Belington progressive. [volume] (Belington, W. Va.) 1912-1927, 1919-08-21
DYING MAN CONFESSES BEING
BOOTH, ASSASSIN OF LINCOLN

Chicago, Ill-What happened to
John Wilkes Booth, slayer of Abra-
ham Lincoln? According to the fed
eral government, he was killed in the
corncrib of the Carrot homestead in
Virginia, on April &c, 1865. How
ever, the truth of this has been ques
toned by many and chance remark
recently in the Chicago Historical
Society Museum by two men revived
a story which may change all nara
tives surrounding the death of the
great emancipation.
R. D. Craig and J. Harley Craig,
brothers, of Oklahoma City, Okla,
were the two men. Strolling about
among the exhibits, they came to a
picture of John Wilkes Booth, and
one of them pointing to the picture,
remarked to bystander:
I'VE lived with that man when he
was house painter in Enid and Ell
Reno, Okla. We knew him we'll"
The bystander was Col. E. E.
Wood, a civil war veteran and in
charge of certain important histori-
cal researches conducted by the So
ciety. At first he was incredulous,
but seeing the two men were serious,
he invited them into his office and
they told the story as follows:
On January IA, 1908, man, known
as David E. George, committed sui
eide by taking arsenic while at the
Grand Avenue Hotel in Enid, Okla.
He remained conscious for some time
after swallowing the poison, and
shortly before he died he confessed
both verbally and in writing that he
was John Wilkes Booth, the murder
err of Lincoln. Persons at his bed
side refused to believe what he said
but he showed them letter address
ed to FINS L. Bates, an attorney of
Memphis, Tenn, and declared that
Bates would confirm his confession.
Soon after making the statement, he
died.
Rumors having gone around that
the dead man was Lincoln's slayer,
a mob formed and demanded the
body so they might burn it. The
rioters were told to await more pos
tive Identification, and the body was
taken to the Penman undertaking
establishment.
The remainder of the story is told
as gathered from the statements and
letters of Mr.. Bates, who was called
from Memphis to identify the body.
Arriving at Enid disguised as a
furniture agents SO as to divert the
fury of the mob which was still
watching for identification to carry
out it's purpose of burning the body,
Bates proceeded to the undertaking
establishment. There he identified
the body of George as that of the
man he had met in Glenrose Mills,
Tex, in 1871 under the name of John
St. Helen.
The two men became close friends.
st. Helen was not very successful in
business but very popular in society,
being noted for his ability as a re-
otter of Shakespearean dialogue and
for his eloquence as public speaker.
Except when in company he was of
taciturn and gloomy temperament.
The so-called St. Helen became des-
perately i'll in the fall of 1872 and
one night secretly called Bates to
his bedside and announced he had a
confession to make.
Il am dying" he whispered. "My
name is John Wilkes Booth / am
the assassin of President Lincoln.
Get the picture of myself from I'M
der the pillow. / leave it with you
for my identification. Notify my
brother, Edwin Booth, of New York
City"
Bates took the picture-a tintype
made by Glenrose Mills photogra-
pher, but paid little attention to the
statement, thinking the man deliri-
Gus.
st. Helen recovered, however, and
since he had already told Bates that
he was Booth, he decided to tell the
story of his life, and Of his escape
from pursuers after shooting Lincoln.
Bates spent several years investiga-
ting the following story, that was told
to him by st. Helen, and says that
he is convinced of it's truth.
h Following the shooting of Lincoln
in the box at Ford's Theatre and the
leap to the stage that broke Booths
fright leg above the ankle, the assas-
sin made his escape on horseback
with David E. Herold. Booth made
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