Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1891-03-21
JOHN WILKES BOOTHS BODY.
Lawrence Gardner Tells Of His Visit to q
Monitor and Its Identification.

SST UNDERSTAND THE GOSSIPS ARE
still discussing the question as to whether
j. Wilkes Booth ever captured or not"
said Mr.. Lawrence Gardner to a STAR reporter
yesterday. ''Some of them insist" said he.
that the murderer of President Lincoln es-
capped and that another man was captured and
mistaken for him. That cannot possibly be
true. In The STAR of March there appeared
a card from DIR. Vim. May in relation to that
matter. was on the monitor at the navy
yard when DIR. May and his father came on
board and can corroborate the doctors testi-
mony.''
How did come to be on board the mont
tor! That's not long story. Very early one
morning the assistant secretary of war, Gen.
Thos. J. Eckert. drove to ms fathers residence
and asked that he prepare at once to go with
him to the navy yard on a secret mission. We
had for two or three days previous been ell
gagged in making photographs of the different
prisoners who had been arrested as suspects in
relation to the assassination Of President Lin
coin / had been assisting my father, Aiexan-
der Gardner and accompanied him on that
occasion. On the way up Capitol Hill Gen.
Eckert informed us of the capture OF Booth:
stated that his body was then at the navy yard.
and he also told us that they proposed placing
After reaching the yard We were ferried out
to the monitor. which lay i'll the stream. On
the vessel ) deck Oh carpenters bench and
covered bv a tarpauliu lay the body of Booth.
shortly after reaching the monitor we were
joined by Surgeon General Barnes and one or
two other medical officers. On board the boat.
according TO my recollection. were Baker. chief
OF the secret service. and one or two of his
prominent officers. On removing the tarpaulln
from the body We were all struck by the lack of
any resemblance to Booth We had "a number
of photographs with and endeavored by
comparison 10 find a likeness between the pho
tographs and the body. but there re-
semblance. The hair very black and the
cheek bones quite prominent and these were
about the only things that gave it any sem
blance TO the photograph On the face was
quite a growth of beard, probably that of
week ur ten dnys, and 1t was evident from tire
features thai there had been great bodily suf-
ferinS. had seen Booth but once III my life
and that was at the National Iheater for n mo-
ment on the afternoon of the assassination. and
l must say L could see but little resemblance to
the man met on that day. His face was very
much treckled, result OF exposure.
The object of my father visit to the mon
itor was photography and the body in question
was to be the subject. DID take q picture.
No, After everything had been prepared Gen.
Eckert concluded that inasmuch as there was
so little likeness in the remains to the photo
graph In existence OF Booth perhaps il would
DC Dest not TO Iuthe tue picture ana the plan
was abandoned for that reason
Was il Booth bodyf
''Of course IL was. There could be no oues-
ton about it. On one leg Of the body was II
cavalry boot and on the other foot ar army
shoe; the bootless leg was oandaged. 1t having
been stated that Booths initials were marked
one of his arms, / unbuttoned the shirt cuff
Oh his left arm and displayed. ON the forearm,
the letters j. W. H., surrounded bs wreath OF
stars That was sufficient testimony, but the
conclusive evidence uncovered by DIR.
Frederick May. For some time previous to the
assassination DIR. May had been treating Booth
for u carbunc,e, which was located Oh the lower
part OF his neck. ON the shoulder At the time
when this car buncie was most painful Charlotte
Cushmar was playing Meg MerriIes here and
Booth was one OF the company. During one of
the performances Charlotte struck Booth and
spoiled the carbunclc. The result was "a slow
healing wound. DR.. May described The appear
when the garments were cut open the scar was
found. mat made the identification complete
and all those present were satisfied.
Il remained aboard the monitor during tn e
time of the post norton examination and in
the afternoon the remains were rolled IN an
army blanket anu taken oil In a small boat
The same afternoon We made photograph Of
Her0ld, who had been captgred with Booth and
while the picture was being made he gave utter
ance 20 some remarks about the death of Booth
which show couclusively that he present at
the time OF the shooting ana knew that the bouy
on the forward part OF the monitor was that Of
John Wilkes Booth.