Lincoln Discussion Symposium
Booth quote - Printable Version

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Booth quote - Lindsey - 07-19-2012 08:32 AM

I was just wondering last night how we know that Booth said his "By God I'll put him through, that's the last speech he'll ever make" comment. I've discussed this with Laurie and for some reason I swear Davey and Lewis were with him but even if they were, neither one of them said anything about it. Right?


RE: Booth quote - RJNorton - 07-19-2012 08:37 AM

Could Eckert have learned of this when he visited with Powell?


RE: Booth quote - BettyO - 07-19-2012 09:27 AM

(07-19-2012 08:37 AM)RJNorton Wrote:  Could Eckert have learned of this when he visited with Powell?

I've seen the reference to this in Bates' Lincoln in the Telegraph Office as well as in Bryan's Great American Myth p. 144 - which only puts Herold in company with Booth.... it could be that Powell told Eckert this as well -


RE: Booth quote - Laurie Verge - 07-19-2012 12:09 PM

There have been reports of Davey busily writing during breaks in the courtroom, and some people have speculated that he was writing out a true confession. Maybe he mentioned it in that and word leaked out via a lawyer???


RE: Booth quote - Lindsey - 07-19-2012 12:54 PM

Hmmm all very plausible, I don't see how else we could have known about it otherwise...


RE: Booth quote - Tom Bogar - 07-19-2012 04:48 PM

Jim Bishop (p. 53) has Booth saying to Paine, "That's the last speech he'll ever make," and Eleanor Ruggles (Prince of Players, p. 177) has Booth saying to Herold, "Now, by God, I'll put him through!" I'd love to know of, or find, the primary source/evidence for this quote.


RE: Booth quote - BettyO - 07-19-2012 05:10 PM

(07-19-2012 04:48 PM)Tom Bogar Wrote:  Jim Bishop (p. 53) has Booth saying to Paine, "That's the last speech he'll ever make," and Eleanor Ruggles (Prince of Players, p. 177) has Booth saying to Herold, "Now, by God, I'll put him through!" I'd love to know of, or find, the primary source/evidence for this quote.


Unfortunately, Bishop's book is a novel - still, it is always quoted as non-fiction!


RE: Booth quote - Tom Bogar - 07-19-2012 06:22 PM

Dug a little deeper, and found in the May 30, 1867 testimony in Testimony taken before the Judiciary committee of the House of
Representatives in the investigation of the charges against Andrew Johnson
(G.P.O. 1867; p. 674), that Thomas T. Eckert (Asst Sec. of War) quotes Booth as using both phrases. Since Eckert helped Herold get his lawyer, he could have gotten the words from him; but then, he also had possession of Paine's hat, pistol and clothes, for what that's worth. Bottom line for me: if it's good enough for Ed Steers (Blood on the Moon, p. 91), it's good enough for me.


RE: Booth quote - L Verge - 07-19-2012 07:31 PM

That makes sense that Eckert was the source after having contact with both Herold and Paine.


RE: Booth quote - BettyO - 07-19-2012 08:40 PM

(07-19-2012 07:31 PM)L Verge Wrote:  That makes sense that Eckert was the source after having contact with both Herold and Paine.

Agreed....Eckert probably got it from Powell --


RE: Booth quote - RJNorton - 07-20-2012 05:26 AM

Tom....everybody....I have Booth's quote at Taltavul's marked as "probably apocryphal" on my website.

The quote is, "When I leave the stage, I will be the most famous man in America."

Anyone ever seen a legitimate source for that one?


RE: Booth quote - Lindsey - 07-20-2012 05:27 PM

That's another good quote, Roger.

But as a quick aside so as not to get this thread off topic--Tom, what is your source for Eckert helping Davey?


RE: Booth quote - Tom Bogar - 07-21-2012 12:57 AM

Lindsey, I found it in Edwards and Steers' The Lincoln Assassination: the Evidence, p. 463 (from the M-599 LA files, 2:944-46), and yet, upon a closer reading, I see that that entry is actually Col. Burnett reporting to Eckert that Herold wishes to be represented by Joseph Bradley.

As for Roger's Taltuval Booth quote, I've never seen a legitimate source for that one, and have always regarded it as apocryphal.


RE: Booth quote - Lindsey - 07-24-2012 08:07 AM

Ah right, I have read that one. As an aside-- Joseph Bradley is connected to the Mary Harris case that was going on around the same time as our trial--the first known insanity defense used for a woman. She traveled all the way from Chicago and waited for her beau in the Treasury building for hours and then shot him point-blank.


RE: Booth quote - Gene C - 07-24-2012 04:02 PM

Unless your in the middle of writing a book or article, you can't leave us hanging like that. How did it turn out? Why did she do it? Details.....