Bowie Knife

[PaigeBooth]

Like many of us, I am a Boothie Barn fan and have especially enjoyed watching Dave Taylor's series, John Wilkes Booth in the Woods. Weeks back, when watching (I believe it was part 2 or 3) of Dave's videos, I took notice when he mentioned that the knife JWB used to stab Major Rathbone is not the original knife on display at Ford's Theatre. I have to admit, I was surprised to hear this because I was under the opinion that the knife on display at Ford's was indeed authentic. When I visited Ford's last summer, I just assumed the knife was the real thing.

After a recent trip to Ford's this past weekend, I noticed that the same knife I saw last year is still on display. One would certainly be led to believe it was Booth's actual knife. So I was wondering, where is the original Bowie knife? Why is it not on display? In his video, Dave mentioned he was working with Ford's to get the correct knife put on display. Have you made any progress so far, Dave?

Well, I was just curious, and thought I would share my thoughts. Thanks for your wonderful website, Dave!

[marieandlouis]

Hi Paigebooth. I'm sorry I don't know the answer about the knife.But I am wondering if you are related to John Wilkes Booth? Same last name????Just wondering????

[PaigeBooth]

Hi marieandlouis. Welcome to the Symposium! No, I am not related to John Wilkes Booth.

[Dave Taylor]

Paige,

Thank you for your kind words. I'm so glad you're enjoying my site and my "John Wilkes Booth in the Woods" series. I just finished the latest video for it today.

It's funny, the thing that made me change from reading to actually researching about the Lincoln assassination was a knife. I'm not a weapon person at all, but while I was reading Betty's wonderful book about Powell I came across the picture she had of Dr. Lattimer's knife. It was a clip point bowie knife with an alligator motif. At the time, it was believed that was the knife Powell used to stab Seward. After Betty's book was published, the Huntington Library in California found a knife in their collection that was owned by Private George Robinson, the nurse who saved Seward's life by fighting off the assassin. That knife is pictured in Swanson and Weinberg's coffee table book "Lincoln's Assassins". Seeing two different knives claiming to be the knife Powell used confused me and I really wanted to rectify the issue. I got up the courage to email the nice folks at the Surratt House Museum and very quickly the wonderful librarian there, Ms. Sandra Walia, sent me a packet of materials. Though Dr. Lattimer attempted to show that his knife was genuine, it quickly became clear that the Huntington knife was the real one.

My research on the Booth knife started in much the same way, with two contradictory photos. Like you, Paige, I visited Ford's and took pictures of everything. That included the knives in the display case. I saw the beautifully etched "Liberty" knife labeled as Booth's knife and trusted it. Why wouldn't I? Ford's is a museum and I'm just some guy with an interest in the assassination.



Then, I stumbled across this older picture of "Booth's Dagger" from the Meserve collection:



Once again, I was faced with two different knives that both claimed to have belonged to Booth. I inquired with the Surratt House and got some more materials, but this time there was no straight forward answer. So I decided to try to figure it out. With a lot of research and the help of many members of this forum, I determined that the knife on display at Ford's is not the knife that was taken from his body at the Garrett farm. I wrote an article on it for the Surratt Courier and was later asked to revise it for an audience of knife collectors and it was published in a publication on knives. At the same time I was doing my research, Wesley Harris, who is writing a book about the weapons of the conspirators, was investigating and came to the same conclusion as I did. The knife on display was not taken from Booth.

Where the "Liberty" knife came from is still a mystery. I have a theory that it was collected as evidence from Mary Surratt's boarding house, but I only have some minor evidence to back that up.

The truth is, up until the 1970's or so, Ford's Theatre had the correct knife on display. Then, for some reason, some employee at the NPS decided to switch it with the "Liberty" knife. The "Liberty" knife has been erroneously displayed as Booth's knife ever since and the real knife is in storage in the NPS Museum Resource Center in Landover, Maryland:



I've convinced several people at Ford's Theatre (both the society and the Park Service) that the knife is incorrect. Unfortunately, there is not enough motivation nor a full time curator at Ford's to fix the error. A new curator is supposed to be hired in the near future, and when that happens I'll try to encourage them to fix their mistake.

[LincolnMan]

And does the real Booth knife have any inscription on it?

[PaigeBooth]

Dave, thank you so much for providing this great information, and sharing your knowledge about the knives. I really appreciated seeing the pictures you attached as well; the photos were outstanding! This is the first photo I have ever seen of the real knife.

Thank you for your help; I am actually going to print and keep your post in my file for future reference.

[L Verge]

And does the real Booth knife have any inscription on it?

Bill,

I don't believe there is any inscription on the "real" knife. That may be why certain people are attached to the one currently on exhibit. That inscription of "Liberty" has a wonderful, ironic twist to it that the public loves! I may be wrong, but I believe that I heard that the word refers to a section in Philadelphia where the knife was manufactured???

[LincolnMan]

Laurie: yes, various authors have made a big deal of the irony involved in the inscription. Now we believe that the real knife didn't have the inscription? Doesn't make the twist at all!

[Wesley Harris]

I have talked with the employee who made the switch. It was based on an incorrect interpretation of a notable assassination researcher's findings plus a belief that the Liberty knife "seemed like something Booth would use." The confusion goes back even farther to the end of the 19th Century, when both the large Bowie knife and the Liberty knife appeared in separate news articles as the correct knife. The 'real' knife is almost identical to the Powell knife at the Huntington. And that brings up another problem--the 'Booth knife,' 'Powell knife,' and Herold's knife found in Atzerodt's room are all nearly identical Rio Grande Camp Knives. Since these were never tagged or labelled, the possibility of confusing which is which is great.

Dave and I conducted our research of the knives more or less independently of one another and came to the same conclusion--the wrong knife is on display.

Side note: Because of my wife's stroke last year, it doesn't look like I'll have my book on the weapons, "Tools of the Assassins," ready for the 2015 conference. Slim possibility but unlikely since I don't have it completed much less to the publisher. She's doing well and returning to work for the first time next week.

[Dave Taylor]

...It was based on an incorrect interpretation of a notable assassination researcher's findings plus a belief that the Liberty knife "seemed like something Booth would use."...

I heard the same words come from that assassination researcher's mouth when I asked him about it. Once again, I'm glad we've come to the same conclusion.

I'm also very happy to hear that your wife is doing better, Wes.

[RJNorton]

I'm also very happy to hear that your wife is doing better, Wes.

Wes, that's wonderful news that she is returning to work.

[BettyO]

You'll get the book published, Wes. Glad to hear that your wife is on the mend!

[L Verge]

I ditto everything said above, Wes. And take care of yourself also. Being a care giver is rough work.

P.S. Could we speculate that Booth bought those knives in bulk? Where?

[Wesley Harris]

I ditto everything said above, Wes. And take care of yourself also. Being a care giver is rough work.

P.S. Could we speculate that Booth bought those knives in bulk? Where?

They were most likely part of the box of weapons Booth brought back from New York and transferred to Arnold & O'Laughlin in Baltimore to take back to D.C. for use in the kidnapping plot.

[BettyO]

They were most likely part of the box of weapons Booth brought back from New York and transferred to Arnold & O'Laughlin in Baltimore to take back to D.C. for use in the kidnapping plot.

Could these be the same knives that Powell and Surratt were playing with when Weichmann stumbled in on them in Powell's bedroom at the Surratt Boarding House?