(04-11-2017 02:58 PM)L Verge Wrote:  Hang tight, Steve. Our research librarian just handed me a thick file entitled The Booth Family in England from the papers of James O. Hall. I'm working with the Travel Channel right now, but will peruse the papers within the week and pass on anything that may help you.

Thanks! That's much appreciated. Just to let you know, I've just found copies of the wills of John Booth, the Clerkenwell silversmith, and his wife, Elizabeth, in a collection of microfilm images of wills proved by the Prerogative Court of Canterbury. The John Booth will doesn't really have any new information about the family, but Elizabeth's will lists a few nieces and nephews that might be of help. I can't make out the nieces' last names yet due to the poor quality of the image or handwriting. If copies of the wills aren't in the Hall papers, I'd be glad to send you copies of the images.

Good luck with your Travel Channel project!

7 pm and I am still at work waiting for the Travel Channel to finish for today. They will be back Friday morning.

The first pages that I picked up out of the Hall files contain a summary of those wills. There is a note that Elizabeth's will had four codicils and that all of the 17 pages cannot be read. I also found some pages from a supposedly Booth descendant through another line. That correspondence dates back to 1995, and the gentleman at that time lived in Edina, MN. He claims that his line came to England with William the Conqueror in 1066, but he can only trace his direct line to 1275.

There are numerous places in the files where Mr. Hall seriously doubts the Portuguese, Jewish angle. Everything points to a long line of Anglican (Church of England) Booths.

If you will send your snail mail address to me at laurie.verge@pgparks.com, I will send copies of pertinent things that I find such as this (within reason).

Travel Channel just left. They will be back on Friday morning to meet Mike Kauffman, who will be taking them over the escape route -- right down to rowing a boat.

Steve_ The papers that I referred to above appear to have been photocopied from books at the Newberry Library in Chicago. The correspondent wrote in 1985 that the Newberry had several good genealogies. One was entitled Report of the Booth Association by Columbus Smith, 1868, which used British records from 1771 and 1825. There are several others listed in a group and range from Dictionary of English and Welsh surnames to Genealogy of the Booth Family in England (and principally history of County Palatine and Duchy of Lancaster).

This gentleman notes that the spelling of the name includes: Both, de Bothe, Bothe, Bouthe, Boothe, Boothes, and Booth. It also appears in the Hundred Rolls of 1273 in the form of De la Boothe. The derivations depend on the locale, but the general meaning of the word refers to a temporary building or shed (as in outhouse?? -- just had to throw that in...).

He says that his line first appeared in England in the southern portion of the County of Palatine of Lancaster, where a son of Adam de Boothe, William de Boothes, was living in 1275. That area appears to be north of Liverpool, in the western portion near the Irish Sea.

I still have not found anything to tie this in with John Booth, the silversmith, who married Elizabeth Wilkes at St. George's Chapel, Hyde Park Corner, London on February 15, 1747. They had six children, and their son, Richard, was John Wilkes Booth's grandfather. Apparently the family moved shortly thereafter because the children's baptismal records are recorded at St. John the Baptist Church in Clerkenwell, London.

BTW: John and Elizabeth became quite wealthy, both in money and real property. London descendants of John and Elizabeth in the 20th century owned lots of land in and around St. John's Square in London. Elizabeth was the last of the pair to die (1801), and she left bequests to eight poor widows of the parish and to a school for orphans run by a Lady Juntington. She also remembered a faithful servant, who was then living with son Richard. Subsequent codicils included gifts to Richard's daughter, Jane, and his son, Algernon Sidney Booth, who died in 1803 at the age of five; nieces and nephews on both sides; as well as her son named Wilkes.

To be continued?...

(04-12-2017 01:20 PM)L Verge Wrote:  Steve_ The papers that I referred to above appear to have been photocopied from books at the Newberry Library in Chicago. The correspondent wrote in 1985 that the Newberry had several good genealogies. One was entitled Report of the Booth Association by Columbus Smith, 1868, which used British records from 1771 and 1825. There are several others listed in a group and range from Dictionary of English and Welsh surnames to Genealogy of the Booth Family in England (and principally history of County Palatine and Duchy of Lancaster).

