Useless, useless

[KateH.]

To quickly jump back to the previous page, Booth saying "tell mother I died for my country" ironically seems to connect back to the story of Mary Ann Booth seeing the word "country" in the fireplace. I believe Asia Booth writes something about it in her memoir. John Wilkes probably heard that story a lot growing up and maybe flashed back to it as he lay dying outside the burning barn. That doesn't mean he was deeply thinking about that particular memory. It could have been subconscious. Maybe seeing the fire was the memory element that made him briefly recall the story in his brain. Even if the mind subconsciously has a moment of recognition, it can be an influence. That trigger could have had a minor influence on his words. Of course, we'll never know the whole truth.

Betty, I completely agree with what you wrote above about Powell. I also love the way you worded it I’ll leave it at that.