Relics

[RJNorton]

Another book that mentions Conness is H. Donald Winkler's Lincoln and Booth: More Light on the Conspiracy.

Winkler writes:

"Forty-four year old Conness reportedly was a 'skirt chaser' who had been seen with Booth on many occasions. Conness had no known connection with Booth's plots, but he obviously would have been humiliated and disgraced by any disclosure of Booth's writings that referred to their friendship and shared women. Their association may or may not explain the franked envelope from Conness's office that was found in Atzerodt's room after the assassination."

According to Winkler, the reference to Booth's writings was what was contained in the missing pages from Booth's diary. The implication is that when Stanton saw what was in some of the pages these pages then went missing. (The source for this theory is what apparently was in the diary of Congressman George W. Julian of Indiana. Maybe Julian's dairy is also the source for Balsiger and Sellier's mention of Conness. I do not have Julian's diary, so I do not know what it contains.)