I66473: John Wilkes BOOTH (10 May 1838

Notes

He was the ninth child called Wilkes by his family. 26 APR 1865 Official death date, but the family believed he lived much longer.

His fiancee, Lucy Hale, the daughter of ex-Senator John P. Hale from New Hampshire.
Also: Spouse: Martha Lizola MILLS Married: 09 Jan 1859 at: Cos Cob, Connecticut.

sic sem•per ty•ran•nis Pronunciation: (sEk sem'per ty-rän'nis; Eng. sik sem'pur ti-ran'is), [key] Latin. thus always to tyrants (motto of the State of Virginia).

"John Wilkes Booth was born on a farm near Bel Air, Maryland, about 25 miles from Baltimore. His birth date was May 10, 1838. He was the 9th of 10 children of Junius Booth and Mary Ann Holmes. John's parents were British and had moved to the United States in 1821. In addition to the farm at Bel Air (where the Booth family had slaves), the family also owned a home on North Exeter Street in Baltimore where the colder months of the year were spent. Junius was one of the most famous actors on the American stage although he was an eccentric personality who had problems with alcohol and spells of madness.
As a young man John attended several private schools including a boarding school operated by Quakers at Cockeysville. As a teenager Booth attended St. Timothy's Hall, an Episcopal military academy in Catonsville, Maryland. During the 1850's young Booth apparently became a Know-Nothing in politics. The Know-Nothing Party was formed by American nativists who wanted to preserve the country for native-born white citizens. Booth eventually left school after his father died in 1852. He spent several years working at the farm near Bel Air.

In August, 1855, when he was only 17 years old, Booth made his stage debut as the Earl of Richmond in Shakespeare's Richard III. Two years passed before he made another appearance on stage. In 1857 Booth played stock in Philadelphia, but he frequently missed cues and forgot his lines. He persevered, however, and came of age in 1858 as a member of the Richmond Theatre. It was in Richmond where he truly became enamored with the Southern people and way of life. As his career gained momentum, many called him "the handsomest man in America." He stood 5-8, had jet black hair, ivory skin, and was lean and athletic. He had an easy charm about him that attracted women.

In 1859 Booth was an eyewitness to the execution of John Brown, the abolitionist who had tried to start a slave uprising at Harpers Ferry. Temporarily wearing a militia uniform, Booth stood near the scaffold with other armed men to guard against any attempt to rescue John Brown before the hanging. The photograph to the left is from Asia Booth Clarke's The Unlocked Book.

In 1860 Booth's career as an actor took off. Soon he was earning $20,000 a year. He invested some money in the oil business. He was hailed as the "youngest tragedian in the world." He was playing the role of Duke Pescara in The Apostate at the Gayety Theater in Albany, New York, as President-elect Abraham Lincoln passed through on his way to Washington. Over the next several years he starred in Romeo and Juliet, The Apostate, The Marble Heart, The Merchant of Venice, Julius Caesar, Othello, The Taming of the Shrew, Hamlet, and Macbeth among others.

Booth appeared in New York, Boston, Baltimore, Washington, Chicago, Cleveland, Detroit, St. Louis, Leavenworth, Richmond (before the Civil War), Nashville, New Orleans and several other cities. On November 9, 1863, President Lincoln viewed Booth in the role of Raphael in The Marble Heart at Ford's Theatre (Lincoln sat in the exact same box in which he was later assassinated; besides appearing at Ford's from November 2 to November 15, 1863, Booth made only one other acting appearance in that theater. That occurred on March 18, 1865, when Booth made the last appearance of his career as Duke Pescara in The Apostate. For a detailed accounting of Booth's appearances at Ford's Theatre, Click Here). On November 25, 1864, before a standing room only crowd, Booth (along with his two brothers) played the role of Marc Anthony in Julius Caesar. Critics generally rated John Wilkes Booth as a good actor, but he was considered below the talent level of his father and older brother, Edwin.

In the spring of 1862 Booth was arrested and taken before a provost marshall in St. Louis for making anti-government remarks. He told Asia, "So help me holy God! my soul, life, and possessions are for the South. In the summer and possibly the fall of 1864 Booth occasionally stayed at the McHenry House in Meadville, Pennsylvania. It is known that he registered at the McHenry House on June 10, 1864, and again on June 29, 1864. Most likely his stops in Meadville were to make railroad connections. Scratched on a window pane in Room 22 in the McHenry House were the words "Abe Lincoln Departed This Life August 13th, 1864 By The Effects of Poison." After the assassination, these words drew attention because of Booth's association with David Herold, a druggist's clerk with easy access to poison. Although there has been much speculation as to who may have scratched these words, Booth was not an occupant of the room where the words were scratched. The matter was ignored at the time. The person who actually scratched the words remains a mystery to this day.

