The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1884-04-10
Wilkes BOOTH.

President Lincoln about 10 o'clock on
Friday night, April IA, 1866. Near
midnight he and his uninteresting road
pilot, David +. Herold, called at Sur
rats tavern, about ten miles southeast
of Washington, and obtained the arms,
field glass, ETC., previously prepared
for them there. Saturday morning
they were ut DIR. Samuel A. Mudd's,
twenty miles farther on, where Booths
broken ankle was set and crutch
made for him, and that evening the
two fugitives were guided in round
about way to the gate of Samuel Cox,
a prosperous Southern sympathizer,
about fifteen miles southwest.
The last witness in Maryland ended
here. The Government, in it's prose
cution of the conspirators, took up the
fugitive next at the crossing of the
Rappahannock River, in Virginia, the
Oath of April, having failed to trace
Booth a single step further in Mary
land, although he did not cross the
Potomac until Saturday night, April
% 4 whole week remains unaccount-
ed for, and for the first time the missing
links of the connection are here made
public. Probably not half dozen
people are alive who ever heard the
narrative fully told.
Near Pope's Creek, in Lower Mary
land, lived Thomas A. Jones, and, as
his place was peculiarly well situated
for easy intercourse with Virginia, he
became the ferryman of people who
wished to cross the Potomac, and for
this offense served term in the Old
Capitol Prison. He was released In
1862, but continued to aid the Confed.
crate cause in every possible way, being
always in full sympathy with the South.
Jones, who Is still alive, is q man OF
hardly medium height, slim and wiry,
with one of those thin, mournful faces
common to tidewater Maryland, with
high cheek bones, gray-blue eyes, no
great height or breadth of forehead,
and thick, strong hair. The tone OF
his mind and intercourse is slow and
mournful, somewhat complaining, as il
the summer heats had given a nervous
tone to his views, which are generally
instructive and kind.
About the third year OF the war Jones
understood that very important act
had been agreed upon namely: to
seize the President of the United States
in the city of Washington and by re-
lays and forced horses take him to the
west side of Port Tobacco Creek, about
four miles below the town of that
name, and dispatch him across the
Potomac prisoner of war. / possess
the names of the two persons on Port
Tobacco Greek who, with their sons,
were prominent in this scheme; but the
frankness with which the information
was given to me persuades me not to
print them. A person already named,
In Washington, was in the conspiracy
and it was given out that "the big act
or, Booth" was also in it." Jones
heard of this about December, 1864.
1t was not designed that he should take
any part in the scheme, though he re-
garded it as proper undertaking in
time of war. From the time this scheme
was proposed until the very end of the
war the bateau which was to carry Mr..
Lincoln off was kept ready, and the
oars and men were ever near at hand to
dispatch the illustrious captive.
That winter was unusually mild. and
therefore the roads were particularly
bad in this region of clay and marsh,
and did not harden with the frost-a
circumstance which perhaps spared
Mr.. Lincoln the terrors of such des-
perate expedition. Inquiries were made
from time to time as to when the thing
was to be done, and it was generally
answered that the roads were too
heavy to give the opportunity. The
idea Jones has of this matter is that
Mr.. Lincoln was to be seized, not on
his way to the Soldiers Home, but near
the Navy Yard, and gagged quietly,
and the carriage then driven across the
Navy Yard bridge or the next bridge
above, while the captors were to point
to the President and wave their hands
to the guards on the bridge, saying
"The President of the United StatGs.
When we consider that he was 6lally
killed in the presence of vast audience,
and that his captors then eros sed the
same bridge without opposition and
without passes, the original scheme
does not seem extraordinary.
Jones heard of the murder of Lincoln
Saturday afternoon, April Is, at OF
near his own farm of Huckleberry.
Two Federal officers. or cavalrymen
came by on horseback, and one them
said to Jones: as that your boat q
piece above here?" Yes" said Jones.
"Then you had better take good care OF
it, because there are dangerous people
around here vino might take it to cross
the river" THAT is just what air
thinking about" said Jones, "and
have had it pulled up to let my black
man go fishing for the shad which arc
now running"
The two horsemen conferred together
q minute or two, and one of them said
Have you heard the news from
Washington ?" No" "Our President
has been murdered. "Indeed" sale
Jones, with q melancholy face, as il Ii,
had no friend in the world. Eyes.
said the horseman; president Lincoln
was killed last night. and We are look
ing ont for the men, who, we think, es
capped this way"
Sunday morning, the 10th of April
about o'clock. young white maj