Booth autopsy

[Houmes]

The body starts to bloat and turn quite dark, making it difficult at times to not only ID, but also initially detect injuries like a bullet wound. No wonder Dr May didn't recognize him at first.

Thank you again Blaine for your opinion. I think it's safe to say then that with only a cursory inspection of a quickly decaying corspe and the conflicting reports, the only thing that is left of any evidentiary value are the removed sections of vertebrae themselves.

One more question and I promise I'll go away. Do you concur that the photo of the vertebrae is a posterior view?

There's no doubt that it's a posterior view. The appendage at the bottom of the picture is the posterior process of the 5th vertebra, sticking out at you. The ends of the posterior processes (each process is shaped somewhat like a fin) are the "bumps" you feel when you run a hand down the middle of your neck and back. Most of the cervical (neck) vertebrae have bifid ends, meaning you can see the bone has two little tails on the end. You're looking right into the back side of Booth's spinal canal at the level of the 4th vertebra.

[J. Beckert]

Thank you again. So - if Dr. Woodward was correct and the path of the bullet was traveling with a slight inclination downward and backward, it had to enter from the front right. I'm not sure of Corbett's position in relation to Booth (left or right), but I think this makes it more palatable that it wouldn't be so difficult for Booth to point the revolver at his neck.

[Houmes]

Thank you again. So - if Dr. Woodward was correct and the path of the bullet was traveling with a slight inclination downward and backward, it had to enter from the front right. I'm not sure of Corbett's position in relation to Booth (left or right), but I think this makes it more palatable that it wouldn't be so difficult for Booth to point the revolver at his neck.

Although this can be debated endlessly, it's significant that Corbett reported he had his gun aimed at Booth early on, and that as soon as Booth made a move--ostensibly when Corbett heard the voice of providence, but more likely when he thought Booth was going to fight or at least shoot at his fellow soldiers, he (Corbett) pulled the trigger. It's highly unlikely that while standing uncomfortably with more weight on one foot (and until the last minute using a crude wooden crutch for balance until he threw it away) Booth would have had the time needed to pull his gun all the way up anywhere near his neck or head, let alone aim it and then fire. Every one--soldiers and suspects--were tense as negotiations broke down. I suspect the other soldiers were just as itchy fingered as Corbett probably was.

[J. Beckert]

Fair enough. I appreciate your and Bill Santos' input from the medical end. It cleared a few things up for me. Thanks to both of you.

[Ashley Norman]

silly question but didn't they not check the barn after it burned for the body didn't they assume they killed booth and left him in the fire? there was a folklore I heard about one time that said they thought or had and idea the booth escaped and went to Mexico or South America. Again this is lore. did they really have booths body or what really happened to Booths body?

[Houmes]

silly question but didn't they not check the barn after it burned for the body didn't they assume they killed booth and left him in the fire? there was a folklore I heard about one time that said they thought or had and idea the booth escaped and went to Mexico or South America. Again this is lore. did they really have booths body or what really happened to Booths body?

It's safe to say there was no body left in the barn. The average house fire burns at 1,100 degrees Fahrenheit, and body cremation requires between 1,400 - 1,800 degrees Fahrenheit, for around 2 - 3 hours. The Garrett family had an approximate inventory of furniture and other contents of the barn, and were never successful (despite seeking legal counsel as late as the 1900s) in gaining compensation from the U.S. government. They wouldn't have missed a body left there.

[L Verge]

I have yet to figure out whether folklore connected to the Lincoln assassination helps to keep interest alive or whether it has become a detriment. I know that the folklore connected to Booth having escaped tends to make one's life miserable from time to time when one is connected with Surratt House Museum.

Right now, Ashley, I feel quite comfortable with the fact that John Wilkes Booth lies somewhere within the Booth family's plot in Baltimore's Green Mount Cemetery.

[RJNorton]

Ashley, IMO Laurie and Dr. Houmes are absolutely correct.

