Talk:John Wilkes Booth/Archive 1

Date Error?

"MD and is expected to become a memorial to the Booth family and their influence on Shakespearean acting in 18th century America. His parents, Junius Brutus Booth and Mary Ann Holmes moved to the United States from England in 1821. "

If I'm catching it correct, his family moved there in 1821 and they influenced Shakespearean acting in American from there onward, if that is true then it they should have influenced the 19th century acting not 18th century, since 1800+ is 19th century. I didn't change the century myself since my knwoldegs of the his family history and relations to acting in america are to low know if anyother of his family members moved to america earlyer and influenced something, but is still think it is error.

Boston link

The Boston link could do with updating to point to the appropriate Boston article, but I'm not sure which it is. --John 23:00, 11 May 2005 (UTC)

There's a bit of folklore surrounding the assassination attempt, including:

After the shot, Wilkes leapt from the booth onto the stage, shouting "Sic semper tyrannis!" (Latin for "Thus always for tyrants.")

I'd put that in my original write-up, but on further research, I find that it is a disputed point whether he actually said that. (Some versions even have him following that with "The South is avenged.") I think the dispute should be part of the write-up. Probably more important, however, would be bits about his co-conspirators (who were supposed to shoot the Secretary of War and the Vice-President, as well as the stabbing of Major Rathbone. --Belltower

I added the part about the two phrases and I linked Sic semper tyrannis to its own article, which explains the meaning there. Also did some copyediting and tried to improve the flow and phrasing.

I agree the article would benefit from having more about the conspiracies Booth was involved in, to harm the President and others. Jonathunder 01:38, 2004 Nov 15 (UTC)

There was a recent episode of The American Experience on PBS that seemed to indicate that Booth was just a civilian who borrowed a friend's uniform in order to attend John Brown's execution. —Mulad 01:41, 29 Jan 2004 (UTC)

Please someone fix the article!!! It is full of spelling and gramatical errors.

If you find errors, please correct them. Jonathunder 17:00, 2004 Nov 15 (UTC)

his mother

was there anything remarkable about his mother other than the fact that she was his mother? if not, then i submit that she should not have her own article

• Agreed. Linking good, but no need to go overboard. --fvw 07:22, 2004 Jul 29 (UTC)

Bel Air

There seems to be two places called Bel Air, MD. In which one he was born?

The one in Harford County. Article updated to reflect this. Carter 16:40, 15 Nov 2004 (UTC)

(I can't remember where i've seen it referenced, but I believe that Booth DID borrow a friend's uniform to watch John Brown's execution...something about the emotional impact.)

I feel like this article is too sure of Booth's plans, as everything is so heavily debated and little reliable information is available. For example, the sentence stating that Booth informed his conspirators immediatly after he learned of Lincoln's visit to "Our American Cousin", when the date, whether months before hand or the night before, is not known and only surmised upon.

I took out the 'deserter' part of Payne...I hold to the theory that he left Mosby's command for other, more honorable reasons, as stated in the book "Alias Payne".

Boyd theory

I've replaced "look-alike double agent" with just "double", as "double agent" has a very different meaning from "double" in this context and "look-alike double" is redundant.--Rlhatton 17:01, 24 January 2006 (UTC)

Bulloch

James D. Bulloch was not the director of the Confederate Secret Service, he was the Confederate's main overseas agent, arranging the exchange of cotton into hard currency and then buying arms and ships with the money. I have a source to check if necessary but I don't think Bulloch was even in Canada in 1864-5. The person Booth would have met was Jacob Thompson, who really was the head of Secret Service operations in Canada.

Hand in Jacket

Why does he have one hand in his jacket in the photograph? I know this is actually a general question and not necessarily a specific one to John Wilkes Booth, but could someone point me in the right direction?

