John W. Booth's Children?

[GARY POPOLO]

My question may have been asked before so excuse me if so. I finished reading My thoughts be Bloody and the book brought up the thought that JWB had two children named Alonso and Ogretia. Rosalie Booth was said to have supported these child for years by sending them money every year. Has anyone proved this to be true? Best Always Gary

[RJNorton]

Hi Gary. The outstanding researcher, Dave Taylor, has looked into these claims; please see his web page here. There is information about Mrs. Rogers' claim about 2/3 of the way down the page.

[Jim Garrett]

There are at least two books that have been written by descendants of JWB. The most notable are "This One Mad Act" by Izola Forrester, and "The Curse of Cain" by Theodore Nottingham. I believe Rich Smyth has been in contact with some descendants.

[Dave Taylor]

Thanks for the compliments, Roger. Here's the part I wrote about Booth's "children" from my post on Rosalie Booth:

"Over the course of this biographical sketch, there has been only one intriguing aspect of Rosalie Booth’s life that has been withheld until now. In the immediate aftermath of John Wilkes Booth’s assassination of Abraham Lincoln, Junius Brutus Booth who had travelled to Asia’s home in Philadelphia to be his mother wrote the following to Edwin back in New York:

“God bless you, dear brother. I have warned Mother about Sharpers [swindlers] who wish to get money – see that she holds no communication with weeping imposters.”

Junius and Edwin knew their younger brother was popular with the ladies. As he toured around from city to city, he invariably left behind smitten and heartbroken girls. He was called the “handsomest man in America” by some and woman swooned over him. A letter to John from a female admirer found in his trunk at the National Hotel started with the words, “I am about your own age, possibly a few months younger, and you will probably wonder what a woman” before being conveniently torn off. Appropriately then, Junius and Edwin worried that some of John’s former admirers might attempt to take advantage of Mary Ann in her grief by claiming to be John’s fiancée or, worse yet, the mother of his children.

Sure enough, widows of all shapes and sizes came out of the woodwork. Edwin would later write that he was besieged by about “twenty [widows] that wrote to me just after John’s death.” While Edwin ignored and denied them all, at least one crafty “widow” discovered and successfully preyed upon Rose.

The alleged widow was named Izola Martha Mills, though her name went through many variations over the years. She claimed that John Wilkes Booth had fathered her daughter, Ogarita, and son, Alonzo. In 1937, Ogarita’s daughter, Izola Forrester, wrote a book entitled, This One Mad Act, in which she claimed John Wilkes as her grandfather. The book is poorly written, the evidence is flawed, and though there are claims of family letters and documents that “prove” various points, they are not provided in any form. In 1991, two Burrillville, Rhode Island historians wrote a book entitled, The Elusive Booths of Burrillville, in which they investigated many of the claims in Forrester book trying to prove, one way or another, the legitimacy of the “Booths” who later resided in their hometown. Their overall thesis was inconclusive, but they were successful in disproving several of Forrester’s grandiose claims such as the notion that John Wilkes Booth did not die at Garrett’s farm and, instead, later met up with Izola Mills in California and had another child with her in 1870/71. The issue that kept the Burrillville authors from dismissing Forrester’s book entirely was the fact that poor Rosalie Booth had fallen for Izola Mills’ claim to be the mother of her brother’s children.


Rose’s imposter niece and nephew, Ogarita and Alonzo.

Only a handful of known documents exist that prove a relationship existed between Rose and the con-artist Izola Mills. The most open and honest account of their relationship comes from a letter written by Mrs. Elijah Rogers. Mrs. Rogers was a neighbor of the Booths when they lived on their farm near Bel Air and is mentioned in a couple of Asia’s “Tudor Hall” letters. Mrs. Rogers apparently kept in touch with the Booths, to some extent, after they moved from Tudor Hall. In 1886, a Baltimore doctor by the name of William Stump Forwood was working on a biography of Junius Brutus Booth, the elder. He wrote to Mrs. Rogers, asking her about the life of the Booth family in Bel Air. She, in return wrote him six letters of her reminiscences. While her memories must be taken with a grain of salt, in a letter Mrs. Rogers wrote on August 16th, she mentions quite openly Izola and her children:

“John [Wilkes Booth] had one daughter Ogretia and one son Alonso. Ogretia was beautyfull. Alonso was very much like the old Mr Richard Booth. Johns wife is still living. her name was Izalia. I do not know her maiden name. John told Roslie he would give her two oil wells, and he wished her to take care of those two children, which she did, although they were with there Mother. Rosie calls them her Children. John was not married to there Mother. after Johns Death Izalia she went with the Children A way to the Ilenoiise. they the Children are both married now. poor Children… None of the family takes any account of John Wilks’ Children but Roslie. she is very kind to them: does not visit them, but sends them money every spring and fall. calls them her Children.”

