The Lost Cause and Fraudulent Book

Chapter-by-Chapter Summary of Escape and Suicide of John Wilkes Booth

The book was published in 1907. There is no accurate or reliable source as to the circulation/sales of Bates’s book. The Baltimore Sun news article estimated 70,000 copies sold, other documents suggest 60,000. Bates used multiple publishers to sell his book, and he sold the book himself directly to purchasers. The book is still being sold online today. 

The book did not sell many copies before Bates’ death in 1923. Three years after his death, a lengthy article appeared in Harper’s Magazine that presented and discussed the story in the book. Even though the author of the article concluded Bates’ escape story was not true, interest in the Bates book increased. Many people are attracted to conspiracy theories. 

The book contains Bates’ detailed personal story about his encounters in Texas with a man named John St. Helen, who claimed to be John Wilkes Booth. Bates then describes St. Helen’s version of the assassination, escape, and the events that Garrett Farm in Virginia. Bates states that St. Helen accuses Vice-President Johnson of urging him to murder Lincoln and of being an accomplice in his escape. Bates and St. Helen parted six or seven years later, and Bates had no further contact with St. Helen. 

Bates’ picks up the story in 1887 when he corresponds with former General Charles A. Dana about his activities and the activities of other U.S. Army personnel after the assassination. Bates tells stories of several people known to him who claimed to have seen Booth alive after the assassination. Bates describes informing the War Department and the Secretary of State in 1898 that Booth was still alive, but the U. S. Government was not interested in Bates’ information. 

The story continues with Bates learning of the suicide of David E. George in 1903 in Enid, Oklahoma, 1903. George had claimed before his death to be John Wilkes Booth. Bates travels to Enid and identifies the body as his former friend John St. Helen, whom Bates believes was really John Wilkes Booth. Bates deals with the undertaker who repeatedly embalmed the body to the extent it became preserved, or “mummified” as many described the body. Bates tells about s other identifications of Booth. The story ends with an identification of Booth by one of his nephews after he looked at the tintype photo of St. Helen. 

Bates developed a complete association-and-escape narrative, distinguishing the book from the many previous isolated and brief encounters reported in newspapers and magazines. Bates told a detailed personal story supported by U.S. Army confusion, War Department indifference, and Booth sightings and identifications by an assortment of people. The initial promotional flyers were shocking and sensational.  The New York Times and theBaltimore Sun listed the 1907 Bates book as an important book issued in 1907 -- The Baltimore Sun the August 7, 1907, Edition and The New York Times in the August 10, 1907, Edition. Neither newspaper reviewed the book.

Chapter II (Pages 5-17)

In 1872, Bates is a young lawyer in his teens practicing law in Granbury, Texas. He represents a client (not identified) who was indicted by a federal grand jury in Tyler, Texas, for selling tobacco and whiskey at Glenrose Mills without having a license as required by federal statutes. St. Helen is occupying the premises where the sales occur. Bates seeks out St. Helen and learns from St. Helen that he is responsible for Bates’ client’s legal difficulties. St. Helen tells Bates he is not using his real name. 

Bates takes St. Helen on as a client in the same matter. An arrangement is made between Bates and St. Helen. He goes to Tyler with his first client. The next day, his first client stays in a hotel while Bates sees the U. S. Attorney (Col. Jack Evans). Unknown to his client, Bates reaches an agreement in which the government waives the presence of the defendant and Bates agrees to enter a plea of guilty with the usual fine and costs as a penalty. Without his client's knowledge or consent, Bates pleaded his client guilty to the federal charge. 

Chapter III (Pages 18-26)

Beginning in June 1872, Bates begins to have more contact with St. Helen. At a July 4 barbecue at Glenrose Mills, St. Helen, Bates, and General Taylor give speeches. Bates describes St. Helen as an orator of the highest class, having “stage presence, consummate ease of manner, and reassuring appearance."

St. Helen tell Bates at the barbecue that St. Helen in not his true name. His business does not seem to be a necessity, and St. Helen has more money than warranted by his trade. Bates states that St. Helen moved from Glenrose Mills to Grandberry, Texas. St. Helen discusses theatrical subjects and reveals that he is a master of the art of acting.  

Chapter IV (Pages 27-32)

In 1877, St. Helen becomes sick showing shadows of disease. He is emaciated and weak, and the doctor thinks he is dying. St. Helen wants to talk to Bates alone, out of the presence of the doctor. He tells Bates that his name is John Wilkes Booth, the assassin of President Lincoln. St. Helen gives Bates a tintype picture of him for future identification. He informs Bates that upon his death he should notify Edwin Booth of New York City.

Chapter V (Pages 33-39)

St. Helen recovers, however. Then one day alone in Bates's office, St. Helen agrees to tell Bates the entire story. Several weeks later, St. Helen comes to Bates and invites him to walk outside of town. He tells Bates the entire story about his early years acting, his Southern sympathies, and how his plans to kidnap Lincoln fell apart once Lee surrendered at Appomattox. He exonerates Mrs. Surratt and John Surratt from any involvement in the assassination. 

Chapter VI (Pages 40-59)

St. Helen continues, telling Bates that on the morning of April 14, he went to the Kirkwood Hotel where Vice President Andrew Johnson boarded. St. Helen and Johnson meet around 3 p.m. After St. Helen tells Johnson that kidnapping Lincoln was now impossible, Johnson says, "Will you falter at this supreme moment?" Johnson urges St. Helen to kill Lincoln, but St. Helen replies that this would be certain death for him. Johnson leaves for about an hour and then returns to the room. Johnson says he has arranged that General Grant and his wife would not join at President Ford's theater and the guards would not be on the bridge as per orders from General Christopher C. Augur. Johnson gives St. Helen a “T.B” password to use to get out of Washington, DC in case guards are present at the bridge over the Anacostia River. 

St. Helen tells Bates about the assassination of Lincoln and his avoidance of capture and escape. St. Helen states that on the afternoon of April 23, ex-Confederate lieutenants Bainbridge and Ruggles come to the Garrett Farm and tell him that federal troops have crossed the Rappahannock River. They advise him to hide in the woods. An hour later, they bring him a horse, and he rides off in a westerly direction. This is why he is not in the barn at Garrett Farm when the federal troops arrive. St. Helen tells Bates the man killed at Garrett Farm is named Ruddy (or Roby or Robey) whom he and Herold had met at the Cox plantation in Maryland. Because Ruddy has Booth’s diary, Ruddy is identified as Booth. 

Chapter VII (Pages 60-82)

Bates writes that he told St. Helen that he does not accept his story. Bates cannot believe that a person of "your humane instincts . . . gentle breeding and culture with the highest order of intellect and refinement blended with beautiful sentiment, and possessed of a soul unalloyed with crime, can be John Wilkes Booth” (61-62).

St. Helen tells Bates that Lincoln would not have been killed if Grant had been with him at the theater. Vice President Johnson had said that Grant would not be at the theater, but St. Helen does not know how Johnson knew this. St. Helen says he knew nothing of any plot to kill any others than Lincoln and that he knows nothing of any plan to take the life of Secretary Seward. 

Chapter VIII (Pages 83-91)

Bates writes that in 1878, St. Helen leaves for Leadville, Colorado, and Bates “lost trace of him” until 1898. “In the meantime,” Bates relocated to Memphis. It is strange that Bates does not write that he and wife return to Mississippi and stay for ten years before Bates relocates to Memphis. 

Bates explains how he begins researching the assassination of Lincoln. He suggests that Lincoln greatly disliked Johnson and that Johnson did not show respect for Lincoln in his remarks after his inauguration. Bates states that Johnson is “poor white trash,” “unworthy,” and “socially ostracized.” Bates challenges the view that Johnson controls Democratic politics in Tennessee. Instead, Bates endorses the view that Johnson is “specially unfitted” to handle Reconstruction in the South. 

Chapter IX (Pages 92-120)

Bates relates an article from the December 12, 1897, edition of the Boston Sunday Globe in the reception hall of his home. It contains an article with the statement by General Dana, in April 1865, that he "alone had knowledge beforehand of the meditated assassination of Lincoln, and who tried by every means in his power to thwart the conspiracy, but all in vain." Bates writes that the story General Dana gives corroborates in his minutest detail the story that St. Helen told Bates in Texas. 

According to the article, Dana had orders that no one was to enter the city of Washington during the day unless they gave their names, where they were from, and what their business was. At nighttime, the orders were that no one was to enter or leave the city except in case of sickness or death. All suspicious persons were to be arrested. Booth and Herold were detained at the bridge over the Anacostia River on the morning of April 14. At 4 p.m. Dana received an order from General Christopher C. Augur to release all prisoners, and Dana sent these orders to the officers below in the chain of command. Booth and Herold were released, and they proceeded to Washington, arriving in the afternoon. One of the guards recognized Booth while he was detained on the bridge on his way into Washington, and this guard also recognized Booth as he came out after the assassination. General Dana stated in the article that had it been known that Booth had killed Lincoln, Booth’s escape would have been impossible. 

The article continues that about 11 p.m., when Dana is back at his headquarters, an officer told him that Lincoln had been killed and that the murderer had ridden with another man at a rapid pace into the county. Dana called out the guards and sent soldiers in different directions. Then he rode to the bridge. When he arrived there, he was given an order from General Augur to report to him in Washington without delay. When Dana arrived, General Augur exclaims, "My God, marshal, if I listened to your advice this terrible thing never would've happened." 

The Boston Sunday Globe article concludes with a claim that a soldier from Massachusetts named F. A. Demond corroborated the Dana story, "as well as that of St. Helen." Demond read the Globe story, saying it "brought back old memories" to when he was a member of Dana's "old Provost guard" (See pages 105-108). Demond was stationed at the bridge crossing over the East Potomac River, where Booth crossed into and out of Washington, DC on April 14, Yet Demond conveniently claimed that while he was present, he was not on post. Demond allegedly overheard the words that the guard and Booth exchanged, including "T. B. Road." 

