{"id":30521,"date":"2018-04-12T12:22:04","date_gmt":"2018-04-12T16:22:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.genealogybank.com\/?p=30521"},"modified":"2022-09-23T14:20:59","modified_gmt":"2022-09-23T18:20:59","slug":"american-traitor-3-facts-about-john-wilkes-booth-slayer-of-abraham-lincoln","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/american-traitor-3-facts-about-john-wilkes-booth-slayer-of-abraham-lincoln.html","title":{"rendered":"American Traitor: 3 Facts about John Wilkes Booth, Slayer of Abraham Lincoln"},"content":{"rendered":"

Introduction<\/em><\/strong>: In this article, to commemorate the anniversary of President Abraham Lincoln\u2019s assassination this Saturday, Gena Philibert-Ortega searches old newspapers to learn more about Lincoln\u2019s killer: John Wilkes Booth. Gena is a genealogist and author of the book \u201cFrom the Family Kitchen.<\/span>\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

On 14 April 1865, President Abraham Lincoln was shot in the back of the head by actor John Wilkes Booth in Ford\u2019s Theatre while he and his wife Mary Todd Lincoln watched a performance of Our American Cousin<\/em>. Lincoln\u2019s assassination is a topic still studied today, some 153 years later.<\/p>\n

\"Illustration:<\/a>
Illustration: John Wilkes Booth leaning forward to shoot President Abraham Lincoln as he watches \u201cOur American Cousin\u201d at Ford\u2019s Theatre in Washington, D.C., 14 April 1865. Credit: T. M. McAllister; Heritage Auctions; Wikimedia Commons.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

You may know the basic facts about Abraham Lincoln and the assassination \u2013 but what do you know about his killer, John Wilkes Booth? Most people know that he was an actor and he was a member of the Booth family acting dynasty, but what else do you know? Here are three lesser-known facts about John Wilkes Booth.<\/p>\n

He Had a Fianc\u00e9?<\/strong><\/p>\n

John Wilkes Booth was one of the most eligible bachelors of his time, and no doubt he used his fame and good looks to impress his countless female admirers. One woman he caught the eye of was Lucy Lambert Hale, the daughter of the senator from New Hampshire. Hale and her family lived in Washington, D.C.\u2019s National Hotel alongside the actor. No doubt this allowed Booth to get to know Hale better even though her family discouraged the relationship due to his profession. Because of this, much of the Booth-Hale romance was conducted in secrecy. There is little doubt he cared for Lucy Hale. At his death he was carrying photographs of five women, one of whom was Lucy.<\/p>\n

\"Photo:<\/a>
Photo: John Wilkes Booth, c. 1865. Credit: Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Questions surrounding the Booth-Hale relationship still exist today, including whether she was disguised and taken to the USS Montauk<\/em> in the Washington Naval yard to view Booth\u2019s dead body.<\/p>\n

One thing we do know is that shortly after the Lincoln assassination, Lucy moved to Europe with her family because her father was to be the new U.S. ambassador to Spain. Before they left, her father John P. Hale was able to persuade the gossip mills, as published in the local newspapers, into believing that no such relationship existed between his daughter and Booth.<\/p>\n

The following is one such example, as this newspaper article declares that Booth \u201cattempted to force his attentions upon Miss Hale, but she always manifested a decided aversion to the handsome villain.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"An<\/a>
Daily National Republican (Washington, D.C.), 24 April 1865, page 2<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

With her father\u2019s encouragement, newspapers started retracting and printing denials of stories involving Lucy Hale and John Wilkes Booth. However, not all of those denials were as clear about the lack of a relationship. The following states that Miss Hale\u2019s engagement to Booth was \u201cwholly false\u201d but then reports that Booth was \u201cintimate all winter with prominent Republican ladies at the National Hotel.\u201d It goes on to report that \u201cBooth was a great favorite with the wives and daughters of prominent Republicans at the National \u2013 went with him to places of amusement \u2013 took late suppers with him &c. Miss Hale was of the number.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"An<\/a>
Daily Eastern Argus (Portland, Maine), 29 April 1865, page 3<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Unlike others connected with Booth, Lucy Hale was never questioned about his activities during the investigation into the plot to kill Lincoln.* \u00a0She was able to escape any long-term repercussions for her relationship with the killer.<\/p>\n

