"Booth" Was Not John Wilkes Real Last Name?

[Steve]

(03-22-2017 03:55 PM)L Verge Wrote:  

(03-22-2017 01:39 AM)michael snyder Wrote:  Michael Kauffman is his book American Brutus and in the article on the Lincoln Assassination he did for Blue Gray in Apr. 1990 states that Booth's ancestors were expelled from Portugal for holding what he called "radical political views." He doesn't anything about the family being Jewish. It is also stated that Junius Brutus Booth, Sr. was proficient in many languages and could read Vasquez in Portuguese. Michael Snyder

It has been stated by others that the Portuguese line was Jewish way back when, but I am not sure if that has been distinctly proven. Carolyn Mitchell on this forum might be able to help here. I have not read Steve Archer's great book on Booth, Sr. Does anyone know if Steve addressed this genealogical question?

The elder Booth was very well-read and also knowledgeable in a variety of religions and knew even the tenets expressed in the Koran.
He definitely appreciated liquor and was a tad "weird," but I think he would be interesting to talk with and analyze during one of his good days.

I haven't looked into the Booth family's lineage, but it actually seems kind of interesting so maybe that's something I should look into. (I have researched a little into Junius Brutus Booth's life and immediate family back in England, though.)

I do think everybody should be extremely skeptical of these stories of the Booth family coming from either Portugal or Spain without any documentation of it. First, Booth is a common English surname. Second, Junius Sr.'s ancestry can apparently already be traced at least to his grandfather, John Booth the Clerkenwell blacksmith without any records mentioning a Spanish or Portuguese family. Not any mention in Booth family correspondence, newspapers articles during Junius Sr.'s career, or government records. It could only take a few generations for something like that to disappear from oral family history. Genealogy and family history first became a hobby for non-nobility or royalty during the 19th century.

Also this link that might be of interest:
https://muse.jhu.edu/chapter/28589

Quick edit: I'm not Steve Archer, I thought I should make that clear in case anybody was confused