For an account of the removal of Lincoln’s remains from the Petersen house, and the names of the men who carried him out, see Steers, Blood on the Moon, at pages 268–269. I obtained a typescript of William Clark’s letter from the archives of the Surratt Society. For more on Clark, see W. Emerson Reck, “The Riddle of William Clark,” Lincoln Herald, Winter 1982, pages 218–221.
Matthews’s account of his reading of Booth’s letter to the National Intelligencer is in Rhodehamel and Taper, “Right or Wrong,” pages 150–153.
Townsend’s description of Booth’s young seductress is from The Life, Crime and Capture of John Wilkes Booth (New York: Dick & Fitzgerald, 1865), page 24.
The breakfast conversation at Dr. Mudd’s comes from Mrs. Mudd’s statement taken during her interrogation. The account of the crutches comes from Dr. Mudd’s three statements.
Caldwell’s testimony on Atzerodt pawning his pistol is in Poore, The Conspiracy Trial, volume 1, page 148. Also see Pitman, Assassination of the President, at page 148.
The story of Dr. Mudd is one of the major controversies that has long bedeviled students of the Lincoln assassination. I agree with Steers and other historians on the nature and extent of Mudd’s knowledge and culpability. Despite the claims of Mudd’s defenders, he was not an innocent country physician who merely performed his Hippocratic oath, and treated an injured man he believed was a stranger. Based on a review of the evidence, I am certain that Mudd recognized Booth the moment the assassin walked through his door, and I am convinced that Mudd delayed reporting Booth’s visit, thus allowing the assassin a head start from the troops at nearby Bryantown. I have chosen not to bog down the narrative by writing an analytical, legal brief arguing the pros and cons of Mudd’s case. That discussion is available in other texts, and I do not rehearse it here. Instead, I have written, in real time as much as possible, what I believe happened.
My account of Thomas Jones comes primarily from his memoirs, J. Wilkes Booth: An Account of His Sojourn in Southern Maryland After the Assassination of Abraham Lincoln, His Passage Across the Potomac, and His Death in Virginia (Chicago: Laird & Lee, 1893). All direct quotations come from him. Booth did not live long enough to write about Jones, and David Herold, after his capture, did not reveal how the Confederate agent had helped them.
For additional material on Jones, see John M. and Roberta J. Wearmouth, Thomas A Jones: Chief Agent of the Confederate Secret Service in Maryland (Port Tobacco, Maryland: Stones Throw Press, 2000).
CHAPTER SIX
Much of the material for this chapter, and all direct quotations from Thomas Jones, come from his short memoir. Booth, Herold, and Jones were the only witnesses to their interactions, just as Jones had planned.
Somerset and James Leaman’s testimony about their conversations with Az-terodt are in Poore, The Conspiracy Trial, volume 2, page 504. Also see Pitman, Assassination of the President, at page 150. Asia Booth Clarke’s story about John’s love of nature is from her memoir, The Unlocked Book, pages 54 (“burrowing”) and 69 (“good men’s bones”).
The dialogue from the second raid on Mary Surratt’s Washington boarding-house appears in Poore, The Conspiracy Trial, volume 2, pages 15–19 and pages 33–34, and in Pitman, The Assassination, pages 121–124.
The dialogue with Lewis Powell appears in Poore, volume 2, pages 9–11, and in Pitman, pages 122–123.
The letters of Madlock and Severs are in a private collection.
A number of examples of postassassination artwork, including “The Assassin’s Vision” carte-de-visite, are illustrated in Swanson and Weinberg, Lincoln’s Assassins, page 54.
Booth’s notebook entry appears in Rhodehamel and Taper, “Right or Wrong,” at pages 154–155.
Townsend’s vicious descriptions of Port Tobacco and of the Brawner Hotel come from his Life, Crime and Capture of John Wilkes Booth, page 52.
All telegrams are from the Official Records.
Booth’s letter to his mother is in Rhodehamel and Taper, “Right or Wrong,” pages 130–131; and his “ To Whom it May Concern” manifesto is on pages 124–127.
Asia Booth Clarke revealed her husband’s betrayal in The Unlocked Book, page 91.
Richter’s comment about George Atzerodt appears in Poore, The Conspiracy Trial, volume 2, pages 515–517. Also see Pitman, The Assassination, page 153. The story of Atzerodt’s arrest appears in Steers, Blood on the Moon, at pages 169–170. Atzerodt’s confessions are published in “ ‘Lost Confession’ of George A. Atzerodt,” in Steers, ed., The Trial, pages civ–cvi, and in From War Department Files.
