"The book includes a chapter that tells of Booth’s visits to the town, based on published newspaper reports dating back to the 1800s."

I am still curious as to how the late Art Loux would have missed Booth's visit(s) as Art made heavy use of newspaper accounts to ascertain Booth's movements. If he had come across credible newspaper accounts of Booth's visit(s) to Tamaqua then I would think he would have included this in John Wilkes Booth: Day By Day.

Michelle, I know this doesn't have much to do with the photograph you found, I am interested in what you think regarding the story of Simon Jefferson, the black barber who claims Booth told him he planned to shoot the president. I was curious to know if you had any idea of when he first made those claims? The details are in his newspaper obituary, and Jefferson's early newspaper interviews (according to the Times News article of July 30, 2016, posted earlier)

Wonder if there is a way to find and post the obituary and those earlier newspaper interviews of Jefferson?

Like Roger, I was also wondering if a famous actor came to town, is there any mention of it in the local newspapers? Unusual to me, that the only record of Booth passing through town is from a barber.

(08-17-2016 08:06 PM)HistoryFan Wrote:  

(08-17-2016 12:35 PM)Susan Higginbotham Wrote:  Even without the hat, I still see an ordinary guy in ordinary clothing striking an ordinary pose. There's enough of a resemblance to Booth that the sitter might have found it prudent to keep close to home after the assassination, but I don't see any of Booth's smoldering good looks or hauteur in this photo.

Do you have a scan of the backmark? That might lend some clues as to its date.

If you click on the original story link and view all the photos, you will see an image of the backmark.

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(08-17-2016 11:33 AM)L Verge Wrote:  Having stared at the photo long enough, I went online to see if there was anything in Tamaqua's history that might give a clue. Interesting little town whose history rose and fell based around the coal industry and the railroad.

Since we can only theorize that Booth or his look-alike arrived in town via the railroad, I wanted to find out when the rail lines were put in. I could not find a date, but the town was not founded until 1799, and a passenger train station was not built until 1874 -- did any passenger trains pass through the town prior to that? Was the railroad strictly for the transportation of coal during the Booth era?

The demographics of the 19th-century town is what made me perk up! The discovery of anthracite coal in the region in the early-19th century led to the town's rise as a coal-producing community. The town was incorporated as a borough in 1832. Irish, Welsh, and German immigrants came to the borough in the 1840s and 1850s, followed by a large influx of Italians, Lithuanians, Russians, Ukrainians, Slovaks, and Poles. During the 1860s and 1870s, Tamaqua was the geographic center hub for the Molly Maguires. One murder commonly attributed to the Mollies was that of town policeman Benjamin Yost, who was shot to death early one morning while extinguishing a gas lamp at the corner of West Broad and Lehigh Streets.

Since Booth was known to be a Nativist or American Party follower, such a wide variety of ethnic groups would seem to me to have made the town uninviting to him, especially as the war drew to a close.

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The Victorian train station built by the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad in 1874 in Tamaqua was constructed to replace an earlier station, which was destroyed by fire. Trains were running to and from Tamaqua as early as 1831.

A brief history of Tamaqua's railroad excerpted from http://himedo.net/TheHopkinThomasProject...aHist.htm:

On November 18, 1831, the horse-drawn railroad officially opened. In two horse-drawn coaches built by Richard Imlay of Baltimore, Maryland, a group of dignitaries left Port Clinton for Tamaqua at 10 a.m. Upon their arrival I p.m., they were greeted by 15 gaily decorated coal cars surrounded by cheering Tamaqua miners. Six days later on the 23rd, the irst coal car was transported over the railroad to Port Clinton. Weighing three tons each, these first cars were driven by George Shoemaker and Henry Ray. Isaac Hinkley drove the first passenger coaches. Upon arrival at Port Clinton, the coal and passengers were transferred to barges for the trip to Philadelphia.

About this time, the history of the railroad becomes somewhat cloudy. It has been a widely accepted fact that the Catawissa and the Comet were the first steam engines used on the line. Yet, other research indicates that there were possibly two steam engines used earlier, with very limited success at first - the engines known as the Tamaqua and Tuscarora.

Built in England, the Tamaqua and Tuscarora were accompanied by two English engineers, George Mann and a Mr. Merrick. For whatever reasons, these early steam engines had difficulty running on the flat iron and wood rails. They jumped the track so often that they were stored away. It would not be until T-rails were used that these two engines were dusted off and put back in service. Some time later, Peter Marks and John Smith replaced engineers Mann and Merrick, historical articles note.

