Identification of Booth's body

[mikegriffith1]

(01-30-2019 11:06 PM)Steve Wrote:  Just to add to my reply to Mike above - When the body believed to be Booth's was exhumed in 1869, it was found to have only one boot, with the other foot wearing a shoe. From page one of the 17 Feb. 1869 edition of the Baltimore Sun:

I am tempted to say, "You must be kidding." The 1869 "identification" is even more problematic than the 1865 one. The article you present does not address a single one of the problems with the 1869 identification.

I am not going to reinvent the wheel and repeat all the problems with the 1869 identification. I have discussed them in several previous replies in this thread. Please see my previous replies, or see my two articles on the evidence that Booth escaped.

As for the fact that "arm" and "arms" were common synonyms for "gun/guns" and "rifle/rifles," this fact is abundantly documented in period sources, including in many documents related to the Lincoln case, such as the conspiracy trial transcript. Surely at least some here have heard of the famous 18th- and 19-century command "to arms, to arms!" It didn't mean to go grab your upper-body limbs. A few examples of "arm/arms" being used of gun/guns/rifle/rifles from the conspiracy trial transcript--these are from Poore's trial transcript:

Peace had not then been conquered; there was a powerful enemy in arms" (vol. 1, p. 3)

[Lloyd explaining about when the rifles were hidden at the tavern] "Yes, sir: I put them in there. I stated to Colonel Wells, through mistake, that Surratt put them there; but I put them in there myself. I carried the arms up myself. (vol. 1, p. 113)

Q. At the time you commenced the occupancy of the premises, did you find any arms in the house? (vol. 1, p. 117)

Q. Then Mr. Surratt was the one who gave the arms into your charge?" (vol. 1, p. 125)

Q. Do you know which buggy brought them up?
A. I did not see the arms taken out of the buggies at all; I did not see anything of any arms until they were shown to me on the sofa: but, from the position of Herold’s buggy, I supposed he was the one who brought them. (vol. 1, p. 125)

Q. Did you see any arms in their rooms?
A. I saw a pistol once; only once. (vol. 1, p. 138)

Q. Did you ask Dr. Mudd whether he charged anything for setting the leg?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. What did he say?
A. I did not ask him if he had charged anything. I asked him if the men had much money about them. He said they had considerable greenbacks. I then asked him if they had arms about them. He said, “This injured man”—he did not say Booth—“had a pair of revolvers.” (vol. 1, p. 260)

[From Conger's testimony] There were two Garretts; by that time another one had come from somewhere; and Lieutenant Baker said to one of the Garretts, “You must go in the barn, and get the arms from those men.” (vol. 1, pp. 309-310)

[From Conger's testimony] Baker said, “They know you, and you can go in.” Baker said to the men inside, “We are going to send this man, on whose premises you are, in to get your arms; and you must come out and deliver yourselves up.” (vol. 1, p. 310)

So when Conger said that the man in the barn "dropped his arm" and started heading toward the door just before he was shot, he was clearly saying that the man dropped his weapon and started walking toward the door just before he was shot.