On April 3, 2024, I had the honor to present virtually to the volunteers and staff of the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum in Springfield, Illinois. My speech was entitled, On the Manhunt: The Search for Lincoln’s Assassin. This was my third speech for the ALPLM, having presented on John Wilkes Booth in 2016 and his four executed conspirators in 2017. With the miniseries Manhunt in the news, it was decided that a refresher on the escape and search for Lincoln’s assassin would be good for the museum’s volunteers, and I was happy to be a part of their continuing education. Working on this speech was part of the reason I have had to take a break from my historical reviews of the series Manhunt for the time being.
For those who want an overview of the actual escape of John Wilkes Booth and how the search for the assassins played out, here is a video of the speech I gave, courtesy of the ALPLM.
Until I have some time to work on my next historical review for Manhunt, I hope this video will suffice and answer some of the questions you might have about Booth’s escape and capture.
Dave
LincolnConspirators.com 
Dave,
Have enjoyed your reviews of the TV series, “Manhunt.” Also, I watched your ALPLM presentation. Your presentations are very thorough and well done.
Although I live in North Carolina, I have twice presented at the ALPLM.
Keep up the good work!
Kevin Burke
http://www.kevinlburke.com/
Nice presentation, as always. Thanks to your dedication to the subject I thoroughly enjoyed my own three-day tracing of the escape route, including final resting places of Cox, Jones, etc. I just finished another reading of Kauffman and perusing my photos and self-written route guide from those glorious days in ‘21. Thanks again for all you do!
The fifth episode of Manhunt has left me in somewhat of a quandary. The title is “A Man of Destiny” but I’m uncertain as to which man it refers to. Three candidates immediately come to mind. Booth, of course, but he is getting sponge bathed by farmer Garrett’s comely daughter. Earlier he was suffering so much from his wound that he and Herold missed the correct road to Richmond. Now he is feverish and wondering if he is really in Heaven. (Hmm, I wouldn’t put money on the possibility that he is headed for the Pearly Gates. But that’s just my opinion.)
Could the Man of Destiny refer to our hero, Edwin Stanton? He’s trying his best to keep it together, but when we last saw him he was wheezing in a cold sweat, and collapsed into his son’s arms. Can he possibly recover enough to oversee the Final Curtain of John Wilkes Booth AND stave off Andy Johnson’s undoing of Lincoln’s dreams for Reconstruction? “Stay tuned for our Next Exciting Episode”
The third possibility, naturally, is Boston Corbett. Now, as someone who has been obsessed with the life and legacy of the Avenging Sergeant for a long while, I have to confess that I’d bet my chips on him. Since I acquired a couple of letters written by him many years ago, I’ve been researching him. I’ve written about him and spoken about him a few times. He is being portrayed as a tightly-wound character who is driven to find the assassin and fulfill the life work he has prayed for.
When we last see him, he’s the only of the three candidates who is healthy. With a grim set to his jaw and a fire in his eyes, he’s thundering down the road to Garrett’s with the rest of the patrol struggling to keep up.
Place your bets, ladies and gents. Which of the three is going to get his wish?
Steve Miller
Dave,
I have enjoyed your work and presentations here on your website. I grew up in Washington, DC and went to school all over town. My mother worked at the Department of Justice. In other words I had a lot of reason to be downtown over the course of my younger life. I have been in Ford’s Theater and the Peterson House several times each as a school age kid. I live in Annapolis, MD and I have a newspaper, the Washington Weekly Chronicle from Saturday April 22, 1865. The next time that you are in Washington, if you feel like driving out to Annapolis I would love to show it to you.
I also lived, hunted and fished all over Prince Georges, Charles and Saint Mary’s Counties in Maryland. My granddaughter attended Saint Peter’s Catholic School, a stones throw from Dr Mudd’s home. In your presentation to the Lincoln Presidential Library there was a picture titled “Sentry Estates” telling of a detachment of Illinois Cavalry camping there during the manhunt. SIte discovered by Frank Owens. I grew up with this guy in Congress Heights, Southeast, Washington. I have not seen him in 50 years but heard he was a very big Civil War buff. Another friend Eddie Roberts, who worked at the Surratt Society and Dr Mudd’s house told me that he knew Frank Owens years ago and they shared that love of Civil War History. An interesting fact about Frank is that one of his first jobs was as an apprentice Sculptor at the National Cathedral in Washington, DC. I would love to contact him if I knew how to.
