Audubon County Republican. [volume] (Audubon, Audubon Co., Iowa) 1885-1894, 1886-09-16
Why BOOTH KILLED LINCOLN.
sBrtcko Pomeroy Says II Was Be.
cause OF the Hanging OF Man
Named Beall.


;sBrick" Pomeroy Says It Was Be-
cause OF the Hanging of a Man
Named Beall.
At private dinner given not long
ago at an uptown club "Brick" Pom
eroy, who was one of the guests,
startled the little company by obsery-
ing:
"Gentlcmen, am positively sure
that ] am one of the three men in the
world who know why Wilkes Booth
killed President Lincoln"
Amid some expressions of surprise
and mild incredulity Mr.. Pomeroy told
the following story prefacing it by the
statement that it had never been pub
| lished:
81 don't know but that it is only
right that I should correct popular
impression on the subject" he said
II am in possession of proof that
Booth did not kill Lincoln through any
hatred of the cause the president rep
resented or through any devotion to
the cause of the south. 1t was a clear
case of revenge, and this is how it
came about: In 1865, just about the
close of the war, q man named Beall, q
! confederate, who had been a prisoner
on Johnson's island, made his escape.
This man was Wilkes Booths bosom
friend, and they were devoted to each
other to degree seldom found in the
friendships of men. Booth was very
impassioned man, as we all know, and
he never did anything by half; there
fore it is safe to assume that Reall was
really rs dear to him as he always said
the man was. After Beall escaped he
seems to have entertained visionary
ideas of rescuing his fellow prisoners
at Johnson's island. At least this was
the construction put upon his plot by
the authorities when they found that
Beall had organized gang of men TO
capture the United States man-of-war
Michigan. The evidence tended to
show that Beall and his followers in
tended to capture the vessel, run her to
Johnston's island, and, after rescuing
the prisoners, fly to Canada.
'Beall was tried in New York as the
ringleader, convicted OF treason, and
sentenced to death. When Wilkes
Booth heard that his beloved friend,
his Fidus Achates, was to be hanged,
he became wild with excitement. He
implored me and Senator Hale, to
whose daughter he was engaged. to
back him up in plea to Lincoln for a
pardon. Well, both Senator Hale and
myself agreed that we would go tC
Washington with Booth and friend
and see the president When the foul
of us arrived at the white house we
saw Mr. Lincoln, and Booth made M
imprisoned appeal for his friends
life. His oratory seemed to be inspr
ed. He spoke with fuency that wa:
almost startling, and advanced fact af
ter fact until the president seemed I'M
pressed with his logic.
When he had concluded the presi
dent said that he would pardon Beall
and then Booths somber face lighted
up with gratitude that was eloquent
He shook the president by the hand
told him that Beall and his family
would come to thank him for his elem
ency, and we departed. 1 believe tina
this was the last time Booth ever adj
dressed the president until that fatefu
night in April when he burst into the
proscenum box at Ford's opera-houst
in Washington and shot him.
THE reason l draw a connection be-
tween the two incidents is this: Aftel
our little delegation withdrew from
Mr.. Lincoln's Office with Beal's safety
assured, Booth went at once to tht
Pennsylvania depot and took the frs
train for New York. He carried The
news to Beall, who was confined a
Governors island, and the two mel
had a iollifcation. Beall accepted the
presidents promise of pardon as final
and watched the approach of the day
appointed for his execution with cas-.
Indifference. Booth was frequen
visitor to his imprisoned friend, and al
though they soon commenced to thnl
that there was unnecessary delay in tn
transmission of the pardon, they die
not take the alarm until before the APP
pointed day, when the preparation
being made for the execution arouseC
them from their false security.
Booth was frantic with terror ant
rage, and Bealrs condition was evel
more pitable. The respite did no
come, and the next day Beall wa
hanged. Booth never forgave Lincol
for his failure to keep his promise. H
became almost wild with revenge, and
in my opinion that is why he went t
Washington and entered into the his
toric conspiracy of assassination. y
Ne,O York Star.