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Dennis Urban · 10-31-2015, 07:31 PM

(10-31-2015 08:27 AM)Dave Taylor Wrote:
(10-26-2015 11:40 AM)Dennis Urban Wrote: I also just finished reading Kathy's book a few days ago. I have always been fascinated by the obscure details of historic events and this book is a masterpiece on that score. I will read it several times to absorb the details I missed. However, I am curious about the key ring of Booth's pictured on page 53. Kathy does not reveal exactly where the key ring was found and if it was ever determined what those keys fit. I'd love to see an answer to these questions. The two identical small keys on the left in the picture appear to be handcuff keys. The other small keys might fit Booth's trunk(s) while the largest key appears to be a door key size. I hope the answers are out there somewhere. I could query the NPS but this forum should be quicker. Extreme kudos to Kathy!

Dennis,

The NPS claims that those keys were found on Booth's body when he was cornered and killed at the Garrett farm. Unfortunately, I have never found any evidence to support this assertion. In none of the lists of items retrieved from Booth's body, (or from Herold's person for that matter), are any keys listed. The NPS gets their information about these keys from the 1940 transfer list and put the artifact into their collection from the Judge Advocate General's office. That transfer list is full of errors as to what artifacts are what. The transfer list just says, "Booth's keys".

I honestly don't know where they came from. I've put forth the idea that they actually might be David Herold's keys which could have been collected from the Herold household during the investigation. One of the Herold sister's discussed how her brother often came in late at night and had a night key, but that a day or two before the assassination, Herold's mother took the key away from him. It would make sense to me that the detectives might take that key along with the picture of Herold they wanted. This is merely an idea.

The keys could be Booth's, but they definitely weren't taken from Booth's body. Perhaps they were found in his room at the National, I don't know. It irks me that Ford's has the keys on display in the museum as having come from Booth's body when there really isn't any evidence for that.

I agree with the information in your post. Apparently the NPS has not tried to identify what the keys fit. If any of Booth's trunks still are extant, the keys should be tried; ditto with the handcuffs. The set of keys does not strike me as a set of night keys; too many different sizes. More likely they belonged to someone who had a number of lockable possessions, such as theatre trunks and handcuffs. I tend to think they were found in Booth's room at the National. I'd like to see this mystery solved.