The Watertown weekly leader. [volume] (Watertown, Jefferson County, Wis.) 1912-1917, 1916-02-08
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ing attitude, which resulted in a
| broken leg.
Though suffering untold agony, the
assassin sprang to his feet, ran out
of the rear door of the theater into
the alley, jerked the reins from the
hands of Peanuts" leaped into the
saddle, and in another second was clat-
tering out of the alley into F street,
then away toward Anacostia like
madman-as he probably was.
With DR.. Charles Taft holding the
head and several other men the body,
Mr.. Lincoln was borne out of the door
Of the theater and into the house of
William Petersen at SIG Tenth street,
just opposite Ford's s.
Death of the President.
The fatal shot had entered the left
side of the head behind the left eye,
traversing the brain and lodging be-
hind the right eye. At % minutes past
z on the morning of April Is, 1865,
he ceased to breathe
At II o'clock that same day Chief
Justice Chase administered the oath
of office to the new president, Andrew
Johnson, in the old Kirkwood house,
which stood at Pennsylvania avenue
| and Twelfth street.
The funeral service of the martyred
president was held in the east room
of the White House, Wednesday, April
IS, at noon, the coffin being then taken
to the capitol, where it lay in state
in the rotunda till April 81, when the
funeral train started for Springfield,
H.
Booth Escapes to Virginia.
To return to Booth and the rest of
the conspirators. The assassin had
fed from Washington, and safely pass
ing the guard on the bridge at Ana
costa, galloped down into Maryland
Pursuit was at once begun by the
government, Col. l.. C. Baker having
charge of the force sent to capture the
murderer.
After some work in tracing the as
| sassin, Baker at last stopped at the
home of a farmer, Richard H. Garrett
| near Port Royal, Va, at a. NJ, April
| those he sought were at that moment
sleeping in a wagon house or barn.
| Throwing a guard about the build
| ing, Baker sent young Garrett into the
| place to demand that the inmates sur
| render Both men at first refused, but
| HerOld at last weakened and came
out to be manacled. Booth declared
| hot no would no fob oil
and stood his ground far back in the
| shed, leaning on a crutch, with car
| bine leyeled at the door,
Baker Sets Barn on Fire.
Colonel Baker, wishing to expedite
matters, lighted wisp Of straw and
stuck it through a crack into a pile of
| hay in a corner inside. In q moment
| the interior was ablaze and everything
| within in a full light. The flames
showed Booth standing with his gun
| in his hand, but retreating before the
| leaping fire. A shot rang out and
John Wilkes Booth, the murderer of
| Abraham Lincoln, sank to the barn
floor dying, with a bullet in the back
of his neck. The shot had been fired
by Union soldier named Boston Cor
bett.
Booths body was dragged out OF
| the burning shed and placed on Gar
retts porch. His last words, uttered
with great effort, were, Useless, use
less" referring to his inability to lift
his hands. But before this he had
told a soldier. Tell my mother l died
for my country; that l did what l
thought was best" Booth received
his fatal wound a little after three
| o'clock in the morning, but fingered
in agony till sunrise, when he ceased
to breathe.
Body Buried in Baltimore.
His body was sewed up in an army
| blanket. carried in an old wagon to
| Belle Plain, and put on board a boat
| 10 Washington. Reaching the capital,
it was taken down the Eastern Branch
to the old penitentiary. There, in one
of the large cells, the stones were
| taken up, grave dug, and the re-