26 Apr: Killing Lincoln’s Killer
John Wilkes Booth was on the run for twelve days before being tracked down to a tobacco barn at Garrett’s Farm in Port Royal, Virginia, and shot in the neck. He died of his injuries on 26th April, 1865 – after several agonising hours bleeding out.
Despite numerous witnesses to his death, it continued to be disputed by conspiracists for decades afterwards – one of whom took a mummified corpse he believed was the ‘real’ Booth on a tour of sideshows and carnivals.
In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly explain how Booth’s fame preceded him long before he fired a shot at President Lincoln; consider why the site where Booth breathed his last is still relatively obscured by the authorities; and explore how Boston Corbett, the man who killed Booth, was a rather curious chap himself…
Further Reading:
• ‘John Wilkes Booth’s Death And The Manhunt That Preceded It’ (All Thats Interesting, 2022): https://allthatsinteresting.com/john-wilkes-booth-death
• ‘John Wilkes Booth killed Lincoln… but who killed John Wilkes Booth?’ (The Verge, 2013): https://www.theverge.com/2013/7/31/4395960/john-wilkes-booth-killed-lincoln-but-who-killed-john-wilkes-booth
• ‘John Wilkes Booth’s Final Days’ (HISTORY, 2019):
#US #1800s #Crime #Politics #Theatre