It was a popular pose during those times, and earlier too. No special meaning. Dr. Dan 14:09, 14 April 2006 (UTC)

It was indeed a popular pose. It was popularly supposed to be an indication of dignity or breeding, or (especially after Napoleon's frequent use) a "power pose". Even by then it was a bit of a cliché. --Dhartung | Talk 08:17, 26 October 2006 (UTC)

Trivia

The trivia section is starting to take a step in the wrong direction (see last three entries), should we add:

• John Wilkes Booth had two ears.
• John Wilkes Booth was alive on 26 Fourth of Julys

Agreed - those are from the "popular" list of similarities (nearly all proved utterly trivial or completely wrong by Snopes) between the assassinations of Lincoln and Kennedy.

JFK/Lincoln assassination "similarities"

Similarities between Booth and Oswald have nothing to do with honest historical trivia.

Gorosaurus 18:32, 14 April 2006 (UTC)

I'm taking out the silly trivia "coincidences" - A warehouse is not a barn; millions of Americans throughout history have 3 word names; both Oswald and Booth being assassinated before trial is not really a coincidence unless you're into massive conspiracy theories; also 4 US presidents, not 2 have been assassinated, which kind of spoils any connect-the-dots coincidences Bwithh 18:35, 14 April 2006 (UTC)

Editors should be aware that this list was originally written by Martin Gardner for his column in Scientific American and was intended as an illustration of ridiculous coincidences that anyone could think up if they had enough time. --Dhartung | Talk 08:06, 26 October 2006 (UTC)

Booth in popular culture

This section is becoming a repository of truly banal and pointless information. I think the vaguely relevant should be sifted out from the completely asinine. Anyone agree? Orbicle 09:20, 6 October 2006 (UTC)

I Disagree strongly I think that Booth's impact on popular cultre is an important part to the article no matter how "vaugley relevant" it may be--Winn3317 19:48, 27 March 2007 (UTC)

TMI

Although all input and editing is appreciated (including that of grammar school pupils), the article is beginning to lose its Encyclopedic quality. Why? TMI, (too much information). What do I mean by that? Lots of the current content of the article needs to be "weeded out". The information about other people and events, needs to be removed and put in their own respective articles. I will soon give more examples to the doubters, and begin to copy edit the article myself. Dr. Dan 05:41, 29 June 2006 (UTC)

Assassination page?

Does the assassination of President Lincoln perhaps deserve it's own page? I particularly feel the fates of the co-conspirators shouldn't really be here under John Wilkes Booth as he was already dead. This would also allow a link to the Snopes article.

Al Clark 16:10, 14 April 2006 (UTC)

Follow-up: this led to the creation of Abraham Lincoln assassination, an excellent improvement. --Dhartung | Talk 08:06, 26 October 2006 (UTC)

Early life and family

I took Jonathunder's suggestion and edited a mistake when I saw it. In the early life section there had been a reference to JWB's father also being into acting, and a comment that Junius Brutus Booth was married to Agnes Booth. Agnes Booth was married to Junius Brutus Booth JR, John Wilkes Booth's brother, not his father.PhotoBoothe 03:31, 19 July 2006 (UTC)

See Booth family, which ought to have survived AFD by now. Incidentally, while researching that article, I found at least two contemporary references to Blanche Chapman as Booth's "cousin". She was a noted actress in her day as were her sisters, and she married Henry Clay Ford, one of the three Ford brothers of "Ford's Theatre". But from evidence presented in the federal case regarding the modern exhumation of the body, she doesn't seem to actually have been related:

In 1927, Blanche Chapman, in a letter to Francis Wilson, who was preparing a biography of Booth, stated that, as an actress, she had known Booth, that she was called to the Weaver home to identify the body, and that, in the presence of Booth's mother, brother, and sister, she did so. Indeed, in her letter, she gives a poignant account, indicating that Booth's mother was also satisfied that the body was that of her son.