On March 9, 1833, two more steam engines, the Catawissa and Comet, purchased from an English builder, were placed in service. The Catawissa cost $5,000 and was the workhorse of the new pair. It ran two trips per day between Tamaqua and Port Clinton. However, just two years later, disaster struck when the Catawissa spread the rails and ran into the river. It was towed to Tamaqua by a team of horses where it was repaired. Later, when the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad leased the line, the Catawissa was sent to Harrisburg. One report has it being damaged in a collision and never repaired, while another claims it was rebuilt as a special inspection car and finally retired in 1865 and scrapped in 1870. At least two photographs of the Catawissa survive today and may be seen at the Tamaqua Historical Society Museum, West Broad Street.

The 1881 History of Schuylkill County reports: "On Monday, March 11, a novel and interesting spectacle was presented on the road. A trial trip was made by locomotive engine, running from Port Clinton to Tamaqua. It excited considerable interest, as it was the first locomotive introduced in Schuylkill County .. It is said that the engine was shipped from Liverpool to Philadelphia, where it was loaded on a wagon used for hauling marble, and with 16 horses hauled to Schuylkill County. "

Despite the early setbacks in track and engine design, it was all too obvious that railroads and steam engines were here to stay. Apparently, the state legislature agreed, and on April 4, 1833, issued a charter for construction of a railroad between Philadelphia and Reading. On December 5, 1839, the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad officially opened. Later, the railroad was extended to Mt. Carbon and on January 1, 1842, the first train ran the entire track from Mt. Carbon to Philadelphia.

The Little Schuylkill Navigation Railroad continued to prosper with its connection to the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad. As of February 2, 1850, the fare from Tamaqua to Port Clinton was 75 cents and from Tamaqua to Philadelphia, $3.50.

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Sorry ... I kept trying to reply to the train post directly under her post, but it kept landing at the bottom of the thread.

I did find that piece and another article last night before I left work (at 6 pm) and was going to post that the first station was a wooden one that burned in 1873. I didn't find a construction date for that early one, however.

I am also confused as to the "length" of this early rail line. It appears to be a short-line, meaning that, prior to the Civil War, it only connected some towns that were in a similar position of being coal mining towns. Would Booth have the need to travel in such an area?

My thoughts then turned to where Booth was for about two weeks prior to the assassination. Art Loux lays it out very precisely in his wonderful book: 3/26/65 - Booth is in D.C.; 4/1 - travels to Baltimore and then on to NY on 4/2; 4/3 and 4/4 - en route to (via steamer) and in Newport, RI (supposedly with Lucy Hale); 4/5 - left for Boston on 3 pm train and saw Edwin play Hamlet in that city; 4/7 - traveled to NY and on to Philadelphia with a layover in that city in order to make train connection for D.C.; continuously in D.C. from April 8 until after the assassination on April 14.

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Just noticed this: "Ultimately, Jefferson's warnings went unheard as Lincoln was killed a month later despite Jefferson attending Lincoln's second inauguration in Washington, D.C."

Inauguration was March 4, so does that mean that Jefferson heard from Booth before that? Not likely... Feb. 20 - Booth left NY for Baltimore on night train; 2/21 - arrived Baltimore at 3:30 am and left at 6 pm for D.C.; remained in D.C. except for one day in Baltimore on 2/28; Booth stays in D.C. from 3/1 - 3/20; 3/21 - Booth took 7:30 pm train and arrived in New York in the morning of the 22nd; spends 3/22-23 in NY; 3/24 - layover in Baltimore and back in D.C. on 3/25. See previous posting to tie it all together from February 20-4/14/65.

I just don't see Mr. Jefferson having any opportunity to hear Booth's early confession.

(08-18-2016 06:53 AM)Gene C Wrote:  Michelle, I know this doesn't have much to do with the photograph you found, I am interested in what you think regarding the story of Simon Jefferson, the black barber who claims Booth told him he planned to shoot the president. I was curious to know if you had any idea of when he first made those claims? The details are in his newspaper obituary, and Jefferson's early newspaper interviews (according to the Times News article of July 30, 2016, posted earlier)

Wonder if there is a way to find and post the obituary and those earlier newspaper interviews of Jefferson?

Like Roger, I was also wondering if a famous actor came to town, is there any mention of it in the local newspapers? Unusual to me, that the only record of Booth passing through town is from a barber.

Gene, I am also very interested in reading those early newspaper interviews and obituary and inquired of Donald Serfass if he had a hard copy of the obituary that I could see. He told me that he did, but when he moved a few years ago, he never did unpack a lot of things out of boxes and he can't put his finger exactly on which box it is residing in. However, he did inform me that issues of the Tamaqua Evening Courier are available at the Tamaqua Public Library, on microfilm.

So I do intend to take a trip to Tamaqua in the next few months to check it out!

