The New York Crowd

[JMadonna]

On December 3, 1864, Jacob Thompson wrote Judah P. Benjamin in which he laid out his failed efforts to spread terror in New York and elsewhere. It’s a remarkable document in that it names individuals involved in a terrorist plot sponsored by government.
One line that stood out for me was;

.…… I infer from your Personal in the New York News that it is your wish I should remain here for the present and I shall obey your orders. Indeed I have so many papers in my possession, which in the hands of the enemy would utterly ruin and destroy many of the prominent men in the North. That a due sense of my obligations to them will force on me the extremist caution in my movements.

IMO those papers were how Thompson was able to keep all the money from the Secret Service fund when he fled to Europe AND able to return a rich man. They were the equivalent of J. Edgar Hoover's secret files in the 20th century. I'd be interested in anything you can turn up on them and Thompson.

Secondly, I agree that the letter that Merritt reports could well be a canard by the cunning Sanders. However, it is important to remember that the Union believed Merritt's story, so consequent actions they took were based on that report. Many of the names on his list were arrested after the assassination.
You are correct that Beall was hung at the end of February, but he had already become a martyr for the cause with his trial, conviction and pending execution.

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(10-04-2013 06:56 AM)RJNorton Wrote:  Could the fact that Booth left $455 untouched in Canada suggest maybe escaping north, not south, was a possibility for Booth?

Union spies reported that Thompson informed all the agents he sent South that after the deed was done if they made it to Canada they would be promoted, rewarded and protected.