Drawing of Booth Body

[mikegriffith1]

(11-02-2018 03:05 PM)Gene C Wrote:  You are making the statement that Booth left Garrett's Farm with Jett. What evidence is there to support that statement? Who testified to that? You have yet to tell us what the available evidence is.

Sigh. . . . This is a theory of how Booth was placed out of harm's way. The theory is "consistent" with the evidence. The evidence does not disqualify the theory. I was paraphrasing Dr. Arnold's scenario. No one "testified" that Booth left the farm with with Jett. The theory is that he did so, that Boyd was left behind at the farm, and that the reason the Jett group that rode past the Trappe House was one man smaller than it was when it was originally seen was that Booth was one of them and had been placed in a safe house/safe place of hiding. I would suggest you read Dr. Arnold's 29-page discussion on this in his book (chapter 4).

(11-02-2018 03:27 PM)RJNorton Wrote:  Mike, in addition to Gene's questions I'd also like to know how Major O'Beirne notified Booth and Herold that he had found a suitable substitute for Booth. Dr. Arnold mentions that O'Beirne telegraphed this information to Stanton, but he does not say the manner in which Booth and Herold were informed.

This could have been done by messenger, since O'Beirne was in Port Tobacco, 30-38 miles from the Port Royal-Bowling Green area. Or, he could have sent a telegram.

And I think Dr. Arnold makes a logical point in arguing that O'Beirne's telegram was in code, since it discusses nothing of substance yet was important enough for O'Beirne to send directly to Stanton.

The alternative conspiracy theory, as opposed to your conspiracy theory, explains why Dr. May said the body on the Montauk "bore no resemblance" to Booth, why L. Garnder said that when everyone first saw the body on the Montauk "we were all struck by the lack of any resemblance to Booth," why no one on the Montauk mentioned seeing any of Booth's known six other scars (at least two of which should have been rather obvious), why the government hid the fact that the face of the body on the Montauk was heavily freckled, why Pegram felt compelled to say that the body's head had grown "nearly a foot" of hair, why the autopsy photo that Wardell carried to Baker disappeared, why no one who knew Booth well was asked to ID his body on the Montauk, why the body at the 1869 viewing had only one filled tooth (instead of Booth's two filled teeth), why the 1869 body had damage near the knee that no one mentioned seeing on the body on the Montauk and damage that Dr. Mudd did not see when he examined Booth's leg, etc., etc., etc.