Identification of Booth's body

[mikegriffith1]

Ok, let us put to rest the myth that Booth’s flight was done under “harsh, brutal” conditions, that he was “half-starved,” etc., etc. In the process, we will also debunk the theory that Booth sprouted freckles because of too much exposure to sunlight.

I came across a valuable source on the issue of the conditions in which Booth fled. It is Robert Krick’s book Civil War Weather in Virginia (University of Alabama Press, 2007). Krick informs us of the following facts about the weather in April 1865 in Virginia:

* On April 1, 1865, a diarist in Richmond wrote, “It is beautiful weather” (p. 155). Port Royal is about 50 miles north of Richmond.

* On April 2, a soldier in Lee’s army stationed outside Richmond said, “The weather is fine” (p. 155).

* There was a lot of rain in the area between April 3 and April 14, and the temperatures dropped somewhat (pp. 155-156). However, Krick notes that there was no rainfall from April 16 through April 28, and he documents that the temperatures during that time were mild and comfortable (p. 156).

* Confirming Krick’s data about the lack of rain from April 16-28, Thomas Jones reported that it never rained during the six days he was helping Booth while Booth was hiding in the woods near Cox’s house (John Wilkes Booth: By A Man Who Helped Him Escape, Kindle edition, loc. 423). By the way, Jones also said that Booth’s appearance was “respectable”:

He was dressed in dark—I think black—clothes; and though they were travel-stained, his appearance was respectable. (loc. 319)

Humm, so no “half-starved” and/or “sunken-faced” appearance yet.

* For his temperature ranges, Krick relied on temperature readings taken in Washington, which was 55 miles north of Port Royal (where the Garretts lived) and 40 miles north of Bel Alton, Maryland (where Samuel Cox lived). With this in mind, here are the temperatures from April 14 through April 26 at 7:00 AM, 2:00 PM, and 9:00 PM respectively:

-- April 14: 47 degrees, 67 degrees, 54 degrees
-- April 15: 50 degrees, 57 degrees, 58 degrees
-- April 16: 60 degrees, 68 degrees, 47 degrees
-- April 17: 41 degrees, 57 degrees, 49 degrees
-- April 18: 52 degrees, [no record], 61 degrees
-- April 19: 58 degrees, [no record], 59 degrees
-- April 20: 54 degrees, 58 degrees, 54 degrees
-- April 21: 52 degrees, 65 degrees, 61 degrees
-- April 22: 67 degrees, 70 degrees, 59 degrees
-- April 23: 48 degrees, 53 degrees, 43 degrees
-- April 24: 48 degrees, 68 degrees, 50 degrees
-- April 25: 50 degrees, 80 degrees, 60 degrees
-- April 26: 54 degrees, 85 degrees, 65 degrees (p. 156)

The temperatures in Port Royal were probably 2-3 degrees higher than those in Washington in many cases. But, even assuming they were the same, we see that the temperatures were hardly harsh.

Krick’s book (most of it) is available on Google Books.

I could not find any data on the average lowest/nighttime temperatures for April 1865 in the greater Richmond-Fredericksburg area, but I did find these kinds of data for that area dating back to 1930 (http://www.virginiaplaces.org/climate/). According to this website, the average minimum temperate in April 1930 in the Fredericksburg area was 41.7 degrees, hardly “freezing” conditions. Also, the average maximum temperature for that area was 69 degrees, a very comfortable temperature.

A few points about the fact that Booth enjoyed a steady supply of food and spent most of his time either indoors or in the shade:

* Booth ate at Mudd’s house.

* Booth ate at Cox’s house.

* After eating at Cox’s house, Booth hid in the woods near Cox’s house.

* At Cox’s request, Jones brought Booth food every day of the six days that Booth was hiding in the woods. This food included ham, bread with butter, and coffee (Jones, loc. 527).

* Jones fed Booth a meal outside his house just before he led him to a boat to cross the river.

* Dr. Richard Stuart fed Booth after he crossed the river. He also let him sleep in his barn.

* William Rollins let Booth rest in his house while Booth was waiting to cross the Rappahannock River (Winkler, Lincoln and Booth, p. 177).

* If the James Boyd who arrived at the Garretts’ farm on April 24 was really Booth, then Booth spent his first night there in the house, ate several meals, and spent hours relaxing and socializing with the Garretts during most of two days there.

Given the above facts, and assuming for the sake of argument that Booth’s body was the body viewed on the Montauk, there is no science-based or discernible reason that Booth’s appearance should have changed so drastically that the people on the Montauk were “shocked” by the body’s lack of resemblance to Booth. Nor is there any science-based reason that Booth would have sprouted freckles and appeared to have aged to the point of looking “much older” than he did less than two years earlier.

Nobody who saw Booth before he allegedly went to Garrett’s farm said that he had freckles, that he looked “half-starved,” that he looked “much older” than 26, or that they did not recognize him because his appearance had changed so drastically. When Conger showed Rollins a picture of Booth, less than 48 hours before Booth's alleged death, Rollins had no trouble recognizing him as the man he’d seen on crutches, and the only difference that Rollins noted was that the man on crutches had no mustache.

As for the claim that Booth could have sprouted freckles because of exposure to sunlight, there are two facts that refute this claim:

One, Booth was not exposed to sunlight long enough to cause the kinds of freckles that result from overexposure to sunlight.

Two, freckles caused by solar overexposure are different from regular freckles:

There are two categories of freckles: ephelides and solar lentigines. Ephelides are the common type most people think of as freckles. Solar lentigines are dark patches of skin that develop during adulthood. This includes freckles, aging spots, and sunspots. The two types of freckles can look similar but differ in other ways such as their development. (https://www.healthline.com/health/what-are-freckles)

Finally, I think it bears repeating that the James W. Boyd whom researchers have identified as the man shot in the barn was not the same James W. Boyd that Steers and Chaconas claim died before Booth supposedly died (https://historynewsnetwork.org/article/3873). The James W. Boyd under discussion never returned to his family and his family never saw him again, even though he was known to have been anxious to return to his family.