Olivia Jenkins

[L Verge]

(07-29-2015 08:48 AM)Susan Higginbotham Wrote:  

(07-29-2015 05:11 AM)RJNorton Wrote:  I still think there's a good chance Booth came that night. Here is my thinking:

1. Booth asked Mary to tell Lloyd to have the guns ready. He also asked her to take his field glasses to Lloyd. To me it would be logical for Booth to stop at the boardinghouse on his way to Ford's to see if Mary had successfully completed her "errand." Booth may have also asked her to check to see if the road to Surrattsville were guarded; Mary was able to tell him the pickets would be gone by the time he would go by.

2. During the ride back from Surrattsville Weichmann reported that Mary told him she was expecting a visitor about 9:00 P.M. She wouldn't tell Weichmann who the visitor was. Weichmann said she told him Booth was through with acting and would be leaving Washington for New York "never to return."

3. According to Weichmann Mary got extremely nervous after the visitor left and asked him to pray for her intentions. If the visitor were Scott why would Mary get so nervous? Smoot, who also visited that night (after Booth IMO) also reported Mary was very agitated.

4. In his book Weichmann supports his contention that Booth was the visitor by writing that when the detectives left on the morning of the 15th Anna Surratt cried out, "Oh, Ma! Mr. Weichmann is right; just think of that man (John W. Booth) having been here an hour before the assassination. I am afraid it will bring suspicion upon us."

Is it possible Scott, Kirby, Smoot, and Booth ALL stopped by the boardinghouse that night?

I think Kirby can probably be ruled out as a visitor--I don't recollect anyone specifically naming him as stopping by on Friday night (unless I'm just forgetting something).

If Mary knew from Booth's afternoon visit that Booth had something planned for that evening, that would be enough to account for her nervousness even without an extra visit by Booth around 9 p.m. I don't think Booth can be ruled out as an evening visitor, although it's odd to me that Weichmann with his detailed testimony didn't recall any of the evidence mentioned above until after he had been on the stand.

Smoot recalled that he approached the house, saw a woman with a large sunbonnet standing on the stairs, and gave her his name, so he wouldn't have had to ring the doorbell for all of the occupants to hear.

So for me it's Scott probable, Smoot probable, Kirby unlikely, and Booth maybe. What we can say for certain is that anyone stopping by the boardinghouse that night had to have five letters in his surname.

Back to William Wallace Kirby: I had occasion today to pull out Mrs. Surratt's statements from the War Department Files on another matter. In questioning at the Carroll Annex of the Old Capitol on April 28, when asked "who were there Saturday or Saturday night besides the detective police?" she replied, "I do not remember anyone but the detectives. Then, "Who came there Saturday night?" "I do not know anyone but Mr. Kirby."

Kirby visited them on Saturday night, not the night of the assassination. Mrs. Surratt goes on to explain that Kirby "married a connection" and that he generally "calls upon us."

Just previous to that, she describes the Friday night visit by "A gentleman I do not know called to leave some newspapers for a niece of mine [Olivia]. He didn't come in, & I don't think I saw him. The little servant girl took the papers."

In her initial statement taken on April 17, she had also named Kirby as having visited on Saturday and also mentioned that Father Wiget was probably there also when Kirby arrived.

There is one other thought. Joan Chaconas spoke at our conference a few years ago on the history of the Old Capitol Prison and its superintendent, William Wood. He was a fascinating character in his own right, and if I remember correctly, he was friends with Olivia's father, John Zadoc Jenkins. That might account for why Olivia was not pressured during the investigation and the 1865 trial.