Breaking a leg

[Laurie Verge]

Just a few things: First, we have 28 file drawers here at Surratt House of meticulous research done by James O. Hall from the 1950s until his death in 2006. Tim Good is an excellent historian who did considerable analysis of the eyewitness accounts also - and then got bad-mouthed for doing so.

Among those files are quite a few things on William Wood - including, as I posted before, those telegrams that Mr. Hall located decades ago. There are also statements made by or pertaining to Wood's sojourn in Southern Maryland during April of 1865. These are hard copies of specific statements contained in M-619, Reel 455, Frames 583-584, parts of reports from Wood to Stanton and also reports from a Bernard Adamson to Wood relative to stops made at a variety of homes and businesses in Southern Maryland.

I am also trying to find a complete article on Wood done by Curtis Carroll Davis in 1984, for the Maryland Historical Magazine. One interesting quote in that article comes from Wood, "...the Dr. tells a tale not to be believed..." In that same statement, there is reference to what someone posted about the crutch being made by a farmhand. Wood says that "Crutches were made for Booth by the Dr. and an Englishman in the Drs. employ." Mr. Davis identifies the Englishman as John Best, an indentured servant. In another statement, Wood clarifies that Mudd "...made with his own hands the arm pieces of the crutches." BTW: Wood's statements always refer to there being more than one crutch. Another missing artifact???

If I discover more things, I'll pass them along -- even if they are in opposition to my opinion.