CHAPTER SEVEN
The narrative of April 20 in the pine thicket, and all direct quotations, are drawn, as before, from the memoir of Thomas Jones, the only surviving witness to the events that happened there.
For a thorough analysis of the river crossing, see William A. Tidwell, “Booth Crosses the Potomac: An Exercise in Historical Research,” Civil War History 36, April 1990, pages 325–333.
Townsend’s research appeared in George Alfred Townsend, “How Booth Crossed the Potomac,” Century Magazine, April, 1884, and is reprinted in John M. and Roberta J. Wearmouth, Thomas A. Jones: Chief Agent of the Confederate Secret Service in Maryland (Port Tobacco, Maryland: Stones Throw Publishing, 2000), at page 56. Wearmouth covers Townsend’s correspondence with Jones at pages 45–54, and Jones’s “reunion” with Captain Williams at pages 154–159.
Osborn H. Oldroyd’s firsthand but frustratingly brief account of Jones’s visit to his Petersen House museum is found in Oldroyd’s The Assassination of Abraham Lincoln (Washington, D.C.: Osborn H. Oldroyd, 1901), at page 101.
Herold’s remarks about partridge shooting, Davis, and Hughes all come from his statement while in custody, which is published in Hall, On the Way, page 8.
Booth’s journal entry on being “hunted like a dog,” the low point of his despair since the manhunt began, appears in Rhodehamel and Taper, “Right or Wrong,” page 7. All the telegrams are from the Official Records.
CHAPTER EIGHT
Herold’s remark about the gunboat comes from his statement while in custody on April 27, 1865, published in Hall, On the Way, page 7. All the telegrams are in the Official Records. Herold’s encounter with the Quesenberrys was described in her May 16, 1865, statement to Colonel Wells, and is published in Hall, On the Way, at page 108. The fugitives’ visit to Dr. Stuart was described in his statement of May 6, 1865, and published in Hall, On the Way, page 114. Bryant’s statement of May 6, 1865, is published in Hall, On the Way, at page 116. Lucas’s statement of May 6, 1865, is published in Hall, On the Way, at page 122. Both drafts of Booth’s letter of complaint are in Rhodehamel and Taper, “Right or Wrong,” at pages 157–159. The translation of Shakespeare’s passage from Macbeth that Booth quoted in his note to Dr. Stuart comes from the definitive volume of the collected works, David Bevington’s The Complete Works of Shakespeare, Fifth Edition (New York: Pearson, 2004), at page 1277. Rollins’s two statements of April 25, 1865, and May 20, 1865, are published in Hall, On the Way, at pages 126 and 127. William Jett gave a statement on May 6, 1865, and also testified at the conspiracy trial on May 17, 1865. Both of his accounts are published in Hall, On the Way, at pages 135 and 139.
CHAPTER NINE
The Beckwith telegram, and all the other telegrams in this chapter, appear in the Official Records.
The narrative of Booth’s time at Garrett’s farm, and all direct quotations, are drawn from several accounts. This collection of sources includes statements, reports, and testimony, and covers the pursuit to Bowling Green, the arrival at Garrett’s farm, the parley with Booth, Herold’s surrender, and the shooting and death of the assassin.
Captain Edward P. Doherty’s major accounts can be found in his report of April 29, 1865; his testimony at the conspiracy trial of May 22, 1865; and in his March 21, 1866, letter to Secretary of War Stanton. See Hall, On the Way, pages 27–36.
Colonel Everton J. Conger’s accounts can be found in his sta
tement at the inquest aboard the Montauk on April 27, 1865; his testimony at the conspiracy trial on May 17, 1865; at the impeachment investigation of Andrew Johnson on May 13 and 14, 1867; and at the trial of John H. Surratt on June 25, 1867. See Hall, On the Way, pages 40–63.
Luther Byron Baker’s accounts can be found in his April 27, 1865, statement at the inquest aboard the Montauk; his testimony at the impeachment investigation of Andrew Johnson on May 22, 1867; and his testimony at the trial of John H. Surratt on June 25, 1867. See Hall, On the Way, pages 74–98.
In general, the accounts of Doherty, Conger, and Baker agree on what happened at Garrett’s farm. They vary in minor details, of course, a reflection not only of the frailty of memory, but of the competition for reward money. For example, the parties disagreed about who really “captured” David Her-old, pulled him from the barn door, and ordered him bound. Their accounts of Booth’s dialogue vary somewhat in the actor’s choice of particular words, or the sequence of some of his sentences. But they all agree on the substance of the parley with Booth, on all of the sentiments that he expressed, and on their dealings with the Garrett family.