"This country was formed for the white not for the black man. And looking upon African slavery from the same stand-point, as held by those noble framers of our Constitution, I for one, have ever considered it, one of the greatest blessings (both for themselves and us) that God ever bestowed upon a favored nation."
John Wilkes Booth, November, 1864, in a letter to his brother-in-law."
(Src: http://home.att.net/~rjnorton/Lincoln72.html)

John Booth was found in a barn on the Richard Garret property. The union in an attempt to burn him out, shot and injured Booth. He died the next day about 7 AM. Booth's body is carried up the Potomac and buried beneath the floor of the penitentiary in Washington, DC. Sergeant Corbett is arrested and briefly held as a possible accomplice in Lincoln's death. David Herold stands trial with three other conspirators. All four are found guilty and all including Mrs. Surratt, owner of the tavern where Booth stopped, are hanged on July 7, 1865.

"THE TEXT OF JOHN WILKES BOOTH'S DIARY
A small red book, which was actually an 1864 appointment book kept as a diary, was found on the body of John Wilkes Booth on April 26, 1865. The datebook was printed and sold by a St. Louis stationer named James M. Crawford. The book measured 6 by 3 1/2 inches and pictures of 5 women were found in the diary pockets. Booth's entries in the diary were probably written between April 17 and April 22, 1865. The text of the diary is as follows:
"Until today nothing was ever thought of sacrificing to our country's wrongs. For six months we had worked to capture, but our cause being almost lost, something decisive and great must be done. But its failure was owing to others, who did not strike for their country with a heart. I struck boldly, and not as the papers say. I walked with a firm step through a thousand of his friends, was stopped, but pushed on. A colonel was at his side. I shouted Sic semper before I fired. In jumping broke my leg. I passed all his pickets, rode sixty miles that night with the bone of my leg tearing the flesh at every jump. I can never repent it, though we hated to kill. Our country owed all her troubles to him, and God simply made me the instrument of his punishment. The country is not what it was. This forced Union is not what I have loved. I care not what becomes of me. I have no desire to outlive my country. The night before the deed I wrote a long article and left it for one of the editors of the National Intelligencer, in which I fully set forth our reasons for our proceedings. He or the gov'r-

After being hunted like a dog through swamps, woods, and last night being chased by gunboats till I was forced to return wet, cold, and starving, with every man's hand against me, I am here in despair. And why? For doing what Brutus was honored for. What made Tell a hero? And yet I, for striking down a greater tyrant than they ever knew, am looked upon as a common cutthroat. My action was purer than either of theirs. One hoped to be great himself. The other had not only his country's but his own, wrongs to avenge. I hoped for no gain. I knew no private wrong. I struck for my country and that alone. A country that groaned beneath this tyranny, and prayed for this end, and yet now behold the cold hands they extend to me. God cannot pardon me if I have done wrong. Yet I cannot see my wrong, except in serving a degenerate people. The little, the very little, I left behind to clear my name, the Government will not allow to be printed. So ends all. For my country I have given up all that makes life sweet and holy, brought misery upon my family, and am sure there is no pardon in the Heaven for me, since man condemns me so. I have only heard of what has been done (except what I did myself), and it fills me with horror. God, try and forgive me, and bless my mother. Tonight I will once more try the river with the intent to cross. Though I have a greater desire and almost a mind to return to Washington, and in a measure clear my name - which I feel I can do. I do not repent the blow I struck. I may before my God, but not to man. I think I have done well. Though I am abandoned, with the curse of Cain upon me, when, if the world knew my heart, that one blow would have made me great, though I did desire no greatness. Tonight I try to escape these bloodhounds once more. Who, who can read his fate? God's will be done. I have too great a soul to die like a criminal. Oh, may He, may He spare me that, and let me die bravely. I bless the entire world. Have never hated or wronged anyone. This last was not a wrong, unless God deems it so, and it's with Him to damn or bless me. As for this brave boy with me, who often prays (yes, before and since) with a true and sincere heart - was it crime in him? If so, why can he pray the same?
I do not wish to shed a drop of blood, but 'I must fight the course.' 'Tis all that's left to me."