Booth\u2019s Sister Wrote the Definitive Book about Him<\/strong><\/p>\n

Asia Booth Clarke, John Wilkes Booth\u2019s sister, is said to have screamed when she happened upon the newspaper headline proclaiming her brother to be the assassin of Abraham Lincoln. In her husband\u2019s safe lay a package John had left in her care to be opened if something happened to him. When she opened it, she found money, an oil-land transfer, a letter to their mother, and a statement.**<\/p>\n

Asia was the family historian. She wrote a book about their father (the actor Junius Brutus Booth) and her brother Edwin Booth called The Elder and the Younger Booth<\/a><\/em>. She went on to chronicle John\u2019s life. However, that subject was decidedly unpopular during her lifetime so she entrusted the manuscript to a friend. It was published some 60 years later posthumously.<\/p>\n

One library review of Clarke\u2019s book The Unlocked Book: A Memoir of John Wilkes Booth by His Sister<\/em> states:<\/p>\n

\u201cFew people realize the blow John Wilkes Booth dealt his family through the assassination of Abraham Lincoln… So, after his death, that of a traitor and an assassin, his sister, Asia Booth Clarke, has written his biography in an attempt to still some of the hatred the world holds for him.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"An<\/a>
Daily Advocate (Stamford, Connecticut), 4 November 1938, page 11<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

One Booth Killed a Lincoln, Another Saved a Lincoln<\/strong><\/p>\n

John Wilkes Booth killed Abraham Lincoln \u2013 but the story that is not as well known is that his brother, Edwin Booth, saved the life of President Lincoln\u2019s son Robert. The incident happened before the assassination \u2013 and while newspapers reported on it for years after the fact, the story changed just as often. The original story was a short blurb compared to later accounts.<\/p>\n

\"An<\/a>
Virginian-Pilot (Norfolk, Virginia), 4 January 1869, page 3<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In this much later and longer version of the story, it is written that Edwin Booth didn\u2019t recognize the man he had just saved and had to be told his identity by Mr. Ford of Ford\u2019s Theatre.<\/p>\n

\"An<\/a>
Rockford Daily Spectator (Rockford, Illinois), 8 June 1893, page 2<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

According to the book Giant in the Shadows: The Life of Robert T. Lincoln<\/em> by Jason Emerson, in 1863 or 1864 Robert was traveling by train to Washington. He was waiting on the platform when a crowd pressed him against a train that then moved forward, causing him to fall into the open space between the train and the platform. Edwin Booth saw this and grabbed Robert’s shirt collar and pulled him to safety. Robert recognized Edwin Booth and thanked him. Some stories state that Edwin, traveling with John T. Ford of Ford\u2019s Theatre, was told by Ford who that young man was whom he had saved. When his brother assassinated the president, Edwin\u2019s life-saving act provided him some comfort.***<\/p>\n

Note:<\/em><\/strong> An online collection of newspapers, such as GenealogyBank\u2019s Historical Newspaper Archives<\/a>, is not only a great way to learn about the lives of your ancestors \u2013 the old newspaper articles also help you understand American history and the times your ancestors lived in, and the news they talked about and read in their local papers.<\/p>\n

———————————–<\/p>\n

* \u201cLucy Lambert Hale and Her Notorious Valentine of 1862,\u201d New England Historical Society
\n** \u201cThe Closest Source We Have to Really Knowing John Wilkes Booth Is His Sister,\u201d Smithsonian.com.
\n*** \u201cGiant in the Shadows: The Life of Robert T. Lincoln,\u201d Google Books (https:\/\/books.google.com\/books?id=tPqgC3RS-7sC&lpg=PA456&dq=%22robert%20lincoln%22%20%22edwin%20booth%22&pg=PA80#v=onepage&q=%22robert%20lincoln%22%20%22edwin%20booth%22&f=false<\/a>: accessed 4 April 2018). Page 80 and 456.<\/p>\n

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