Did Booth have another pistol?

[LincolnMan]

Yes, I found the article. See Civil War Times Illustrated, Volume XIII, Number 9, January 1975, Page 20. The article is Booth's Other Pistol by Hamilton Cochran. It says that a Mr. James J. Gifford found the weapon and it had the name J. Wilkes Booth engraved on the butt plate. He found it at Ford's on the morning of the 15th. Gifford was a stage carpenter. According to the article, Gifford thought he had the murder weapon and feared turning it in to the authorities. It is a smaller derringer than the actual murder weapon used. He held on to it for years. It wasn't until 1901 that anything was said about the weapon. By then, Gifford had died and it belonged to a George Plowman. Plowman also thought that it was the murder weapon. The story continues but is too long to repeat here. The author of the article now owns the weapon himself (at least as of the date of the writing). He concludes the piece by speculating about the weapon. Did Booth carry two pistols? If he didn't, how did it get into Ford's theater-and on April 15th? Why does it have Booth's name on it-if it didn't belong to Booth? It sounds like the author believes-but can't be positive in the end- that Booth brought both weapons to Ford's. He suggests it either fell from Booth by accident or Booth tossed it aside. Still, he ends: "Unfortunately the answer will never be known. It is buried in the Booth family plot among the bones of the self-appointed executioner of President Abraham Lincoln."