Mystery surrounds this diary. The little book was taken off Booth's body by Colonel Everton Conger. He took it to Washington and gave it to Lafayette C. Baker, chief of the War Department's National Detective Police. Baker in turn gave it to Secretary of War Edwin Stanton. The book was not produced as evidence in the 1865 Conspiracy Trial. In 1867 the diary was "re-discovered" in a 'forgotten' War Department file with 18 pages missing. Over the years there has been endless speculation on those missing pages including rumors that they had surfaced. Nevertheless, they remain officially missing. Two of the pages was torn out by Booth himself and used to write messages to Dr. Richard H. Stewart, or Stuart, on April 24, 1865. To speculate on their contents makes for interesting reading, but it's essentially fruitless as no one knows for sure what the rest of the missing pages may or may not have contained. (Even the exact number of missing pages is disputed. On p. 16 of Beware the People Weeping: Public Opinion and the Assassination of Abraham Lincoln by Thomas Reed Turner it is stated that 36, not 18, diary pages are missing).
Booth's diary is on display at Ford's Theatre. For more information on it, see pp. 155-159 in "Right or Wrong, God Judge Me" The Writings of John Wilkes Booth edited by John Rhodehamel and Louise Taper." Src: http://members.aol.com/RVSNorton1/Lincoln52.html

John Wilkes Booth: A Sister's Memoir by Asia Booth Clarke, Terry Alford (Editor)
Format: Paperback Pub. Date: July 1999

FROM THE PUBLISHER
Since it was first published in 1938, Asia Booth Clarke's memoir of her brother John Wilkes Booth has been recognized as the single most important document available for understanding the personality of the assassin of President Abraham Lincoln. Clarke, a poet and author of two other volumes of biography of her celebrated actor-family members, wrote this reminiscence in 1874 when Lincoln's murder and her brother's ensuing death at the hands of federal soldiers were still painfully fresh in her mind. She hoped at some point to see the work published. Yet she felt compelled to keep it secret because it might enrage her husband, a professional comedian whose anger at his own arrest in 1865 on suspicion of association with Booth had threatened their marriage. At her death in 1888 the manuscript passed to friends. A half century later her heirs felt the public was receptive to such an intimate view of the most famous assassin in American history. This edition includes the first biographical appreciation of the talented Asia and corrects deficiencies in earlier prints of the memoir. Also, published for the first time, are family letters about the assassination, a chronology of Booth's life, and a family genealogy. Asia's memoir is an indispensable resource for perceiving the complexities of her ill-fated brother. Indeed, as has been said, she "turns on the light in the Booth family living room." Certainly no outsider would give such insights into the turbulent Booth's childhood or share such unique personal knowledge of the gifted actor. Asia portrays him as a enigmatic figure, at once gentle and romantic while passionate and fanatical. She writes with a sister's affection and even with indulgence, but she mingles these with horror as she confronts the calamitous aftermath the assassination brought to Booth and to his family.

1st Maryland Confederate Infantry, "Memoirs of the First Maryland Regiment," by Bradley T. Johnson. Published in the Southern Historical Society Papers, Volume X, Numbers 1,2,4, January and February, 1882, and April, 1882.

1st Maryland Infantry, C.S.A., "Personal Reminiscences of a Maryland Soldier, 1861-1865," by George Wilson Booth, C.S.A., Company D, 1st Maryland, C.S.A., Baltimore, MD. These famous recollections are the best ever written by a Confederate soldier. Booth participated in the Baltimore riot on April 19, 1861, and received his baptism of fire at First Manassas. He marched with "Old Jack" in the famous Valley Campaign and fought in the Peninsula, at 2nd Manassas, and at Gettysburg. The strength of this book is in the personal observations of such men as Stonewall Jackson, George "Maryland" Stuart, Bradley T. Johnson, and A.P. Hill. After Booth marched to the gates of Washington with Jubal Early in 1864, he was taken prisoner. James Robertson, Jr., writes "Written by a young soldier who participated in many battles before his capture, this works contains so much on affairs both on and behind the lines that it is deserving of republication." Originally released in 1898, this 1985 reprint is 312 pages, cost $ 25.00.

