The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1903-01-23
BELIEVES # is
j. WILKES BOOTH
S. H. Bradley of Enid So Ex-
presses Himself.
IN LETTER TO HIS SON
Gives Some Interesting Facts
About Dead Stranger at Enid.
IN LETTER TO HIS SON

| tsined articles regarding the suicide of Z
man at Enid, o. T, OF the 18th inst. Il
J IS claimed that this man on MS death-bec
stated that he was John Wilkes Booth
the assassin OF Abraham Lincoln on April
II, 1855. 1t Will be remembered that the
government has steadfastly refused t.
pay the reward offered for the arrest OF
| the murderer because the secret service
officials were not fully satisfied that this
was the man they were after.
Many persons at Enid, who have seen
Ecoth, and the body as il lays N the
usorgue, say that this is Booth or his
exact Ic--,e- ne descriptions published
IN ne 5I-nals and the records of
the Sc vice bureau have been
orousL- and this man at Enid
| ccrresy cry way with the de-
| seHptio --.Qay the Eagle con-
Iained -laustiye article regard
/ ing The H. as worked out by the
| Enid pspe. :.
! Mr. 5 n Bradley is a prominent at
| tcruey at Enid ana met Booth several
times and had an opportunity 10 study his
| features.
| his son, Stephen P. Bradley is an en-
]
to his son. Mr. S. II. Bradley says re-
garGins this strange man:
Enid, o. T., tuesday, Jan. 20. 1888.
Ny Dear Stephen: 1 presume you have
followed the items in the Eagle concern
Ing man IN Enid who committed suicide
here on the l3Ih-who. on his death-bed
HhIlc he was conscious Of the fact tina Z
I the poison he took would cause him to
pass II his checks, stated that he had
killed Lincoln. His remains are now in
fenne'nan and are viewed by Ihous-
ands- L saw J. Wilkes Booth In BaIti-
more IN august. 5A-sat near him AT a
hotel table (Barnums HeteD, met him
/ after supper that night in the lobby" OF
chlee OF the hotel. was introduced to him
ard l remember that when 1 told him
I that l vns on my way home from Yale
College where | had just graduated, he
tBoothl kindly gave me Z compliment
tary ticket 10 tue theatre (the Holiday
street theatre) and I saw him that night
On the stage OF the theatre, taking a
comedians part (as the star in a
comedy called "Fa1chon-thA Cricket in
which Miss Lottie Crabtree (since known
as Lucele WESTERN I think, took the
part of 'Fanchon'-the Cricket In the
fall of that same year | saw Booth twice
in Washington, D. C; that is / saw MIN
on the avenue in Washington You re-
member II was on April II 1865 that
Booth shot Mr. Lincoln in Washington
As the man who committed suicide here
on the 18th inst lies errbalned in Penne-
mans ! went in to see him / am i'm
pressed with the belief, as well as others
and from what is still imprinted on my
memory of Booth. that this man is J.
Wilkes Booth L conclude, or have that
impression from the fact that he has sim
liar features as Booth-a heavy mustacha
now white. OF course by age) heavy
flowing hair. (now white or gray but
cree was jet black he is OF the same
size as Booth. mas the broken ankle that
Booth sustained when he Ieaped from the
presidents box; in short. though nearly
thirty-nine years have passed since first
saw Booth in Baltimore in August. 81
though age has changed his looks, from
youth to old age) yet he has the facial
appearance, the mould" of his face. the
mouth, the eye-in fact, the entire make
up of this man, his size, etc. coupled
with the declaration of this man in a
dying moment, that he was Booth who
killed President Lincoln-leads ne TO be-
i.eve that il is J. Wilkes Booth You
know that history says that there was
great doubt as to Booth (the real Boothl
having been killed by Boston Corbitt
CThe latter went crazy and Is now an
great was that doubt that the govern
rlent would not pay the reward. The
handwriting of this man has been COM
pared with the handwriting OF Booth,
and the similarity is 10 say the least. in
teresting. His body is Yet there. so vel,
preserved by embalming that it can be
preserved for weeks Yet He is at this
age. the finest looking man whom you
would see in a lifetime and his features
are an exact Likeness Of Booth OF
course no one knows OF a certainty that
he is Booth. but persons who are here,
the Methodist minister's wife. who was
with him In Fl Reno. a the time he vas
supposed to be dying. who wis with him
10 minister 10 his spiritual needs and 70
ect as the good samaritan" SAYS that
il was then when ne thought and was
told that he would die-he confessed Their
that he had killed great man and he
wrote the name OF Lincoln on q piece OF
paper and the name OF J. Wilkes Booth
Hut ne did not die in that attempt at sui
eide. but on the 18th inst he aid carry
cut that intent and took poison and died
in Enid. repea ding here thai Re was
Booth Goodbye Your. as ever.
PAPA"
= q