Maryland free press. [volume] (Hagerstown [Md.]) 1862-18??, 1867-03-14
IS WILKES BOOTH DEAD?
NEw REVELATIONS.

still in the land of the living The ingc-
nuity of the epistle renders it worth pc
rusal. The Avalanche correspondent
says: ..- .I.
The statement which appears in your
paper of Sunday last, in regard to the
point as to whether J.Wilkes Booth still
lives. calls to mind other publications that
have heretofore appeared in print on the
same subject Allow me to call your at
tention to these, and also to some circum-
stances that would tend to support the idea
of Booths death being fraud perp etrated
on the public. Early in the spring of 1866
letter was received from one of the West
India islands, by correspondent OF New
York paper, stating that J. Wilkes Booth
had been seen on the, Island of Cuba, a
short time previous to the writing. OF the
letter. This letter was noticed by some,
if not all the Memphis papers Not long
after this publication statement appeared
in some of the papers of this country, to
the effect that Booth had been seen in
Europe. in one of the italian States.
Some time last summer man was ar
rested in Kentucky on charge of horse
stealing, and lodged in Jail. fmy mem
ory serves me right, he gave his name as
King. lie wrote to Gen. Jefferson G.
Davis, Of the U. S army, stating that he
desired to make confession to him of
Importance to the country. Gen. Davis,
accompanied by another officer of the army
Ga generaDwcnt to the prison, and the
newspapers stated at the time that they
occupied nearly an entire day, taking
down in writing, the confession of the
man. The newspapers also stated that
the substance of the confession was that
Booth was not the assassin of Lincoln, but
that the man King committed the crime,
that, after shooting Lincoln he leaped
upon the stage of the theatre and passed
out to the back door where Booth was
with the horses. % :;
The two rode rapidly to the residence
of Mr.. Seward. King dismounted and
went in. and attempted to kill Seward.
He then returned to Booth and the two
made their escape through Maryland on
horseback, and thence to Canada, and
soon after they went to Cuba, where he
separated from Booth in the spring of 1866
and came to Kentucky. He called the
attention of the two Generals to the fact
that no proof had ever been made iden-
tifying Booth with the killing, except the
testimony of Laura Keene, an actress,
who, he stated was personal enemy, of
Booth. She stated she recognized Booth
was the man who jumped upon the stage
with the drawn dagger. King said it was
not Booth, but him. He also said that
Mrs. Surratt knew nothing of the conspi-
racy, and he gave information to the said
official where certain pal crs could be
found that would throw light upon the
subject. All this has appeared in the
newspapers heretofore, and may be taken
for what it is worth. ..... .... .
Now, as one who is somewhat in the
habit of looking closely into facts and the
circumstances surrounding complicated
cases, propose to call your attention to
certain facts that have an important bear
ing upon the whole question as TO the prob
ability of Booth not having been the eman
who was shot in the barn when Harold
was arrested. The history of the matter,
as given to the public at the time, is that
Harold was arrested and Boston Corbett
had shot Booth; they put the dead body
in a wagon, and proceeded with it to
Washington city, the news of their success
having reached Washington before them.
Baker. the Chief Detective of the Sccre-
tary of War, Mr. Stanton, went to meet
the party who had killed Booth and cap
turcd Harold. Upon meeting them,
Baker and Corbett took possession of the
rcputed dead body Of Booth, and as they
say buried it in some secret place, that is
known to no person living except Baker
and Corbctt, and they both took solemn
oath over the grave that they. would ncv-
er reveal the burial place. A large re-
ward had been offered by the government
for the apprehension of Booth, and this
being the case, docs il not seem most nat
ural that if the man who was killed in the
barn was Booth, that Baker and Corbett
would have carried the body to Washing
ton city, where the body, ifthat of Booth
could have been identified by thousands
who knew him and thus shown Them
selves entitled to receive the reward. '.
Where is the testimony showing any
proof that the statement OF. Baker and
Corbett that the body buried was that Of
Booth? 1t is not even asserted that Har-
rold confessed that it was Booth. He sta
ted that he was with Booth at the back
door of the theatre, but does not say that
it was i 10Th who was killed in the barn.
The paper stated that after Gen. j. g.
Davis received the confession of the man
King, he forwarded it to the Secretary of
War. Since that time the public has
learned nothing of the matter, and the
question is, what has become of King,
and if the papers which he referred Gen. q.
Davis TO have been found, what light do
they throw on The subject? That matter
is now supposed to be in the hands and
under the control of RI Mr.. Stanton. Now
who could be benefited by the death Of
Lincoln. Certainly not the Contederatcs,
for the war was over. .''''.
The public was tol by the newspaper
of the time, and particularly those of the
Radical party, that on the day of the night
of the assassination, Mr.. Lincoln had cal
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