New Development in Booth Case Coming Soon

[L Verge]

Just a little follow-up on the petitioners in the 1995 exhumation case:

"John Wilkes Booth had no
legitimate children and no direct descendants. Two
distant descendants agreed to become Petitioners in a
legal effort to force Green Mount Cemetery to permit
the exhumation of the remains of John Wilkes Booth:
Virginia Eleanor Humbrecht Kline of Pennsylvania, a
first cousin twice removed, and Lois White Rathbun
of Rhode Island, a great, great, great niece.
Not all the distant descendants were in favor of
an exhumation. At the time of the hearing, Marie
Worster, who is Petitioner Kline's sister, did not
consent to an exhumation, nor did her daughter. Mrs.
Worster and her daughter have possession of the
original deed given by Green Mount Cemetery to
Mary Ann Booth. I spoke with Mrs. Worster and
urged her to come to court and testify as to her opposition, but she did not want to become publicly
involved." excerpted from a legal article prepared by Frank Gorman.

There were supposedly 22 petitioners, none of close kin. After the case, a leading historian in the assassination field spoke with a number of them whom he knew from previous interviews. They indicated that they had been pressured into going along with the petition, and many said they just wanted to get the whole thing over with.

Frankly, so do I! There comes a time when historical evidence has to take precedence over family legend, speculation, and hearsay