Those Booth Horses Again -

[RJNorton]

(04-06-2014 07:56 PM)Tom Bogar Wrote:  I think what I found most surprising about Peanut John is that while most people described him as slow-witted, whenever the occasion required, he could be surprisingly articulate about horses, using proper equine terminology. What a curious figure. I doubt we'll ever know his identity for certain.

Tom, even his skin color has been disputed. I own several books which describe him as black. However, I believe the actual evidence that is available points to him being a white boy.

Joan Chaconas once wrote a fascinating article on the "mystery" of Peanut John (June 1989 Surratt Courier). I love her concluding paragraph:

"At this point in our narration we seem to come to the bottom of the well of information. We can conclude, but not positively, that Peanuts was white; but he might have been black. There is no evidence as to his age but he probably was about 15 or 16 years old. He was not too literate as he couldn't write his name, and he vanishes soon after the 1865 trial of the conspirators."