Additionally I couldn't find any real evidence that her family had any connection (she was born in Kentucky). --Dhartung | Talk 08:01, 26 October 2006 (UTC)

The confusion may stem from the fact that Booth's niece was Blanche DeBar. She is alleged to have made similar claims about being present for the identification of the body, but this is undoubtedly a mistake as well. Boothbuff 21:48, 20 June 2007 (UTC)

Grammar quest

Booth was pursued by Union soldiers lead by Lieutenant Edward P. Doherty {The Unit was from the 16th New York Cavalry Regiment} through Southern Maryland and across the Potomac and Rappahannock rivers to Richard Garrett's farm, near Bowling Green, Caroline County, Virginia.

Should't the curly crackets { } be parenthesis? ( )

SLATE 01:29, 12 September 2006 (UTC)

Doherty's cavalry detachment boarded a ship in Washington and headed straight for the Northern Neck of Virginia. They bypassed Southern Maryland and picked up Booth's trail in Port Conway, Virginia. Booth, however, had spent roughly a week in Maryland before crossing the Potomac. Garrett's farm, where he was killed, is about two miles from Port Royal, Virginia, and ten from Bowling Green. Boothbuff 21:52, 20 June 2007 (UTC)

"This Booth had a jolly good time."

Did he pick up a hooker or something?

20:14, 2006 Nov 4

Booth playing Brutus (conflict)

There is a conflict between this page reporting that Booth only played Marc Anthony to Edwin's Brutus, and the Marcus Junius Brutus page reporting that he had played Brutus. The proof offered is from a source reporting on the New York production. I think it is safe to say that Booth may have played Brutus in some other production elsewhere, maybe an early form of repertory touring the miners' camps out West playing all the parts. In any case, for the purposes of probability against never, and the credibility of his factual diary entry, and not least to remove the conflict, we should give Booth's remark the benefit of the doubt. The factual basis is not verifiable. I have made the edit. JohnClarknew 21:48, 29 November 2006 (UTC)

Check out the 1st sentence in background and early life...

Andy Lechler is a little girl and John Wilkes Booth was born in 1838, on a farm near Bel Air, Harford County, Maryland.

Andy Lechler?

Handsomest Man in America

It doesn't say specifically which reviewer said this. It just says it was said. The "handsomest man" remark probably post-dates the assassination. It did not appear in any of the 800+ reviews of his work that I have read.Boothbuff 21:43, 20 June 2007 (UTC)

Removal of "Booth in popular culture" trivia

Per the article's tag, I've removed this section to here JGHowes 20:40, 28 February 2007 (UTC)

• Booth is a critical character in the musical Assassins by Stephen Sondheim and John Weidman. He is referred to as "the pioneer" of presidential assassinations. He is portrayed as being more sane than the other Assassins, and he successfully leads them against the Balladeer in Another National Anthem. His own song, the Ballad of Booth, is a traditional Civil War song, a slow and almost saddening rendition that contrasts sharply with the later ballad which the Balladeer sings for Booth's friend Czolgosz. He argues with the Balladeer (who refers to him as "Johnny" throughout the song), and later kills himself.

• Stopping Booth's assassination of Lincoln is also a popular theme in time travel-related fiction. Examples include an episode of The Twilight Zone ("Back There"), the Robert Silverberg short story "The Assassin", and the card game Chrononauts. A brief headline in the satirical newspaper The Onion made light of this, stating "President Lincoln Sick Of Time Travelers."

• Rob Morrow stars as John Wilkes Booth in the 1998 made-for-television movie The Day Lincoln Was Shot while President Lincoln is played by Lance Henriksen. This movie, based on the book of the same title by Jim Bishop, also shows Payne's stabbing of Secretary of State Seward and Atzerodt's abortive attempt to shoot Vice-President Andrew Johnson during that same fateful night, as well as Lincoln's final few hours and Booth's own end, more than a week later, at the burning barn.

• American hard rock band Clutch have a song on their self-titled album entitled "I Have the Body of John Wilkes Booth".