Bates then gives his analysis of Dana's and Demond’s statements. Bates questions the actions or lack thereof of Dana and General Augur. Bates concludes that General Augur must have known of the plan to assassinate Lincoln, and he must have had knowledge of some act which "if performed, would've saved the life of President Lincoln.” Bates writes that what Dana states is true, and it shows that General Augur could have saved Lincoln's life but did not do it even when advised to do so by General Dana. 

Chapter X (Pages 121-131)

Bates describes Dana’s chase after Booth, casting aspersions on Dana. He criticizes and raises questions about Dana complicity in Booth’s escape (see pages 124-126). Bates suggests that Dana "misdirected” all the troops which he sent out other than a single detachment that he took to Dr. Mudd’s house where the chase ended.

Chapter XI (Pages 132-167)

Bates writes about Secretary of War Stanton who asked Colonel Lafayette C. Baker on April 16 to come to Washington immediately to look for the murderer of the President. Colonel Baker enlists his nephew, Lieutenant Luther Baker, and federal detective Everton Conger to gather a detachment of federal troops to chase Booth and Herold. Lt. Baker said their efforts in Southern Maryland were thwarted. Referring to Dana’s conduct, Bates writes that Lt. Baker’s accusation is well-founded. 

Bates criticizes the identification of Booth as the man killed at Garrett Farm. He repeats the story that the person killed was Ruddy. Bates writes that the basis of the identification by Lt. Baker and Conger is based only on the diary, the letters and the pictures of Booth, the carbines, and the compass. Bates writes they assumed it was Booth. 

Chapter XII (Pages 168-190)

Bates states that the 1897 Dana article caused him to persistently work to ascertain the truth with respect to the escape of Booth. In this long chapter Bates argues and supports his belief that Booth was not killed at Garrett Farm.

Bates sends a copy of the tintype photo of St. Helen to Dana who replies that it seems to be Booth. Bates treats Dana's “seems” reply as an identification of the tintype of St. Helen to be that of Booth; but Dana asks if it is the brother of John Wilkes Booth. In a subsequent letter, Dana writes that after Booth is killed, his body is brought to the Navy Yard, and “I went on the boat and identified him [John Wilkes Booth]." 

Stanton had prevented any announcement as to where Booth was buried on April 27, 1865. This was fertile ground for Bates to sow a conflict as to where John Wilkes Booth was buried. General Lew Wallace writes in response to a letter from Bates that Booth was buried under a brick pavement “in a room of the old penitentiary prison in Washington." Dana states his personal knowledge that the body was buried in the old Navy Yard. William P. Wood, who was in the Secret Service at the time of the assassination, says the body was taken down the Potomac River and secretly buried on an island twenty-seven miles from Washington. Bates quotes Captain. E. W. Hillard, stating he was one of the four privates who carried the remains of Booth from the old capital prison onto a gunboat that went ten miles down the Potomac River where the body was thrown over and sunk. Bates states that the bodies of assassins Guiteau and Czolgosz were publicly turned over to their families. “Why this exception with the body of Booth?” Bates argues that the reason was that it was known that it was not Booth’s body.

Bates introduces a letter to him dated May 13, 1898, from John P. Simonton, written as a private citizen, not an employee of the war Department. Simonton wrote: "While I have not what may be styled direct or positive evidence, I have such circumstantial evidence as would seem to prove the fact beyond doubt." Bates argues that this establishes there is no conclusive proof that Booth was captured and killed. 

Bates continues arguing his case. He labels contemporary identifications of the body incomplete. He quotes Blanche Chapman’s 1927 letter recounting the 1869 examination of the body at Weaver’s establishment by Ford and Bishop as showing that a boot was taken off during the examination at Weaver’s, whereas the boot removed by Dr. Mudd was acquired by the government and could not have been the boot that was on John Wilkes Booth’s wounded foot and leg. Bates also quotes Basil Moxley, one of the pallbearers, who termed the funeral as a "mock" funeral and claimed that the man brought to Baltimore did not resemble Booth. 

Bates claims that Ruddy or Roby was the man killed at Garrett Farm. 

Chapter XIII (Pages 191-204)

Bates returns to his praise of St. Helen. He starts with a statement that Booth drew inspiration from Baltimore, “a city of beautiful and cultured women and honorable and intellectual men." Booth carried the cherished memory of Baltimore. 

He recites praise of the beauty of John Wilkes Booth from his brother Edwin, from actor Joe Jefferson, and from actor Clara Morris. Bates writes that their descriptions perfectly describe St. Helen. Bates asks the reader to note the striking resemblance of John Wilkes to his father. 

Chapter XIV (Pages 205-221)

Bates describes his investigative efforts beginning in 1898 after he became convinced that John St. Helen was Booth. Bates states that he tried to place Booth in Texas and to track down Ruggles, Jett, and Bainbridge. He learns that there was a large family with the name Ruddy living in the immediate neighborhood of Samuel Cox on the Potomac River. Bates claims that he successively located St. Helen at Leadville, Colorado, and later at Fresno, California, although he does not relate how he did this. 

Bates includes a letter that he wrote dated January 17, 1898, directed to the Secretary of the War Department asking if it would be a matter of any importance that Booth was not captured and killed by federal troops. Bates claims to be in possession of conclusive facts that Booth was still alive (see pages 210-11). The reply to Bates is dated January 25, 1998, stating that the matter raised by Bates is "of no importance to the War Department." 

Bates then claims that the reward of $100,000 for Booth’s apprehension was still outstanding. Bates then concludes that it was the War Department officials who, in effect, set Booth free (see page 216). Bates is not satisfied with the response from the War Department, so he writes to Secretary of State John Hay. Bates purports to quote Secretary John Hay in January 1890 as acknowledging the possibility of Booth’s escape: "from the nature of things Booth could have escaped, but there was no final escape except for suicide for the assassin.” Bates praises Hay as “the greatest of diplomats.” 

Chapter XV (Pages 222-242)

Bates begins this chapter with Colonel M.W. Connolly who was a newspaper writer and editor in Texas and later in Memphis. Bates quotes Connolly as saying he met David E. George in Texas in 1883. He was strongly inclined to believe that David E. George who died at Enid, Oklahoma was really John Wilkes Booth. 

Bates quotes Connolly’s story about Confederate General Albert Pike, Connolly, and Tom Powell (Mayor of Ft. Worth) at the Pickwick hotel bar room in Ft. Worth, Texas, in 1884 or 1885. While they are talking, Pike suddenly throws up his hands and exclaims "My God! John Wilkes Booth!" Pike trembles, weakened by the shock, and retires to his room. Connolly states that he strongly believes that George is Booth, but is in no way certain, and that he never saw Booth in person. 

Bates tells of other people who describe seeing or knowing Booth. Dr. H. W. Gay is quoted as knowing Booth in 1869 when he was living in Memphis.

Bates then summarizes several Booth-encounters or sightings: Booth meets his brother Junius, 1866 or 1867 in San Francisco; Col. Levan, 1868 in Lexington Kentucky; Dr. Gay, 1869 in Tate County, Mississippi; Bates, 1872 in Glenrose Mills, Texas; Mr. Connolly, 1883 Texas; Gen. Albert Pike, 1884-1885 in Fort Worth, Texas. 

After Fort Worth, Bates loses track of Booth for a number of years. He writes, however, that Booth "drifted” into the vicinity of Guthrie, Oklahoma Territory, then to El Reno in 1899 as David E. George living in the Anstien Hotel. Bates writes that David E. George arrived in Enid, Oklahoma, on December 3, 1902, according to Mrs. Harper’s statement given on January 23, 1903. Later George is a boarder with Mrs. Simmons who also takes in as boarders the Rev. and Mrs. Harper. George holds himself out as a house painter, but he rarely does any such work. He puts ads in the Daily Democrat newspaper looking for work as a house painter, presumably as a cover, Bates states. 

George becomes sick and thinks he is dying. According to Mrs. Harper's declaration, George tells her that he killed Abraham Lincoln and that he is John Wilkes Booth. George is known as David E. George in El Reno, Guthrie, and Enid; George is known as George D. Ryan in Hennessey.

Chapter XVI (Pages 243-273)

Bates writes of how he tracked the movements of Booth between 1865 and 1898. Bates claims that he located Booth’s whereabouts in 1897 but did not contact him. David E. George, an inebriated house painter who claims to be John Wilkes Booth, commits suicide and dies on January 14, 1903, in Enid, Oklahoma. Newspaper articles appeared throughout the country reporting that George claimed to be John Wilkes Booth. 

Bates continues that after years of no contact with St. Helen, Bates learns that a man named David E. George claimed to be John Wilkes Booth and committed suicide in Enid, Oklahoma on January 14, 1903. In his possession is a letter addressed to Bates. As a result, Bates is asked by telegram on January 17, 1903, to come to Enid to identify the body. Bates leaves his home in Memphis and travels by train to Enid. 

Bates comes to Enid, and at Penniman’s morgue on January 23, 1903, beholding the body of “my friend, John St. Helen.” Bates recognizes him instantly. Shaken with emotion for his dead friend, Bates recovers in a few minutes and then realizes, “I was in the presence of John Wilkes Booth.” 

Bates describes how the press reported and commented on the suicide of David E. George. The Enid Wave in the Oklahoma Territory, January 17, 1903, edition described George as a wealthy resident of the Territory. This article reported that on his deathbed, George maintained to his attendant that he was John Wilkes Booth. Bates quotes an Enid Wave article January 21, 1903. Bates presents articles from The Post-Dispatch of St. Louis, The Perry Oklahoma Republican, and The Daily Democrat.

An investigative article from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch dated June 3, 1903, states that George's effects included a letter directed to F. L. Bates, Memphis, who came at once and identified the body as that of John Wilkes Booth. Bates goes on to say that he was never able to secure the letter referred to in the article. Bates states that the letter was taken from the body of the dead man by a "mysterious man" who claimed to have known George in his life and who disappeared before Bates' arrival on the scene. Bates mentions giving a lecture on June 5, 1903, at the Opera House in Enid presenting his evidence that David E. George was John Wilkes Booth. 

