November 1864 Classified Ad by JWB

[jparkuntz]

I looked unsuccessfully for any federal legislators named "J. B. Wilkes."

Was either Surratt or Booth well-versed enough in spycraft to follow the scenario Steve suggests? (I'm not impressed that Booth was very cunning.)

BTW, I have no theories as to what is going on. I just have a suspicion, based on years of newspaper clipping research tracking individuals, those November ads were placed by JWB.

Jerry Kuntz
Warwick NY

[Gene C]

IMO, if this add were for nefarious purposes, "J. B. Wilkes" would be to easy to trace back to "J. W. Booth"

.

[L Verge]

I looked unsuccessfully for any federal legislators named "J. B. Wilkes."

Was either Surratt or Booth well-versed enough in spycraft to follow the scenario Steve suggests? (I'm not impressed that Booth was very cunning.)

BTW, I have no theories as to what is going on. I just have a suspicion, based on years of newspaper clipping research tracking individuals, those November ads were placed by JWB.

Jerry Kuntz
Warwick NY

I tend to agree with you that Booth might not have been skilled in spycraft, however, Surratt had lots of practice in deceiving Union occupiers in Maryland by just living in Southern Maryland, where a majority of the citizens knew little ways to survive their federal antagonists.

As to who placed the ad, I would suspect Booth also, mainly because of the timing -- right when he is making first contacts with Confederate agents in Southern Maryland. The "coincidence" is strong, imo. However, the number of folks seeking abodes in DC right after the national election also included support people who gained employment through elected officials. Therefore, we can't rule out that this Mr. Wilkes was a real person with the real last name of Wilkes.

[Susan Higginbotham]

I looked unsuccessfully for any federal legislators named "J. B. Wilkes."

Was either Surratt or Booth well-versed enough in spycraft to follow the scenario Steve suggests? (I'm not impressed that Booth was very cunning.)

BTW, I have no theories as to what is going on. I just have a suspicion, based on years of newspaper clipping research tracking individuals, those November ads were placed by JWB.

Jerry Kuntz
Warwick NY

I tend to agree with you that Booth might not have been skilled in spycraft, however, Surratt had lots of practice in deceiving Union occupiers in Maryland by just living in Southern Maryland, where a majority of the citizens knew little ways to survive their federal antagonists.

As to who placed the ad, I would suspect Booth also, mainly because of the timing -- right when he is making first contacts with Confederate agents in Southern Maryland. The "coincidence" is strong, imo. However, the number of folks seeking abodes in DC right after the national election also included support people who gained employment through elected officials. Therefore, we can't rule out that this Mr. Wilkes was a real person with the real last name of Wilkes.

Mr. Wilkes might have also been acting as someone's agent.

[Gene C]

There is a John B Wilkes a composer and music arranger (not sure where he lived) about this time period.
https://hymnary.org/tune/swell_the_anthe...ong_wilkes
Notice the "not to be confused with John Wilkes" ( a different John Wilkes)

I believe this is a tune he arranged. I am not familiar with it, but it is a nice song.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qhHqUtoUIaI

The point being, the name is not that unusual or unique.

[Steve]

There is a John B Wilkes a composer and music arranger (not sure where he lived) about this time period.
https://hymnary.org/tune/swell_the_anthe...ong_wilkes
Notice the "not to be confused with John Wilkes" ( a different John Wilkes)

I believe this is a tune he arranged. I am not familiar with it, but it is a nice song.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qhHqUtoUIaI

The point being, the name is not that unusual or unique.

I agree, it is a good hymn. Thanks for finding the link.

The hymnary.org website is mistaken; hymnist/organist John Bernard Wilkes was born on May 2, 1823 in Leominster, Herefordshire, England and not in 1785. The website has mistakenly divided the same person into two different people. I've seen his death listed as occurring in either 1869 or 1882, but I've looked and so far have found no evidence for either date. In fact, I can't find any sign of him, his wife, or his three children after he left his post as organist at Llandaff Cathedral in Wales in 1865.

Short bio:
https://books.google.com/books?id=CcleDA...ff&f=false

John Bernard Wilkes in 1861 Wales census in Llandaff (note this is a transcription missing his wife and kids information):
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M7B6-J15

Llandaff Cathedral Wikipedia page:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Llandaff_Cathedral

[Gene C]

Thanks Steve for correcting my error.

Another person on the forum who I am jealous of their research skills.

[L Verge]

Wish I knew the name of the piano teacher who was one of those who rented the H Street house from the Surratts before they decided to turn it into their city home. I'm not even sure when he had a room(s) there prior to the fall of 1864. Don't think I could stand the coincidence of having a John Wilkes and a John Wilkes Booth both tied to that sad little house...

