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Jim Garrett · (This post was last modified: 03-31-2013 05:58 AM by Jim Garrett.)

(03-30-2013 11:08 PM)historybuff22 Wrote: This Saturday night I watched a show on H2. It was "America's Book of Secrets - Monuments." It gave the background and little-known facts about some of our National Monuments - Washington Monument in DC, St Louis Arch, etc. The last segment claimed that in February 1865 John Wilkes Booth solicited Abraham Lincoln to grant a pardon for his Confederate friend John Beall who was court marshaled and sentenced to be hung. The show goes on to state that Lincoln granted the pardon but Stanton talked Lincoln in to canceling the pardon. Lastly, the show claimed that this was the motive for Booth wanting to kill Lincoln.

I'd expect this sort of "scandal" out of FOX network, but not H2. Did H2 get fully hoodwinked or is this version of motive for Booth killing Lincoln actually true. I find it hard to believe. Any thoughts or proof to offer?

Rick Brown
HistoryBuff.com
A Nonprofit Organization

Ouch to Fox!

The Beall-Booth story has been floating out there for a while. I think it was first published in the Confederate Veteran magazine back around the turn of the century. Reading old issues of Confederate Veteran, one can see that the memories of these old vets were either slipping or they embellished and merged actual events. The Beall-Booth story is a good example of the second.