I have not included every possible variation from their accounts. Instead, I used my best judgment and the major accounts left by the principals to construct what I believe is the most reasonable account of the climax of the manhunt.
For ease of reference for the reader, I do not cite to every page of microfilm at the National Archives, to every document, and to every report where this material can be found. Instead, I refer the reader to James O. Hall’s On the Way to Garrett’s Farm: John Wilkes Booth and David E. Herold in the Northern Neck of Virginia, April 22–26, 1865 (Clinton, Maryland: The Surratt Society), an indispensable volume that collects in one place much of the significant evidence, and which refers readers interested in more to the specific microfilm reels and pages Boston Corbett’s major accounts can be found in his report of April 29, 1865; his May 17, 1865 testimony at the conspiracy trial; and an April 14, 1877 newspaper article in the Philadelphia Weekly Times. See Hall, On the Way, pages 155–162.
Members of the Garrett family left behind considerable commentary about their visitors. John M. Garrett’s statement was taken at Colonel Lafayette Baker’s office on May 20, 1865, and Garrett testified on June 25, 1867, at the trial of John H. Surratt. His recollections are reprinted in Hall, On the Way, pages 140–146. Richard H. Garrett’s revealing letter of April 4, 1866 to Grandison Manning appears in Hall, On the Way, at page 170, and Rev. Richard Baynham Garrett’s letter of October 24, 1907 appears at page 174.
Also see William H. Garrett, “True Story of the Capture of John Wilkes Booth,” Confederate Veteran, volume xxix, no. 4, April 1921, pages 129–130, and Betsy Fleet, ed., “A Chapter of Unwritten History: Richard Baynham Garrett’s Account of the Flight and Death of John Wilkes Boothe,” The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, volume 71, no. 4, October 1963, pages 387–404. This article includes Edwin Booth’s letter of thanks to the Garretts and the story about John Wilkes Booth amazing the Garrett children with his pocket compass.
For a little-known but important—and eerie—retrospective based on interviews with some of the Garrett survivors, see F. A. Burr, “John Wilkes Booth: The Scene of the Assassin’s Death Visited,” Boston Herald, December 11, 1881, page 9.
CHAPTER TEN Lucinda Holloway’s description of Booth’s death appears in Francis Wilson,
John Wilkes Booth: Fact and Fiction of Lincoln’s Assassination (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1929), at pages 209–217. It is reprinted in Hall, On the Way, page 178. All George Alfred Townsend material in this chapter comes from his The Life, Crime and Capture of John Wilkes Booth. The dialogue between Asia Booth Clarke and T. J. Hemphill comes from her memoir, The Unlocked Book, at pages 92–93. The complete collection of Gardner’s photos of the captive conspirators was published for the first time in Swanson and Weinberg, Lincoln’s Assassins, pages 58 to 76. The Clark Mills story was reported in the May 2, 1865, Chicago Tribune.
Townsend’s dialogue with Lafayette Baker, and his account of the faux burial at sea, are in The Life, Crime, and Capture of John Wilkes Booth, pages 38–39.
Important information appears in L. B. Baker, “An Eyewitness Account of the Death and Burial of J. Wilkes Booth,” Journal of the Illinois State Historical Society, December 1946, pages 425–446.
The U.S. Treasury warrants paid to Corbett, Doherty, Baker, and all the other recipients of reward money were uncovered recently at the National Archives and photographed for the first time.
Boston Corbett’s letters repose in private collections.
Asia Booth’s account of Corbett appears in her memoirs at pages 99–100.
For the most detailed modern account of the execution of the conspirators, and for the complete collection of Gardner’s photographs of the hanging, see Swanson and Weinberg, Lincoln’s Assassins, pages 98–121.
Edwin Booth’s letter appealing for the return of his brother’s body is in Johnson’s papers. See Paul H. Bergeron, ed., The Papers of Andrew Johnson, volume 15, September 1868–April 1869 (Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press, 1999), at pages 431–432.
Asia Booth Clarke’s book of memories concludes with this elegy. Like her assassin-brother, she could not resist quoting Shakespeare. The last line of her book, “So runs the world away,” comes, unsurprisingly, from Hamlet, act III, scene 2: “For some must watch, while some must sleep; Thus runs the world away.”