This gentleman notes that the spelling of the name includes: Both, de Bothe, Bothe, Bouthe, Boothe, Boothes, and Booth. It also appears in the Hundred Rolls of 1273 in the form of De la Boothe. The derivations depend on the locale, but the general meaning of the word refers to a temporary building or shed (as in outhouse?? -- just had to throw that in...).

He says that his line first appeared in England in the southern portion of the County of Palatine of Lancaster, where a son of Adam de Boothe, William de Boothes, was living in 1275. That area appears to be north of Liverpool, in the western portion near the Irish Sea.

I still have not found anything to tie this in with John Booth, the silversmith, who married Elizabeth Wilkes at St. George's Chapel, Hyde Park Corner, London on February 15, 1747. They had six children, and their son, Richard, was John Wilkes Booth's grandfather. Apparently the family moved shortly thereafter because the children's baptismal records are recorded at St. John the Baptist Church in Clerkenwell, London.

BTW: John and Elizabeth became quite wealthy, both in money and real property. London descendants of John and Elizabeth in the 20th century owned lots of land in and around St. John's Square in London. Elizabeth was the last of the pair to die (1801), and she left bequests to eight poor widows of the parish and to a school for orphans run by a Lady Juntington. She also remembered a faithful servant, who was then living with son Richard. Subsequent codicils included gifts to Richard's daughter, Jane, and his son, Algernon Sidney Booth, who died in 1803 at the age of five; nieces and nephews on both sides; as well as her son named Wilkes.

To be continued?...

Laurie,
Thanks for this. Looking over what I can read of Elizabeth's will has given me some insight into her Wilkes family and how they might be related to John Wilkes, the politician. I'll email you about it and the Booth information you found in the Hall files. Short of concrete evidence of the relationship, I don't want a theory posted on a message board to end up as widespread misinformation on Wilkes family trees on Ancestry , if I turn out to be wrong. That'll have to wait until after the weekend though, since I've been having car trouble and have to take my car to a mechanic tomorrow. So, I'm just swamped in regards to timewise right now.

In regards to the Booth surname, it is widespread in England, especially in the North. According to some surname meaning websites Booth is a topographic surname, usually referring to a shepherd or herdsmans' hut.

Also, I need to clarify that Archer identifies John Booth, the silversmith, as the John Booth, son of John and Mary Booth who was baptized at St. James, Clerkenwell on 28 December 1723. But that's not footnoted in his book and I don't what his source is and how it came to that conclusion. I can't find John Booth's age on any documents, including his burial record, and haven't been able to link him to that or any other Booth family yet through wills or other records.

(04-13-2017 12:55 AM)Steve Wrote:  

(04-12-2017 01:20 PM)L Verge Wrote:  Steve_ The papers that I referred to above appear to have been photocopied from books at the Newberry Library in Chicago. The correspondent wrote in 1985 that the Newberry had several good genealogies. One was entitled Report of the Booth Association by Columbus Smith, 1868, which used British records from 1771 and 1825. There are several others listed in a group and range from Dictionary of English and Welsh surnames to Genealogy of the Booth Family in England (and principally history of County Palatine and Duchy of Lancaster).

This gentleman notes that the spelling of the name includes: Both, de Bothe, Bothe, Bouthe, Boothe, Boothes, and Booth. It also appears in the Hundred Rolls of 1273 in the form of De la Boothe. The derivations depend on the locale, but the general meaning of the word refers to a temporary building or shed (as in outhouse?? -- just had to throw that in...).

He says that his line first appeared in England in the southern portion of the County of Palatine of Lancaster, where a son of Adam de Boothe, William de Boothes, was living in 1275. That area appears to be north of Liverpool, in the western portion near the Irish Sea.