Bates describes what he did when he left Memphis and traveled to Enid. There are some delays. At the Enid depot on the morning he arrives, Bates is met by Mr. Brown, the clerk of the Grand Avenue Hotel. He tells Bates there were many people and old federal soldiers who threatened to burn the body if it turned out to be Booth. Mr. Brown suggests that Bates register at the Grand Avenue Hotel under the assumed name of as "Charles O'Connor of New York City” and play the role of a furniture salesperson. 

At breakfast with Mr. Penniman, Bates pretends that he is a salesperson. His next stop is Penniman's place of business, the store of an undertaker and furniture dealer. Penniman lets Bates use his office where there are newspaper reports of George’s suicide and photographs taken of George after his death. Looking at the photographs, Bates says he instantaneously recognized St. Helen. 

Penniman introduce Bates to Charles O’Connor, the man in charge of the morgue. O’Connor takes Bates to a room where George’s body lay in wake. Bates writes that in the presence of the attendant and Mr. Penniman, "I beheld the body of my friend John St. Helen. After a separation of 26 years, I knew him instantly.” Then Bates cries. Bates is shaken with emotion for his dead friend and had no thought of the crime that Booth had committed.

Bates shows Penniman and the attendant the tintype photograph he got from Saint Helen, and they say, “Yes, this is the same man” (page 262). Nevertheless, they compare the photo to the corpse. Bates refers to the “veteran embalmer," Mr. Ryan, who tells Bates that he did not make an incision because he noticed this beautiful formation of the body. 

Back at the Grand Avenue hotel, Mr. Brown talks about George's death, how he poisoned himself in his room on the night of January 13, 1903. Bates refers to Mr. Dumont, the proprietor of the Grand Avenue Hotel, who came into George’s room after the doctor left. George had told Mr. Dumont he was John Wilkes Booth. George dies at 6:20 am. on the morning of January 14, 1903.

On January 21, 1903. Mr. Brown and Mr. Dumont sign a sworn statement that the man in the tintype picture and George are the same, a perfect likeness. 

Chapter XVII (Pages 274--291)

Bates writes how he leaves the hotel and walks the streets. He learns that if the body is that of John Wilkes Booth, many people plan to make a great bonfire and burn the body in the public streets of Enid. Bates knows he is being looked for. He is "in bewildered horror” as he conjures up the contemplated scene. The people have a wonderful yet strange appreciation of Lincoln, while Booth is in the morgue having avenged his crime with his own hand (page 275-76).

After dinner that evening in the hotel dining room, Penniman asks for consultation with Bates regarding the disposition of the body. First, it is agreed that the body is to be perfectly preserved if it could be done. Bates states that the embalmer, Mr. Ryan, promised to do his best. Second, Bates suggests taking out letters of administration on the estate of George, which would include the body. Penniman agrees to do this. Bates believes his mission is completed, and he pays the hotel bill. Bates takes the Rock Island train southbound. There is much discussion on the train about George. 

Bates arrives in El Reno. He stays overnight at the Kerfoot hotel and has breakfast with Mr. Grant, the publisher and editor of the Republican Daily paper in El Reno. They look at pictures of George, and Grant dismisses the idea George could be Booth. Upon Grant’s challenge, Bates gives the pictures to Mr. Bellamy of the El Reno State Bank. Bellamy recognizes the tintype picture of St. Helen to e George in his younger days.

Bates meets with Mr. Hennley, the owner, editor, and publisher of the Daily Democrat. Hennley tells Bates he knew George personally and the pictures are of George. Another editor comes over and says he does not know George, but that the pictures are of Booth. 

Then Bates goes to the Anstien Hotel where proprietors, N.J. Anstien and G.F. Anstien, look at Bates’ pictures and sign a statement that the pictures are of George. The Anstien proprietors speak highly of George as the soul of honor, always spouting poetry. 

Chapter XVIII (Pages 292-298)

Bates arrives home in Memphis. Right after he arrived, Bates is recalled to Enid by the administrator of Booth's estate.  An estate is opened, and a claim is filed by Mrs. Charles Love for what property George may have been left on the grounds that she is the daughter of John Wilkes Booth. 

Two U.S. Secret Service men look at the pictures and view the body of Booth. Bates writes that the two men are satisfied that the body is Booth. They want to bury the body. Bates notes that the body remains unburied and is in a state of “perfect preservation.”

Bates meets with Mr. L. Treadkell who had employed Booth as a teamster. He identifies the tintype picture of St. Helen to be Jessie Smith, the name Booth used in his employment. 

Bates writes that Bentley Sage, a well-known palmist, made a trip to Enid for the purpose of reading George's palms. Bates gives a long, verbatim presentation of the palmist readings, which reflect favorably on Booth. 

Chapter XIX (Pages 299-303)

Bates writes that George had been a constant attendant at theaters in El Reno, and he was attracted to a leading lady. George had joined a traveling company which included this lady. Arrangements are made for proper staging and putting on a play called "A Life Within the Shadow of Sin." This is to be George’s life, Booth's life. The show is not produced in 1903-1904 as intended. Bates writes about this to show the bent and inclination of George to be an actor.

Bates introduces a man named Joseph Jefferson.  Bates states that St. Helen talked of Joseph Jefferson often in Texas. Jefferson was in a stock company with Booth when Booth was 17 years old. Bates contacts Jefferson who was in a play coming to Memphis. Bates asks for an interview, Jefferson agrees, and they meet at the Gayoso Hotel on April 14, 1903. Bates shows Jefferson the tintype picture of St. Helen. Jefferson says, "this is John Wilkes Booth, if John Wilkes Booth was living when the picture was taken.” 

Chapter XX (Pages 304-309)

According to Bates, while Junius Brutus Booth is in Memphis playing in a show, he and Bates meet in Bates’ office. Bates shows him the tintype of St. Helen. Junius studies the picture and then says this is a picture of my uncle John Wilkes Booth, the best picture of him that I have ever seen. Bates writes that Junius is overcome by his feelings and wants to speak with his wife. He promises to return the next day.

Junius does return, and Bates tells him of St. Helen’s long life in the West. Junius volunteers to furnish Bates with a statement. Junius gives and signs the statement, taken down by Miss Wolf. 

In the statement, Junius states that he was born in Boston on January 6, 1868, and is the oldest son of John Wilkes Booth's brother, Junius Brutus Booth. The statement itself is signed by Junius Brutus Booth, but not dated. It is witnessed by "F. L. Bates." There is a statement signed by Miss Wolf that she wrote the statement on the typewriter at the dictation of one signing himself as Junius Brutus Booth. This statement of Miss Wolf is notarized by a notary public named H. C. Shelton on February 21, 1903.

Bates states at the end of this chapter, the end of the book, that it is a physical fact that John Wilkes Booth was not killed on 26 April 1865, but that he escaped and had a roving life in exile principally in the Western part of the United States and died by suicide in Enid, Oklahoma. 

Chapter-by-Chapter Summary of Escape and Suicide of John Wilkes Booth

The book was published in 1907. There is no accurate or reliable source as to the circulation/sales of Bates’s book. The Baltimore Sun news article estimated 70,000 copies sold, other documents suggest 60,000. Bates used multiple publishers to sell his book, and he sold the book himself directly to purchasers. The book is still being sold online today. 

The book did not sell many copies before Bates’ death in 1923. Three years after his death, a lengthy article appeared in Harper’s Magazine that presented and discussed the story in the book. Even though the author of the article concluded Bates’ escape story was not true, interest in the Bates book increased. Many people are attracted to conspiracy theories. 

The book contains Bates’ detailed personal story about his encounters in Texas with a man named John St. Helen, who claimed to be John Wilkes Booth. Bates then describes St. Helen’s version of the assassination, escape, and the events that Garrett Farm in Virginia. Bates states that St. Helen accuses Vice-President Johnson of urging him to murder Lincoln and of being an accomplice in his escape. Bates and St. Helen parted six or seven years later, and Bates had no further contact with St. Helen. 

Bates’ picks up the story in 1887 when he corresponds with former General Charles A. Dana about his activities and the activities of other U.S. Army personnel after the assassination. Bates tells stories of several people known to him who claimed to have seen Booth alive after the assassination. Bates describes informing the War Department and the Secretary of State in 1898 that Booth was still alive, but the U. S. Government was not interested in Bates’ information. 

The story continues with Bates learning of the suicide of David E. George in 1903 in Enid, Oklahoma, 1903. George had claimed before his death to be John Wilkes Booth. Bates travels to Enid and identifies the body as his former friend John St. Helen, whom Bates believes was really John Wilkes Booth. Bates deals with the undertaker who repeatedly embalmed the body to the extent it became preserved, or “mummified” as many described the body. Bates tells about s other identifications of Booth. The story ends with an identification of Booth by one of his nephews after he looked at the tintype photo of St. Helen. 

Bates developed a complete association-and-escape narrative, distinguishing the book from the many previous isolated and brief encounters reported in newspapers and magazines. Bates told a detailed personal story supported by U.S. Army confusion, War Department indifference, and Booth sightings and identifications by an assortment of people. The initial promotional flyers were shocking and sensational.  The New York Times and theBaltimore Sun listed the 1907 Bates book as an important book issued in 1907 -- The Baltimore Sun the August 7, 1907, Edition and The New York Times in the August 10, 1907, Edition. Neither newspaper reviewed the book.

Chapter II (Pages 5-17)

In 1872, Bates is a young lawyer in his teens practicing law in Granbury, Texas. He represents a client (not identified) who was indicted by a federal grand jury in Tyler, Texas, for selling tobacco and whiskey at Glenrose Mills without having a license as required by federal statutes. St. Helen is occupying the premises where the sales occur. Bates seeks out St. Helen and learns from St. Helen that he is responsible for Bates’ client’s legal difficulties. St. Helen tells Bates he is not using his real name. 

