One of the topics discussed during Jim Garrett's (excellent) presentation at the Surratt Convention was which missing relic of the assassination would bring the highest price were it found today and put up for auction.

Rich Symth had (in my opinion) the best answer in the pistol used by Boston Corbett to kill JWB.

In thinking about this at 5:15 this morning while waiting for my dog to do his business (is there any less dignified position for an adult to be in that on the other end of a leash waiting for an animal to take a poop? - I can't think of one) I came up with these two:

1. The calling card Booth gave to Charles Forbes (assuming he used a card and gave it to Forbes);

2. Booth's hat that was left behind at Ford's when he jumped to the stage.

3. The boat that Booth and Herold crossed the Potomac with (mainly HEROLD crossed. If you ever get the chance to go down to the shore at Dent's Meadow and see for yourself how truly wide the river is at this point, it is a marvel to consider that Herold and Booth EVER got to Virginia. Recall that they only had two oars, and that Booth used one of them as a rudder. This of course means that Herold rowed all that way, through the swift current, with one oar. I'll bet he could hardly lift his arms when they got to Namjoy creek, much less to Virginia.)

NOTE: I added an aerial view to the bottom corner of the picture to give those who are unfamiliar with Dent's Meadow some perspective. The red ring is where B and H set out. If you look closely you can see a very small looking boat in the middle of the river to give you some sense of how wide it is there.
   

In thinking about the calling card, I wondered if Forbes kept this (even in secret) following the assassination? While you would think that he trashed it as either evidence against his negligence or a painful reminder of that night, it seems the kind of object that one in Forbes' position might secretly stash away for any number of reasons, the main one being that it was a tie to Lincoln - even though a painful tie.

This card seems the type that might be found one day going through Forbes' family documents in the same way that the death photo was found in the 1950's. It made me wonder if anyone has ever researched Forbes and whether he left behind anything that has survived in his family or a collection to today.

Heath

How lucky we are that Osborne Oldroyd was fanatical about Lincoln and that Henry Riggs Rathbone pushed through legislation so that the treasure trove of artifacts now rests in Ford's Theatre's basement rather than in a vault in some collector's home. That said, I'd go for Corbett's gun or the calling card. Whatever happened to the ornate clock from Ford's green room, the one the actors checked when they heard all the noise down in the theater?

I believe one of the most interesting missing assassination relics would be the field glasses that Mrs. Surratt delivered to Lloyd on Booth's behalf. Lloyd's testimony regarding this interaction was one of the nails in Mrs. Surratt's coffin and Det. Baker made a return trip to the Garrett farm to retrieve these binoculars. It may not be as valuable in the monetary sense like Corbett's pistol would be, but it is still something I would very much like to see.

By the way, Heath I love the scientific description on your picture of the exact distance Herold needed to row from Maryland to Virginia.

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(03-20-2014 07:15 AM)Lincoln Wonk Wrote:  Whatever happened to the ornate clock from Ford's green room, the one the actors checked when they heard all the noise down in the theater?

I believe that the clock is in storage at the NPS' Museum Resource Center in Landover, MD. Rich and Jim might be able to confirm that though.

Thanks, Dave. I'd love to see it, only have seen the photo in the Ford's structure report.

For all these years, I have read a newspaper article and heard folklore about the little rowboat left behind on Gambo Creek being taken apart by locals for souvenirs. Now I understand that it was actually brought back to D.C. by the Feds and was in the Smithsonian holdings for years. I really wish that someone would find at least the accession records to prove this and to tell us where it is now.

BTW: There is an account somewhere of Davey Herold complaining about his hands hurting when they captured him. When they looked at his hands, they were covered with blisters from his rowing experiences.

(03-20-2014 06:46 AM)Rhatkinson Wrote:  1. The calling card Booth gave to Charles Forbes (assuming he used a card and gave it to Forbes);

Heath, kudos on the way you worded that. Just curious - has anyone ever come across an eyewitness account that corroborated Captain McGowen on this? McGowen said, "He (Booth) took a small pack of visiting-cards from his pocket, selecting one and replacing the others, stood a second, perhaps, with it in his hand, and then showed it to the President's messenger, who was sitting just below him."