I still have not found anything to tie this in with John Booth, the silversmith, who married Elizabeth Wilkes at St. George's Chapel, Hyde Park Corner, London on February 15, 1747. They had six children, and their son, Richard, was John Wilkes Booth's grandfather. Apparently the family moved shortly thereafter because the children's baptismal records are recorded at St. John the Baptist Church in Clerkenwell, London.

BTW: John and Elizabeth became quite wealthy, both in money and real property. London descendants of John and Elizabeth in the 20th century owned lots of land in and around St. John's Square in London. Elizabeth was the last of the pair to die (1801), and she left bequests to eight poor widows of the parish and to a school for orphans run by a Lady Juntington. She also remembered a faithful servant, who was then living with son Richard. Subsequent codicils included gifts to Richard's daughter, Jane, and his son, Algernon Sidney Booth, who died in 1803 at the age of five; nieces and nephews on both sides; as well as her son named Wilkes.

To be continued?...

Laurie,
Thanks for this. Looking over what I can read of Elizabeth's will has given me some insight into her Wilkes family and how they might be related to John Wilkes, the politician. I'll email you about it and the Booth information you found in the Hall files. Short of concrete evidence of the relationship, I don't want a theory posted on a message board to end up as widespread misinformation on Wilkes family trees on Ancestry , if I turn out to be wrong. That'll have to wait until after the weekend though, since I've been having car trouble and have to take my car to a mechanic tomorrow. So, I'm just swamped in regards to timewise right now.

In regards to the Booth surname, it is widespread in England, especially in the North. According to some surname meaning websites Booth is a topographic surname, usually referring to a shepherd or herdsmans' hut.

Also, I need to clarify that Archer identifies John Booth, the silversmith, as the John Booth, son of John and Mary Booth who was baptized at St. James, Clerkenwell on 28 December 1723. But that's not footnoted in his book and I don't what his source is and how it came to that conclusion. I can't find John Booth's age on any documents, including his burial record, and haven't been able to link him to that or any other Booth family yet through wills or other records.

There are a few pieces of Archer correspondence in the Hall files that I haven't gotten to yet. A lot seems to be more Hall telling Archer what he and his researcher found, however.

I have one more segment of the Hall files to peruse in respect to finding ancestors of JWB past John Booth, the silversmith, but so far I am striking out. In several pieces of correspondence between Mr. Hall and his London researcher, he makes it clear that a full genealogy is not part of his assassination project - which is understandable.

There are a few "clues" about the story of antecedents being Jewish. One is clearly John Booth's (JWB's great-grandfather) occupation as silversmith. This was evidently a profession chosen by many European Jews.

Mr. Hall then makes a quote from Izola Forrester's book on her take of the ancestry (pgs. 135-136): "...my grandmother always told us that the family had come originally from Spain and that the name was either Bethe or Botha. Ricardo Botha, she said, was a lawyer in Madrid and a Spanish Jew, who wrote inflammatory pamphlets against the existing royalist government in the seventeenth century and was banished, his property being confiscated. He settled with his family in Lisbon, Portugal, and continued to issue denunciatory writings. His wife was a Spanish lady, who followed him into exile with their son, Roberto. This son made his way to London and pursued the calling of a silversmith, changing his name to Robert. His son, John, in turn, followed the craft of his father..." If Ricardo was banished from Spain in the 1600s, there is a possibility that his son Roberto/Robert fathered "our" John Booth (b. 1723) who married Elizabeth Wilkes - but possibilities do not make definite proof without primary source materials.

This is an example of "my mother told me" history without primary sources to back it up, so we can only guess that Robert was the great-great-grandfather of JWB and came from a line of Spanish Jews via Portugal. Mr. Hall's paid researcher/genealogist in London never found a record to prove that, and since Izola Forrester's book, This One Mad Act, has been heavily dissected and rejected by most people, we have to suspicion this part of her writing also.

