The Louisiana Democrat. [volume] (Alexandria, La.) 1845-1918, 1872-06-26
The Last Hours of j. Wilkes Booth,
STATEMENT OF THE MAN WHO SHELL
TERED HIM.
To the Editor of the Herald

10 "6 1<oetVb W psO TN"
/ saw It, stated in a Washington
paper, upon the presentation of nv
petition by John II. Lewis to Congress
for payment for my losses sustained in
the burning of my tobacco house and
contents by the orders of Colonel Con-
ger, who commanded the forces that
we're endeavoring to capture J. Wilkes
Booth and D. c. Harod, in April, 1865,
"that it would be recollected that
Booth and Harod were concealed in
this house, and it had to he burned to
capture tlem," leaving the inference,
it appears to me, that Booth and Harod
were concealed in this house by me OF
SOME of my family. If this inference
is intended to be made by the editor of
said paper, there is nothing more
erroneous, and to set the matter right
aud show that neither l nor any of my
family inten ded in any way to conceal
them or was at all appraised or had
any suspicion of who these men were,
] will make true statement of the
whole transaction from the time that
Booth was brought to my house to the
time of his being shot by one of the
soldiers when the house was on fire.
On Monday, the oath of April, 1865,
about 4 o'clock P. NJ, three men rode
up to my yard, and when 1 went out
to them found they were all strangers
to me. The one in front introduced
himself as Captain Scott; he then in
troduced the two others to income as
Lieutenant Ruggles and the other as
his friend, Mr.. Boyd. He stated that
Mr.. Boyd was wounded Confederate
soldier; that he belonged to the former
command of General A. P. Hill, and
that lie was wounded before Peters
burg just before the close of the war;
that he and Lieutenant Ruggles were
going las he expressed iD on little
scout toward Richmond, and asked me
to keep and take care of his friend
Boyd until the next Wednesday morn
ing, as he was suffering too much to
travel with them, and that they would
call for him at that time.
As it had always been one principle
of my religion Ito entertain strangers,
especially any that seemed to he suf-
feriBg," consented that lie should re-
main, and that 1 would take as good
care of him as I could. I did not
promise this because he was Confed-
crate soldier, but because he seemed
to be suffering. / had before this ad-
ministered to the wants of about
twelve wounded Federal soldiers, who
had been captured and brought to my
neighborhood in a suffering state, and
it was comforting to my feelings to see
the gratitude expressed by them to
me, and to feel that I had helped to
relieve the wants of some of my fellow
creatures. Never shall I forget this
circumstance; it is craven deeply upon
my heart. This man, whom I and all
my family looked upon as Mr.. Boyd, q
wounded confederate s OF d Ter, was
taken at once into my house; he supp
ed with my family, and slept that night
in one of my upper rooms, in which
my sons, John M. and William, H.,
and two smaller children slept. He
breakfasted with my family the next
morning and remained in the house
and yard most of the time, reclining
upon the grass in the yard, my little
children being often with him. He had
very little to say and seemed to be
suffering, we thought, from his wound.
After breakfast that morning my eldest
son, John M. rode to shoemaker's,
about one mile from my house, to have
his boots repaired, and while there he
met with gentleman of the neigh
borhood who had gotten, by private
means, newspaper from Richmond
There being no mails to our section,)
and this paper had in it an advertise
ment offering large reward ($5O,O00,
think) for the capture of Booth, the
murderer of President Lincoln. After
my sons return, and while at the din
ner, table, he spoke of having seen
this paper containing the advertise
ment. This man, who was at the
table, remarked that he would not
have been surprised if 100000 had
been offered, but he had heard that
the man that committed the act had
been arrested between Baltimore and
Philadelphia was now in Washington.
He having before this told me that he
was native of Maryland. then asked
him if he had ever seen the man Booth
who was charged with the offence. He
said he had seen him once. He saw
him in Richmond about the time of the
John Brown raid. I asked him if he
was an old or young man; he said he
was rather young man.
had never heard of but one Booth
as an actor, and thought it was Mr..
Edwin Booth. My youngest son, who
was a mere youth, remarked, 81 wish