Fascinating History

[Dave Taylor]

(01-29-2023 04:31 PM)Eva Elisabeth Wrote:  If the Valentine card was not written by JWB, what reliable sources are left about JWB being engaged with Lucy Hale? I can't help it, he was so much into his own handsomeness, Lucy just doesn't seem to look the part, and v.v. Robert seemed to fit better overall.

Eva,

The idea that JWB wrote an anonymous valentine to Lucy Hale in 1862 is incorrect, but Asia and Junius both support that their brother composed a valentine for Lucy in 1865. By that time, their romance was in full swing. As Roger noted in his response, their enough evidence from the Booth family to support that the two were romantically involved and that, at least from their point of view, JWB and Lucy were "engaged".

Coincidentally, Edwin Booth was also engaged right before the assassination to a woman named Blanche Hanel. The two were planning on marrying in September of 1865. However, not long after JWB's crime, the two broke up. Edwin later married Mary McVicker in 1869.