Booth quote

[Lindsey]

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?

[RJNorton]

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

[BettyO]

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 -

[Laurie Verge]

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???

[Lindsey]

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

[Tom Bogar]

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.

[BettyO]

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!

[Tom Bogar]

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.

[L Verge]

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

[BettyO]

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

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

[RJNorton]

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?

[Lindsey]

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?

[Tom Bogar]

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.

[Lindsey]

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.

[Gene C]

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.....