EPILOGUE
The Asia Booth Clarke letters quoted here come from the reprinted and retitled edition of her memoirs, John Wilkes Booth: A Sister’s Memoir by Asia Booth Clarke (Jackson: University Press of Mississippi, 1996), edited by Terry Alford, at page 21.
The strange and unhappy tale of Rathbone and Harris was the subject of Thomas Mallon’s eerie and compelling novel, Henry and Clara (New York: Ticknor & Fields, 1994).
Luther Baker’s promotional brochure, his “combination picture,” and his horse Buckskin’s first-hoof account all appear in Swanson and Weinberg, Lincoln’s Assassins, at page 37.
For John H. Surratt’s lecture, see Clara E. Laughlin, The Death of Lincoln: The Story of Booth’s Plot, His Deed and the Penalty (New York: Doubleday, Page, 1909), pages 222–249. Also see “A Remarkable Lecture—John H. Surratt Tells His Story,” Lincoln Herald, December 1949, pages 20–33, 39. The rare broadside for Surratt’s never-delivered December 30, 1870, Washington, D.C., lecture appears in Swanson and Weinberg, Lincoln’s Assassins, page 124.
The death of Frances Seward is discussed in Van Deusen, William Henry Seward, at pages 415–416. Seward’s words about Fanny’s death and his “unspeakable sorrow” and broken dreams are in Van Deusen, at page 417.
Samuel Arnold’s memoirs did not appear in book form until the posthumous publication of Defense and Prison Experiences of a Lincoln Conspirator (Hat-tiesburg, Mississippi: The Book Farm, 1940).
Dr. Mudd has been the subject of several books, some quite sympathetic. The Mudd shelf includes Nettie Mudd, The Life of Dr. Samuel A. Mudd (New York: Neale Publishing Company, 1909); Hal Higdon, The Union vs. Doctor Mudd (Chicago: Follett Publishing Company, 1964); Samuel Carter III, The Riddle of Dr. Mudd (New York: G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 1974); Elden C. Weckesser, His Name Was Mudd (Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland and Company, 1991); John Paul Jones, ed., Dr. Mudd and the Lincoln Assassination: The Case Reopened (Conshohocken, Pennsylvania: Combined Books, 1995); and, finally, the best and most truthful account, Edward Steers Jr., His Name Is Still Mudd: The Case Against Dr. Samuel Alexander Mudd (Gettysburg: Thomas Publications, 1997).
The tale of Stanton’s rapid decline and sad last days is told in Thomas and Hy-man, Stanton, at pages 627–640. Robert Lincoln’s condolence letter appears on page 638.
The bizarre, and in many ways disturbing, story of Powell’s skull and funeral honors is noted in Kauffman’s American Brutus, at page 391.
A brief, post assassination history of Ford’s Theatre appears in Vic
toria Grieve, Ford’s Theatre and the Lincoln Assassination (Alexandria, Virginia: Parks & History Association, 2001), pages 84–91. George F. Olszewski’s Restoration of Ford’s Theatre (Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1963), an essential and fascinating account of how the dead playhouse was restored to life, belongs in the library of anyone interested in the assassination or the history of American theatre.
Asia Booth Clarke’s conciliatory but hagiographic comments come from her memoir, The Unlocked Book, page 100.
The narrative about the assassination oil paintings and wax figures draws from original advertising posters for Terry’s Panorama and Colonel Orr’s Museum.
The myth of the Booth who got away is worthy of a book itself, but that story is, unfortunately, beyond the scope of this one. For an introduction to the myth, and for photos of Bates’s book, for oil paintings he commissioned to further his scheme, and for a letter in which he claims “I had John Wilkes Booth as my client in Western Texas from about 1875 to 1877,” see Swanson and Weinberg, Lincoln’s Assassins, pages 130–136. Also see Lloyd Lewis, Myths After Lincoln (New York: Harcourt, Brace and Company, 1929); George S. Bryan, The Great American Myth (New York: Carrick & Evans, 1940); C. Wyatt Evans, The Legend of John Wilkes Booth: Myth, Memory, and a Mummy (Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 2004); and Steers, Blood on the Moon, at pages 245–267. Sarah Vowell’s marvelous and irreverent Assassination Vacation (New York: Simon & Schuster, 2005) covers the Booth escape and mummy legends in her tour of the popular culture of the Lincoln, Garfield, and McKinley assassinations.
The absurd book by Booth’s imposter “granddaughter” is Izola Forrester’s This One Mad Act: The Unknown Story of John Wilkes Booth and His Family (Boston: Hale, Cushman & Flint, 1937).
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