Booth's mistress, Ella Starr, and other "unknown" Booth ladies!

[HerbS]

Hi Jenny,I know about the Albany incident.In Buffalo,Booth was arrested for smashing a window[$50 fine]as they walked by[he went nuts] with captured confederate military prizes in it.Henretta only beat him in a jealous rage.In Rochester,she beat him in a jealous rage.But,in Albany she stabbed him in a jealous rage! All of my research for Buffalo and Rochester came out of newspaper accounts,and the Erie and Monroe County Historical Societies.

[Jenny]

Antiquefinder, author Jerry Madonna theorizes that Booth sent Ella Starr to entertain Vice President Johnson at the Kirkwood House the night of the planned murders in A Threat to the Republic: The Lincoln Assassination Secret that Preserved the Union.

I can't say I personally agree with the theory but it can't be completely dismissed either!

Jerry is a member of the LDS - feel free to chime in here, Mr. Madonna!

---

... wow, Herb! I didn't know Henrietta BEAT the man several times before she tried to stab him in Albany! That's extremely interesting. I'd heard about Booth being fined for smashing the window with Confederate military prizes but I didn't know Henrietta was involved in that incident too!

[HerbS]

Hi Jenny,Herietta Irving must have been a "High Maintaince"Women!

[RJNorton]

First of all, thank you to Jenny - there is so much more here than I ever knew.

My personal theory is that Jerry may be right, but my reason may be a little "different."

Johnson did not answer the door immediately when Wisconsin Governor Leonard Farwell rushed from Ford's to the Kirkwood House to tell Johnson Lincoln had been shot. Here's the way Farwell told it:

"And then darting up to Mr. Johnson's room, No. 68, I knocked, but hearing no movement I knocked again, and called out with the loudest voice that I could command: "Governor Johnson, if you are in this room I must see you!" In a moment I heard him spring from his bed and exclaim: "Farwell, is that you?" "Yes, let me in." I replied. The door was opened, I passed in, locked it, and told him the terrible news, which for a time overwhelmed us both, and grasping hands, we fell upon each other as if for mutual support."

The fact that there was a delay in Johnson answering the door could conceivably mean he was not alone. In his book Jerry argues that Johnson unwittingly assisted with Booth's escape from Washington by writing passes for JWB and David Herold, and JWB sent Ella to Johnson's room as a "thank you" for the passes.

Like Jenny, I do not know if I truly believe this or not, but the delay in answering the door is suspicious (at least to me). I think it's a question that cannot be answered with 100% certainty either way.

Hopefully Jerry will see this thread and chime in with his ideas.

[JMadonna]

Roger,
You succinctly summed up my theory about Ella that night. Knowing what Booth had done and how he had duped her into being part of his scheme, she then made her unsuccessful attempt at suicide.It looks as though she, like Henriette, were treated like props by Booth. Only difference between the two is that Henriette took her rage out on Booth & Ella took it out on herself.

[JMadonna]

Fascinating thread, Jenny!

One question --

Wonder why Doster was so interested in Ella? He was the council for Powell and Atzerodt. Do you think that perhaps Lew Powell or Atzerodt also knew her? Or visited her house, for example?

Just curious......

Atzerodt claimed that Booth told him the door to Johnson's room would be unlocked. The only way he would know that is if Booth had an inside man (Ella). If she collaborated that story it would prove Atzerodt was not 'lying in wait' and had no intention to kill the VP.

In his memoirs, Doster stated that the previous witness Edwin Booth testified that he barely knew his brother over the years. With Ella's written statement that she was not on good terms with Booth for a while, he expected more of the whitewash, so he declined to call her to the stand.

[Laurie Verge]

My life has been hectic for about ten days, and I am trying to catch up on this wonderful forum. Jenny, your postings are great and I'm impressed with the depth of your research. Just a side note: When I saw that Ella's sister married into the Treakle family, I realized that I had grown up with Treakles who married into the Smoot family. All are gone now, so I guess I'll never figure out if there was a connection.

As to the hotel register with "John Wilkes Booth and Lady," I believe that was the proper way to sign into a public house in those days -- no matter what the station in life of the lady. Of course, one did not have to sign into a brothel that way because the "ladies" were there waiting.

[Jenny]

Thank you for clarifying, Jerry! You have some very interesting points there regarding Atzerodt and why Doster didn't call her up as a witness.

---

I want to thank everyone for the great thread so far! Keep it up! I have to say that I don't feel like typing out the entire story from the 10/05/1902 edition of the Richmond Dispatch newspaper so I'll give you a link if you are interested in reading it. The most interesting part of the (warning: crazy) story was the claim that "Nellie Starr is still living, the honest wife of an honest mechanic."

Read it here:
http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/s...-1/seq-16/

[JMadonna]

Isn't it good to know that American Journalism has grown so much during the years.

