Did John Wilkes Booth Die of Arsenic Poisoning in 1903?
To answer my question posed in the title, “I doubt it.”
We all know that the infamous John Wilkes Booth, President Lincoln’s assassin, was killed
in a Virginia barn on April 26, 1865. He is said to be buried in Green Mount Cemetery in Baltimore. Most of us see no reason to dispute his burial in the unmarked grave in the Booth family plot.
However, there are those conspiracy theorists who claim Booth escaped and lived out his life in Enid, Oklahoma as David E. George (or John St. Helen). It seems that George became known to the world after he swallowed some arsenic on Jan. 13, 1903. As he died, he claimed to be John Wilkes Booth, dying shortly after reportedly saying, “I killed the best man that ever lived.” David George was mummified after his deathbed,” and sent on a carnival tour, his body last seen in public in the 1970s.
Sounds like “There’s a sucker born every minute” to me…
There’s a very interesting article about Booth and the various conspiracy theories, as well as Booth impersonators in the January 25, 2009 edition of the Baltimore Examiner.
November 21st, 2009 at 10:20 pm
Well i think that the David E. George theory is correct. there was proof that the body found after the barn was burnt down had RED HAIR and FRECKLE. I know for a fact that John Wilkes Booth had Black hair and did not have freckles. So John most have escaped and moved to Texas and changed his name to a John St. Helen. after that he moved upward to Enid, Oklahoma, changing his name to David E. George. Then in January of 1903 David (or john) committed suicide by poisoning himself because he could not take the guilt of killing president Lincoln. See there is a lot of proof that John got away and changed and committed suicide in Enid hotel in Enid Oklahoma because of guilt
November 24th, 2009 at 7:52 am
My great grandfather swore that we were related to him, along with many other members back then, and they all said the same thing, that he had escaped his fate and lived as another man named david george also. I am trying to put it all together but am having a hard time. If you have more info as all these people are dead in my family now, and my grandmothers heard the story, but dont know the info. I would appreciate it. Thanks. Malindad1977@yahoo.com
April 2nd, 2010 at 3:20 am
THIS J.W.B. MUMMY STORY HAS GOT TO BE ONE OF THE MOST COMPELLING STORIES IN THE HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES.I, MYSELF ALSO LEAN TOWARD THE BELIEF THAT THE MUMMY IS THAT OF J.W.B.,IN THE PICTURES AND THE VIDEOS I HAVE, THE MUMMY IS A “DEAD” RINGER(JUST HAD TO DO THAT!)FOR J.W.B. THE EVIDENCE THAT CONFIRMS THIS FOR ME IS THE STORY OF THE MAN THAT JOHN ST. HELENS CONFESSED THAT HE WAS J.W.B. TO ON WHAT ST. HELENS THOUGHT WAS HIS DEATHBED. WELL AS THE STORY GOES, ST. HELENS DIDN’T DIE AND DISAPPEARED. THEN IN 1903, DAVID GEORGE ALSO CONFESSED HE WAS J.W.B. ON HIS DEATHBED.THE MAN WHO WITNESSED THE FIRST CONFESSION WAS CURIOUS AS TO WHETHER ST. HELENS, AND GEORGE WERE THE SAME MAN AND WENT TO SEE THE MUMMY,AND THEY WERE THE SAME MEN.EXHUME,EXHUME!
April 11th, 2010 at 8:43 pm
This is definitely right! I watched an episode of ghost lab about jwb. his ghost haunts 2 places: the theatre (because so many people believe he died here) and his home (now an old antique shop).
July 12th, 2010 at 8:03 am
I definately think it’s true, I mean this is the third resource that has said this. You just have to watch ghost lab, they went to Fords Theatre, another theatre that he was believed to have stayed at under the name John St. Helens ( John St. Helens also connfessed to being Booth, thinking he was nearing his death), ghost lab also went to Enid, to investigate an old antique or furniture store that used to be a hotel that David George stayed at and commited suicide by poisoning himself. Ghost lab set up this projector (in the room David was believed to stay in) and had someone record themselves while dressed up as Lincoln and the played it on the projector and what they got for evidence at all three theatres was very facinating. I think everyone who reads this should watch that episode of ghost lab.
July 26th, 2010 at 2:54 pm
There is a far cry from the “Body in the Barn” and the “Enid Mummy,” and the so called experts use the mummy all the time as a way to prove themselves absolutely correct, dangling it like a carrot waiting for us to bite. My and my siblings’ great, great . great grandmother was Jane Booth,was was JWB’S aunt.While I was a child, all thes historians and experts would come to our house to court my mother for information, but they kept the stories they liked, and supressed the stories that were not in their best interest. Many best selling books are out there about our family, but our family does not make money off of our history, and I personally work hard to inform people that many things you read are not necessairily. I am tired of reading that the Booth family owned slaves, when in fact they did not! They “subcontracted” a couple through a neighbor, and by all accounts were kind and helpful to these people, who named their own children after the young Booth children. I have only ever heard any one person talk about what a racist that President Lincoln was, and that was James Swanson on C-Span who was hawking his book “The Last Manhunt.” A primarily racist enviorment existed in our country at the time, but that was never John Wilkes Booth’s main issue, then or now. There are many excellent books out there, and maybe some research will help those interested in learning more about the cast of characters involved in both the assassination plot, excution of same, or the horrendous cover up that the goverment.As a relative that has provenence,this is a fascinating never ending story,just not necessarily that one that you have heard.
July 30th, 2010 at 9:16 pm
I am a firm believer that J.W.B. did escape and live in Texas and Enid. My mothers uncle was one of the doctors who performed the autopsy on the mummy who was alleged to be J.W.B. I have in my possession the doctors file, given to me by my mother, in it contains actual photos of the autopsy with a picture of a signet ring taken from the body with the letter B on it, also in the file are the findings of the autopsy, the damaged leg, the scar above the eye, etc, things that would not contradict that it could be that of J.W.B. Also, in his file are letters from people claiming to have known and come in contact with J.W.B. after his alleged death at the Garrett farm. Some letters even state “not for publication”, and one even notarized. Crazy, I know, but not improbable!
August 26th, 2010 at 6:02 am
To Joanne Hulme,
I believe you are a relative of John W.Booth the famous actor. Booth was a member of the ‘Know Nothing Society’ and loosely affiliated to the Free Soil Party and the Republicans but their main agenda was to counter unfettered immigration, especially from Catholic Europe.
I have published a book called ‘Our American Hero’ that proves beyond doubt that JWB was not killed in Richard Garrett’s barn. It also proves he did not kill Abe Lincoln but did plan to kidnap him to force an exchange of prisoners. They were dying of starvation and disease in their thousands in the North and the South.
One of the conspirators, Lewis Weichmann was a government clerk working at the Capitol Prison and had informed a senior- Captain Gleason of the plot to kidnap in February, over six weeks before Abe’s assassination on Good Friday , 14th April 1865.
There is photographic evidence proving beyond doubt the man who surrended to Lt. Doherty (of the 16th NY Cavalry) at the barn and hung at the Old Arsenal was not David E. Herold (the son of a US navy Quartermaster, deceased) but a Confederate known as ‘Boyd’, small in stature with a goatee beard.
The evidence is made clear from the black and white pictures (when magnified) of the four people who were hung at the Arsenal compared with the pictures of Herold and two pictures of an un-known Confederate held on the iron clad ‘Saugus’ taken by Gardner, the official government photographer.
There are many other startling revealations in this book.