Marshall County Republican. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1856-1878, 1867-07-04
Tlls Republican.
INTERESTING REVELA.
TIONS.
Gen. Bakers History of the
Secret Service.

|
Gen. L. C. Baker, Chief ofthe Cover
nmet Detectives during the war, has ju:
published volume in which lie relate
many of his most interesting experience
from the outbreak Of the rebellion to III
death of President Lincoln.
TII5 PRESIDENT AssAsSINS.
! In the course or his account OF the as.as
sination ofthe President, and the pursui
and punishment of the conspirators, h
makes the following statement in regard T.
Mrs Surratt.
4 During my visits 10 the prisoners, befor
their execution, Mrs. Surratt confessed 4
me her completely with the cOnspiratOr
: so far as the intended abduction was con
cerned. but affirmed that she reluctantly
yielded to the urging of Booth in aidin!
the plot of assassination. He insisted tha
her oath bound her to sec the end OF tn
fatal conspiracy.
AS sensational rumors are frequently Sc
ahoat that Wilkes Booth is still alive, tn,
following facts relative to the identification
and disposal OF his remains will be interest
ing
In order to establish the identify OF The
body OF the assassin beyond all question
the Secretary Of War directed me to stint
mon number of witnesses residing in the
city Of Washington, who had previously
known the murderer. Some two wears
previous to the assassination OF the Presi
dent, Booth had had tumOr or carbunclc
cut from his neck by a surgeon. On in
quiry. asceriaincd that Dr. May. well
known and very skillful surgeon, Oftwenty-
five years practice in Washington, had per
formed the operation.
Accordingly | called on Dr. MAY, who,
before seeing the BODY, minutely described
the exact locality of the tumor, the nature
and date Ofthe operation. &c. After being
sworn he pointed To the scar in the ncck.
which was then Plainly visible. Five
other Witnesses were examined, all of whom
had known the assassin intimately ior wears.
The various newspaper accounts referring
10 the muiilation of Booths body are equal
" absurd. Gen. Barnes. Surgeon General.
L. y A., was on hoard the gunboat where
the post mOrtem examination was held.
with his assistants. Gen. Barnes cut from
Booths necI about two inches ofthe spinal
column through which the ball had passed.
this piece of bone, which is now on exhibit
ton in the Government Medical Museum
in Washington. is the only relic Ofthe assas-
sins body above ground, and this is The
only mutilatinn of the remains that ever
occurred. Immediately after the conclusion
of the examination. ;he Secretary of War
gave orders as to the Il 'spOsiiion Ofihe body.
which mad become very offensive. owing
to the condition in which it had remained
after death: the leg, broken in jumping from
the box 10 the stage. was much diScOlOr"d
and swollen. tho blood from the wound
having saturated his undcr-cloihing With
the assistance of Lieut.. l.. b. B,ker. |
took the body from the gun-bDat direct To
the old PeHite-tiarv. adiOuruing the old
Arsenal grounds. The building had net
been used as prison for some years pre-
v.ously. The Ordinance Department had
filed the ground floor cells with fixed am
Of the largest of 'hesc cells
WAS selected as the burial place OF Booth
the ammunition was removed. a large flat
stone lifted from IFS place. and rude grave
dug; the body was dropped in, the grave
tilled mp. the stone replaced. and there
rests To this hour AL that remained of John
Wilkes Booth.
THE PRESIDENT AND MRS. COBB.
Perhaps the most interesting disclosure
made by Gen. Baker is respecting the re-
lations existing between Mrs. Lucy Cobb
anl President Johnson. Ii will be rcmem-
bered that Mrs. Cobb had Gen. Baker ar
rested fer eXtorting money from her and
for false imprisonment, for which the jury
sentenced him to pay a fine of 81. The
General saws that he had long suspected
that traffic in pardonS was going on at
the White House, and therefore devised
plan for getting at the facts. He accordir.y-
" manufactured a fictitious case Capt
III. III. Hinc. formerly assistant Provost
Marshall at st. Louis. had been sentenced
to the Alton Penitentiary. unjustly, as he
claimed. by military commission under
Gen. Rosecrans. lie fled to Canada. but
having furnished the GOvernmect with val
IIabe information relative to the intrigues of
rebel refugees. was allowed by the Govern
ment To come To Washington to urge a re-
vocation of his sentence. We now quote
from Gen. Baker.
While he (fIine) was in Washington
waiting to- have hearing at the War De-
partment, the case of Mrs. Cobb came up.
and selected him to- represent an appli-
cation for a pardon A regular application
was made, IN the name Of Clarence J.
Howell. Ir this fictitious application
were set forth fully the oifenses committed
by the applicant. The detective officer be-
fore mentioned, who was placed on duty
at the White House. and who had become
acquainted with Mrs. Cobb as an applicant
for pardon. However censurable. uniusti-
fable, or illegal my course may have been,
my only desire was to serve the Presi-
dent and the Government The fact is
familiar to jurists, that in such a case of
emergency, when prompt action for the
public good is demanded, the courts have
decided that margin Of authority trans
cending the letter OF the law is allowable.
The charge and verdict pronounced by the
judge, in the disposal of the case, clearly
indicated his unwillingncss to regard the
letter at the sacrifice of the spirit of legis-
lation.
Capt. Howell stated his case to Mrs
Cobb, and she agreed to procure "full,
complete and unconditional pardon for all
his past offenses." as the contract reads, for
the sum of three hundred dollars. 1t is
proper here to remark, that the usual rou-
tine at the Executive mansion and the At
torney Generals Office, in procuring par
dons, requires fsR two to five weeks, a
record of the - rs Ofthe applicants being
placed on IT. oAs of the Attorney Gener-
ais office, al names are taken up in
their order and disposed Of For an ex-
traordinary consideration, however, Mrs.
Cobb agreed TO produce the pardon in
question in twelve hours, asitappears from
the following contract:
WASHINGTON, d. c., Nov. 5, '65.
For and in consideration of the sum of
$500 paid to me by Captain Clarence j.
Howell, hereby agree as follows, to-wit:
To take from Captain Howell his statement
in regard to his case, and procure for him
the full and complete pardon for his past
offenses. The money TO be paid as follows:
500 in hand, and the remaining $500 on
the delivery of his pardon on Monday
evening at 6o'clock, p. NJ. further agree
that in case do not succeed in getting the
pardon as agreed, Will return to him the