Identification of Booth's body

[Rob Wick]

Taking a break from cataloguing my books, I stumbled on this discussion. Several years ago when I was researching the life of Everton Conger, I came across an interview that Conger did several years after the capture of Booth. Conger was one of the people who identified Booth's body. Conger said he first knew it was Booth in the barn because he recognized his voice. He later recognized Booth's face because he had seen him in some of the gambling halls of Washington. Steve Miller, my good friend, and the man who has forgotten more about the Garrett Farm Patrol than I'll ever know, never believed that Conger knew Booth because of that, but I remain convinced. The reason? At the time Conger gave the interview, he was in Montana. He had a reputation among his political enemies as an unreformed gambler (he was suspended from the Montana Territorial Supreme Court in part due to his gambling habits). To admit that he was a gambler as far back as the Civil War was ammunition his enemies could have used against him.

Also, someone asked why Byron Baker took Booth's body back against the express orders of Edward P. Doherty. That's easy. Doherty was not in charge of the patrol. He had charge of the volunteers from the 16th New York, but Conger was in charge of the overall patrol, per the man who sent them into the field, Lafe Baker. I discuss this in the article I wrote on the battle for the War Department rewards for the Journal of the Abraham Lincoln Association.

Finally, on another matter, I received proofs of my article on Tarbell and Lincoln in Indiana from the Indiana Magazine of History. It is still on track to be published in the December issue. When I get a better handle on how I can make copies available, I will let Roger know.

Best
Rob