On a personal note, I can certainly look at photos of Izola's mother and grandmother and see Spanish (or southern European) bloodlines...

Fascinating! My mother-in-law's maiden name is Booth, but our brick wall John Booth was born in South Carolina in 1798 so we dont know when the first Booth in our line came from to America, but before JWB' s family. But for a bit of DNA tease . . . My husband got his results this week. 49% Scandanavian from his Danish/Swedish dad. And from his mom 23% Irish, 15% Western Europe (Germany), 3% Italy/Greece, 3% European Jew, 3% Western Asia (Middle East), 2% British. 1% Iberian Peninsula (Spain/Portugal). We know who came from Germany (Mussgnug, Josi, Penninger), from Scotland/Ireland (Campbell). So that leaves the possibility of his Booth relative from Italy/Greece, European Jew, Middle East, Britain, Spain/Portugal. Another DNA test listed Diaspora Jew in his DNA. No proof of course that our Booths are related to JWB but seems interesting and possible.

My DNA is much less interesting than his. This American is 96% British, 1% Finland, 1% Iberian Peninsula, 1% Western Asia (Middle East.)

(04-15-2017 10:37 PM)Christine Wrote:  Fascinating! My mother-in-law's maiden name is Booth, but our brick wall John Booth was born in South Carolina in 1798 so we dont know when the first Booth in our line came from to America, but before JWB' s family. But for a bit of DNA tease . . . My husband got his results this week. 49% Scandanavian from his Danish/Swedish dad. And from his mom 23% Irish, 15% Western Europe (Germany), 3% Italy/Greece, 3% European Jew, 3% Western Asia (Middle East), 2% British. 1% Iberian Peninsula (Spain/Portugal). We know who came from Germany (Mussgnug, Josi, Penninger), from Scotland/Ireland (Campbell). So that leaves the possibility of his Booth relative from Italy/Greece, European Jew, Middle East, Britain, Spain/Portugal. Another DNA test listed Diaspora Jew in his DNA. No proof of course that our Booths are related to JWB but seems interesting and possible.

My DNA is much less interesting than his. This American is 96% British, 1% Finland, 1% Iberian Peninsula, 1% Western Asia (Middle East.)

I have to say that I'm confused about these percentage ancestry tests. From what I understand once you get to the grandparent level of ancestry the amount of DNA from each ancestor varies by chance. So after a few generations, except for the Y Chromosome for direct male descendants, percentagewise the nuclear DNA one inherits is in all different amounts from different ancestors.

See this article:
http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and...lated.html

Thanks to Laurie for sending this short video about an amazing lock made by Johannes Wilkes in 1680. Could this be an ancestor of John Wilkes Booth?

CLICK HERE.

Neat gadget. I'd be prone however to forget the "password" (= procedere, not that had much to lock into...). I once forgot how to get the reverse gear of my car working (you have to pull a ring for moving the gearstick into reverse gear) and couldn't leave the garage...(I don't use it that often).

If I remember correctly from "Last Confederate Heroes", the Booths came from Portugal to England, I don't remember when and if the original name was "Booth" or whether a similar name was adapted to English. Also the rose on the lock (and the wealth making such exclusive design possible and "necessary") would make me think of either a Tudor or a York descendant.

(05-01-2017 07:25 AM)Eva Elisabeth Wrote:  Neat gadget. I'd be prone however to forget the "password" (= procedere, not that had much to lock into...). I once forgot how to get the reverse gear of my car working (you have to pull a ring for moving the gearstick into reverse gear) and couldn't leave the garage...(I don't use it that often).

If I remember correctly from "Last Confederate Heroes", the Booths came from Portugal to England, I don't remember when and if the original name was "Booth" or whether a similar name was adapted to English. Also the rose on the lock (and the wealth making such exclusive design possible and "necessary") would make me think of either a Tudor or a York descendant.