• In the 2001 film Zoolander, John Wilkes Booth is used as an example of male models being hired to kill political figures. The film purports that the real reason for the assassination was to keep clothing prices low by preserving slave labor.

• In the upcoming 2007 film National Treasure: The Book of Secrets, the plot revolves around the assassination of Abraham Lincoln and a supposed 18 pages missing from John Wilkes Booth's journal.Wilkes Booth was a national hero to the Confederate states, but he was infamous to the north. Even though he broke his leg in his jump off of Lincoln's balcony, he is an "escape artist" through and through.

I have removed media refs that deal only with the assassination. Those belong in Abraham Lincoln assassination. It should be fine now. --Chris Griswold (☎☓) 21:31, 28 February 2007 (UTC)

More trivia from Article, moved here... JGHowes 20:54, 8 March 2007 (UTC)

• He was portrayed by Raoul Walsh in Birth of a Nation (1915).
• Michael Cerveris won a Tony Award for his portrayl of Booth in the 2004 Broadway production of the musical Assassins.
• The decendants of John Booth reside in Central Ohio and in Eastern South Dakota.

Still more trivia moved here: JGHowes ^talk - 03:03, 14 April 2007 (UTC)

• In the musical play Assassins by Stephen Sondheim and John Weidman, Booth is placed as head assassin whose story is the first to be explained in "The Ballad of Booth." Booth clearly makes his case and point of view in the southern ballad, which the ballader is forced to sing. Later Booth convinces the other assassins in the song "Another National Anthem" to gang up on the ballader removing him from the story. Booth completes the musical by coming to Lee Harvey Oswald and convincing him to "connect" and shoot President John F. Kennedy instead of committing suicide.

• In the American television series Prison Break, specifically episode 14 of the first series, Lincoln Burrows says: "Lee Harvey Oswald, John Wilkes Booth, Lincoln Burrows... I'm gonna down on history with these freaks." Also, in the episode 1 of the second series, Alexander Mahone says: "I'd like to talk about John Wilkes Booth for a moment if I could. Abraham Lincoln's killer. Twelve days, that's how long it took to find him. In his journal during this period he wrote that the shadow was his friend. The night his domain. He acknowledged that whatever neuroses drove the criminal to commit the original crime, is compounded, magnified by flight, by the sounds of dogs at his heels. Fear becomes paranoia, paranoia ultimately psychosis."

• The heavy rock band Clutch who hail from Germantown, Maryland, have a song on their self-titled album entitled, I Have The Body of John Wilkes Booth, which describes a ficticious event in which they find the John Wilkes Booth's body during a fishing trip in Sassafras Cove.

• A song referencing John Wilkes Booth, written by Tom Waits and Kathleen Brennan entitled "down there by the train", has been released as performed by Johnny Cash on his 1994 Grammy winning album "American Recordings". Waits has also released a version of it on the "Bawlers" disc of his 2006 album "Orphans". The line is "There's no eye for an eye, there's no tooth for a tooth, i saw Judas Iscariot, carrying John Wilkes Booth, Down There By The Train"

Minor error re: Seward

This statement isn't quite accurate: "By targeting the President and his two immediate successors to the office, Booth seems to have intended to decapitate the Union government and throw it into a state of panic and confusion." Seward wasn't in line to the Presidency under the law at the time. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Presidential_Succession_Act#Presidential_Succession_Act_of_1792 69.229.20.210 21:21, 9 March 2007 (UTC)

The "decapitation theory" was put forth by John A. Bingham, prosecutor at the Lincoln conspiracy trial, based on the testimony of Sandford Conover, who claimed to have heard Booth mention the presidential succession law of 1795 in this context. Conover, however, was exposed as a fraud (Real name: Charles A. Dunham) and all of his testimony was called into question. Recent researchers have ignored this and stayed with the decapitation theory anyway. In fact, the law to which Dunham had referred was repealed March 25, 1804. Boothbuff 22:01, 20 June 2007 (UTC)

Lead paragraph

I think the recent addition of the following to the lead paragraph poses some concerns: "...defeat in the Civil War with the surrender of Robert E. Lee 4 days earlier. From his point of view, he was a brave Confederate soldier, and the war was not yet over. General Joseph Johnston had yet to surrender to General Sherman. This took place April 26th. General Stand Watie surrendered June 23rd, and the last Confederate naval ship did not surrender until November 4th. Given these circumstances, the Union government let its guard down in the protection of the President."

Putting aside the need for MoS and sentence structure edits, the citation given as the source for this edit (the Warren Commission Report) does not actually make that connection. It seems to me that a detailed analysis of Booth's motives for the assassination should be farther down in the article, anyway.

But, before changing it, a discussion here would be useful, I think. JGHowes ^talk - 11:13, 3 April 2007 (UTC)

I agree that the lead paragraph needs work. I don't think the last sentence is neutral at all, and it ignores the fact that at that time the President wasn't heavily protected except under the most extraordinary circumstances. I'll remove it unless someone can make a good case for leaving it. Dburba 05:37, 9 April 2007 (UTC)

• Since no one objected, it's gone. JGHowes ^talk - 01:59, 14 April 2007 (UTC)

• • With all due respect to User JGHowes who hardly leaves enough time for discussion, the opening paragraph is factual, and his patriotic Union instinct while admired, is not conducive to NPOV. The fact is that JW saw himself too as a patriot, and acted accordingly taking advantage of the neglect of Lincoln's protection at a time of extraordinary circumstance (total surrender not fully accomplished), gone into in the discussion and history portion of the Warren Commission Report (need to scroll down the page to find the Lincoln connection). Seems to me that this is a good reminder in this day and age of terrorists. So I'm going to put it back absent convincing debate by others. JohnClarknew 00:35, 15 April 2007 (UTC)

Perhaps I should have elaborated that the lead paragraph was substantially rewritten to incorporate your point about the Confederacy not having surrendered completely by early April, 1865, which indeed is important to understanding Booth's mindset. I still fail to see anything in the Warren Commission report directly substantiating that Lincoln's security was diminished because of Lee's surrender, however. JGHowes ^talk - 01:49, 15 April 2007 (UTC)

I accept what you say in the interests of avoiding a civil editing war. My comment is that Lincoln's safety was still under threat and security should have been stepped up due to the fact that all of his Confederate enemies had not yet accepted surrender. I guess that even back then, entertainment trumped reality. Anyway, I have added a couple of "see also's" to this complex subject. Perhaps the Warren Commission Report regarding Lincoln and presidential protection deserves its own page, or belongs on one of these other pages. I need to research this more fully. JohnClarknew 20:48, 15 April 2007 (UTC)

• Someone put back "infamous" in the first paragraph, which had been previously deleted as POV, so I've reverted it. Also, per WP:LEAD, the basics, such as Booth's native state and Lincoln's assassination, should be in the Lead and not require the reader to go to another article. JGHowes ^talk - 17:53, 17 April 2007 (UTC)

Not Neccesary

Is this part of the Article really Neccesary???

As recounted by Booth's sister, Asia Booth Clarke, in her book entitled "The Unlocked Book," the future actor met an old Gypsy woman in the woods near the school who gave him a grim assessment of his life and said he would die young. The woman then performed a ritual that included "blood rites," or sacrifices to Pagan gods, and a beastial relationship with an animal. The Gypsy woman told Booth of a way to change the course of his future if he had non-consensual sex with his sister, Asia. He did not agree. Clarke wrote of the account as "ungodly and absolutely disgusting."

Winn3317 20:03, 13 May 2007 (UTC)

That was vandalism. Boothbuff 22:05, 20 June 2007 (UTC)

Voting rights for Freed Slaves?

