The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1867-09-13
IL ]. Wilkes Booth Alive2

subject:
1--WE publish the following letter because
II comes to US from gentleman in whose
truthfulness we have reason 70 nm, M "noee cnus
oence, and who. holds position which
shou.o Oe guarantee OF his integrity But
the story which he tells is a very stronoe
one, and be may have been imposed une'5 1nsu
by the Alabama refugee, though he ass,,raS upp"
us that the satd refugee was known to b;,n
as a gentleman Of uninpeachatle cbarac.
ter. Inc story is as dramatic as tbn ton;,
upon which it bears is mysterious 'p''
EDITORS DEMOCRAT: A sfatene,t =
gong the rounds to the effect tLsf ,,otban
I I,arge amount .r OF money has been won b.,
". M. IalDert, captain of the Bird of ~,
OGeon, who asserts that Booth is now alive 30.
rev persons are disposed to give cre'
oence TO these wild rumors. and yet wbo,,
W. we read the letter of W. A. Frazier to Hon
otephen Maxwell. s. J. B., we are s,or,lod ioa'
anu LOT moment disposed to believe ~
telegram OF Capt. Chas. Hunt. that stho
man Booth Is actually alive : in sbort h., n0
man nature Is Inclined to love mvstnr,, III III
We sometimes harbor the most obsmt ",a
iancies seemingly for enjoyment Of u,a . mo1
mentary sensation. VI nio-
VIII nut let us suppose for once, that T
;" likes Booth, the assassin. still l;yas s"' az;
instead of having been shot. mortaiIx
and after Booth had fred the fatal shot he
escaped to the house of friend and there
assumed the disguise of begger, and had
remained in the city of Washingtoni in such
disguise until now. do not pretend to
say that l believe such to have been the
manner OF his escape, if he did escape
Yet 1t Is possible that he did cheat the
hangman and escape in the above manner.
Having heard SO much concerning this
most mysterious of all mysteries, I am led
to relate story as it was told me by gem
tleman in the month OF May, 1866, who
was upwards of fifty years old This man
was not an entire stranger to myself, and
L feel bound to say, that so far as my busi-
ness transactions with him were concerned.
he proved himself strictly honorable. He
was refugee from the State of Alabama,
and employed in 1864 and 65 in the quar-
termastcr,s department at Washington,
DC.
We were seated one evening, exchanging
our views as to the best mode of recon-
structing the Southern States, when he
stated, You believe j. Wilkes Booth is
dead, but [ do not and at my apparent
surprise, he continued-'Yes, I surely be-
lieve that he was alive June 1st, 1865, and
my reasons for believing SO are these I
had just been discharged from government
employ, and was seated in my room one
evening. soon after the supposed Booth
had been captured and killed, when heard
quest to come in, poor old beegar enter
ed, apparently sixty years old-gray hair.
ed, wrinkled yisage, and bumped back
e Il u II
begged me to pity the sorrows of a poor
the Union army, and asked shelter for the
night. / gave him a bed in an apartment
separated from my own by plank tcmpora-
rily nailed upright, which had been done
by other emplyees, who we're then dis
charged and gone home I gave the cid
beggar my lamp and retired to my cot
From where lay could see all his move
ments within the little room through q
knot hole in the plank, and [ noticed he
was extremely particular about blind for
the little window, and he even took off his
coat and used it for blind; he then seat
cd himself at small table and began writ
ing with pencil [ watched him closely,
and he wrote perhaps ten minutes, and
then walked out into my room aud asked
me the way out, saying that he was sick
| opened the door for him and he walked
out, and | resumed my bed. He had not
been out long when some one asked him in
a low tone if it was ready. lie replied.
Yes, what news? and was answered
None; only Mr. johnson wishes you to-
make haste. He says he cannot breathe
easy until you are Cd board the vessel
And no doubt he wishes the vessel may
founder, was my GUESTS reply, rather
hoarsely and scarcely audible; but he con-
tinued, L must be off in the morning SO
farewell, Jack.
Then he returned to his room and
asked him if he was going across the ocean,
which question seemed to Starte him; and
after a short pause he replied that he ex-
pected to be off early in the morning: and
sure enough, when morning came. he was
gone-and | have never seen him since
When sweeping out my little cabin next
morning, l picked up from the floor six
small bits Of paper near the table where
the beggar was writing the night before,
they having been torn up from some cause.
L placed them together, but could see no
sense IN the writing; but yet being curious
to know what 1T meant, | but the pieces in
to small envelope and laid it away, and
never thought OF it again until recently
"hSu l. Wdo my Uiu papers tlllS
eDvelop drew my attention, and [ then
pasted all the bits on scrap Of letter paper.
could see in moment that it was a
cipher. and my curiosity was excited to-
solve the mystery. Week after week per-
picked my brain over it, and finally, whsn
about to give it up, luck favored me, and |
stumbled upon the key, and the following
translation was my reward
DR.. Fsiend-I shall ever remember your
kindness The j. D. government cannot
aid me now and if fail to escape, God only
knows my fate, and your arm will be pow
erless. If you succeed in your part, [ Shall
return; otherwise, never. Yes, | leave
tomorrow.
Yours, in life and death, j. ". B.
June lst, 1865.
Now" continued the old man, "this
letter explains my reason for believing tn at
Booth escaped. l believe the old beggar
was no other than j. Wilkes Booth, the
assassin. Such was his story, word for
word. as near as can remember, and euch
Is the mystery connected with the terrible
tradegy OF August Goth, 1867.