Saint Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1867-1983, 1867-09-26
MYSTERIOUS PERSONS IN HIS
TORY.

The records of the past furnish US wit
half a dozen historical characters tina
seem to have had mysterious existenc
after the public have been informed c
their tragical deaths To such an eNten
has the belief of a post-existe.lce bee
carried that one could say, with grea
propriety, in the language Of Sir William
Jones
"The block may soak their gore,
Their heads may sodden in the sun, their limb
Be strung TO city gates and castle walls
But still their spirit walks abroad -
And these spirits seems generally to b
encased in tangible earthly bodies, if W
mhy credit the tales of travellers. Th
Young republic has not been slow in max
ing startling history, and one that ha
all the romantic pages OF century-old Eu
rope. For have We not
J. WILKES BOOTH,
who, like that phantom ship, the Flyin!
Dutchman IS from t!lne to time reportel
10 have been seen IN proprtu persona IL
various parts Of the world the latest sto
ry being now that h. is the captain of
pirate vessel and the terror Of the Chin
seas At intervals, the press informs tn
public that some reliable correspondent
have seen the notorious assassin IN Eu
rope. One time he has been seen playin!
rouge ct noir at Baden Baden arothe
at the opera in Vienna One po>i,iyel.
swears that he saw him driving in tn
Bo:s de Boulogne, in Paris. And ano;h
er is equally confident that he bcheld hin
visiting St. Peter at Rome. One fac
is certain in regard to the disposal of th
corpse of Booth, that its resting place /
known to but few, and the public at larg
are in doubt rs to whether 1t now mou,
dcrs in secluded and unknown grave, o
whether the dark waters of the Potoma
received his mangled remains. Booth
indeed, may be said to be the onl y mys
tcrious parsonage we have had in our an
mails although, perhaps, for the few year
we have been an independent republic, NJ
nation ever made its history 50 fast. =
One of the local traditions of New Ior,
that has caused much wonlermcnt, is tn
case Of
JOHN c. COLT.
brother of Samuel Colt. inventor of tn,
Colt revolver. He murdered in 1872
man named Adams, to whom he owed al
amount of money, and who had rnoggee
Colt considerably ADAMS caiied Vat tn
Office Of Colt, on the corner of Broadwa.,
and Chambers street, when a scutile en-
sued, and Colt scizing hatchet lyin?
near, dispatched his creditor. Tie theI
went out, closed the door, and while walk
ing in the park resolved to return, cut "
the body and send it to New Orleans
but in the meantime Adams WAS missed
and having been last seen going int
Colts Office, that gentleman Was suspec
ted and 1t was ascertained from carma1
that q box had left the Office This bo:
was found at the bottom Of the vessel. =
Colt was tried and convicted. but hi
counsel (who confessed to it on his dyln!
bed J introduced a knife into the prlso
with which Colt committed suicide on tn
morning of his execution Several mys
ferrous circumstances were attached
this murder and suicide, for the evenin!
before the execution 4 man III disguls
called upon the Sheriff and offered hin
81 600 to afford facilities for the esclp
Of the criminal, which proposition va
not entertained. and an hour or two be
fore Colt was to have been hanged tn
btll-tower of the Tombs took fire and
great deal If confusion eneucd. Althoug
an inquest WAS held on the body, it VA
! almost universally believed that Colt Ia
escaped Even now reports come fror
various parts of the world that he hi
been seen alive. and about fifteen year
ago many sensational articles appeared
purporting that he had escaped and W.
stIN living.