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Aswad, Ed; Meredith, Suzanne M. (2002). Broome County 1850-1940. Arcadia Publishing. p.115. ISBN 0-738-51075-0. Henderson was the daughter of Martha Lizola Mills (1837–1887), with her birth certificate listing Mills' husband, the mariner Charles Still Bellows, as her father. Mills would later claim it was Lincoln's assassin, the actor John Wilkes Booth, who was actually Henderson's father. [1] Throughout her life, Henderson believed that Booth was her father. However, Booth had been performing in Richmond, Virginia in January 1859, [2] making it unlikely that he could have been the father of a child born in Rhode Island. As for Bellows, muster rolls show that he was on board a Navy ship near Montevideo during that time period, making it impossible for him to have been the father of Ogarita Bellows Henderson. [1] Career [ edit ] Booth never planned to kill. Indeed it was a set up and a total illusion of the assassin jumping from the box. Lincoln was shot through the Spy-Hole according to James Gifford (theatre manager and designer) who said Fergueson the Restaurant owner could not have seen the flash of the pistol nor the assassin. This was stated by Fergueson himself in court and Gifford got 39 days in the Capitol Prison for saying it.
Transcriptions of Asia Booth Clarke’s letters to Jean Anderson Sherwood, currently housed at the Maryland Historical Society, were provided courtesy of Art Loux and Ford’s Theatre NPS. I do have an increasing interest in two members of the Booth family that are very often left out of discussions regarding the family; Blanche De Bar Booth, and Marion Booth. As you know, both are daughters of Junius Brutus Booth Jr. I only know a few facts about Blanche such as her date of birth & death, and according to what I read she was J. Wilkes Booth’s favorite niece as she was considered to be rather a rebel sharing some if the same views as her uncle John. I read that Blanche was an actress and that she was considered to be one of the most beautiful actress at one point. Edwin Booth made his return to the Booth family farm in 1856 after an absence of four years. During this time he had made a name and, more importantly, a fortune for himself by acting in California. He had also toured Australia and played before King Kamehameha IV in Hawaii. When Edwin witnessed the poverty that his family was living in on the farm, he whisked them away and put them up in a home in Baltimore. The family would never live at Tudor Hall again.
Sure enough, widows of all shapes and sizes came out of the woodwork. Edwin would later write that he was besieged by about “twenty [widows] that wrote to me just after John’s death.” While Edwin ignored and denied them all, at least one crafty “widow” discovered and successfully preyed upon Rose. Because of the inept method by which records were kept, hundreds of bodies were never identified,” the 1950 Press recounting says, “Graves were opened and bodies were found missing. Tombstones were found over empty graves.” The transcription of Rosalie Ann Booth’s 1860 letter was first published in the June 1979 edition of Richard Sloan’s Lincoln Log. A copy of the original document, housed at the New York Public Library, was provided courtesy of Richard Sloan. As to sworn affidavits -whenever this occurs I put no faith in them. Why should anyone have to swear on oath that they are telling the truth to an official, without a jolly good reason. There was a Major Potter in the theatre that night according to Rathbone whom he asked to assist with Mary Lincoln because Rathbone was so ‘badly wounded’.
Mr. Hulbert, and many of his family members, including his father, who is probably the man who placed Ogarita Booth Henderson in her grave, are all buried on a steep ravine in Glenwood Cemetery. Their plots are a stones throw from her grave. Random pieces of tombstones can be seen dotting the ravine, some of them working their way into a brook, washing away into a storm drain. Ogarita Booth Henderson claimed to be the product of a secret marriage between her mother and John Wilkes Booth. Below you will see death notices that include that claim, and also an article from 1885 which does not elaborate on its reason for existing, but includes a mention of her as John Wilkes Booth’s daughter.The Leader reports that Al Henderson and the couple’s young daughter were the only two people to follow the hearse to Glenwood Cemetary. She went on in 1937 to write “This One Mad Act” as seen in the Wiki link.
The Binghamton LEADER reports on OHB’s death in much the same fashion as articles above but on April 15, 1892 it reports that it was not known who she was when buried. It reports that her husband Al Henderson was not working with the Floy Troupe and that he rushed to Binghamton from NYC, arriving just in time to be at the death bed. John and I had a farm near Harpers Ferry. Two weeks after John shot Lincoln, he returned to our farm. I took care of him while his leg healed. Later, I helped him leave the country. Izola Forrester was born November 15, 1878, in Pascoag, Rhode Island. Her mother was Ogarita "Rita" Booth, a stage actress who believed herself to be the daughter of John Wilkes Booth, and used his last name. Her father was George Wallingford Hills, a Harvard College student. They never married. Ogarita Booth was briefly married to William Ross Wilson before marrying Alexander Henderson, who was a director of musicals and light operas. They had two children, Beatrice Henderson Clutts Colony (1885-1961) and Charles Henderson (1886-1888). Forrester often acted on stage with her mother, but for periods of her childhood, she lived with her maternal grandmother, Izola Martha Mills, her cousin, Hanson Pike Gilman, and with George and Harriet Forrester. Following Ogarita Henderson's death on April 12, 1892, Izola Forrester went to live permanently with the Forresters, who formally adopted her on January 6, 1893.Mixed within this grisly drama, we give a heavy spotlight to the story of Ogarita Booth Henderson, a resident of Glenwood Cemetery since 1892. Her story will be accorded and afforded the star power to out-shadow the stories of hallowed, forgotten, and neglected lands. Junius and Edwin knew their younger brother was popular with the ladies. As he toured around from city to city, he invariably left behind smitten and heartbroken girls. He was called the “handsomest man in America” by some and woman swooned over him. A letter to John from a female admirer found in his trunk at the National Hotel started with the words, “I am about your own age, possibly a few months younger, and you will probably wonder what a woman” before being conveniently torn off. Appropriately then, Junius and Edwin worried that some of John’s former admirers might attempt to take advantage of Mary Ann in her grief by claiming to be John’s fiancée or, worse yet, the mother of his children. God bless you, dear brother. I have warned Mother about Sharpers [swindlers] who wish to get money – see that she holds no communication with weeping imposters.” The book provides un-deniable photographic evidence in the final chapter supporting all of the general and specific proofs relating to John Booth and the other kidnap cospirators; that confirms all of 22 chapters, including 70 illustrations including a full appendix from the witness statements in the trial of the conspirators; of which needs to be fully assessed along with the the whole and it’s not desired or required, at this juncture.
Lengthy articles can be found in Binghamton papers for a seventeen-year period showing much angst and controversy over the attempts to close the Old City Cemetery. Finally, on July 16th 1906, the council got their measure passed, and relatives or friends were told to have descendant bodies removed by December 1st. The city allowed the less-than-generous sum of ten dollars in expenses to families wishing to do this privately. Remaining bodies or bones would be removed to Glenwood Cemetery. Mrs. Booth Henderson says she is the daughter of John Wilkes Booth. She remembers her father distinctly, although but 8 years old at the time of his death. She was asked concerning the truth or falsity of the recently published statement of some woman living in the South to the effect that her father was not dead, but that another man had been shot on that eventful morning more than 25 years ago. She emphatically affirmed that her father was dead, that he was shot at the time, and that SHE SAW HIS BODY A NUMBER OF TIMES before the burial. (emphasis added). She says she has a diary containing much important memoranda of her father’s life, and papers of his, and sometime she will make them public.” Of course this statement in itself is not a proof (to others)- just another step in the direction in the search for and revelation of a continuing series of objective proofs. Perhaps you will think now I am obssessed with John Booth but I will also say that if you are a descendant then surely you would not be dis-interested in knowing that others do not see Booth as an evil assassin. In January of 1884, Mary Ann Booth fell at her and Rose’s shared home in New York. The accident resulted in a broken hip, the effects of which she would never recover.
Izola
Mary Ann was now bed ridden and, as her mind began to go, Edwin refused to allow people to tell her of the perpetual nature of her bed rest. With the help of nurses, Rose cared to her mother’s needs as best she could. Mary Ann remained in her bed ridden state for over a year and a half. Before her death, Mary Ann had requested Rose sleep in bed with her: The writing of this biography utilized many, many resources. A list of those resources follows below. Though each fact and quote above has not been specifically footnoted, all are based on a consulted reference. It was also generally believed that Andy Johnson (the Democratic Incumbant) was also on the list to be assassinated along with Secretary of State, William Seward you may recall ie nearly half the cabinet. That was the rumour put about the city that very night. I would have to take this story with a pinch of salt even though I know for certain that John Booth (publically known as John Wilkes Booth) was not killed in Virginia. However Izola’s story is quite possible for the following reasons and circumstances: