Identification of Booth's body

[mikegriffith1]

(01-19-2019 06:05 PM)AussieMick Wrote:  Mike , you being a former member of the armed forces, I'd be interested in your reply to Rob's above Post with reference to what Conger meant when he said "arm".

The record is clear that "arm" was merely another term for "weapon/gun." You can see this clearly in various reports and in the testimony of several witnesses at the conspiracy trial.

In addition to Dr. Robert Arnold, Theodore Roscoe, Leonard Guttridge, Ray Neff, Professor Arthur Ben Chitty, and Nathan Orlowek, there are other scholars who have concluded that Booth did not die at the Garrett farm. Dr. John Chandler Griffin, W. C. Jameson, and Theodore Nottingham have also concluded that Booth was not the man in the Garrett barn.

Dr. Griffin is a professor emeritus at the University of South Carolina and the author of numerous books on historical subjects, including two books on Lincoln and the Civil War. His biography of Thomas Wolfe received the History Book of the Year Award from the North Carolina Historical Society. In 2000, Governor Jim Hodges of South Carolina named Dr. Griffin to the Order of the Silver Crescent, the highest award the state can give to a citizen. Here is an excerpt from Dr. Griffin’s book on the Lincoln assassination:

Miss Chapman goes on to say that Charles Bishop unwrapped the blanket from the corpse [at the 1869 viewing of the body of the man shot in Garrett’s barn] and stood for long moments gazing at the remains. Says Miss Chapman:

“Mr. Charles Bishop then carefully drew off one of the long riding boots, which were still on the feet of the body, which had evidently lain in the earth for years, and as he did so the foot and lower portion of the limb remained in the boot. An examination was then made, and it was plainly seen that the ankle had been fractured.”

The fact that the corpse was apparently wearing two boots is a most remarkable revelation, for according to the official records of the assassination, Dr. Samuel Mudd cut away the boot encasing Booth’s fractured leg on the morning of April 15, 1865. Dr. Mudd inadvertently kept the boot at his home, where it was later discovered by Federal officers. . . .

If the military commission had this boot in their possession long before “Booth” secretly had been buried beneath the flooring at the military arsenal, just how could that boot possibly have gotten back on the corpse being investigated at Weaver’s Undertaking Parlor in Baltimore, Maryland, in February 1869? . . . If the military commission was telling the truth when they displayed the boot of John Wilkes Booth, then it stands to reason that the corpse examined at Weaver’s Undertaking Parlor, the corpse wearing two boots, was not that of John Wilkes Booth. (Abraham Lincoln’s Execution (Pelican Publishing Company, 2006, pp. 408-409)

Jameson is an award-winning author of dozens of non-fiction and historical-fiction books. Here is an excerpt from his book on John Wilkes Booth:

Boyd was placed on the federal payroll and given the responsibility of reporting on Confederate prisoners’ escape plans. He was moved often and may have spent time in as many as five different prisons as an undercover agent. Shortly after being sent to Port Lookout, Maryland, an old ankle wound on his right leg developed a severe infection. In need of having it drained and treated, Boyd arranged for a transfer to Hammond General Hospital on May 20, 1864.

While incarcerated at the Old Capitol Prison, Boyd learned that his wife had died. He wrote a letter to Stanton requesting a transfer to Tennessee, where, he said, he was willing to serve as a spy. He informed Stanton of the death of his wife. He also wrote that his seven children were living on charity and that he wished to be near them.

On the day after receiving Boyd’s letter, Stanton had the spy brought to his quarters. There, the secretary of war informed him that he would be freed if he would accept an important assignment. . . .

Continuing and concentrated research and investigation into the traditional version of the flight, pursuit, and alleged killing of John Wilkes Booth have yielded a number of pertinent and troubling inconsistencies. . . . The evidence presented herein points to the likelihood that the conspiracies to kidnap and kill President Abraham Lincoln extended to the higher echelons of public office and implicates some of Lincoln’s close associates, including a cabinet member. Prominent among these interpretations is the revelation that the assassin, John Wilkes Booth, did not die at the hands of the federal soldiers at Garrett’s farm but rather went on to live another forty-three years. . . .

Most historians have written that the second rider [along with Booth] was David Herold. Recently uncovered information, along with Cobb’s own testimony, casts serious doubt on this identification. Furthermore, encounters with documents long made unavailable provide evidence suggesting that the rider was Ed Henson. . . .

Most Lincoln-era historians agree that if Stanton wanted Booth captured, he would have made certain the actor’s name and likeness were broadcast far and wide as soon as his role in the assassination was determined. Stanton, however, was apparently in no hurry to capture Booth or to inform the country of the identity of the murderer. . . .

When Captain James William Boyd heard the news of the Lincoln assassination, he was stunned, disappointed, and frightened. . . . Boyd was now concerned that the subsequent investigation would eventually lead to him and that he would be in great danger. The Confederate spy was convinced that he would be set up to take the blame. . . .

Around 7:00 a.m., the suspect died where he lay. History has long recorded that it was John Wilkes Booth, but from the time the man was dragged out of the burning barn, a great deal of confusion reigned, and doubt was expressed regarding his actual identity. Prevailing evidence suggests that it was not John Wilkes Booth at all but rather James William Boyd. (John Wilkes Booth: Beyond the Grave, New York: Taylor Trade Publishing, 2013, pp. 22, 84-85, 87, 92, 138)

Nottingham is an author and translator who has written non-fiction works on spirituality, historical and metaphysical fiction, and children's books. Some of his translations of classic spiritual works have been published by major Catholic publishing houses. Here is an excerpt from Nottingham’s book on John Wilkes Booth:

According to the testimony of the Garrett family, the man dragged onto the porch was wearing a Confederate uniform. Townsend also agrees and adds that the Garretts never deviated that the man who had been brought to their house was a Confederate soldier named John Boyd.

However, Major Ruggles and Bainbridge, whom Booth had met as he crossed the Potomac River, said that he was wearing black. In an article in The New York World, Townsend explains that he must have changed clothes at Dr. Mudd’s home. But Thomas A. Jones, who met Booth the day after he left the doctor’s house, describes him as wearing black as well. . . .

Two soldiers at the Garrett farm, Joseph Ziegen and Wilson D. Kenzie, state in affidavits that the man shot in the barn was wearing a Confederate uniform and soldiers’ boots. (The Untold Story of John Wilkes Booth, Theosis Books, 2010, pp. 170-171).

Two of the major problems with the traditional story about Booth’s fate are (1) the fact that Rollins had no problem recognizing the man he had seen on crutches as the man in the photo of Booth that Conger/Baker showed him, and (2) the fact that if Booth was the man the Garretts knew as James Boyd, then Booth’s appearance should have markedly improved during his stay there, since he received several meals and slept for a very long time his first night at the farm (he slept in until quite late the next morning). So there was absolutely no reason that less than 48 hours later Booth’s body would have looked very different from how Booth looked in life.