[HerbS]

So Jenny,What is your"Gut"feeling about Booth and his women? Was Henrietta Irving his pawn?

[JMadonna]

Just speculating but if Booth had not become an assassain and married Lucy Hale there is probably a very good chance he would have eventually retired from acting and become a politician. Just as Lucy's husband did.

[J. Beckert]

Good point, Jerry. Both actors and politicians have large egos that like to be stroked. About 10 years ago, I was representing the Trooper's association at a political fundraiser. Most of those present were state Senators and Assemblymen. The only person I knew there was a rep from our PR firm. He pulled me aside and said no matter what they tell you - they're here because they care about this issue or that issue - the only reason they're all here is because of their egos.

[Jenny]

Fascinating speculation, guys! If much of politics is about ego, then John Wilkes Booth would have fit right in!

Gut feeling about the women, Herb? Well, I admit I take a softer stance on Booth in some regards than most historians so my "gut feeling" probably won't be the most popular opinion. I do think Booth was a womanizer and I wouldn't put it above him to have used women at times. But I also think that it's possible he had emotional attachments to certain ones (he certainly appears to have loved his mother and sister Asia very much). I don't know as much as I'd like to about Henrietta's relationship with Booth... but I doubt she was his pawn. I don't think Ella was his pawn either. I think he might have been using Lucy Hale in some ways due to her father's political status but I would like to think he did care for her also. Wishful thinking perhaps.

[RJNorton]

I think he might have been using Lucy Hale in some ways due to her father's political status but I would like to think he did care for her also. Wishful thinking perhaps.

How serious was this "secret engagement" with Lucy? I wonder. Because of the letters and notes JWB wrote to other females besides Lucy, I think I agree with you, Jenny.

In 1862 Booth wrote this note to Lucy:

My dear Miss Hale, were it not for the License with a time-honored observance of this day allows, I had not written you this poor note. ... You resemble in a most remarkable degree a lady, very dear to me, now dead and your close resemblance to her surprised me the first time I saw you. This must be my apology for any apparent rudeness noticeable. To see you has indeed afforded me a melancholy pleasure, if you can conceive of such, and should we never meet nor I see you again believe me, I shall always associate you in my memory, with her, who was very beautiful, and whose face, like your own I trust, was a faithful index of gentleness and amiability. With a Thousand kind wishes for your future happiness I am, to you,

A Stranger

On July 14, 1864, in a note to Isabel Sumner, Booth writes:

Dearest Isabel, I can not write to you. I want to talk to you. I have just traveled over 600 miles. It is now 2 1/2 am. I am tired and sick. Let that be an excuse for this miserably written letter. But the style or manner of my letters be what it may. I LOVE YOU, and I feel that in the fountain of my heart a seal is set to keep its waters pure and bright for thee alone. God Bless you. You see (to follow your wishes NOT MY OWN) I call myself your FRIEND only. good night. JWB.

How many other letters did Booth write to women which were destroyed after the assassination and we do not know about? I am guessing there were plenty. The note Jenny posted that Ella wrote certainly implies she was a very important person in Booth's life, too.

Certainly Booth had feelings for Ella, too.

The Hales were opposed to their daughter marrying JWB. I think they favored her marriage to Robert Lincoln. I think Booth once became enraged as he watched Lucy dance with Robert. I have not seen the proof, but there is an unsubstantiated rumor that Lucy spent the afternoon of the assassination with Robert. Nevertheless, I believe in subsequent years, Robert denied a serious relationship existed with Lucy. I know he gave her a book when he was in college.

I just have trouble with Booth really being serious about marrying Lucy. Given his past lifestyle, I have trouble picturing him as a settled, married man. How long would such a marriage last?

Was he using Lucy as Jenny suggests? Personally, I think Jenny has a good point. I am not saying Booth didn't have feelings for all these women; my question is would he really settle down with just one?

[Linda Anderson]

I just have trouble with Booth really being serious about marrying Lucy. Given his past lifestyle, I have trouble picturing him as a settled, married man. How long would such a marriage last?

Was he using Lucy as Jenny suggests? Personally, I think Jenny has a good point. I am not saying Booth didn't have feelings for all these women; my question is would he really settle down with just one?

Michael Kauffman has this to say about Lucy Hale in American Brutus: "She had a magnetic charm that was rumored to have piqued the interest of some highly placed young men, including Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., and Robert Todd Lincoln. She also had a free-thinking outlook that placed no shackles on her husband-to-be. Booth still kept mistresses, and when Lucy traveled with him, they unabashedly checked into hotels as 'J.W. Booth & Lady.'"

I don't see Booth settling down if he married Lucy. I wonder if Lucy's "free-thinking outlook" about Booth's other women would have changed after their marriage.