Some of the folklore that has circulated over the years is bizarre. Among my favorites are the reminiscences of John Wally. Here are a few of the things Mr. Wally "remembered:"

DISPOSAL OF BOOTH'S BODY

One of the blood points in the history of those days has been as to what became of the body of John Wilkes Booth, the hate-brained fanatical actor, whose murderous bullet ended Lincoln's benevolent life. Booth was shot to death in a barn about 10 miles from Washington where he had hidden after escaping from the theatre, and where he was followed and surrounded. He had taken a boy into the barn with him, but the boy came out and surrendered and was taken to Washington. The body of Booth was brought back to the city and was placed by the cellar of the Capital prison, mentioned above, pending an autopsy. The autopsy was delayed until the condition of the body took such a proceeding out of the question, and then a man was hired for $10 to take it out and sink it in the Potomac river.

Mrs. Surratt, who had held the horse outside the theatre for Booth while he was shooting Lincoln, who helped him mount and escape, and at whose house the conspiracy was hatched, was arrested and placed in the Capital prison, with the boy above mentioned, and the conspirators who made the futile attempt to slay Secretary Seward at the same time Lincoln was shot. These three persons, Mr. Wally, with a detail of 30 men, was responsible for on every alternate day from the time of their arrest until they were led out to be shot.

When the Judge sentenced Mrs. Surratt, Mr. Wally was in the room, and he remembers that the woman asked, "What for?" when the Judge told her she must die.

[BettyO]

Another of Mr. Wally's recollections has him "cutting up" Lew Powell's food for him and hand feeding him through the hood as though Powell was a toddler! HA!

[Jim Garrett]

I would say that 99%+ of the true students of the assassination are completely convinced that Booth died on the Garrett farm. There's a simple explanation. The more you study the assassination, the more you are convince the tradition history is correct and the myths are nothing more. That being said, I would love to see history turned on it's ear.

[Jenny]

What Jim said.

To be honest, I was big "into" the escape theories when I was in middle school/early high school; the very first real book I received that went into detail on Booth's life was actually in an "Unsolved Texas Mysteries" book that highlighted the St. Helens/George mummy story. I was young, the theories were interesting, etc. but eventually I grew into wanting to know more about John Wilkes Booth's life before the assassination as well as the actual assassination itself, as well as the other players like Davey Herold and Lew Powell. Suddenly all of the "Booth escaped" theories started to be *too* coincidental, completely outrageous, have completely unreliable "witnesses," and despite claims of papers that proved otherwise, no such papers with "the evidence" for some escape theories have ever been shown to the public (Potter papers, anyone?).

I'd go so far as to email authors of "escape" books to ask about the so-called evidence papers; never got responses from them. Plus all that I was learning about Booth's early life and, especially, the actual assassination? That information pretty much snuffed out all of the "escape theories" for me, and by the time I went to college, I was sure Booth died in the barn. And that stance hasn't been changed, despite reading new claims of Booth escaping into Indian Territory or whatnot.

There is an excellent book/leaflet called "The Body in the Barn" that Ford's Theater sells (or used to sell) which pretty much debunks the men who are considered "key" witnesses for possible escape theorists as well as other factors. I highly recommend it! Laurie, does the Surratt House Museum sell the book also?

Just my personal experience with the "Booth escaped" theories.

[L Verge]

Jenny - The Surratt House does still carry the book -- we actually publish the book, having put it together in 1993 from articles put together by proponents on each side of the issue and published in issues of the Surratt Courier. We used to sell it to Ford's Theatre at a wholesale price, but I don't believe they have ordered any recently. It sells at Surratt House for $10 + $3 postage.

[Jenny]

Ha! I should have known the Surratt House was behind the book! It's been a while since I looked at mine (bought it at Ford's back in 2001) so I had no idea!

[Gene C]

At the autopsy, is Booth's clothing described?
At anytime after the shooting at Garrett's, is the victim's clothing described?

[L Verge]

The clerk at the National Hotel, Charles Dawson, identified the body on board the Montauk and mentioned it having on a vest that Booth frequently wore. More importantly, the 16th NY carried a photo of Booth and held it to the dying man's face for identification at Garretts'. Members of the family were in on the comparison, if I remember correctly, and said later that it was definitely a match.