Posted 11/21/2004 6:47 PM

Letter from Lincoln's killer sells for record price
BOSTON (AP) — A letter written by President Lincoln's assassin two months before the 1865 slaying sold at auction Sunday for a record $68,000.

It's speculated that John Wiles Booth wrote thousands of letters, but there are only 300 that are known of.
By Chitose Suzuki, AP

In the letter, dated Feb. 9, 1865, John Wilkes Booth asks a friend to send him a picture of himself "with cane & black cravat" — the one later used in his wanted poster.

The previous high for a Booth letter was $38,000, according to Stuart Whitehurst, vice president of Skinner Inc. auctioneers.

The buyer was Joe Maddalena, a Beverly Hills-based historical document dealer. Maddalena, who bid by phone, said Booth "is the rarest American autograph."

"When he killed Lincoln, anybody who had any relationship with him burned their letters, because they were so afraid they would be linked to him," Maddalena said. "There are only 300 known letters and he must have written thousands and thousands."

Whitehurst estimated that only 17 Booth letters remain in private hands. This letter was addressed to family friend Orlando Tompkins of Boston, an apothecary and part owner of Boston Theatre. Booth tells Tompkins he "will get any letter sent to Fords Theatre."

Booth was retrieving his mail at the theater on April 14, 1865, when he first heard that Lincoln would be attending Our American Cousin that evening. Booth, a Confederate sympathizer and former actor, returned during the play to assassinate the president.

"The fact that Lincoln had just essentially won the (Civil War) made the crime even more shocking," Whitehurst said. "So much of what he could have done to heal the nation was ahead of him.(this commebt is just PC BS (jb))" http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2004-11-21-lincoln-assassin-l etter_x.htm

Notes

also said to have married Wm Golding - needs more research.

Notes

Joseph A. Sharp Collection, McClung Historical Collection.
Calvin M. Hodges was guardian in 1858.

Notes

--Sources
Birth: John Wallace diskette.
Death: John Wallace diskette.

Notes

Spouse: Margaret Elizabeth ? Birth: 1678 Bucks, Pennsylvania m. 1694 Philadelphia Co. PA.

Msg From: "Stewart Baldwin" [email protected] 19 Sep 2003:
" I had a very long (about 90 pages total) article on the family of Edward Morgan which was published in four installments in Spring 2001, Fall 2001, Spring 2002, and Fall 2002 issues of "The Genealogist" (published by Picton Press - see www.pictonpress.com for more information about that journal), in which I gave detailed documentation on Edward Morgan and his children and grandchildren.

There (in the Fall 2002 installment), I presented the case suggesting that Edward's wife Elizabeth was a daughter of John Jarman (which I would regard as likely, but still unproven). Although I know of no evidence that Elizabeth's maiden name was also Morgan (and would certainly be interested in seeing any such evidence if it exists), it does look like the kind of error that crops up very frequently in databases.

(Edward's father is often, but falsely, stated to have been a Sir James Morgan, and someone typing that misinformation into the wrong field in a database could have led to Elizabeth's maiden name being accidently turned into Morgan. This kind of mistake happens very frequently in the sharing of genealogy databases.)"
Stewart Baldwin

Children:
Edward, Jr Death: 1775 Bryant's Sta, Ky Spouse: Margaret JARMAN (AFN: 1J2N-R8P)
Elizabeth, Abt. 1691 of Towamenein Twp., Gwynedd, Berks Co., Pa
Alice, Birth: Abt. 1699 of Bala, , Wales
John, Spouse: Sarah LLOYD (AFN: 1G2T-KF8) Marriage: 8 Sep 1721 Gwynedd, Montgomery Co., Pa
Daniel, Spouse: Elizabeth ROBERTS (AFN: X2KC-2P) Marriage: 21 Sep 1718
William, Spouse: Elizabeth ROBERTS (AFN: 1G2T-KD2) Marriage: 27 Aug 1713
Gwynedd, Montgomery Co., Pa Spouse: Catherine ROBESON (AFN: 246L-BQP) Marriage: 1731 Bucks Co, Pa
George, Spouse: Susanna DAVIS (AFN: 8LN6-7L) Marriage: 27 Aug 1730
Ruth, Birth: 1695 Montgomery, Pa
Morgan, Spouse: Dorthy HUGHES (AFN: 246L-BLV)
Joseph, Spouse: Elizabeth LLOYD (AFN: X2QV-60) Marriage: 8 Sep 1728 Merion Mtg, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Sarah Spouse: Squire BOONE (AFN: 202C-ZR) Marriage: 27 Jul 1720

Margaret Morgan Spouse: Samuel THOMAS (AFN: KXPC-NM)

"[ John?} Edward Morgan b. abt 1670 in Monmouthshire (now Gwent), England, Wales, s/o Sir James Morgan and Ann Hopton, to Philadelphia Co [the part that is now Montgomery Co. PA]/ d. after 1732 in Philadelphia Co. PA. [Is her mother a Sarah???]

