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JW Booth Question

Discussion in 'Civil War History - General Discussion' started by Shiftkitty, Feb 20, 2012.

  1. Shiftkitty Guest

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    I apologize if this is a totally stupid question, but my husband and I just watched an episode of "Decoded" that addressed the theory of John Wilkes Booth having escaped death at the barn. (I can hear some of you groaning "Oh no. Not this again!") I know that show can be woefully inadequate on details and accuracy (as I have seen them mangle some things that I am quite knowledgeable on), but they asserted on the show that no family was called to make a positive ID on the body. However, I read something else later that said the dentition was positively identified by Booth's dentist, which was confirmed by Booth's brother. There is the question of a decorative pin that Booth was wearing when they took him out of the barn that was not common knowledge but was testified to having been there by one of the soldiers on the night he was killed. They said the body had freckles, but couldn't that have been burn damage? I mean, they did set the barn on fire, after all.

    To sum up, what do you believe, and do you have links I can show my husband? I think they got him, but he's not so sure.
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  3. kholland First Sergeant

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    I for one think it was Booth at that barn in Virginia.

    Here is the link for a short but fact filled site regarding Booth's final hours and the subsequent identification of the body. There is also a number of books and publications regarding this subject at the end of the page. Here is a relevant section of the page regarding the body's ID.

    " Within a short time, several people who knew Booth personally positively identified the body. One of these people was Dr. John Frederick May (1812-1891) who is pictured to the right. Some time prior to the assassination, Dr. May had removed a large fibroid tumor from Booth's neck. Dr. May found a scar from his operation on the corpse's neck exactly where it should have been. Booth's dentist, Dr. William Merrill (office was at 344 Pennsylvania Avenue), who had filled two teeth for Booth shortly before the assassination, pried open the corpse's mouth and positively identified his fillings. Charles Dawson, the clerk at the National Hotel where Booth was staying, identified the initials "J.W.B" pricked in India ink on the corpse's hand. As a boy Booth had his initials indelibly tattooed on the back of his left hand between his thumb and forefinger"

    http://rogerjnorton.com/Lincoln40.html

    And another PDF page regarding the ID from a medical standpoint is:

    http://odin.indstate.edu/about/units/rbsc/neff/PDFs/guttridge_identification.pdf

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