I'll also try to view the pre-death interviews that Simon Jefferson had with the other Tamaqua newspaper, that allegedly were published soon after the assassination.

Regarding your question about why there may be no mention of Booth passing through town, my own personal theory (opinion only) is that perhaps he didn't want to be recognized ... which would also explain why he may have dressed down and wore the cap of a working man. If he was traveling from Montreal to Virginia, as Jefferson claimed, he may have been traveling in the role --- not of an actor --- but of assisting the Confederacy.

On page 70 of John Wilkes Booth: Day by Day, the author writes, "... a man called at Asia's home in Philadelphia and asked for Dr. Booth. When Asia asked John about it, he responded, 'All right, I am he, if to be a doctor means a dealer in quinine.' He claimed he was smuggling the drug to the South."

Thanks Michelle. Please keep us posted

Either way, it's an interesting photo.

When I enlarged my photo, I did notice that, despite his pedestrian clothing, the boots worn by the man in the photo were in good condition.

I found this article in the Cleveland Leader of September 12, 1886. Not the full obit, but it does have some details:

Hard to read in this format, but so interesting!

According to the Cleveland account cited above, John Wilkes Booth confided to one of Sanford's minstrel performers, who confided to Simon Jefferson, which differs a bit from the story I read online. However, the parts about Jefferson warning the leading men in town matches the other story and also the part about Booth passing through Tamaqua on his way from Canada to Virginia and stopping in Simon Jefferson's barber shop.

I thought it interesting that Surratt was mentioned in this story, as well, as one of the party of Maryland "secesh" headed home after the Inauguration. According to this version, Booth drew his revolver on Surratt to quiet him. Wow!

(08-18-2016 07:03 PM)HistoryFan Wrote:  Regarding your question about why there may be no mention of Booth passing through town, my own personal theory (opinion only) is that perhaps he didn't want to be recognized

If true, why would he make a special stop to have his photograph taken? Would this be "normal behavior" for a Confederate operative traveling to Virginia?

Again, just theorizing ... we're talking about John Wilkes Booth, the passionate, spirited and dramatic young man thwarted in his attempts to join the Confederate Army by a promise he made to his mother. While a "normal" Confederate operative might prefer to be totally incognito, perhaps he wanted to see how he looked in his hat.

I like the way the man is gazing resolutely at some distant focus, rather than looking into the camera, as though he had some noble purpose. His pose (that distant gaze) reminds me of Edwin Forrest's classic pose as Metamora, the popular 19th century play in which Forrest portrayed an Indian chief who turned to violence only by force.

In addition, how many 1860s photos have you seen of a man posing in a fox skin hat inside a photo studio? Yet we know, through contemporary accounts, that John Wilkes Booth did so (although that photo has never been found). He engaged in the burgeoning technology of photography far more than most citizens of the era.

As I mentioned earlier on this thread, when I asked Donald Serfass about the proximity of the Baily photography studio to the barber shop, he responded, "The barber shop and the photo studio were located LESS than one block apart on the same side of the main street."

Odd Conspiracy Theory #89

The photo is of Booth, but in disguise. This is what he planned on wearing and looking like after he killed Lincoln and headed north to Canada.
He had the photo taken to see if anyone would recognize him. Evidently they didn't. 150 years later, after critical analysis by many on the forum, (including me) we still don't think it's him.
So evidently his disguise worked. We can only thank his clumsiness in falling over the rail after he killed Lincoln, or his stupidity of running a horse down a dirt road in the dark middle of the night and the horse tripping and falling on him, for his being unable to elude his pursuers. Or......

Odd Conspiracy Theory #89A.

The disguise worked and Booth got away. Evidently the guy shot at Garrett's Barn looked TOO much like Booth.


(Just kidding Michelle)

(08-19-2016 09:42 AM)HistoryFan Wrote:  Again, just theorizing ... we're talking about John Wilkes Booth, the passionate, spirited and dramatic young man thwarted in his attempts to join the Confederate Army by a promise he made to his mother. While a "normal" Confederate operative might prefer to be totally incognito, perhaps he wanted to see how he looked in his hat.

I like the way the man is gazing resolutely at some distant focus, rather than looking into the camera, as though he had some noble purpose. His pose (that distant gaze) reminds me of Edwin Forrest's classic pose as Metamora, the popular 19th century play in which Forrest portrayed an Indian chief who turned to violence only by force.

In addition, how many 1860s photos have you seen of a man posing in a fox skin hat inside a photo studio? Yet we know, through contemporary accounts, that John Wilkes Booth did so (although that photo has never been found). He engaged in the burgeoning technology of photography far more than most citizens of the era.

As I mentioned earlier on this thread, when I asked Donald Serfass about the proximity of the Baily photography studio to the barber shop, he responded, "The barber shop and the photo studio were located LESS than one block apart on the same side of the main street."