Edward Morgan m. possibly Elizabeth Jarman, probably the d/o John Jarman, about 1686 [she b. abt 1670; d. after 1731]. Edward and his wife arrived in PA in 1683 and lived near Radnor PA until 1695 when they moved to Towamencin Twp and built a house on 500 acres of land. He joined the Society of Friends and was known as Edward Morgan the taylor. Morgans were Welsh members of Society of Friends."

Notes

1840 PURL SETH Wfeliciana p. LA 210 No Township Listed Federal Population Schedule LA 1840 Federal Census Index LAS4a2114022. In 1840 Census, Seth had a wife, 2 sons, 2 slaves; with James in W. Feliciana Par LA.
1840 Census - West Feliciana Parish, LA 704/130 Page 210: Purl, Seth 2m under 5; 1m 30-40, 1f 20-30.
1 Aug 1850 census St. Francisville, LA Mary, 26, born VA; Seth, age 11, Joseph, age 9 (Blind), Napoleon, age 8, and Julia, age 3. Seth age 39, born KY (insane).

126-129 LA.West.Felicia.St.1850.Mary Pearl............1824.VA.

Seth & Mary Monroe owned land "Under The Hill" in Natchez, Adams Co. MS.

Found in St. Francisville, LA A 5 Dec 1849 court suit in St. Francisville, LA decided in Mary Monroe Purl's favor - Seth committed to Jackson, LA insane asylum, divorce granted. Seth claimed he was a descendant of Napoleon Bonaparte and wanted to go to France to claim his inheritance.

Assumed son of John Cunningham Purl and 1st wife ? WOODS of Carroll Co. KY; James Cunningham Purl married 2nd Elizabeth COGHILL, widow of John L. LESTER. Because of the similarity of names, compatible ages, and he named a son Cunningham, a family name. Assumed kinship to Joseph & James PURL of St. Francisville, LA, likely brothers; James Purl died abt 1841, he owned land next to Seth's. Joseph died bet. 1851-1859, he owned land near Point Coupee, LA & a steamboat named Ellen built in Lexington, KY.

Seth came to Kentucky in 1835-36. He moved to Bayou Sara. LA a few years later and on to New Orleans, LA and in 1859 he moved to Magnolia, MS ^[S3124]

[6076]
prob. Jackson Insane Assylum, LA.

My Southern Family

John Wilkes BOOTH

10 May 1838 - 26 Apr 1865

ID Number: I66473

Notes

Sources

Nancy CRAIG

ABT 1768 - ____

ID Number: I41328

Sources

Sarah EDGE

Sep 1657 - 27 Feb 1715

ID Number: I82394

Sources

Elizabeth FOSTER

ABT 1729 - ____

ID Number: I64103

Notes

Sources

John Durham HAILE

1847 - ____

ID Number: I43698

Sources

Capt. George Green HIGGINBOTHAM

ABT 1820 - 19 Mar 1895

ID Number: I16124

Sources

Letitia HODGES

ABT 1846 - ____

ID Number: I18494

Notes

Sources

Luther JACOBS

6 Nov 1887 - 3 Sep 1898

ID Number: I12803

Notes

Sources

Edward MORGAN "the Immigrant"

ABT 1670 - 1736

ID Number: I97932

Notes

Sources

Seth Woods PURL II

ABT 1811 - BET 1850 AND 0000

ID Number: I446

Notes

Sources

WALTER STEWART of Murphie

1430 - ____

ID Number: I57190

Sources

Mary WALTON

ABT 1600 - ____

ID Number: I91677

Sources

Julia Ann WILSON

27 Dec 1788 - 5 Aug 1873

ID Number: I49953

Sources

Agnes Anne WOODSON

ABT 1735 - ____

ID Number: I101664

Sources