It is interesting that Mrs. Rogers supports the notion that Izola’s children are John Wilkes’ in this letter. In Ella Mahoney’s 1925 book, Sketches of Tudor Hall and the Booth family, she recounts that, “Mrs. Rogers did not believe her [Izola’s] story, and of course advised her against trying to get the girl’s interests advanced in that capacity, as the daughter of Booth.” Beyond the recollections of Mrs. Rogers, however, there are other, more personal, pieces of evidence that prove that Rose took an interest in Izola’s children and provided for them financially.

In December of 1885, an article was published in the New York Tribune and other newspapers debunking a previous article in a Boston paper that stated that John Wilkes Booth was still alive and well in Alabama. Edwin Booth read this article. Instead of being pleased that someone was discrediting yet another tale about his brother’s alleged survival, Edwin Booth was furious that the author claimed to have been John Wilkes’ widow and mother of his two children. Edwin wrote that same day to Edwina:

“Today’s Tribune contains a wretched lie about John Wilkes’ family, not one word of truth in it from end to end; I suspect it is the beginning of a ‘black-mail scheme’ of which I had some intimation months ago through a Boston lawyer… The widow of this Tribune article is only one of twenty that wrote to me after John’s death & is the one, I suspect, who got all poor Rose’s money – some $10,000 from her. Rose says all that is ended now & that she will save her money – I hope she is not deceiving me.”

How do we know that it was Izola, and not another of the many “sharpers” Junius, Jr. was worried about, that tricked Rose out of her money? The evidence for that comes from two sources. First, in the family papers for Izola Forrester, the woman who claimed John Wilkes as her grandfather, there is a letter written in 1888 from her mother Ogarita to her brother Harry. In it she states, “I received a beautiful letter from Miss Rogers in Baltimore. You remember us speaking of her. She sent her love to you, calling you my little brother, she is going to find out Aunt Rosalies address for me. She is living somewhere in New York with Uncle Joseph.” It should be mentioned here that Ogarita was an actress and used her alleged paternity to increase her fame and appeal. From this letter it appears that Ogarita either truly believed she was John Wilkes’ daughter, or continued the subterfuge for financial and professional reasons even after her mother’s death. If Rose upheld her promise to Edwin, it is unlikely that she held any additional correspondence with Izola Mills or Ogarita after 1885, explaining Ogarita’s ignorance of “Aunt Rosalie’s” current address in 1888.

Izola Forrester’s book is filled with claims of gifts, letters, and money that flowed from Rose to Izola and her children. Edwin’s letter seems to corroborate the passage of a great deal of funds from Rose to the imposter. In the Forrester papers, there are no surviving letters from Rose. There is, however, a gift that Rose sent to Izola Mills. This gift takes the form of a book of poems, published in 1881, entitled, Donata and other Poems, by Adidnac. An inscription inside the book reads:

Mrs. M. Lizola Bates
From her ever loving sister
Rosalie A. Booth
September 11th 1883.
“Many happy returns of your birthday.”

The handwriting of the inscription was looked at by a handwriting expert in 1988. Using a letter written by Rose housed in Edwin’s club, The Players, a comparison was made. The inscription in the book was authenticated to be from Rose.

The length of time that Izola Mills successfully swindled money from Rose is uncertain. What’s even more uncertain is what led Rose to be convinced by this imposter. Perhaps it is like what Mrs. Rogers implied. As the recipient of John Wilkes’ oil profits, Rose was torn about what to do with the money from his brother turned murderer. When approached by Izola, playing the part of a grief stricken widow with “Booth” children to feed, Rose discovered the only ethical use for her brother’s blood money. Or perhaps Rose chose to believe Izola because, in her own way, she truly missed her brother, regardless of his crime. Though it was a lie, giving money to Izola was her way of preserving the decent part of her brother’s memory.

Regardless of her motivation, Edwin’s letter seems to prove that Rose eventually saw Izola for the thief and liar that she was. However, due to Rose’s temporary willingness to believe that her brother had left innocent children behind, the lies spread by Izola have tricked many historians, including author Stanley Kimmel who included Izola and Ogarita in his 1969 reprint of his book, The Mad Booths of Maryland."

[Gene C]

Very interesting Dave. Thanks for posting that.

[GARY POPOLO]

Roger and Dave thank you very much for all the interesting information on JWB's so called children. I never knew there so much written on this subject. Dave your skill of investigating and research is amazing. A true art. Thank you. Best Gary