Assassination Trivia

[RJNorton]

Thanks to Steve for sending this picture and question.

Who is this?

[L Verge]

Thanks to Steve for sending this picture and question.

Who is this?

I don't know, but I sure would not want to get on her bad side.

[RJNorton]

Ella Starr?

[Steve]

Ella Starr?

Good guess but no, though some people claim she was also romantically linked with Booth. I, and probably most people on this forum, think those claims are hogwash.

[Steve]

Hint #2: A book investigating the supposed relationship between this woman and Booth came out about five years ago. The author ultimately concluded there was no relationship between the two.

[Steve]

Hint #3: Later in life this woman wrote a few books on local history, including one on a civil war regiment with a lot of recruits from her area.

[Steve]

Hint #4: As far as I can tell, by using the (name/keyword) search function, this woman has never been mentioned on the forum before.

[Gene C]

Kate Scott ?

[Steve]

Yes, you are correct Gene, it is Kate M. Scott! This photograph of her was taken in 1862 according to the Jefferson County (PA) Historical Society.

Kate was a civil war nurse, newspaper editor, historian, and later social reformer from Pennsylvania. Starting sometime in the 1970's, Ray Neff began promoting the idea that she and John Wilkes Booth had a daughter together despite the fact that Kate was a fervent Unionist who helped raise troops through her newspaper and that she never had any children, ever. The India will of John Byron Wilkes that Neff "found" lists Kate's nonexistent daughter as one of his heirs. Neff also claimed the photo of Helen Western found on Booth's body was Kate.

https://journals.psu.edu/wph/article/view/60177

Somehow, I figured Gene might be the one to answer this question correctly.

Here's Kate's find a grave page:

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/8135...e-m.-scott

Note that after her biography, a Neff fan has posted a full-length transcription of a fake affidavit describing her affair with Booth found in the so-called "Potter Papers".

[Gene C]

Somehow, I figured Gene might be the one to answer this question correctly.

I'm not quite sure how to take that -

[L Verge]

Steve - You definitely stumped me on this one. If I ever read about Kate Scott, I don't remember it. If Neff was the only source, I probably wiped it out of my mind!

What is the title of the more recent book that disproves Neff's claims?

[Steve]

The title of the book is Kate M. Scott: Did She or Didn't She? by Carole A. Briggs:

https://www.amazon.com/Kate-M-Scott-Did-...0971470219

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Somehow, I figured Gene might be the one to answer this question correctly.

I'm not quite sure how to take that -

Take it as a compliment!

[Eva Elisabeth]

Without the help of the omniscient Google, in the broad Lincoln assassination saga, what role did John S. Chenowith play?

[RJNorton]

Did he have anything to do with Dr. Luke Blackburn's yellow fever plot?

[Eva Elisabeth]

Good idea, Roger, but not correct.