.), Dec. 2, 1859.
83
Angela Smythe has gathered an extraordinary amount of material on the Grays and these photographs as she seeks to identify Booth in the images. See her www.antebellumrichmond.com, a highly impressive site.
84
Norfolk Southern Argus, Dec. 9, 1859.
85
Richmond Enquirer (semiweekly ed.), Nov. 29, 1859; New York Daily Tribune, Dec. 1, 1859; Baltimore American, Nov. 26, 1859.
86
Libby, “Brown and Booth,” p. 138; Richmond Times-Dispatch, July 7, 1929.
87
Alfriend, “Recollections,” pp. 603–4.
88
>
Spirit of Jefferson, July 8, 1948; John A. Alfriend, History of Zion Episcopal Church (Charles Town, W. Va.: St. Andrew’s Parish, 1973), unpaginated, quoting Keys’s diary. Keys subsequently married Charles E. Ambler, the local Episcopalianminister, and became the mother of Lucy Johnston Ambler, author of When Tidewater Invaded the Valley. Charles Town Farmer’s Advocate, April 4, 1925.
89
Arthur W. (“Sunshine”) Hawks Sr., “Hamlet with a Goatee and Moustache,” Spirit of Jefferson, May 13, 1925. Hawks’s great-grandson Marshall Hawks shared family recollections and allowed me to study a scrapbook owned by his ancestor.
90
Richmond Enquirer (semiweekly ed.), Nov. 29, 1859.