Bates takes St. Helen on as a client in the same matter. An arrangement is made between Bates and St. Helen. He goes to Tyler with his first client. The next day, his first client stays in a hotel while Bates sees the U. S. Attorney (Col. Jack Evans). Unknown to his client, Bates reaches an agreement in which the government waives the presence of the defendant and Bates agrees to enter a plea of guilty with the usual fine and costs as a penalty. Without his client's knowledge or consent, Bates pleaded his client guilty to the federal charge. 

Chapter III (Pages 18-26)

Beginning in June 1872, Bates begins to have more contact with St. Helen. At a July 4 barbecue at Glenrose Mills, St. Helen, Bates, and General Taylor give speeches. Bates describes St. Helen as an orator of the highest class, having “stage presence, consummate ease of manner, and reassuring appearance."

St. Helen tell Bates at the barbecue that St. Helen in not his true name. His business does not seem to be a necessity, and St. Helen has more money than warranted by his trade. Bates states that St. Helen moved from Glenrose Mills to Grandberry, Texas. St. Helen discusses theatrical subjects and reveals that he is a master of the art of acting.  

Chapter IV (Pages 27-32)

In 1877, St. Helen becomes sick showing shadows of disease. He is emaciated and weak, and the doctor thinks he is dying. St. Helen wants to talk to Bates alone, out of the presence of the doctor. He tells Bates that his name is John Wilkes Booth, the assassin of President Lincoln. St. Helen gives Bates a tintype picture of him for future identification. He informs Bates that upon his death he should notify Edwin Booth of New York City.

Chapter V (Pages 33-39)

St. Helen recovers, however. Then one day alone in Bates's office, St. Helen agrees to tell Bates the entire story. Several weeks later, St. Helen comes to Bates and invites him to walk outside of town. He tells Bates the entire story about his early years acting, his Southern sympathies, and how his plans to kidnap Lincoln fell apart once Lee surrendered at Appomattox. He exonerates Mrs. Surratt and John Surratt from any involvement in the assassination. 

Chapter VI (Pages 40-59)

St. Helen continues, telling Bates that on the morning of April 14, he went to the Kirkwood Hotel where Vice President Andrew Johnson boarded. St. Helen and Johnson meet around 3 p.m. After St. Helen tells Johnson that kidnapping Lincoln was now impossible, Johnson says, "Will you falter at this supreme moment?" Johnson urges St. Helen to kill Lincoln, but St. Helen replies that this would be certain death for him. Johnson leaves for about an hour and then returns to the room. Johnson says he has arranged that General Grant and his wife would not join at President Ford's theater and the guards would not be on the bridge as per orders from General Christopher C. Augur. Johnson gives St. Helen a “T.B” password to use to get out of Washington, DC in case guards are present at the bridge over the Anacostia River. 

St. Helen tells Bates about the assassination of Lincoln and his avoidance of capture and escape. St. Helen states that on the afternoon of April 23, ex-Confederate lieutenants Bainbridge and Ruggles come to the Garrett Farm and tell him that federal troops have crossed the Rappahannock River. They advise him to hide in the woods. An hour later, they bring him a horse, and he rides off in a westerly direction. This is why he is not in the barn at Garrett Farm when the federal troops arrive. St. Helen tells Bates the man killed at Garrett Farm is named Ruddy (or Roby or Robey) whom he and Herold had met at the Cox plantation in Maryland. Because Ruddy has Booth’s diary, Ruddy is identified as Booth. 

Chapter VII (Pages 60-82)

Bates writes that he told St. Helen that he does not accept his story. Bates cannot believe that a person of "your humane instincts . . . gentle breeding and culture with the highest order of intellect and refinement blended with beautiful sentiment, and possessed of a soul unalloyed with crime, can be John Wilkes Booth” (61-62).

St. Helen tells Bates that Lincoln would not have been killed if Grant had been with him at the theater. Vice President Johnson had said that Grant would not be at the theater, but St. Helen does not know how Johnson knew this. St. Helen says he knew nothing of any plot to kill any others than Lincoln and that he knows nothing of any plan to take the life of Secretary Seward. 

Chapter VIII (Pages 83-91)

Bates writes that in 1878, St. Helen leaves for Leadville, Colorado, and Bates “lost trace of him” until 1898. “In the meantime,” Bates relocated to Memphis. It is strange that Bates does not write that he and wife return to Mississippi and stay for ten years before Bates relocates to Memphis. 

Bates explains how he begins researching the assassination of Lincoln. He suggests that Lincoln greatly disliked Johnson and that Johnson did not show respect for Lincoln in his remarks after his inauguration. Bates states that Johnson is “poor white trash,” “unworthy,” and “socially ostracized.” Bates challenges the view that Johnson controls Democratic politics in Tennessee. Instead, Bates endorses the view that Johnson is “specially unfitted” to handle Reconstruction in the South. 

Chapter IX (Pages 92-120)

Bates relates an article from the December 12, 1897, edition of the Boston Sunday Globe in the reception hall of his home. It contains an article with the statement by General Dana, in April 1865, that he "alone had knowledge beforehand of the meditated assassination of Lincoln, and who tried by every means in his power to thwart the conspiracy, but all in vain." Bates writes that the story General Dana gives corroborates in his minutest detail the story that St. Helen told Bates in Texas. 

According to the article, Dana had orders that no one was to enter the city of Washington during the day unless they gave their names, where they were from, and what their business was. At nighttime, the orders were that no one was to enter or leave the city except in case of sickness or death. All suspicious persons were to be arrested. Booth and Herold were detained at the bridge over the Anacostia River on the morning of April 14. At 4 p.m. Dana received an order from General Christopher C. Augur to release all prisoners, and Dana sent these orders to the officers below in the chain of command. Booth and Herold were released, and they proceeded to Washington, arriving in the afternoon. One of the guards recognized Booth while he was detained on the bridge on his way into Washington, and this guard also recognized Booth as he came out after the assassination. General Dana stated in the article that had it been known that Booth had killed Lincoln, Booth’s escape would have been impossible. 

The article continues that about 11 p.m., when Dana is back at his headquarters, an officer told him that Lincoln had been killed and that the murderer had ridden with another man at a rapid pace into the county. Dana called out the guards and sent soldiers in different directions. Then he rode to the bridge. When he arrived there, he was given an order from General Augur to report to him in Washington without delay. When Dana arrived, General Augur exclaims, "My God, marshal, if I listened to your advice this terrible thing never would've happened." 

The Boston Sunday Globe article concludes with a claim that a soldier from Massachusetts named F. A. Demond corroborated the Dana story, "as well as that of St. Helen." Demond read the Globe story, saying it "brought back old memories" to when he was a member of Dana's "old Provost guard" (See pages 105-108). Demond was stationed at the bridge crossing over the East Potomac River, where Booth crossed into and out of Washington, DC on April 14, Yet Demond conveniently claimed that while he was present, he was not on post. Demond allegedly overheard the words that the guard and Booth exchanged, including "T. B. Road." 

Bates then gives his analysis of Dana's and Demond’s statements. Bates questions the actions or lack thereof of Dana and General Augur. Bates concludes that General Augur must have known of the plan to assassinate Lincoln, and he must have had knowledge of some act which "if performed, would've saved the life of President Lincoln.” Bates writes that what Dana states is true, and it shows that General Augur could have saved Lincoln's life but did not do it even when advised to do so by General Dana. 

Chapter X (Pages 121-131)

Bates describes Dana’s chase after Booth, casting aspersions on Dana. He criticizes and raises questions about Dana complicity in Booth’s escape (see pages 124-126). Bates suggests that Dana "misdirected” all the troops which he sent out other than a single detachment that he took to Dr. Mudd’s house where the chase ended.

Chapter XI (Pages 132-167)

Bates writes about Secretary of War Stanton who asked Colonel Lafayette C. Baker on April 16 to come to Washington immediately to look for the murderer of the President. Colonel Baker enlists his nephew, Lieutenant Luther Baker, and federal detective Everton Conger to gather a detachment of federal troops to chase Booth and Herold. Lt. Baker said their efforts in Southern Maryland were thwarted. Referring to Dana’s conduct, Bates writes that Lt. Baker’s accusation is well-founded. 

Bates criticizes the identification of Booth as the man killed at Garrett Farm. He repeats the story that the person killed was Ruddy. Bates writes that the basis of the identification by Lt. Baker and Conger is based only on the diary, the letters and the pictures of Booth, the carbines, and the compass. Bates writes they assumed it was Booth. 

Chapter XII (Pages 168-190)

Bates states that the 1897 Dana article caused him to persistently work to ascertain the truth with respect to the escape of Booth. In this long chapter Bates argues and supports his belief that Booth was not killed at Garrett Farm.

Bates sends a copy of the tintype photo of St. Helen to Dana who replies that it seems to be Booth. Bates treats Dana's “seems” reply as an identification of the tintype of St. Helen to be that of Booth; but Dana asks if it is the brother of John Wilkes Booth. In a subsequent letter, Dana writes that after Booth is killed, his body is brought to the Navy Yard, and “I went on the boat and identified him [John Wilkes Booth]." 

Stanton had prevented any announcement as to where Booth was buried on April 27, 1865. This was fertile ground for Bates to sow a conflict as to where John Wilkes Booth was buried. General Lew Wallace writes in response to a letter from Bates that Booth was buried under a brick pavement “in a room of the old penitentiary prison in Washington." Dana states his personal knowledge that the body was buried in the old Navy Yard. William P. Wood, who was in the Secret Service at the time of the assassination, says the body was taken down the Potomac River and secretly buried on an island twenty-seven miles from Washington. Bates quotes Captain. E. W. Hillard, stating he was one of the four privates who carried the remains of Booth from the old capital prison onto a gunboat that went ten miles down the Potomac River where the body was thrown over and sunk. Bates states that the bodies of assassins Guiteau and Czolgosz were publicly turned over to their families. “Why this exception with the body of Booth?” Bates argues that the reason was that it was known that it was not Booth’s body.

