"Stump the Yankee"

[J. Beckert]

If you Google Famous Actors of the Day Strang, the book can be read online and there are several photos of Mr. Reed. Mrs. Drew was right - that boy had quite a beak on him.

[J. Beckert]

Rebels 15
Yankee 8

Good evening and welcome back to another installment of "Stump the Yankee".

Boy, did I get a shellackin' here last time. Ouch. I was positive I had a winner and at the last minute, after I was already poking the Rebels with a stick, I got a three pronged beating. The politest Rebel on the internet, Laurie and Gene all took turns passing the switch and tanning my Yankee hide. Undaunted as always, I will try to squash the Rebellion once again.

Any artifacts associated with the assassination itself or persons present, have always fascinated me. Swatches of wallpaper, playbills, you name it - I think something that was there is amazing.

A while back, Betty Ownsbey posted a picture of what is purported to be Booth's watch. Here's a picture of it.





Please keep in mind this is only a rumor, but there's a story that a watch owned by Booth eventually came into the possession of a famous Southern politician.

Who was this Rebel?

[RJNorton]

Huey Long?

[BettyO]

Jimmy Carter?!

[J. Beckert]

It's neither. Think 19th. century.

[BettyO]

General John Brown Gordon? Later Governor of Georgia....

[J. Beckert]

No ma'am.

Hint # 1 - This story was confirmed by two granddaughters of this politician. They were named Amy and Polly.

[J. Beckert]

Hint # 2 - This politician "carried a big stick".

[L Verge]

Teddy Roosevelt?

[Rob Wick]

Pitchfork Ben Tillman.

Best
Rob

[J. Beckert]

No and no. A 19th. century politician who "carried a big stick", so to speak. Stump that Yankee with a big stick..........

[L Verge]

Preston Brooks, Sr., the Congressman from South Carolina who beat Charles Sumner on the floor of Congress. I think that his son claimed to have bought it from a man to whom Booth had pawned it. It's part of the Arthur Ben Chitty stories. And I found this one all by myself, Mr. Yankee Man

[J. Beckert]

Well, slap the dog and spit in the fire! That's it, Laurie!

I don't know what to make of the story, but what I found interesting was when interviewed about the watch in 1956, two daughters of Preston Brooks, Jr. (son of the Yankee caner) both stated, separately, that they had seen the watch and were told it was Booth's. Brooks, Jr. supposedly bought it from the man Booth sold it to. The family states the watch was stolen many years ago.

The photo Betty posted a while back is also a dead end. The poster on the Civil War blog who posted that image and two others has not been active since the initial posting. It's here in the thread "Booth's watch". I'd love to know what those letters it's laying on say.

Rebels 16
Yankee 8

Congratulations - Ms. Rebel Lady!

Here's Betty's thread - http://rogerjnorton.com/LincolnDiscussio...d-319.html

[J. Beckert]

Rebels 16
Yankee 8

Good evening and welcome back to another round of "Stump the Yankee".

The Rebels have ruined my very short winning streak with two consecutive victories. I'm still sore from the last two thrashings and to make matters worse, I've run out of obscure Booth trivia. I can't buy a break here. But I'm not done yet......

Time for something different. If this doesn't pan out, I may sign the surrender papers and switch sides. Let's see how this goes....

An authentic "Southern Belle" has direct relations to both a key operative in the Confederate secret operations and several U.S. Presidents.

Who was this She Rebel?

[Wild Bill]

Rose Greenhow