The 1946 "Boothies"' trip

[Laurie Verge]

As most of you know, Surratt House Museum has been doing multiple bus trips each year since 1977 over the escape route of JWB. It was interesting for me to read this account of a private tour taken by car in 1946. We actually got the idea for our bus tours from the people who piled into cars and did the tour on their own throughout the early part of the 20th century. As I read the account, however, I began to wonder how in the heck they got to where they wanted to go because the "directions" mentioned here are so misleading!

For example, mention is made of getting on Bumpy Oak Road at the village of T.B. In actuality, Bumpy Oak Road is about ten miles from T.B. And, to use Bumpy Oak to get to Dr. Mudd's house is very out of the way. I began to suspicion also that the author did not know a right-hand turn from a left-hand turn. Even exiting Baptist Alley, he had Booth turning left and heading uptown instead of right and towards the Navy Yard Bridge. When he described how they got to Dr. Mudd's, it had to be because they were totally lost!

The history (I'm assuming most of it was supplied by Msgr. McAdams - the priest who supposedly later received Mary Surratt's rosary and gave it to Gonzaga College, which lost it!) is also quite bad. Booth did not break his instep, did not receive brandy at Surrattsville, the name of the town didn't change to Clinton for 13 years, they passed through Dog Patch - not Dogtown, Mrs. Quesenberry's home was/is still standing, Dr. Wilmer was an Episcopal priest at St. Paul's Piney - not a Catholic priest at St. Peter's, etc.

It was comforting, however, to know that the places that these gentlemen saw 66 years ago are still standing and being viewed by at least 500 or more visitors that we take over the escape route each year - and that the history is more accurate this time.