Second Innaugural Assassination attempt

[Laurie Verge]

John Surratt was under the command of Gen. Edwin Lee during this time, and it appears that he was part of the plans for getting the last of the Confederate treasury into Canada for shipment overseas. The so-called assignment to spy on the POW camp at Elmira, NY,was probably part of his cover - or prison breaks could accompany the money into Canada and safety.

John Stanton has taken up where the late Msrs Hall and Tidwell stopped in tracking Secret Line activities. The little booklet that I mentioned is the best road map you can find as to Booth's money trail. As Joe said, Booth was nearly broke and borrowing money as the kidnap plot began. Here are some of the details.

Hall and Maione made a best guesstimate of Booth's wealth during his peak performance period from December 1, 1862, through his last time on stage on May 28, 1864, as $38,000. Taking account for personal expenses and travel, that would still leave him with a good amount. However, we have to take into account known things he did with that money: $800 went to his mother; $8192 purchased the lot in Boston; $4000 in bonds were bought and stored in his brother-in-law's safe for his mother; he lost $6000 in his failed oil ventures; $1155 was deposited in the Ontario Bank; and $1500 was deposited in the Cooke Bank in D.C.

During the summer of 1864, Booth was doing a lot of traveling to New York and Boston, divesting himself of the oil interests, and even recovering from the dangerous staph infection that affected his right arm and kept him bedridden. On October 18, 1864, he was back in Montreal for a ten-day visit which included a lot of time with Patrick Charles Martin.

On November 9, Booth was back in Washington, and two days later on his way to Bryantown, Maryland to meet with Drs. Queen and Mudd at church on November 13. He was back in D.C. on the 14th and went to the Cooke Bank on November 16 with a deposit of $1500. Did that money come from Canadian connections or from Maryland planters? Could there have been New York connections involved also?