Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1903-06-06

body in the family lot. Until the end OF
time, however. there will probably be repe-
titions of the story that Booth made his es-
cape, or that some other person fired the
fatal shot, for according to reports he has
been seen since in nearly every part Of the
There have been published stories of his
living In South America, Australia and
other parts of the world and there was al
most a general belief that a mysterious
school master who died some years ago in
Georgia was Wilkes Booth.
More Convincing Testimony.
There is not the slightest doubt that the
body of John Wilkes Booth rests IN Green
mount cemetery. Baltimore said Under
taker Harvey of this city to a Star reporter
today: My father, R. F. Harvey, looked
after the removal of the body from the ar
senal to the depot for Undertaken Weaver
of Baltimore who had been employed by
the Booth family. The fake funeral and
interment of a red-headed ssif' so graph
caly related by one Monkey of Baltimore,
is serious reflection on the honesty OF
those who had been entrusted with the
work. 1 wish to say, and know the people
of Washington who knew and respected my
father will bear me out, that he would have
suffered his right arm to be cut on before
he would have engaged in any such de-
ception as that said to have been prac-
ticed. 1 have heard my father speak in the
highest terms possible of Mr.. Weaver, and
l do not believe from what knew OF him
that he would have been a party to any
such proceedings as described by Monkey.
But Monkey says he is the only one left.
1t is really too bad that he has not some.
one to back and substantiate his story OF
the mock funeral and burial
ANY thinking man would know, too,
that if such deception was pracuced II
could only have been done by the War De-
partment for what earthly chance Wouio
fa tbay owl &c icfn &c hax yQ
false Booth at the arsenal after going
there with an order from the War Depart
ment to the officer in charge to turn over
the body of John Wilkes Booth to the I'M
dertaker? There was no deception, and the
War Department officials would have been
afraid to attempt anything of the kind at
ter receiving positive and explicit orders
from President Johnson to turn the body
of John Wilkes Booth over to his relatives.
Another thing, it is not usual to have pail
bearers when body is carried direct from
the train to the cemetery, and especially so
when it is desired as Monkey declares was
the fact in this case, that all be done as
quietly as possible. Does it not stand to
reason, too, that a body after being under
ground as long Booths had-nearly two
yearS-would be in no condition to be eX
posed to public gaze? Such body would
not be received by any railroad for ship
ment unless 1t in a Theoretically
sealed casket. That is the rule of all rail-
roads, and there is no getting around it,
Monkey to the contrary Notwithstanding.
Il cannot assert that father knew John
Wilkes Booth personally, or that he identi-
fled the body after it was taken from the
arsenal, but / will wager my last dollar
that the body he shipped to Baltimore was
that of John Wilkes Booth 1t was posi-
lively identified both at the arsenal and
after it was in my fathers undertaking
place.
Many People Saw the Body.
ut is a matter of history, everybody in
any way familiar with the capture of
Booth knows, that when the monitor Mon
tauk reached Washington 1T lay in the
Potomac entire day, and many people
went on board and looked at the dead body
of Booth. Jacob Schmidt then provost
marshal, and who was AdZerott's brother
in-law was on the Montauk, and he said
it was Booths body. At midnight the body
was taken to the arsenal and buried under
the floor of a cell in the old prison, and it
was from there that my father superintend-
ed its dsinterment and shipment to Balt-
more.
ut has been stated that Edwin Booth
came to Washington on that occasion and
remained in my fathers place Of business
which was then on F street, the rear OF
the store running back to the old Ford
Theater. l do not know that Edwin Booth
did come. He might have been here, but
no one ever learned of the fact through
father. 1 dare say father was appealed to
a thousand times to state whether or not
Secretary Stanton committed suicide but
no human being ever succeeded in getting
him to deny or affirm anything on the sub
ject. He knew, of course, but the knowl-
edge was buried with him.
Il should not have said this much had
not the question of fathers honesty been
Wilkes Booths body is in Greenmount
cemetery, Baltimore, no matter what peo-
pie may say about being pallbearers and
mock funerals