There seems to be a battle brewing about:

"Booth was a successful professional stage actor of his day and a member of the prominent Booth family of actors. He was also a Confederate sympathizer who expressed vehement dissatisfaction with the South's defeat in the Civil War and Lincoln's proposal to extend voting rights to freed slaves."

especially the last phrase of that sentence. Can we quit the edit war and start a citation war? Is there a citation to justify these statements? Let's hear it!!! Citations R US! Ratagonia 04:20, 18 May 2007 (UTC)

This originated with the story that Booth and one of his conspirators (probably David Herold) were present on the night of April 11, 1865, when Lincoln suggested to a crowd at the White House that some blacks -- especially those who had fought in the war -- should probably be allowed to vote. By one account, Booth told his companion, "That means nigger citizenship. Now, by God, I'll put him through!" There are two versions of the story, and both came from defense attorneys who were writing or talking years later. See Kauffman, M. American Brutus (2004) p. 443, n35. Boothbuff 22:15, 20 June 2007 (UTC)

Vandalism

I can't change the "ur mother" at the top, or any other vandalism that may be here, since i'm at school, but if no one changes it by the time I get home, I will.

Theatrical Career and Civil War?

Are the two in some way related? Mikevegas40 14:06, 20 May 2007 (UTC)

• This section linked to Richmond Theatre in London, England: is this correct, that he travelled to England in 1858 to perform there? Or, is this reference intended to be Richmond, Va.? I've temporarily removed the Wikilink (with hidden text explanation) until someone can address this JGHowes ^talk - 16:04, 7 June 2007 (UTC)

It was Richmond, Virginia. Booth had never been to England. Boothbuff 22:07, 20 June 2007 (UTC)

Failing GA

I'm sorry, but this article has a worrying lack of references, with five entire sections lacking even one ref. Formatting also may be an issue here, with several sections short enough to possible be merged (especially "Wanted for murdering Abraham Lincoln", "The Pursuit" and "Death") and the references contains a piece of pointless, rather irrelevant trivia that is completely out of place. --Lenin and McCarthy | (Complain here) 02:41, 8 June 2007 (UTC)

• I believe these issues have now been addressed, and the article is renominated for GA review. JGHowes ^talk - 15:11, 16 October 2007 (UTC)

copyvio

I've removed this text taken word for word from http://members.aol.com/RVSNorton1/Lincoln52.html . Gwen Gale 07:24, 30 September 2007 (UTC)

GA review

Pass: a very intriguing read. ALTON .ıl 00:39, 8 November 2007 (UTC)

Cause of death?

It is widely known that John Wilkes Booth was not killed by a neck injury, but received a fatal wound in the buttocks. This is not vandalism, as it is stated in the biography of John Wilkes Booth. Although he suffered injury to the neck it was not the cause of death. He was shot, and the bullet pierced his prostate and lower vertebrae. Sorry for the confusion JGHowes and lucasbfr. Thanks Ladybird69 01:27, 15 November 2007 (UTC) Ladybird69

What biography states that? The major sources as cited here, including the National Park Service website, state that he was shot "in the neck resulting in paralysis". Trauma to the cervical vertebrae would cause paralysis of the hands and arms, and if a C3 spinal cord injury, impaired respiratory function resulting in death if untreated. Lumbar region trauma would not. JGHowes ^talk - 03:04, 16 November 2007 (UTC)

Assessment comment

The comment(s) below were originally left at Talk:John Wilkes Booth/Comments, and are posted here for posterity. Following several discussions in past years, these subpages are now deprecated. The comments may be irrelevant or outdated; if so, please feel free to remove this section.

Rated as GA as per assessment by other projects. haydn_likes_carpet (talk) 02:31, 21 December 2007 (UTC)

Last edited at 02:31, 21 December 2007 (UTC). Substituted at 20:24, 2 May 2016 (UTC)