Bates introduces a letter to him dated May 13, 1898, from John P. Simonton, written as a private citizen, not an employee of the war Department. Simonton wrote: "While I have not what may be styled direct or positive evidence, I have such circumstantial evidence as would seem to prove the fact beyond doubt." Bates argues that this establishes there is no conclusive proof that Booth was captured and killed. 

Bates continues arguing his case. He labels contemporary identifications of the body incomplete. He quotes Blanche Chapman’s 1927 letter recounting the 1869 examination of the body at Weaver’s establishment by Ford and Bishop as showing that a boot was taken off during the examination at Weaver’s, whereas the boot removed by Dr. Mudd was acquired by the government and could not have been the boot that was on John Wilkes Booth’s wounded foot and leg. Bates also quotes Basil Moxley, one of the pallbearers, who termed the funeral as a "mock" funeral and claimed that the man brought to Baltimore did not resemble Booth. 

Bates claims that Ruddy or Roby was the man killed at Garrett Farm. 

Chapter XIII (Pages 191-204)

Bates returns to his praise of St. Helen. He starts with a statement that Booth drew inspiration from Baltimore, “a city of beautiful and cultured women and honorable and intellectual men." Booth carried the cherished memory of Baltimore. 

He recites praise of the beauty of John Wilkes Booth from his brother Edwin, from actor Joe Jefferson, and from actor Clara Morris. Bates writes that their descriptions perfectly describe St. Helen. Bates asks the reader to note the striking resemblance of John Wilkes to his father. 

Chapter XIV (Pages 205-221)

Bates describes his investigative efforts beginning in 1898 after he became convinced that John St. Helen was Booth. Bates states that he tried to place Booth in Texas and to track down Ruggles, Jett, and Bainbridge. He learns that there was a large family with the name Ruddy living in the immediate neighborhood of Samuel Cox on the Potomac River. Bates claims that he successively located St. Helen at Leadville, Colorado, and later at Fresno, California, although he does not relate how he did this. 

Bates includes a letter that he wrote dated January 17, 1898, directed to the Secretary of the War Department asking if it would be a matter of any importance that Booth was not captured and killed by federal troops. Bates claims to be in possession of conclusive facts that Booth was still alive (see pages 210-11). The reply to Bates is dated January 25, 1998, stating that the matter raised by Bates is "of no importance to the War Department." 

Bates then claims that the reward of $100,000 for Booth’s apprehension was still outstanding. Bates then concludes that it was the War Department officials who, in effect, set Booth free (see page 216). Bates is not satisfied with the response from the War Department, so he writes to Secretary of State John Hay. Bates purports to quote Secretary John Hay in January 1890 as acknowledging the possibility of Booth’s escape: "from the nature of things Booth could have escaped, but there was no final escape except for suicide for the assassin.” Bates praises Hay as “the greatest of diplomats.” 

Chapter XV (Pages 222-242)

Bates begins this chapter with Colonel M.W. Connolly who was a newspaper writer and editor in Texas and later in Memphis. Bates quotes Connolly as saying he met David E. George in Texas in 1883. He was strongly inclined to believe that David E. George who died at Enid, Oklahoma was really John Wilkes Booth. 

Bates quotes Connolly’s story about Confederate General Albert Pike, Connolly, and Tom Powell (Mayor of Ft. Worth) at the Pickwick hotel bar room in Ft. Worth, Texas, in 1884 or 1885. While they are talking, Pike suddenly throws up his hands and exclaims "My God! John Wilkes Booth!" Pike trembles, weakened by the shock, and retires to his room. Connolly states that he strongly believes that George is Booth, but is in no way certain, and that he never saw Booth in person. 

Bates tells of other people who describe seeing or knowing Booth. Dr. H. W. Gay is quoted as knowing Booth in 1869 when he was living in Memphis.

Bates then summarizes several Booth-encounters or sightings: Booth meets his brother Junius, 1866 or 1867 in San Francisco; Col. Levan, 1868 in Lexington Kentucky; Dr. Gay, 1869 in Tate County, Mississippi; Bates, 1872 in Glenrose Mills, Texas; Mr. Connolly, 1883 Texas; Gen. Albert Pike, 1884-1885 in Fort Worth, Texas. 

After Fort Worth, Bates loses track of Booth for a number of years. He writes, however, that Booth "drifted” into the vicinity of Guthrie, Oklahoma Territory, then to El Reno in 1899 as David E. George living in the Anstien Hotel. Bates writes that David E. George arrived in Enid, Oklahoma, on December 3, 1902, according to Mrs. Harper’s statement given on January 23, 1903. Later George is a boarder with Mrs. Simmons who also takes in as boarders the Rev. and Mrs. Harper. George holds himself out as a house painter, but he rarely does any such work. He puts ads in the Daily Democrat newspaper looking for work as a house painter, presumably as a cover, Bates states. 

George becomes sick and thinks he is dying. According to Mrs. Harper's declaration, George tells her that he killed Abraham Lincoln and that he is John Wilkes Booth. George is known as David E. George in El Reno, Guthrie, and Enid; George is known as George D. Ryan in Hennessey.

Chapter XVI (Pages 243-273)

Bates writes of how he tracked the movements of Booth between 1865 and 1898. Bates claims that he located Booth’s whereabouts in 1897 but did not contact him. David E. George, an inebriated house painter who claims to be John Wilkes Booth, commits suicide and dies on January 14, 1903, in Enid, Oklahoma. Newspaper articles appeared throughout the country reporting that George claimed to be John Wilkes Booth. 

Bates continues that after years of no contact with St. Helen, Bates learns that a man named David E. George claimed to be John Wilkes Booth and committed suicide in Enid, Oklahoma on January 14, 1903. In his possession is a letter addressed to Bates. As a result, Bates is asked by telegram on January 17, 1903, to come to Enid to identify the body. Bates leaves his home in Memphis and travels by train to Enid. 

Bates comes to Enid, and at Penniman’s morgue on January 23, 1903, beholding the body of “my friend, John St. Helen.” Bates recognizes him instantly. Shaken with emotion for his dead friend, Bates recovers in a few minutes and then realizes, “I was in the presence of John Wilkes Booth.” 

Bates describes how the press reported and commented on the suicide of David E. George. The Enid Wave in the Oklahoma Territory, January 17, 1903, edition described George as a wealthy resident of the Territory. This article reported that on his deathbed, George maintained to his attendant that he was John Wilkes Booth. Bates quotes an Enid Wave article January 21, 1903. Bates presents articles from The Post-Dispatch of St. Louis, The Perry Oklahoma Republican, and The Daily Democrat.

An investigative article from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch dated June 3, 1903, states that George's effects included a letter directed to F. L. Bates, Memphis, who came at once and identified the body as that of John Wilkes Booth. Bates goes on to say that he was never able to secure the letter referred to in the article. Bates states that the letter was taken from the body of the dead man by a "mysterious man" who claimed to have known George in his life and who disappeared before Bates' arrival on the scene. Bates mentions giving a lecture on June 5, 1903, at the Opera House in Enid presenting his evidence that David E. George was John Wilkes Booth. 

Bates describes what he did when he left Memphis and traveled to Enid. There are some delays. At the Enid depot on the morning he arrives, Bates is met by Mr. Brown, the clerk of the Grand Avenue Hotel. He tells Bates there were many people and old federal soldiers who threatened to burn the body if it turned out to be Booth. Mr. Brown suggests that Bates register at the Grand Avenue Hotel under the assumed name of as "Charles O'Connor of New York City” and play the role of a furniture salesperson. 

At breakfast with Mr. Penniman, Bates pretends that he is a salesperson. His next stop is Penniman's place of business, the store of an undertaker and furniture dealer. Penniman lets Bates use his office where there are newspaper reports of George’s suicide and photographs taken of George after his death. Looking at the photographs, Bates says he instantaneously recognized St. Helen. 

Penniman introduce Bates to Charles O’Connor, the man in charge of the morgue. O’Connor takes Bates to a room where George’s body lay in wake. Bates writes that in the presence of the attendant and Mr. Penniman, "I beheld the body of my friend John St. Helen. After a separation of 26 years, I knew him instantly.” Then Bates cries. Bates is shaken with emotion for his dead friend and had no thought of the crime that Booth had committed.

Bates shows Penniman and the attendant the tintype photograph he got from Saint Helen, and they say, “Yes, this is the same man” (page 262). Nevertheless, they compare the photo to the corpse. Bates refers to the “veteran embalmer," Mr. Ryan, who tells Bates that he did not make an incision because he noticed this beautiful formation of the body. 

Back at the Grand Avenue hotel, Mr. Brown talks about George's death, how he poisoned himself in his room on the night of January 13, 1903. Bates refers to Mr. Dumont, the proprietor of the Grand Avenue Hotel, who came into George’s room after the doctor left. George had told Mr. Dumont he was John Wilkes Booth. George dies at 6:20 am. on the morning of January 14, 1903.

On January 21, 1903. Mr. Brown and Mr. Dumont sign a sworn statement that the man in the tintype picture and George are the same, a perfect likeness. 

Chapter XVII (Pages 274--291)

Bates writes how he leaves the hotel and walks the streets. He learns that if the body is that of John Wilkes Booth, many people plan to make a great bonfire and burn the body in the public streets of Enid. Bates knows he is being looked for. He is "in bewildered horror” as he conjures up the contemplated scene. The people have a wonderful yet strange appreciation of Lincoln, while Booth is in the morgue having avenged his crime with his own hand (page 275-76).

After dinner that evening in the hotel dining room, Penniman asks for consultation with Bates regarding the disposition of the body. First, it is agreed that the body is to be perfectly preserved if it could be done. Bates states that the embalmer, Mr. Ryan, promised to do his best. Second, Bates suggests taking out letters of administration on the estate of George, which would include the body. Penniman agrees to do this. Bates believes his mission is completed, and he pays the hotel bill. Bates takes the Rock Island train southbound. There is much discussion on the train about George. 

