The Washington herald., 1919-10-26
SUICIDES CLAIM HE KILLED
LINCOLN Is CORROBORATED
Picture of John Wilkes Booth Recognized as
That of Man Who ank~Poison in
Oklahoma in 1908.

Rappahannock safely. being conceal
negro's cart.
He met Mosby's men at the Garrett
homestead and then discovered that
he had lost his diary. some letters
and the check with which Ruddy was
to have been paid. Ruddy volunteer
ed to return with Herold and search
for the missing articles, being anx-
ious TO get the check.
ST. Helen (Booth) told Bates that
it Vus upon this incident that the
false Identification of the man killed
by Corbett in the corncrib rested.
Two days later. upon being warned
of the approach Of Federal troops,
Booth fed to the woods nearby and
Ruddy and Herold were the men sur
rounded in the Garrett corncrib. Her.
old gave himself up without a strug-
gle. but Ruddy decided to fight it out
According to the story OF ST. Helen.
1t was Ruddy who was killed by Pri-
vate Boston Corbett. Booth had
shaved of his mustache during the
flight. while Ruddy. who was Of the
same size and build as Booth. did
not. Carrying Booths papers, which
had been found i'm the negro's wagon.
it was only natural that he should
be mistaken for the assassin.
Assassin Fled to Texas.
Booth fed westward from Virginia
In various DISCUSSES, reaching Texas a
year after the murder. having gone
first to California. then down through
Mexico before arriving in the Lone
Star State.
Not long after making the confession
he left Glenrose Mills for Leadville,
Col. where Bates lost track of him in
1s7S. st. Helen changed his name sew
Ieral times and Bates heard of him
only indirectly till he was summoned
to Enid to identify the body in 1903.
Bates carried with him the tintype
given him when the confession was
made. He showed II to Gen. Dana.
who had charge of military affairs
around Washington the night of. the
Staying. and who knew Booth. He
identified the picture as that of the
murderer actor, as did Gen. Albert
Pike, Joseph jefferson, the actor. and
Junius Brutus Booth. nephew Of the
SLAYER, according to Bates.
The final proof adduced by Bates was
that the body, which was supposed to
be that Of Booth and which was event.
ually buried in the Booth family ceme-
| terry near Baltimore, had a boot on
each foot, whereas DR.. Mudd had cut
off the boot. on Booths right foot so
as to treat the injured limb.
DR.. Mudd was later hanged as an ac-
complice to the murder and the boot,
said to still be in the hands of the
War Department, was found in his
home and used as evidence against
him in the trial
! The fact that not a cent Of the s100.-
600 reward for the capture of Booth,
dead or alive, was ever paid to any,
body is regarded as significant by
Bates.
The body of the man who killed him.
self in Enid. Okla, has been preserved
IN a mummified condition in a crypt
in Memphis. 1t is said to show signs
Iof a fracture of the right leg and a
scar over the right eye, known to have
been received by Booth while fighting
stage duel during a rehearsal Of
Julius Caesar"
An estate Of $4,000 left by the dead
man, has never been claimed.
These are the facts. Now was the
man who killed himself at Enid, David
E. George, John st. Helen or John
Wilkes Booth?