"In addition, how many 1860s photos have you seen of a man posing in a fox skin hat inside a photo studio?"

What the hat is made of isn't important, what we would/should be considering is the style of the hat. Did the yellow fox-skin hat have a fox tail attached? Was it theatrical attire? Was it simply a regular hat of the period made out of fox skin instead of beaver or wool or felt?

The hat worn in this spurious photo is a regular hat of the period - just not one that the more debonair Mr. Booth would be likely to own.

The words jumped off the page at me when I read that it was not John Wilkes Booth who told Mr. Jefferson about the impending assassination, but rather a supposed confidant from a minstrel show. Another strike against the accuracy of the story (and probably the photo).

Finally, I am still focusing on the story of any railroad line that Booth could have used if he really had any reason for going even close to Tamaqua. One of our museum volunteers is a railroad fanatic, and he happened to be working at Surratt House yesterday.

Armed with an 1875 map of major rail lines, I first asked him how Booth would have gotten from Washington to New York via train: B&O to Baltimore and then switch to different station for Philadelphia, Wilmington, Baltimore line to Philadelphia; from Philadelphia, head into New Jersey probably by the Camden and Amboy. I lost count at that point as to various rail and ferry lines that could take him into New York and points north.

The main point of our discussion and my education was that no major trunk line passenger trains came close to Tamaqua - even in 1875. Local passengers rode local coal trains in that area. Why would Booth go miles out of the way to have his photo taken by a photographer in that particular town?

(08-19-2016 04:11 AM)RJNorton Wrote:  

(08-18-2016 07:03 PM)HistoryFan Wrote:  Regarding your question about why there may be no mention of Booth passing through town, my own personal theory (opinion only) is that perhaps he didn't want to be recognized

If true, why would he make a special stop to have his photograph taken? Would this be "normal behavior" for a Confederate operative traveling to Virginia?

Yes, I wonder, too. Despite I think like Gene - those weren't the days of digital snapshots on the way from the barber shop to the train station in disguise. And if he were in disguise I think it would have been somewhat more than just this hat and suit.

I don't think he privately owned such clothing, ever wore anything not matching his style, not even to bow to convenience.

Finally - ears and nose are not congruent to my eyes, and no disguise attempt could change these (back then).

I certainly don't have all the answers here!

I can't explain the barber's story or why he maintained throughout his life that Booth was at his barber shop in Tamaqua, apparently telling enough people about it that when he passed away, his story was published not only in his Tamaqua obituary, but in Philadelphia newspapers, and even in the Cleveland, Ohio newspaper above (cited by Susan). Incidentally, Cleveland is 356 miles from Tamaqua, but his story made it into their newspaper.

I only know that the story exists; the story has existed since the time of Lincoln's assassination and 20 years thereafter; and we can't dismiss out of hand a contemporary account.

I like to keep an open mind and I certainly would love to vindicate Simon Jefferson and have his unmarked grave get a tombstone one day.

I don't know if anyone else has thought about this, but Simon Jefferson was asserting genealogical ties to Thomas Jefferson long before I believe it was generally accepted that Thomas Jefferson had fathered children with his slave(s). So if Simon was right about that (?) back in the mid-1800s ... (I haven't even begun to delve into the genealogy there, so have no idea) ... who knows what else he may have been right about?

I also know nothing about the rail lines in Tamaqua, apart from the fact that, "As of February 2, 1850, the fare from Tamaqua to Port Clinton was 75 cents and from Tamaqua to Philadelphia, $3.50." Wouldn't that be a passenger train, inasmuch as the fares were published?

I also know that Asia Booth Clarke lived in Philadelphia. Beyond that, I have no idea.

But I do believe that the study of history is an evolving art, so I am always open to new ideas and channels of thought.

The suspected liaison between Jefferson and Sally Hemings was first published by a journalist in 1802. That gave Simon Jefferson 60+ years to embellish the story - and he may well have been a descendant of the pair. This is what Monticello has to say about it:

https://www.monticello.org/site/plantati...ef-account

Since it has been at least forty years since I read Fawn Brodie's account of the supposed affair, I'll ignore that part of the story. I'm not the least bit shocked or disgusted that a Founding Father should father slave children, and I also tend to believe the strong theory that Sally was a half-sister to Jefferson's dead wife because they both had the same white father, but Sally had a black mother.

As for the rail lines, I do not dispute that there were short-line coal trains that had passenger cars also, but the key is short-line and coal and why would Booth be in Tamaqua.

I think a few of us have made crucial points pro and con and have reached a stalemate. In re-reading these, however, I think the general agreement is that it is very doubtful that the photograph is of John Wilkes Booth.