Bates arrives in El Reno. He stays overnight at the Kerfoot hotel and has breakfast with Mr. Grant, the publisher and editor of the Republican Daily paper in El Reno. They look at pictures of George, and Grant dismisses the idea George could be Booth. Upon Grant’s challenge, Bates gives the pictures to Mr. Bellamy of the El Reno State Bank. Bellamy recognizes the tintype picture of St. Helen to e George in his younger days.

Bates meets with Mr. Hennley, the owner, editor, and publisher of the Daily Democrat. Hennley tells Bates he knew George personally and the pictures are of George. Another editor comes over and says he does not know George, but that the pictures are of Booth. 

Then Bates goes to the Anstien Hotel where proprietors, N.J. Anstien and G.F. Anstien, look at Bates’ pictures and sign a statement that the pictures are of George. The Anstien proprietors speak highly of George as the soul of honor, always spouting poetry. 

Chapter XVIII (Pages 292-298)

Bates arrives home in Memphis. Right after he arrived, Bates is recalled to Enid by the administrator of Booth's estate.  An estate is opened, and a claim is filed by Mrs. Charles Love for what property George may have been left on the grounds that she is the daughter of John Wilkes Booth. 

Two U.S. Secret Service men look at the pictures and view the body of Booth. Bates writes that the two men are satisfied that the body is Booth. They want to bury the body. Bates notes that the body remains unburied and is in a state of “perfect preservation.”

Bates meets with Mr. L. Treadkell who had employed Booth as a teamster. He identifies the tintype picture of St. Helen to be Jessie Smith, the name Booth used in his employment. 

Bates writes that Bentley Sage, a well-known palmist, made a trip to Enid for the purpose of reading George's palms. Bates gives a long, verbatim presentation of the palmist readings, which reflect favorably on Booth. 

Chapter XIX (Pages 299-303)

Bates writes that George had been a constant attendant at theaters in El Reno, and he was attracted to a leading lady. George had joined a traveling company which included this lady. Arrangements are made for proper staging and putting on a play called "A Life Within the Shadow of Sin." This is to be George’s life, Booth's life. The show is not produced in 1903-1904 as intended. Bates writes about this to show the bent and inclination of George to be an actor.

Bates introduces a man named Joseph Jefferson.  Bates states that St. Helen talked of Joseph Jefferson often in Texas. Jefferson was in a stock company with Booth when Booth was 17 years old. Bates contacts Jefferson who was in a play coming to Memphis. Bates asks for an interview, Jefferson agrees, and they meet at the Gayoso Hotel on April 14, 1903. Bates shows Jefferson the tintype picture of St. Helen. Jefferson says, "this is John Wilkes Booth, if John Wilkes Booth was living when the picture was taken.” 

Chapter XX (Pages 304-309)

According to Bates, while Junius Brutus Booth is in Memphis playing in a show, he and Bates meet in Bates’ office. Bates shows him the tintype of St. Helen. Junius studies the picture and then says this is a picture of my uncle John Wilkes Booth, the best picture of him that I have ever seen. Bates writes that Junius is overcome by his feelings and wants to speak with his wife. He promises to return the next day.

Junius does return, and Bates tells him of St. Helen’s long life in the West. Junius volunteers to furnish Bates with a statement. Junius gives and signs the statement, taken down by Miss Wolf. 

In the statement, Junius states that he was born in Boston on January 6, 1868, and is the oldest son of John Wilkes Booth's brother, Junius Brutus Booth. The statement itself is signed by Junius Brutus Booth, but not dated. It is witnessed by "F. L. Bates." There is a statement signed by Miss Wolf that she wrote the statement on the typewriter at the dictation of one signing himself as Junius Brutus Booth. This statement of Miss Wolf is notarized by a notary public named H. C. Shelton on February 21, 1903.

Bates states at the end of this chapter, the end of the book, that it is a physical fact that John Wilkes Booth was not killed on 26 April 1865, but that he escaped and had a roving life in exile principally in the Western part of the United States and died by suicide in Enid, Oklahoma. 

Chapter-by-Chapter Summary of Escape and Suicide of John Wilkes Booth

The book was published in 1907. There is no accurate or reliable source as to the circulation/sales of Bates’s book. The Baltimore Sun news article estimated 70,000 copies sold, other documents suggest 60,000. Bates used multiple publishers to sell his book, and he sold the book himself directly to purchasers. The book is still being sold online today. 

The book did not sell many copies before Bates’ death in 1923. Three years after his death, a lengthy article appeared in Harper’s Magazine that presented and discussed the story in the book. Even though the author of the article concluded Bates’ escape story was not true, interest in the Bates book increased. Many people are attracted to conspiracy theories. 

The book contains Bates’ detailed personal story about his encounters in Texas with a man named John St. Helen, who claimed to be John Wilkes Booth. Bates then describes St. Helen’s version of the assassination, escape, and the events that Garrett Farm in Virginia. Bates states that St. Helen accuses Vice-President Johnson of urging him to murder Lincoln and of being an accomplice in his escape. Bates and St. Helen parted six or seven years later, and Bates had no further contact with St. Helen. 

Bates’ picks up the story in 1887 when he corresponds with former General Charles A. Dana about his activities and the activities of other U.S. Army personnel after the assassination. Bates tells stories of several people known to him who claimed to have seen Booth alive after the assassination. Bates describes informing the War Department and the Secretary of State in 1898 that Booth was still alive, but the U. S. Government was not interested in Bates’ information. 

The story continues with Bates learning of the suicide of David E. George in 1903 in Enid, Oklahoma, 1903. George had claimed before his death to be John Wilkes Booth. Bates travels to Enid and identifies the body as his former friend John St. Helen, whom Bates believes was really John Wilkes Booth. Bates deals with the undertaker who repeatedly embalmed the body to the extent it became preserved, or “mummified” as many described the body. Bates tells about s other identifications of Booth. The story ends with an identification of Booth by one of his nephews after he looked at the tintype photo of St. Helen. 

Bates developed a complete association-and-escape narrative, distinguishing the book from the many previous isolated and brief encounters reported in newspapers and magazines. Bates told a detailed personal story supported by U.S. Army confusion, War Department indifference, and Booth sightings and identifications by an assortment of people. The initial promotional flyers were shocking and sensational.  The New York Times and theBaltimore Sun listed the 1907 Bates book as an important book issued in 1907 -- The Baltimore Sun the August 7, 1907, Edition and The New York Times in the August 10, 1907, Edition. Neither newspaper reviewed the book.

Chapter II (Pages 5-17)

In 1872, Bates is a young lawyer in his teens practicing law in Granbury, Texas. He represents a client (not identified) who was indicted by a federal grand jury in Tyler, Texas, for selling tobacco and whiskey at Glenrose Mills without having a license as required by federal statutes. St. Helen is occupying the premises where the sales occur. Bates seeks out St. Helen and learns from St. Helen that he is responsible for Bates’ client’s legal difficulties. St. Helen tells Bates he is not using his real name. 

Bates takes St. Helen on as a client in the same matter. An arrangement is made between Bates and St. Helen. He goes to Tyler with his first client. The next day, his first client stays in a hotel while Bates sees the U. S. Attorney (Col. Jack Evans). Unknown to his client, Bates reaches an agreement in which the government waives the presence of the defendant and Bates agrees to enter a plea of guilty with the usual fine and costs as a penalty. Without his client's knowledge or consent, Bates pleaded his client guilty to the federal charge. 

Chapter III (Pages 18-26)

Beginning in June 1872, Bates begins to have more contact with St. Helen. At a July 4 barbecue at Glenrose Mills, St. Helen, Bates, and General Taylor give speeches. Bates describes St. Helen as an orator of the highest class, having “stage presence, consummate ease of manner, and reassuring appearance."

St. Helen tell Bates at the barbecue that St. Helen in not his true name. His business does not seem to be a necessity, and St. Helen has more money than warranted by his trade. Bates states that St. Helen moved from Glenrose Mills to Grandberry, Texas. St. Helen discusses theatrical subjects and reveals that he is a master of the art of acting.  

Chapter IV (Pages 27-32)

In 1877, St. Helen becomes sick showing shadows of disease. He is emaciated and weak, and the doctor thinks he is dying. St. Helen wants to talk to Bates alone, out of the presence of the doctor. He tells Bates that his name is John Wilkes Booth, the assassin of President Lincoln. St. Helen gives Bates a tintype picture of him for future identification. He informs Bates that upon his death he should notify Edwin Booth of New York City.

Chapter V (Pages 33-39)

St. Helen recovers, however. Then one day alone in Bates's office, St. Helen agrees to tell Bates the entire story. Several weeks later, St. Helen comes to Bates and invites him to walk outside of town. He tells Bates the entire story about his early years acting, his Southern sympathies, and how his plans to kidnap Lincoln fell apart once Lee surrendered at Appomattox. He exonerates Mrs. Surratt and John Surratt from any involvement in the assassination. 

Chapter VI (Pages 40-59)

St. Helen continues, telling Bates that on the morning of April 14, he went to the Kirkwood Hotel where Vice President Andrew Johnson boarded. St. Helen and Johnson meet around 3 p.m. After St. Helen tells Johnson that kidnapping Lincoln was now impossible, Johnson says, "Will you falter at this supreme moment?" Johnson urges St. Helen to kill Lincoln, but St. Helen replies that this would be certain death for him. Johnson leaves for about an hour and then returns to the room. Johnson says he has arranged that General Grant and his wife would not join at President Ford's theater and the guards would not be on the bridge as per orders from General Christopher C. Augur. Johnson gives St. Helen a “T.B” password to use to get out of Washington, DC in case guards are present at the bridge over the Anacostia River. 

