The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1901-08-18
BOsTON CORBETr NOT DEa3r
IN slayer ef Wilkes Beeth said 60 Ds
selling Patent Medicines In the south.

From ne Topeka DoaV Capiiai
When Boston Corbett. the slayer OF John
Wilkes Booth. escaped from the Topeka
insane asylum In isss. he was marked dead
on the records Of the institution and legally
~ not literally. passed out Of existence The
conclusion on the part Of the asylum officials
that Corb-tt was dead was accepted by the
public without question. The newspapers
com briefly upou his mysterious dis
appearance. and Kansas speedily forgot
the eccentric character who was the active
instrument In aNsngins the assassination
Of Abraham Lincoln.
And now. after thirteen years. Corbett has
been f.surrect~d For more than four years
past he has been a travelling salesman for
W ". GavIt A Co who conduct n proprie-
tary medicine concern In Topeka Both
his employers and his guardian have In re-
cen, times used every effort to induce Cor
b@tt to return to kansas lie has property
interests In Cloud county. and the Govern
ment ov - him over si.3oO back pension. not
q cent Of which he will ever he able TO draw
untl the fact that he y alive " established
by his own snida Wit to that effect IL has
been represented 20 him that his sanity viii
he easily established and hts release from
the asylum legally secured. but Corhett IL
willy and suspicious. and refuses io set foot
on kshs-s sS.. lie lives In and travels
through Oklahoma and Texas. and Tor a
long time had headquarters at Enid. where
lac owns some properly oegIsr nh,von,
some weeks ago that he never eapected Ia
return 20 Kansas, and that the Government
Was welcome 10 his pension money
Uorbett II now a. yean ola ne was al
ways peculiar From tho time he .nhsteui
Ia the army the trend q his mental ldlosyh-
crasy was toward religious fanatictsm. lie
Was intensely religious. and Was always
considered dangerous by his neishOors ln
Cloud county Corbett never married. ana
lived alone Ia a shack on his claim Ia loud
county lie always went armed ana MS
shack was fortified and equipped With every
ern trade lie Abored under the delusion
that members Of the Booth family were
following him with the intrh' ms.riss
life TO set foot on his claim, or 70 ~aiA ASf"sS
the street directly toward him
Cnrbett was sent 10 the asylum as the di-
a.. IN OF cleaning out the II use Of Rep
resrntatives Of the Kansas Legislature dur
Ing the session 81 ISIS He va, serving
and had charge of the ladies gallery. one
morning shortly after rollcaI ne AppsaIeu
T. the gallery with a revolver ~ h'- hnnu
lie b.gan shouting and gesticulating ana IN"
House irurn~ diately adjourned without delay.
some Of the embcrs craving uhueL tne
seats and others boiling ',nonsh "a, detail
Of police was called. and. after some tnai1l-
wiring, Corbett was surrounded ana az
tnred His trial on the charge OF INSANITY
f,ilo we'd lie was given considerable free
dom mi, the institution and Was allowed TO
circulate at hh"riy so9a, ~" s w on, on
horseback from Topeka 20 the asylum Sot-
bet, WAS observed shortly after standing
,aI.n nf him 4 little later an attendant
saw him mount the animal and dishlIpea'
down the road. burning the wind a. ne ven,
The officials and attendants VINO chhreu
him never caught sight q him aftcrwhrd,
Three weeks later Supt Eastman received
a letter stating that the horse rssa, Nrrs.
reported A. ha wing gone 20 Mexico from
which country sprarentN renaote nsrs
In. sleyer Of John wilkes Booth served
during the war In q Massachusetts regiment.
enlisting ~ Boston. lie was a halter by
hn, n year or two before the war he Was ron
yerted at a big revival meeting IN bps'ph,
and To. COMMEMORATE TIE wen, ZOOS Trhh IT,
winter he spent In Topeka he was the loud
est shouter NJ the salvation Army meetings,
and never failed to taxi par " Zoe 90, some
years after he left. the asylum he psvened
under tho name ~ John Corbett Recently
10 worked FOR the Gayit,s a long time
before they associated him, With the
man who shot Booth Finally ,hey sas,
that he was BOSTON Corbett In a lc,',t. written
10 the nrm some months since W " t'aNitt
SAYS h. Is an excellent .aiesp,an' sna If", md ~
the Nrm. MANY Texas towns bar patent
medicine pedlers by ORDINANCE, but Cor,
he,t payS no attention Ia ordinances. and
has worked practically every town IN letas
without having been mole-tcd
Corha't's farm " about eighteen miles
from Concordis In Cloud county lie owns
eighty acres 81 land. only about eighteen
returns from the farm arc seldom more
Than sufficient 10 pay tho taxes when
Corhe't was committed 20 the asyluin an
eror, vas made 10 secure a guardian IN
Cloud county. but his neighbor~ were All
afraid Of him and refused to take the Job,
has since looked after hts INTEREST," LOT
hsti drew q TENSION 81 - = month. fol-
lowing tho Government custom MS nStnr
vs. strickcn from tho rolls Of the pension
of1ce after he had been missing three wears.
hut N he wern restored to citizenship he
would 10 rrinSta,ed and the Government
would owe him In the neighborhood OF ti.So