The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1878-04-19
JOHN WILKES BOOTH.
The Disposition of His Remains.

Warrington Cor. New orleans Picayune.l
Another absurd story has just beer
added to the many conflicting ones, each
of which has gained some degree of Gre
dence, respecting the final disposition
of the remains of j. Wilkes Booth. The
latest, now going the rounds of the
press, is the seaman's yarn, spun by one
Capt. Leslie, TO the effect that the body
was sunk in lake seven miles below
the adjacent city of Alexandria, Va.
Visitors to the United States Medical
Museum, in Washington, are generally
shown section of human vertebr@,
taken from just below the base of the
brain, which is kept in a glass bottle,
numbered and designated in the official
catalogue as belonging to the spinal
column of Lincoln's assassin. This
museum is located in the very building
where the tragedy occurred-the old
Ford's Theater, which, you remember,
was never used for the drama after that
fatal highland this bottle, with its
CHASTITY contents, is supposed to stand
over the exact spot where the President
sat, smiling at the play, when Booth g
pistol did its murderous work. Many
are the comments INDUCED in by the
credulous, you may be sure, as to the
retributive justice" displayed in this
disposition Of the supposed backbone.
An eminent physician of this city uses a
peculiar but not very beautiful ink-bot-
tie, made of a human skull, which, it is
currently reported, is that of Booth, and
fell to his share when the doctors scalp
els had finished their horrible work on
the corpse. All these sensational re-
ports are disproved, however, by the in
controvertible facts, which are as fol-
lows: The remains were temporarily
deposited in the Arsenal building, and
ordered by President Johnson to be deliv-
cred to the friends of Booth; whereupon
Baltimore undertaken, Mr.. John Wea-
yer, was sent from that city to convey
them to his relatives for interment.
Upon arriving at the Arsenal, box was
taken up and delivered to Mr.. Weaver,
purporting to contain the corpse he
came for. He conveyed the rude coffin
to Baltimore, where it was opened, and
found to contain skeleton, wrapped in
an old army blanket, upon removing
which the bones were discovered to be
completely plastered with a powder-Gk
substance having the appearance of
soapstone, and which disappeared on
being rubbed between the fingers, as
that material will do. On the right foot
was an army shoe, cut open at the top
it's entire length, as if to accommodate q
swollen foot; on the other was large
cavalry boot The leg was broken just
above the ankle, the fracture being
clearly marked. The portion below it,
being lifted out of the box, showed the
ends of the bones to be perfectly white,
thus leaving no doubt as to the fact that,
when Booth leaped from the Presidents
box to the theater stage, he broke his
right leg, instead of spraining il as
many supposed. Still, in view OF all
the rumors afloat, the identity of the
remains was not sufficiently established
in the minds of his friends, especially
as there was no portion of the spinal
vertebre missing, and no marks of any
bullet upon them. A,brother of Booths
was then sent for, and requested to think
of some popularity, if any existed, by
which the body could be identified be.
yond doubt. After considerable med.
itation the brother said he could remem-
Der but one, and that was that j. Wilkes
had a tooth plugged with gold in sin
gular manner. He described the loca
ton of the tooth, and drew with his
pencil the shape of the plug, which wai
of unusual size. So the teeth of the
skeleton were taken out, and the identi
cal tooth was found, exactly as described
Thus the mooted question was forever
settled, and all that remained of thu
once handsome young actor was buried
in the Government Cemetery in the care
fully-tended Enclosure where sleep hi
father, grandfather and other member
OF the Booth family.