Let me emphasize that I have no reason to doubt McGowen's word, but I just have not ever seen anyone else say this. Forbes never said anything about a card, and I do not believe any other eyewitness said anything like this. (Forbes placed himself in the State Box when Booth fired the fatal shot.) I think this is a part of the assassination story where we must rely totally on one person's statement for the card's existence. There is no corroborating account as far as I know.

Dr. Todd also said it and he stated Booth wrote something on it and Forbes took the card into the box.

Many thanks, Joe. McGowen said he wasn't sure whether or not Forbes took the card into the box.

Should have checked the theater's outhouse before covering it up.

Todd was closer to the door than McGowen from what I can gather. Makes me wonder what Booth wrote on it, but it couldn't have been much. Maybe just "May I call on you?"

Isn't there a Booth spur missing?

[quote='Dave Taylor' pid='30947' dateline='1395317899']


By the way, Heath I love the scientific description on your picture of the exact distance Herold needed to row from Maryland to Virginia.

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Haha. I'm sure Davey had words to that effect (or worse) as he was rowing with one oar in the pitch black dark while Booth was in the back basically doing nothing!

Ford's does have the clock from Green room. Here is my info:
• Gilded Clock – Made in France used in Green Room of Fords the night Lincoln was shot. Gift of Mario Diparma 61 East 86th street New York 8/6/63.

The most valuable relics (monetarily) have to be tied directly to Lincoln or Booth. Just about everything tied to Lincoln is accounted for one way or another. Last year we (Rich & I) were approached by the Barnum Museum in Bridgeport Conn. They have a piece of wallpaper, and curtain from the Presidential box. They are framed with a black piece of cloth described as a piece of Lincoln's neckerchief from the night. Never heard of that. Was it a black scarf of some sort? No direct provenance, but if it were authenticated, it would have some value. Booth's hat was in the War Dept collection, and may well have been destroyed.

I believe Rich is probably correct in that the gun that Sgt. Corbett used to kill Booth would be the most valuable relic that could still be out there, but is lost to history. On that note, Look at the value of Jack Ruby's Colt Cobra he used to kill Lee Harvey Oswald with. I believe that sold in 1991 for $220,000.

(03-21-2014 06:39 PM)Jim Garrett Wrote:  The most valuable relics (monetarily) have to be tied directly to Lincoln or Booth. Just about everything tied to Lincoln is accounted for one way or another. Last year we (Rich & I) were approached by the Barnum Museum in Bridgeport Conn. They have a piece of wallpaper, and curtain from the Presidential box. They are framed with a black piece of cloth described as a piece of Lincoln's neckerchief from the night. Never heard of that. Was it a black scarf of some sort? No direct provenance, but if it were authenticated, it would have some value. Booth's hat was in the War Dept collection, and may well have been destroyed.

I believe Rich is probably correct in that the gun that Sgt. Corbett used to kill Booth would be the most valuable relic that could still be out there, but is lost to history. On that note, Look at the value of Jack Ruby's Colt Cobra he used to kill Lee Harvey Oswald with. I believe that sold in 1991 for $220,000.

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(03-21-2014 07:02 PM)Lincoln Wonk Wrote:  

(03-21-2014 06:39 PM)Jim Garrett Wrote:  The most valuable relics (monetarily) have to be tied directly to Lincoln or Booth. Just about everything tied to Lincoln is accounted for one way or another. Last year we (Rich & I) were approached by the Barnum Museum in Bridgeport Conn. They have a piece of wallpaper, and curtain from the Presidential box. They are framed with a black piece of cloth described as a piece of Lincoln's neckerchief from the night. Never heard of that. Was it a black scarf of some sort? No direct provenance, but if it were authenticated, it would have some value. Booth's hat was in the War Dept collection, and may well have been destroyed.

I believe Rich is probably correct in that the gun that Sgt. Corbett used to kill Booth would be the most valuable relic that could still be out there, but is lost to history. On that note, Look at the value of Jack Ruby's Colt Cobra he used to kill Lee Harvey Oswald with. I believe that sold in 1991 for $220,000.

The gun that did in Archduke Ferdinand is in the Vienna Military History Museum, and, not to sound like Indiana Jones, but that stuff belongs in a museum. How lucky we are that Booth's gun is at Ford's.