Steve of this forum has been working diligently to trace the Booth roots - especially the reference to the line coming from Spain via Portugal via England. So far, no luck. (See previous postings above.) The files of James O. Hall show no such lineage, and the professional researcher that Mr. Hall hired in London back in the 1980s and 90s could find no link to Spain or Portugal either.

So far, the only "citation" to such a lineage appears to have come from Izola Forrester's One Mad Act, where she repeats what her mother and grandmother supposedly told her. Since it is highly unlikely that those ladies were the spawn of JWB, we'll keep looking...

(05-01-2017 11:20 AM)L Verge Wrote:  

(05-01-2017 07:25 AM)Eva Elisabeth Wrote:  Neat gadget. I'd be prone however to forget the "password" (= procedere, not that had much to lock into...). I once forgot how to get the reverse gear of my car working (you have to pull a ring for moving the gearstick into reverse gear) and couldn't leave the garage...(I don't use it that often).

If I remember correctly from "Last Confederate Heroes", the Booths came from Portugal to England, I don't remember when and if the original name was "Booth" or whether a similar name was adapted to English. Also the rose on the lock (and the wealth making such exclusive design possible and "necessary") would make me think of either a Tudor or a York descendant.

Steve of this forum has been working diligently to trace the Booth roots - especially the reference to the line coming from Spain via Portugal via England. So far, no luck. (See previous postings above.)

Sorry Steve and Laurie - studies and multiple weekly tests keep me so busy I often had to cut down attentive reading.

(05-01-2017 04:33 AM)RJNorton Wrote:  Thanks to Laurie for sending this short video about an amazing lock made by Johannes Wilkes in 1680. Could this be an ancestor of John Wilkes Booth?

CLICK HERE.

That's a pretty neat lock, thanks for sharing the video, Laurie.

Unfortunately, I have to put a little cold water on the subject of Johannes Wilkes being an ancestor of John Wilkes Booth. If you look closely at the inscription on the lock, it says that it was made in Birmingham, which was then in the county of Warwickshire. The Wilkes family that Elizabeth was from were all descended from an Edward Wilkes from the town of Albrighton in the county of Salisbury. See this link from a book about the radical John Wilkes:

https://archive.org/stream/lifeofjohnwil...3/mode/2up

Here is a link with images of silver candlesnuffers made by JWB's great-grandfather, John Booth:

http://www.petercameronantiquesilver.com...rs/143399/

(05-01-2017 05:52 PM)Steve Wrote:  

(05-01-2017 04:33 AM)RJNorton Wrote:  Thanks to Laurie for sending this short video about an amazing lock made by Johannes Wilkes in 1680. Could this be an ancestor of John Wilkes Booth?

CLICK HERE.

That's a pretty neat lock, thanks for sharing the video, Laurie.

Unfortunately, I have to put a little cold water on the subject of Johannes Wilkes being an ancestor of John Wilkes Booth. If you look closely at the inscription on the lock, it says that it was made in Birmingham, which was then in the county of Warwickshire. The Wilkes family that Elizabeth was from were all descended from an Edward Wilkes from the town of Albrighton in the county of Salisbury. See this link from a book about the radical John Wilkes:

https://archive.org/stream/lifeofjohnwil...3/mode/2up

Here is a link with images of silver candlesnuffers made by JWB's great-grandfather, John Booth:

http://www.petercameronantiquesilver.com...rs/143399/

What beautiful workmanship! I'd like to find one of them in my silver drawer.

Wilkes Booth was technically born illegitimate, so it could be argued his real name was Holmes, not Booth. What do you know about the Holmes family. There is a whole genealogy that is not considered. Also Junius Booth Jr. was born in Charleston South Carolina, because A) possibly Junius Booth Senior had relatives there or a job there; or B) Maryanne Holmes had Holmes family there. Years ago, in Charleston, South Carolina, I was told Wilkes Booth had a vast maternal family in the USA.
Of course there are many stories about JWB, and people who want to be related generally aren't, and those who are related keep it very quiet.