[Steve]

Wish I knew the name of the piano teacher who was one of those who rented the H Street house from the Surratts before they decided to turn it into their city home. I'm not even sure when he had a room(s) there prior to the fall of 1864. Don't think I could stand the coincidence of having a John Wilkes and a John Wilkes Booth both tied to that sad little house...

I checked the 1863 Washington DC city directory and the music teacher at the boarding house was James S. Drake.
   

[L Verge]

Wish I knew the name of the piano teacher who was one of those who rented the H Street house from the Surratts before they decided to turn it into their city home. I'm not even sure when he had a room(s) there prior to the fall of 1864. Don't think I could stand the coincidence of having a John Wilkes and a John Wilkes Booth both tied to that sad little house...

I checked the 1863 Washington DC city directory and the music teacher at the boarding house was James S. Drake.

Wow, Steve, you are amazing with the sources you have at your fingertips! Thanks so much.

[Steve]

Laurie, is there some significance to Drake? Was a music teacher mentioned either in trial accounts or statements given to authorities after the assassination?

I found these August 1864 advertisements in the Detroit Free Press for sheet music written by a James S. Drake. I wonder if it's the same person.
   

[L Verge]

Laurie, is there some significance to Drake? Was a music teacher mentioned either in trial accounts or statements given to authorities after the assassination?

I found these August 1864 advertisements in the Detroit Free Press for sheet music written by a James S. Drake. I wonder if it's the same person.

No significance that I know of. James O. Hall was so minute in his research, however, that he told us years ago about the H Street home getting revenue from rentals to Patent Office employees, a music teacher, and others that I cannot remember, over the ten years that the Surratts owned it before moving to the city to utilize it themselves.

I bless the day that I first met Mr. Hall because he was a wonderful friend and mentor -- and unlike some today, he didn't stab you in the back. I believe at last count that we have sixteen drawers (four to a file cabinet) in our James O. Hall Research Center to attest to the work he did. This does not include the multiple drawers of Tidwell files that he collaborated with.

Several universities, including Georgetown, were a bit miffed that his files came to Surratt House...

---

Forgot to add that it was interesting to see that Drake composed a new arrangement for "Annie Laurie." As soon as I turned 16, I was ready to get my driver's license (had been driving back roads since I was 14). When the gentleman administering the test climbed in the car and asked my name, I gave it as "Laurie," even though that is not my legal name, "Laura." While I'm taking the test (on town streets in a stick-shift car, having to give hand signals, not letting it roll backwards at stop lights, etc.), the gentleman was singing "Annie Laurie" at the top of his voice -- and not very well. Wonder if he used Drake's version of the tune???

[Gene C]

For those unfamiliar with the song, it's an old Scottish song from the early 1800's based upon a real person. Several different versions and well known singers have recorded it over the years. This version has the lyrics - click show more

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gIwqkPyRRPY

[Steve]

No significance that I know of. James O. Hall was so minute in his research, however, that he told us years ago about the H Street home getting revenue from rentals to Patent Office employees, a music teacher, and others that I cannot remember, over the ten years that the Surratts owned it before moving to the city to utilize it themselves.

Just to round everything out, besides James S. Drake, the Treadway family was also living at the Surratt boardinghouse in Washington according to the 1863 Washington city directory. The father Alfred was a claims agent/lawyer and the son, William H. Treadway was a clerk in the patent office. Not included in the directory listing is Alfred's wife and daughters.

   

Treadway family in 1870 census:
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MN4M-4GG

[Steve]

I suppose it's possible the "J. B. Wilkes" ad as a whole has a cipher message hidden in it but I think the specific phrase "four to six rooms" is just common want ad language for people looking for a house to rent with 4 to 6 rooms.

I do have an alternative theory of why Booth would have created the ad if it wasn't a cipher:

Say, Booth meets John Surratt in October 1864 in Montreal. Surratt tells Booth that he has plans to move his family from Maryland to Washington DC. Surratt had been the local postmaster from his father's death in August 1862 until being fired in November 1863 for disloyalty (he had already become a Confederate spy). Surratt and his sister moved into the Washington boardinghouse around the first of November 1864. What if placing the ads was a way of creating a plausible connection between Booth and Surratt if the link between the two had somehow been discovered. Surratt being removed from his postmaster job for disloyalty could've put suspicion on Booth but Booth could point to the ad and claim this was how he met Surratt. Later on, they stage the December 1864 meeting with witnesses to conceal their prior meeting and no longer need the ads for a fake backstory of how they know each other.

Based on some subsequent postings by others, I just wanted to clarify this earlier post. I wasn't advocating for the above theory but offering as a possible explanation of why Booth would post the ad just before he left Washington for a couple of weeks.