Twice-a-week plain dealer. (Cresco, Howard County, Iowa) 1895-1913, 1903-12-11
LOOKED ON DEAD FACE
OF. ]. WILKES BOOTH
Daniel Ashworth, Formerly Of u.
S. Navy, Gives Lie to Report
That Assassin Escaped.
Says He Uncovered His Head and
Saw Haggard Features of One
He Had Seen Before.


great volume of confirmatory and CONTRA
dictory comment on the subject Much
indignation has been expressed by tile
lncredulous that Lincoln's assassin should
have escaped punishment, but there is
man in Pittsburg who is absolutely sure
that Booth paid for his sins at the time,
and that he has been dead over forty
Years, says the Pittsburg Leader.
Daniel Ashworth, the we'll known ell
ginesr of this city, is the man. He de-
nounces the recent scare report as a base
less fraud, for with his own eyes has he
Seen the dead body of the assassin.
I During the civil war Mr. Ashwortl was
an engineer In the United States navy,
and was patroling the Potomac at the
time of Booths capture and DEATH In
regard ss to the incident he said:
MY attention has been called not only
Sf our own city, but on several occasions
by Journals elsewhere, which announced
pohn Wilkes Booth, was not shot at the
lime and place mentioned in history but
turing this period he has been living as
public are RECALLED from time to time
with this old, old story. There is nothing
Ecw in this, for it has been repeated from
Ilme to time that not only noted criminals
Ebut famous men had lived the secluded,
tcencealed life for very long periods after
They had passed away.
Il was stationed as engineer on the
United States steamer Dragon and while
Sl,ns1pg along the Chesapeake at the time
aflchmond was being surrendered to the
tunion armies. we were ordered to pro-
eeed up the Wicomico river, and whilst
Ehere we received dispatches ordering us
Early morning as we sailed out into the
Pay, we noticed signals of distress flying
upon the monitor Monadnock, which was
Full steam a boat approached and made
khe ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS that the president had
Nm the theater at Washington, which Gre
gated indescribable dismay to the officers
En nst men ,,e1 ! reoolleet very distinctly my
WAS Shakespearean line, Hung be the
hea oS,, , IN black yield day to night
orderea Us q e haXs
yards for the purpose Of repairine IND
boilers which were very lea ls. 81 81 our our
halls and otherwise more of the derafls Of
Inc assassination. It was now afternoon
ef ,s the next next day We noticed the hull Of
E9n gaining rapidly upon us. We were
Ehen ABOUT the position called Maryland
k kSara observations I, through the glasses
Enanded by Commodore Foxhall A. Park
Esr. In short time she signaied for
sls e i,a 'heaye to- We weighed anchor and
ssaWalIed her approach AS She came with
On communication distance our Command
sSng OFFICER was signaled to go on board
dse liaa en a Upon his return he had orr
crl,ise off Swan Point for the purpose Of
slatronng that section, as it was feared
would cross Somewhere in fhat aac n9}ih;
from Maryland to Virginia The night
n r,,is to be an exceedingly dark one. We
E5ut. Under Ggyer of night il was Shown
Elhat John Wilkes Booth actually crossed
Fat that point. $3.50
hit must be borne in mind that +he
Potomac is very Wide stream at this
FRoint being four or FIVE miles wide, and
H. H.. f sa ,, ne readily perceived how small
h After remaining at this station for an.
HI En-, gay a., TG rsesysa orders to proceed
sthere too late for the OFFICERS to. parfici..
Sl,atte. N the funeral cortege of 1.-THE late
IPr esa. The next morning, being a
SENIOR engineer of the vessel. I was about
Very early with Mr.. j. Bremen, also
Ean engineer now OF the Horne Bremen
when fhe Of Phlaadelpaha
formed us that the monitor Monadnock,
(Which had arrived some time during the
& ea ON boara h aad bo TSs Of db hs
Wilkes Booth. We both immediately
stepped ashore and proceeded to the mon.
10 wv W1i Es4fl As9 GSReG Gt1es saw
I. As ! approached the body. which was
lying upon the. deck. turned down The
blanket from the face and there was thu
classic, but haggard and unshayen face
of John Wilkes Booth. have neyel
ToTsottep tho same had a. seen Job,
Fand elsewhere. ~ s
He was dressed, in, confederate gray
swhile concealed in the lower counties q q
sMaryland. lIis face presented the ap
fpearar,ca of one who had played a Yer!
lexhaustion and suffering was visible. A
I'VE walked down the blanks from Thu
fmoniter to the. dock marine guard wa
Ito see the body and / have eveSy reason
TO believe that was the last one in tn
ashngt9pn nany yards to look a on IL
tn death. have many a time afterward
thought Of one of his famous quotation
that gollsy Geber r. in5estsa IN shahe
youth who fired the Ephesian dome out
lived in fame the pious fool that built it.
II have MANY times related these events
in talking to friends over the events Of tn
civil war and have freqently when read
ing these REVEALS Of the old story Of tn,
7 lthought of placing this before the public
kThis regent revival right in our mids
Eaias suggested to me that 1t might ~
itae way of refuting the absurd species
Iof sensationalism.
John Wilkes Booth was an exceedingly
tstriking man. In personal appearance ne
twas considered one OF the best LOOKING
Emen in America, such as would attract
Gattention in passing BY The ,, disflncttol
}lsdwin was that John was possessed Of :
Efiery,, quick and nervous temper, It !:
EBooth was of a fiery and restless dispo
fsition and it is a traditional story tina
Ethere was a strain of gypsy blood in TIL
EBooth family. The suppression of thi
tstrain in Edwin might to a great extern
Ebe given for the cause of that sad ant
tanelancholy look for which he was SO wei
KNOWN and so thoroughly adapting hin
Flor the character of Hamlet. On TIL
'other hand, John Wilkes Booth was per
fsctly suited for Richard IL, and fo
His form and physique and classic fea
lures made him perfect Romeo and pa
excellent as Benedict in Much AID
ABOUT Nothing And in the line of classi
that he was superior to Edwin Booth. II
was very much given TO the Bohemia
style of life
Ills sympathy for the south, couple
a strong trend for a dramatic climax onl
2tneeded that fateful day of Appomatto
to fire him up with a nest of vile conspii
ators to enable him TO play in one of tn
greatest tragedies Of e. the I, world world
tors, but only slightly, whose name wa
Harold, who was in a drug store a shor
distance from the Washington nav
yards 1t will be borne in mind that h
conspirators
THE lower counties OF Maryland at tina
time were populated with those who's
feelings were intensely southern, an
nothing but the blockade of the Potoma
communication with the confederate al
thorities. There WereY regular conlmun
cations with the enemy from thei
friends in Baltimore and elsewhere in til
for its southern proclivities. At PoiI
Lookout there was confined thousand
y OF confederate prisoners guarded by OF
eimy and navy. At was IN st. Mary