Derringer

[Gene C]

As far as I can tell, no one has been able to prove, verify, or has personally viewed the Philip Henson papers and photos.
I personally don't believe they exist.

We have discussed this before in the tread "The Booth Deringer Pistol" post # 19 & 22
http://rogerjnorton.com/LincolnDiscussio...g#pid62809

Wild Bill wrote
"At the risk of having everyone saying, "Is that idiot back again?" I refer you all to Rick Henson's Dixie Reckoning, of which I have a manuscript. I believe that Laurie has one,too, and it also is available in Kindle (unfortunately a very expensive price) I believe.

But As Laurie said above, Booth was in trouble in Montgomery, Ala, with either a cuckolded husband or a more radical secessionist mob (Booth was a Cooperationist at this time in his life, see Richter, Sic Semper Tyrannis) and Philip Henson, Stelnick's "hero," gave Booth one of his Derringers for protection. Hence it is one of a pair, only he did not have both. Did he not drop it in the theater box before he jumped?

Stelnick uses as a reference Grace Henson White's papers which include Henson's story of his spying activities for US Grant during the Civil War. To my knowledge, no one has seen these papers but Stelnick and White, so you pays your money and takes your choice as to the accuracy of this tale. I do not think anyone knows where White is or even if she still lives and Stelnick died from a heart condition two to three years ago during Hurricane Sandy. Where his papers are, no one knows. "

Laurie wrote
"At the risk of having everyone saying, "Is that idiot back again?" I refer you all to Rick Henson's Dixie Reckoning, of which I have a manuscript. I believe that Laurie has one,too, and it also is available in Kindle (unfortunately a very expensive price) I believe."

After being threatened by Mr. Stelnick, I sent back everything that he had sent me (even though he had not asked for them). There are two issues of the Surratt Courier, dating back 6-7 years(?,) that carried two articles that he wrote -- very lengthy and very confusing. The index to the Couriers is on the Surratt website at surrattmuseum.com. We sell back issues for $1 each.

Jane Singer of this forum contacted Grace Henson White as soon as I slipped the info to her. Ms. White was very cordial and amenable to talking on the first phone call. When Jane called back, she hung up as quickly as possible, claiming that she didn't know anything. We suspected that a certain someone had warned her to shut up.

Both Bill and I spoke with Stelnick's original publisher. Stelnick vanished on him also. One of the more "interesting" characters during my tenure at Surratt House. "