St. Helen tells Bates about the assassination of Lincoln and his avoidance of capture and escape. St. Helen states that on the afternoon of April 23, ex-Confederate lieutenants Bainbridge and Ruggles come to the Garrett Farm and tell him that federal troops have crossed the Rappahannock River. They advise him to hide in the woods. An hour later, they bring him a horse, and he rides off in a westerly direction. This is why he is not in the barn at Garrett Farm when the federal troops arrive. St. Helen tells Bates the man killed at Garrett Farm is named Ruddy (or Roby or Robey) whom he and Herold had met at the Cox plantation in Maryland. Because Ruddy has Booth’s diary, Ruddy is identified as Booth. 

Chapter VII (Pages 60-82)

Bates writes that he told St. Helen that he does not accept his story. Bates cannot believe that a person of "your humane instincts . . . gentle breeding and culture with the highest order of intellect and refinement blended with beautiful sentiment, and possessed of a soul unalloyed with crime, can be John Wilkes Booth” (61-62).

St. Helen tells Bates that Lincoln would not have been killed if Grant had been with him at the theater. Vice President Johnson had said that Grant would not be at the theater, but St. Helen does not know how Johnson knew this. St. Helen says he knew nothing of any plot to kill any others than Lincoln and that he knows nothing of any plan to take the life of Secretary Seward. 

Chapter VIII (Pages 83-91)

Bates writes that in 1878, St. Helen leaves for Leadville, Colorado, and Bates “lost trace of him” until 1898. “In the meantime,” Bates relocated to Memphis. It is strange that Bates does not write that he and wife return to Mississippi and stay for ten years before Bates relocates to Memphis. 

Bates explains how he begins researching the assassination of Lincoln. He suggests that Lincoln greatly disliked Johnson and that Johnson did not show respect for Lincoln in his remarks after his inauguration. Bates states that Johnson is “poor white trash,” “unworthy,” and “socially ostracized.” Bates challenges the view that Johnson controls Democratic politics in Tennessee. Instead, Bates endorses the view that Johnson is “specially unfitted” to handle Reconstruction in the South. 

Chapter IX (Pages 92-120)

Bates relates an article from the December 12, 1897, edition of the Boston Sunday Globe in the reception hall of his home. It contains an article with the statement by General Dana, in April 1865, that he "alone had knowledge beforehand of the meditated assassination of Lincoln, and who tried by every means in his power to thwart the conspiracy, but all in vain." Bates writes that the story General Dana gives corroborates in his minutest detail the story that St. Helen told Bates in Texas. 

According to the article, Dana had orders that no one was to enter the city of Washington during the day unless they gave their names, where they were from, and what their business was. At nighttime, the orders were that no one was to enter or leave the city except in case of sickness or death. All suspicious persons were to be arrested. Booth and Herold were detained at the bridge over the Anacostia River on the morning of April 14. At 4 p.m. Dana received an order from General Christopher C. Augur to release all prisoners, and Dana sent these orders to the officers below in the chain of command. Booth and Herold were released, and they proceeded to Washington, arriving in the afternoon. One of the guards recognized Booth while he was detained on the bridge on his way into Washington, and this guard also recognized Booth as he came out after the assassination. General Dana stated in the article that had it been known that Booth had killed Lincoln, Booth’s escape would have been impossible. 

The article continues that about 11 p.m., when Dana is back at his headquarters, an officer told him that Lincoln had been killed and that the murderer had ridden with another man at a rapid pace into the county. Dana called out the guards and sent soldiers in different directions. Then he rode to the bridge. When he arrived there, he was given an order from General Augur to report to him in Washington without delay. When Dana arrived, General Augur exclaims, "My God, marshal, if I listened to your advice this terrible thing never would've happened." 

The Boston Sunday Globe article concludes with a claim that a soldier from Massachusetts named F. A. Demond corroborated the Dana story, "as well as that of St. Helen." Demond read the Globe story, saying it "brought back old memories" to when he was a member of Dana's "old Provost guard" (See pages 105-108). Demond was stationed at the bridge crossing over the East Potomac River, where Booth crossed into and out of Washington, DC on April 14, Yet Demond conveniently claimed that while he was present, he was not on post. Demond allegedly overheard the words that the guard and Booth exchanged, including "T. B. Road." 

Bates then gives his analysis of Dana's and Demond’s statements. Bates questions the actions or lack thereof of Dana and General Augur. Bates concludes that General Augur must have known of the plan to assassinate Lincoln, and he must have had knowledge of some act which "if performed, would've saved the life of President Lincoln.” Bates writes that what Dana states is true, and it shows that General Augur could have saved Lincoln's life but did not do it even when advised to do so by General Dana. 

Chapter X (Pages 121-131)

Bates describes Dana’s chase after Booth, casting aspersions on Dana. He criticizes and raises questions about Dana complicity in Booth’s escape (see pages 124-126). Bates suggests that Dana "misdirected” all the troops which he sent out other than a single detachment that he took to Dr. Mudd’s house where the chase ended.

Chapter XI (Pages 132-167)

Bates writes about Secretary of War Stanton who asked Colonel Lafayette C. Baker on April 16 to come to Washington immediately to look for the murderer of the President. Colonel Baker enlists his nephew, Lieutenant Luther Baker, and federal detective Everton Conger to gather a detachment of federal troops to chase Booth and Herold. Lt. Baker said their efforts in Southern Maryland were thwarted. Referring to Dana’s conduct, Bates writes that Lt. Baker’s accusation is well-founded. 

Bates criticizes the identification of Booth as the man killed at Garrett Farm. He repeats the story that the person killed was Ruddy. Bates writes that the basis of the identification by Lt. Baker and Conger is based only on the diary, the letters and the pictures of Booth, the carbines, and the compass. Bates writes they assumed it was Booth. 

Chapter XII (Pages 168-190)

Bates states that the 1897 Dana article caused him to persistently work to ascertain the truth with respect to the escape of Booth. In this long chapter Bates argues and supports his belief that Booth was not killed at Garrett Farm.

Bates sends a copy of the tintype photo of St. Helen to Dana who replies that it seems to be Booth. Bates treats Dana's “seems” reply as an identification of the tintype of St. Helen to be that of Booth; but Dana asks if it is the brother of John Wilkes Booth. In a subsequent letter, Dana writes that after Booth is killed, his body is brought to the Navy Yard, and “I went on the boat and identified him [John Wilkes Booth]." 

Stanton had prevented any announcement as to where Booth was buried on April 27, 1865. This was fertile ground for Bates to sow a conflict as to where John Wilkes Booth was buried. General Lew Wallace writes in response to a letter from Bates that Booth was buried under a brick pavement “in a room of the old penitentiary prison in Washington." Dana states his personal knowledge that the body was buried in the old Navy Yard. William P. Wood, who was in the Secret Service at the time of the assassination, says the body was taken down the Potomac River and secretly buried on an island twenty-seven miles from Washington. Bates quotes Captain. E. W. Hillard, stating he was one of the four privates who carried the remains of Booth from the old capital prison onto a gunboat that went ten miles down the Potomac River where the body was thrown over and sunk. Bates states that the bodies of assassins Guiteau and Czolgosz were publicly turned over to their families. “Why this exception with the body of Booth?” Bates argues that the reason was that it was known that it was not Booth’s body.

Bates introduces a letter to him dated May 13, 1898, from John P. Simonton, written as a private citizen, not an employee of the war Department. Simonton wrote: "While I have not what may be styled direct or positive evidence, I have such circumstantial evidence as would seem to prove the fact beyond doubt." Bates argues that this establishes there is no conclusive proof that Booth was captured and killed. 

Bates continues arguing his case. He labels contemporary identifications of the body incomplete. He quotes Blanche Chapman’s 1927 letter recounting the 1869 examination of the body at Weaver’s establishment by Ford and Bishop as showing that a boot was taken off during the examination at Weaver’s, whereas the boot removed by Dr. Mudd was acquired by the government and could not have been the boot that was on John Wilkes Booth’s wounded foot and leg. Bates also quotes Basil Moxley, one of the pallbearers, who termed the funeral as a "mock" funeral and claimed that the man brought to Baltimore did not resemble Booth. 

Bates claims that Ruddy or Roby was the man killed at Garrett Farm. 

Chapter XIII (Pages 191-204)

Bates returns to his praise of St. Helen. He starts with a statement that Booth drew inspiration from Baltimore, “a city of beautiful and cultured women and honorable and intellectual men." Booth carried the cherished memory of Baltimore. 

He recites praise of the beauty of John Wilkes Booth from his brother Edwin, from actor Joe Jefferson, and from actor Clara Morris. Bates writes that their descriptions perfectly describe St. Helen. Bates asks the reader to note the striking resemblance of John Wilkes to his father. 

Chapter XIV (Pages 205-221)

Bates describes his investigative efforts beginning in 1898 after he became convinced that John St. Helen was Booth. Bates states that he tried to place Booth in Texas and to track down Ruggles, Jett, and Bainbridge. He learns that there was a large family with the name Ruddy living in the immediate neighborhood of Samuel Cox on the Potomac River. Bates claims that he successively located St. Helen at Leadville, Colorado, and later at Fresno, California, although he does not relate how he did this. 

Bates includes a letter that he wrote dated January 17, 1898, directed to the Secretary of the War Department asking if it would be a matter of any importance that Booth was not captured and killed by federal troops. Bates claims to be in possession of conclusive facts that Booth was still alive (see pages 210-11). The reply to Bates is dated January 25, 1998, stating that the matter raised by Bates is "of no importance to the War Department." 

Bates then claims that the reward of $100,000 for Booth’s apprehension was still outstanding. Bates then concludes that it was the War Department officials who, in effect, set Booth free (see page 216). Bates is not satisfied with the response from the War Department, so he writes to Secretary of State John Hay. Bates purports to quote Secretary John Hay in January 1890 as acknowledging the possibility of Booth’s escape: "from the nature of things Booth could have escaped, but there was no final escape except for suicide for the assassin.” Bates praises Hay as “the greatest of diplomats.” 

