New Booth Photo? Er . . .

[Susan Higginbotham]

This is a bit fanciful, methinks.

http://www.tnonline.com/2016/jul/30/hist...in-tamaqua

[Gene C]

Interesting story, but for those who know a bit more about Booth and the Lincoln assassination than the average newspaper reader, the story lacks important details.

I find it unlikely Booth would tell a black barber in Pennsylvania he planned on shooting Lincoln. Evidently, so did most of the people the barber allegedly told.

[RJNorton]

I second Gene's comment.

Is there evidence that Booth was actually ever in Tamaqua? I checked the index of Art Loux's John Wilkes Booth: Day by Day and do not see it listed.

[BettyO]

Agreed - more than a bit fanciful....

Methinks the gentleman presented looks more like a railroad conductor.....

[RJNorton]

I also second Betty's comment.

[L Verge]

I am no longer making any attempt to give opinions on photos, and my friends and colleagues will know why. Questions:

If there is a Baily Photographic Collection, what decades does it cover? What years did he do business in Tamaqua?

Does the building shown date to the 1860s?

Someone with access to newspapers - can you locate the Simon Jefferson lengthy obit?

How close would Tamaqua be to the oil fields of Pennsylvania that Booth had an interest in?

Are any of our Booth scholars here familiar with the lady Booth scholar mentioned as finding the photo? Carolyn, any recollection of the lady contacting Tudor Hall? That would be the logical place for a Booth scholar to have strong ties.

The hat on the subject's head speaks volumes to me about being part of a uniform, not civilian dress

[BettyO]

Found these link re: Simon Jefferson -

http://www.tnonline.com/2015/sep/04/‘city-dead’

http://republicanherald.com/news/tamaqua...-1.1352067

http://standardspeaker.com/news/author-s...y-1.858550

Also found the 1860 census which includes Jefferson..... he lived to be near 100 years old

   

Could not locate an orbit - still looking!

[tom82baur]

I stumbled on this tonight. Curious to know what this forum thinks of it.
"A Gettysburg researcher who happens to be a scholar on the life of John Wilkes Booth, assassin of President Abraham Lincoln, has stumbled on what she believes might be a previously undocumented portrait of Booth apparently taken during a visit to Tamaqua.

Michele Behan, a Missouri native and graduate of St. Louis University, discovered the portrait in late October 2015 at a Gettysburg antiques shop."

This is the caption to the photo: "Researcher Michele Behan of Gettysburg rummaged through old photos in an Adams County antiques shop recently and discovered what many say is an original portrait of John Wilkes Booth taken at Baily Studios in Tamaqua."

"She says she found an online story from the book “Iron Steps — Illustrated History of Tamaqua, Pa.” by Donald R. Serfass. The book includes a chapter that tells of Booth’s visits to the town, based on published newspaper reports dating back to the 1800s.

It was during one of those visits when Booth reportedly told Tamaqua barber Simon Jefferson about his plans to shoot the president.

Jefferson was the first black resident of the community and claimed to be a descendant of Thomas Jefferson through slave Sally Hemmings. Booth and Jefferson were both natives of Maryland, a common bond that helped to forge a friendship.

Jefferson said he warned town police and officials about Booth’s plans, stories well-documented by Jefferson in early newspaper interviews.

But, it appears, nobody was ready to pay attention to a black man, not even a free black man, in those days.

Jefferson said he even took a train to Washington, D.C., to warn Lincoln of impending doom.

But his attempts fell on deaf ears. The rest is history."

Here is the link:
http://www.tnonline.com/2016/jul/30/hist...in-tamaqua

[BettyO]

If there is a Baily Photographic Collection, what decades does it cover? What years did he do business in Tamaqua?

There was indeed a David Baily, Photographer in Tamaqua in 1862. Here is the info I found on him:

   

   

Tamaqua was in a coal mining region - so there could have been oil there - still checking..... Found that the distance between Titusville, PA where the principle oil fields were located, and Tamaqua, PA is approximately 279 miles - quite a distance in 1862 -

[L Verge]

Tamaqua appears to have been an early railroad town, so I wonder if any lines that Booth would have taken ran through the town? Like Betty, the head gear on the gentleman in the photo speaks more to railroad conductor than it does to the fashionable Mr. Booth. Any chance of enlarging the photo so that we can examine the rest of the attire?

[BettyO]

Image is very pixelated; this is about as good a resolution as I could get - I still say it's a rail road conductor -

   

[Gene C]

How close would Tamaqua be to the oil fields of Pennsylvania that Booth had an interest in?

In the book "John Wilkes Booth in the Pennsylvania Oil Region"
Booth stayed for a while in Franklin, PA in 1863-64. It was a small town of about 1,300 in 1860, located in northwest Pennsylvania.
(a few miles northeast of the I-75 and I-80 intersection)

Wikipedia says Franklin is part of the OIL City, PA Micropolitan Statistical Area. About 245 miles to Tamaqua according to MapQuest (interstate almost the whole way)
In 1860 it was "you can't get there from here".

[L Verge]

Image is very pixelated; this is about as good a resolution as I could get - I still say it's a rail road conductor -

I agree and probably after the CW. The thin necktie almost looks like it has a Windsor knot?

[L Verge]

Image is very pixelated; this is about as good a resolution as I could get - I still say it's a rail road conductor -

I agree and probably after the CW. The thin necktie almost looks like it has a Windsor knot?

I also detect a tiny goatee under this man's lower lip, what we call a soul patch today. I never remember seeing Booth with that extra addition.

[BettyO]

Were Windsor knot ties worn during this period? Seems I've seen some in CDV's, etc....