Best, Charlie Owen ……. Annapolis, Maryland
This week’s episode of Manhunt is titled, “Useless. Useless” and it certainly wraps up the getaway attempt of Booth and Herold, since those were some of the assassin’s last words.
While we’re getting ready to watch the climax of the pursuit (but not the final program) I thought it might be good to share an eyewitness account of Booth’s end as told by one of the soldiers in the Garrett’s Farm patrol.
The following text is from a letter written two days afterward by Pvt. Emory Parady, Co. H, 16th Cavalry. He was a member of the Doherty unit and he sent the following to his parents who were living in Michigan at the time. I was given this letter by Parady’s granddaughter many years ago.
“Washington D.C. April 28th
1865
Dear Father & Mother
. You have
doubtless heard of Booth the Murderer of President Lincoln.
We caught him & Harrold on the morning of the 26th in a Barn.
Fortunately they were locked in or they would {have} escaped when we surrounded the House as we thought they were there & after threatening the owner of the Places lif {sic} one of his sons (a soldier from Lees army) came up & told they were there or at least two suspicious characters & locked up in the Barn one by the name of John Wm. Boyd his reason for choosing that name was account {of} the initials J.W.B. on his left hand. Harrold surrendered & Booth would not on any conditions his only terms were if we moved back 50 paces from the Barn he would come out & fight us & told us if we shot him to shoot him through the Body through the heart says he Boys make a stretcher{.}
We told him we would fire the Barn if he did not come out & give
up his arms he was armed with two Revolvers a Carabine seven
shooter & two Bowie Knives the longest one was Bloody on both
sides of the blade{.} we fired the {barn} as it was dark between
3 & 4 in the morning & he could see us & we could not see him but
as soon as the fire lit up he tried to stamp it out & found he
could not so he ran back to the midle of the floor & was in
the act of raising his caribine when crack when a Pistol & I
with with {sic} Baker detective rushed in & caried him out{.} He
was shot through the Neck about 2 inches lower than Mr. Lincoln
was{.} his last words were Mother! My Mother My Mother{.} he could
just whisper{.}
well I will close as I feel very dull today & when I see you I
will tell you more about it{.} we were on the chase three days &
three nights without sleep
& hardly any thing to eat so you may
judge I am not very lively today{.} We caught him across the
Raphannock three miles from Port Royal.
no more at present
from Emory”
Steve Miller
Really enjoyed this talk Dave!
Another Manhunt(er) highlighted! The screen caps from Manhunt showing the members of the patrol that caught up to B & H have several officers and men being given orders by Stanton. The tall man in uniform with the full beard is called “Baker” and he is undoubtedly Luther Byron Baker, the cousin to Col. Lafe Baker. The somewhat shorter officer, the one with the “mutton chop” whiskers is referred to as “Col. Conger”. They are the “detectives” sent by Col. B. along with the cavalrymen. The two Baker men HAD been cavalry officers, but had been mustered out of service and were NOT wearing uniforms during the pursuit.
(Note to self: there is no cavalry officer from the 16th NYVC with the detachment in Manhunt. They edited Lt. Edward P. Doherty out of the screenplay. I was confused at first because Doherty actually had a magnificent crop of Mutton Chops, whereas Conger had a beard.)
I just got a news alert from a paper in Ohio about a Manhunter from their vicinity. One-time local dentist, Everton J. Conger and I thought I’d put up the link for it. (They call him J. Everton Conger, but that is in error.) The piece is pretty accurate, and I didn’t see any reference to the mini-series.
Here’s the link to the Ohio news report:
“Lincoln’s killer found by Fremont dentist,” Lou Hebert, The Press, Milbury, OH, 5/3/2024
http://presspublications.com/content/lincoln%E2%80%99s-killer-found-fremont-dentist