Chapter XV (Pages 222-242)

Bates begins this chapter with Colonel M.W. Connolly who was a newspaper writer and editor in Texas and later in Memphis. Bates quotes Connolly as saying he met David E. George in Texas in 1883. He was strongly inclined to believe that David E. George who died at Enid, Oklahoma was really John Wilkes Booth. 

Bates quotes Connolly’s story about Confederate General Albert Pike, Connolly, and Tom Powell (Mayor of Ft. Worth) at the Pickwick hotel bar room in Ft. Worth, Texas, in 1884 or 1885. While they are talking, Pike suddenly throws up his hands and exclaims "My God! John Wilkes Booth!" Pike trembles, weakened by the shock, and retires to his room. Connolly states that he strongly believes that George is Booth, but is in no way certain, and that he never saw Booth in person. 

Bates tells of other people who describe seeing or knowing Booth. Dr. H. W. Gay is quoted as knowing Booth in 1869 when he was living in Memphis.

Bates then summarizes several Booth-encounters or sightings: Booth meets his brother Junius, 1866 or 1867 in San Francisco; Col. Levan, 1868 in Lexington Kentucky; Dr. Gay, 1869 in Tate County, Mississippi; Bates, 1872 in Glenrose Mills, Texas; Mr. Connolly, 1883 Texas; Gen. Albert Pike, 1884-1885 in Fort Worth, Texas. 

After Fort Worth, Bates loses track of Booth for a number of years. He writes, however, that Booth "drifted” into the vicinity of Guthrie, Oklahoma Territory, then to El Reno in 1899 as David E. George living in the Anstien Hotel. Bates writes that David E. George arrived in Enid, Oklahoma, on December 3, 1902, according to Mrs. Harper’s statement given on January 23, 1903. Later George is a boarder with Mrs. Simmons who also takes in as boarders the Rev. and Mrs. Harper. George holds himself out as a house painter, but he rarely does any such work. He puts ads in the Daily Democrat newspaper looking for work as a house painter, presumably as a cover, Bates states. 

George becomes sick and thinks he is dying. According to Mrs. Harper's declaration, George tells her that he killed Abraham Lincoln and that he is John Wilkes Booth. George is known as David E. George in El Reno, Guthrie, and Enid; George is known as George D. Ryan in Hennessey.

Chapter XVI (Pages 243-273)

Bates writes of how he tracked the movements of Booth between 1865 and 1898. Bates claims that he located Booth’s whereabouts in 1897 but did not contact him. David E. George, an inebriated house painter who claims to be John Wilkes Booth, commits suicide and dies on January 14, 1903, in Enid, Oklahoma. Newspaper articles appeared throughout the country reporting that George claimed to be John Wilkes Booth. 

Bates continues that after years of no contact with St. Helen, Bates learns that a man named David E. George claimed to be John Wilkes Booth and committed suicide in Enid, Oklahoma on January 14, 1903. In his possession is a letter addressed to Bates. As a result, Bates is asked by telegram on January 17, 1903, to come to Enid to identify the body. Bates leaves his home in Memphis and travels by train to Enid. 

Bates comes to Enid, and at Penniman’s morgue on January 23, 1903, beholding the body of “my friend, John St. Helen.” Bates recognizes him instantly. Shaken with emotion for his dead friend, Bates recovers in a few minutes and then realizes, “I was in the presence of John Wilkes Booth.” 

Bates describes how the press reported and commented on the suicide of David E. George. The Enid Wave in the Oklahoma Territory, January 17, 1903, edition described George as a wealthy resident of the Territory. This article reported that on his deathbed, George maintained to his attendant that he was John Wilkes Booth. Bates quotes an Enid Wave article January 21, 1903. Bates presents articles from The Post-Dispatch of St. Louis, The Perry Oklahoma Republican, and The Daily Democrat.

An investigative article from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch dated June 3, 1903, states that George's effects included a letter directed to F. L. Bates, Memphis, who came at once and identified the body as that of John Wilkes Booth. Bates goes on to say that he was never able to secure the letter referred to in the article. Bates states that the letter was taken from the body of the dead man by a "mysterious man" who claimed to have known George in his life and who disappeared before Bates' arrival on the scene. Bates mentions giving a lecture on June 5, 1903, at the Opera House in Enid presenting his evidence that David E. George was John Wilkes Booth. 

Bates describes what he did when he left Memphis and traveled to Enid. There are some delays. At the Enid depot on the morning he arrives, Bates is met by Mr. Brown, the clerk of the Grand Avenue Hotel. He tells Bates there were many people and old federal soldiers who threatened to burn the body if it turned out to be Booth. Mr. Brown suggests that Bates register at the Grand Avenue Hotel under the assumed name of as "Charles O'Connor of New York City” and play the role of a furniture salesperson. 

At breakfast with Mr. Penniman, Bates pretends that he is a salesperson. His next stop is Penniman's place of business, the store of an undertaker and furniture dealer. Penniman lets Bates use his office where there are newspaper reports of George’s suicide and photographs taken of George after his death. Looking at the photographs, Bates says he instantaneously recognized St. Helen. 

Penniman introduce Bates to Charles O’Connor, the man in charge of the morgue. O’Connor takes Bates to a room where George’s body lay in wake. Bates writes that in the presence of the attendant and Mr. Penniman, "I beheld the body of my friend John St. Helen. After a separation of 26 years, I knew him instantly.” Then Bates cries. Bates is shaken with emotion for his dead friend and had no thought of the crime that Booth had committed.

Bates shows Penniman and the attendant the tintype photograph he got from Saint Helen, and they say, “Yes, this is the same man” (page 262). Nevertheless, they compare the photo to the corpse. Bates refers to the “veteran embalmer," Mr. Ryan, who tells Bates that he did not make an incision because he noticed this beautiful formation of the body. 

Back at the Grand Avenue hotel, Mr. Brown talks about George's death, how he poisoned himself in his room on the night of January 13, 1903. Bates refers to Mr. Dumont, the proprietor of the Grand Avenue Hotel, who came into George’s room after the doctor left. George had told Mr. Dumont he was John Wilkes Booth. George dies at 6:20 am. on the morning of January 14, 1903.

On January 21, 1903. Mr. Brown and Mr. Dumont sign a sworn statement that the man in the tintype picture and George are the same, a perfect likeness. 

Chapter XVII (Pages 274--291)

Bates writes how he leaves the hotel and walks the streets. He learns that if the body is that of John Wilkes Booth, many people plan to make a great bonfire and burn the body in the public streets of Enid. Bates knows he is being looked for. He is "in bewildered horror” as he conjures up the contemplated scene. The people have a wonderful yet strange appreciation of Lincoln, while Booth is in the morgue having avenged his crime with his own hand (page 275-76).

After dinner that evening in the hotel dining room, Penniman asks for consultation with Bates regarding the disposition of the body. First, it is agreed that the body is to be perfectly preserved if it could be done. Bates states that the embalmer, Mr. Ryan, promised to do his best. Second, Bates suggests taking out letters of administration on the estate of George, which would include the body. Penniman agrees to do this. Bates believes his mission is completed, and he pays the hotel bill. Bates takes the Rock Island train southbound. There is much discussion on the train about George. 

Bates arrives in El Reno. He stays overnight at the Kerfoot hotel and has breakfast with Mr. Grant, the publisher and editor of the Republican Daily paper in El Reno. They look at pictures of George, and Grant dismisses the idea George could be Booth. Upon Grant’s challenge, Bates gives the pictures to Mr. Bellamy of the El Reno State Bank. Bellamy recognizes the tintype picture of St. Helen to e George in his younger days.

Bates meets with Mr. Hennley, the owner, editor, and publisher of the Daily Democrat. Hennley tells Bates he knew George personally and the pictures are of George. Another editor comes over and says he does not know George, but that the pictures are of Booth. 

Then Bates goes to the Anstien Hotel where proprietors, N.J. Anstien and G.F. Anstien, look at Bates’ pictures and sign a statement that the pictures are of George. The Anstien proprietors speak highly of George as the soul of honor, always spouting poetry. 

Chapter XVIII (Pages 292-298)

Bates arrives home in Memphis. Right after he arrived, Bates is recalled to Enid by the administrator of Booth's estate.  An estate is opened, and a claim is filed by Mrs. Charles Love for what property George may have been left on the grounds that she is the daughter of John Wilkes Booth. 

Two U.S. Secret Service men look at the pictures and view the body of Booth. Bates writes that the two men are satisfied that the body is Booth. They want to bury the body. Bates notes that the body remains unburied and is in a state of “perfect preservation.”

Bates meets with Mr. L. Treadkell who had employed Booth as a teamster. He identifies the tintype picture of St. Helen to be Jessie Smith, the name Booth used in his employment. 

Bates writes that Bentley Sage, a well-known palmist, made a trip to Enid for the purpose of reading George's palms. Bates gives a long, verbatim presentation of the palmist readings, which reflect favorably on Booth. 

Chapter XIX (Pages 299-303)

Bates writes that George had been a constant attendant at theaters in El Reno, and he was attracted to a leading lady. George had joined a traveling company which included this lady. Arrangements are made for proper staging and putting on a play called "A Life Within the Shadow of Sin." This is to be George’s life, Booth's life. The show is not produced in 1903-1904 as intended. Bates writes about this to show the bent and inclination of George to be an actor.

Bates introduces a man named Joseph Jefferson.  Bates states that St. Helen talked of Joseph Jefferson often in Texas. Jefferson was in a stock company with Booth when Booth was 17 years old. Bates contacts Jefferson who was in a play coming to Memphis. Bates asks for an interview, Jefferson agrees, and they meet at the Gayoso Hotel on April 14, 1903. Bates shows Jefferson the tintype picture of St. Helen. Jefferson says, "this is John Wilkes Booth, if John Wilkes Booth was living when the picture was taken.” 

Chapter XX (Pages 304-309)

According to Bates, while Junius Brutus Booth is in Memphis playing in a show, he and Bates meet in Bates’ office. