+- Lincoln Discussion Symposium (https://rogerjnorton.com/LincolnDiscussionSymposium)
+-- Forum: Lincoln Discussion Symposium (/forum-1.html)
+--- Forum: Assassination (/forum-5.html)
+--- Thread: A Wonderful Find ... (/thread-1571.html)
A Wonderful Find ... - BettyO - 03-21-2014 06:22 AM
Thanks to Linda Anderson's sharp eye, I was going through the wonderful files in the Lincoln Financial Group Collection of ephemera when I found this grand old "friend" - John C. Brennan's Pictorial Primer of the Booth Escape Route Tour. Told as only Mr. Brennan could tell it - it's a must for any assassination library.
Click here.
RE: A Wonderful Find ... - Gene C - 03-21-2014 08:51 AM
Fantastic. There is even a picture of Laurie Verge on p9.
(note she is under heavy guard - are those chains on her wrists?)
RE: A Wonderful Find ... - L Verge - 03-21-2014 11:23 AM
Gene - I don't know how you got this to be in good enough shape to read it! I had to go to my treasured copy (worn with age) to be able to make out anything. Even it is difficult to decipher because the photos were taken back in the 1970s with a ca. 1960 Polaroid camera (one of the first of its kind, I believe). Mr. Brennan and his cameras is a topic for conversation unto itself...
About twenty years ago, I took the material to a professional printer and asked if it could be cleanly copied, or better yet, more professionally laid out for further generations to enjoy. I thought the printer would have a stroke. There is a lot more to "clean copy" than what it took for Mr. Brennan to tape his Polaroid photos above the captions and run it through the copy machine.
This Primer, however, is truly a collectors' item as well as some darn good history. If you ever run across a copy, grab it. P.S. His list of Acknowledgements in the front is a Who's Who of original Boothies. And, Rich Smyth would enjoy the inclusion of some tombstones in the booklet. I believe that Mr. B. was the first put such photos into print.
BTW: We are now known as Boothies - and we were known as that in the 1970s too. HOWEVER, it was a term of scorn at that time, given to us by the established Lincoln community that looked down on those of us who were interested in the assassination story. I'm afraid that many in that day thought that "Boothies" had to dislike Mr. Lincoln if they were interested in his murder. It has taken a long time for us to convince some (not yet all) that one can be interested in the whole Mr. Lincoln at the same time that we are intrigued with the assassination.
Nuts like Betty and I and so many others have always called ourselves "Booth Buffs."
RE: A Wonderful Find ... - J. Beckert - 03-21-2014 01:55 PM
That's an interesting booklet, Betty. Thank you. I see on page 14 Mr. Brennan states that he believes it's possible Booth may have shot himself.
RE: A Wonderful Find ... - John E. - 03-21-2014 02:24 PM
I always thought the term "Boothie" was a bit off. To be more specific, one of the only true "Boothies" I know is Terry Alford.
Laurie, our group still has a poor reputation with some folks who believe (in some twisted way) we are glad Lincoln was assassinated.
Even James Swanson (who has been compensated quite handsomely and profited more than most for Lincoln being assassinated) labeled some in our field as "misguided antiquarians" for wanting to handle the remains of Lewis Powell with dignity & respect. My guess is that he wanted to ingratiate himself to the much larger Lincoln fanatics. Perhaps 150 years is still too soon for some to look back at Lincoln's assassination objectively.
Personally, I find Lincoln's assassination a portal into one of our country's most fascinating and turbulent periods. It was an unprecedented tragedy in which some of our country's most interesting characters and personalities were linked. The joy in learning and researching has always been its own reward. If we uncover something new, that's icing on the cake.
RE: A Wonderful Find ... - L Verge - 03-21-2014 04:03 PM
Terry loves the mystery of the Lincoln assassination as much as the rest of us. As for James Swanson, we have converted him. Jim's a friend of mine and of the museum and Society and freely admits that his first impression of us was that we were "weird." He and Joan Chaconas and I have had some good laughs about that -- he's been converted, trust me.
Your last paragraph describes my feelings about my obsession quite accurately. You and I are on the same page. It is a shame that a few others cannot look beyond the crime itself to see the effect it had/has on American history.
RE: A Wonderful Find ... - John E. - 03-21-2014 05:08 PM
(03-21-2014 04:03 PM)L Verge Wrote: Terry loves the mystery of the Lincoln assassination as much as the rest of us. As for James Swanson, we have converted him. Jim's a friend of mine and of the museum and Society and freely admits that his first impression of us was that we were "weird."
In case my comments were received the wrong way, please let me clarify what I meant about Terry Alford. As most of us know, Terry devoted the last 30 years of his life to studying John Wilkes Booth and I consider him to be the foremost expert on the man. Now that Art Loux has passed away, Terry pretty much holds that distinction by himself. That's why I said he's one of the only people I would think to term a "Boothie". Tom Bogar, with his knowledge of Booth and the theater is right up there too.
I've seen Terry at three or four of the last conferences and know he enjoys this subject as much as the rest of us.
As for Jim Swanson, I don't know him at all and will take your word for it. However, his early comments about us being weird were pretty accurate.
RE: A Wonderful Find ... - L Verge - 03-21-2014 06:03 PM
You are quite right about Terry and his vast knowledge about JWB and family. I told him at the conference that I was going to slap him silly if Fortune's Fool isn't published in time for him to speak at the 2015 conference. He assured me that everything was going to be in the hands of the publisher by the first day of spring -- that was yesterday!
He has fed me little snippets of interesting things over the past few years, and his research has turned up phenomenal details. I know that everything will not be able to fit into the publisher's specifications, so I hope that "leftovers" might find their way into the Yellow Pages (the nickname for the Surratt Courier).
From the standpoint of benefits to Surratt House and the study of the Lincoln assassination, I am of the opinion that James Swanson's Manhunt has done more than any other book in the past forty years to get people interested in the subject. It has been on the market for about ten years, and visitors to the museum still mention it (and even bring it with them). When you can attract the attention of the average person and get him/her interested in the subject, that's what counts with me. And, I suspect that the side effect of reading about Mr. Lincoln's murder may be that some also become interested in his life, politics, and influence on our country.
RE: A Wonderful Find ... - LincolnMan - 03-22-2014 04:21 PM
I can't read the attached document at this moment but it sounds like a treasure. Regarding the notion that Booth may have shot himself- does anyone on this Forum think so? Personally, I don't see Booth going out that way. I think he would have deemed it to cowardly. Also, was there any mention by those who viewed the corpse of Booth that there were powder burns on his neck- which would have been the case if he had shot himself?
RE: A Wonderful Find ... - J. Beckert - 03-22-2014 04:35 PM
(03-22-2014 04:21 PM)LincolnMan Wrote: Regarding the notion that Booth may have shot himself- does anyone on this Forum think so?
Now that you mention it, Bill - I do! I'm afraid I don't have much company here, though. For a long time it was thought it was physically impossible, but it was indeed possible and the autopsy report and Booth's own statements lead me to think he did. The autopsy report is extremely vague as compared to those done today and no mention of powder burns is mentioned.
RE: A Wonderful Find ... - L Verge - 03-22-2014 05:08 PM
I think Booth was capable of shooting himself, but I don't think he did. The position of the wound is in too awkward a place -- the temple, mouth, or under the chin would seem more logical to me.
My other thought is one of those pesky social and cultural (and religious) reasons: Booth was at least raised as an Episcopalian by his mother, including being educated in an Episcopal school at one point. He apparently also made a claim to his sister that he had converted to Catholicism (no record of this found). I am an Episcopalian who married into a Catholic family and also have Catholic roots several side generations back. Both faiths frown very heavily against suicide, even to this day.
PS: On the outside chance that Booth did convert to Catholicism (after meeting the Surratts?), I think he might have done so in order to gain acceptance in either of two countries to which he knew he might have to flee after his dirty deed -- Canada and/or Mexico. The Catholic Church also grants sanctuary to its own -- John Surratt certainly took advantage of that...
RE: A Wonderful Find ... - LincolnMan - 03-22-2014 05:09 PM
Why would Booth shoot himself in the neck? Why not his head- too more ensure instant death? He used the carbine? Why, if he killed himself, did the troopers state it happened that way? Why? I sound like a little child.
RE: A Wonderful Find ... - J. Beckert - 03-22-2014 06:05 PM
Booth had a strong fear of having his face scarred. While the places Laurie stated are more logical & common places to shoot one's self, a phobia like that would certainly make the neck a logical place for Booth. I've seen suicides where a man shot himself in the top of the head and another who rigged up a Rube Goldberg type contraption to horizontally mount a shotgun and fire it into his chest by pulling a string tied to the trigger. While incidents like this are uncommon, they do occur. Booth said to (I believe Jett) - if they don't kill me, I'll kill myself. His state of mind towards the end also lends to the suicide theory. He bragged to Lloyd on the 14th that he shot the President and he told Jett towards the end of his run that the assassination was "nothing to brag about." He was tired, sore, dejected and there was no way a man of his personal pride was going to take a ride on a Yankee haywagon and be paraded through Washington like a captured animal.
RE: A Wonderful Find ... - Wild Bill - 03-22-2014 06:38 PM
Try reading Rick Smith and my, "Could John Wilkes Booth Have Committed Suicide?” in Rick Stelnick, “Booth Bombshell: Not Suicide by Cop,” February 10, 2012, Suite 101.com. Reprinted in SURRATT COURIER, 38 (May 2013), 3-8. Guaranteed to anger everyone.
RE: A Wonderful Find ... - J. Beckert - 03-22-2014 07:23 PM
That was a great article Bill and whether it angers anyone or not is beside the point. You and Rick did a great job of explaining that no one can prove what happened either way while being sensitive and respectful to other's theories, but that suicide was a distinct possiblity.
I tried to find a link to the Suite101 site, but I can't find it.
I don't buy the suicide by cop theory for a minute. If that were the case, I think Booth would have actually have had to have seen a "cop". In a barn packed with furniture and farm equipment, I don't think he was planning on anyone taking him out. He blatantly refused to come out and he knew what was waiting for him if he did. The rope - and just what he wrote he wanted to avoid - dying like a criminal.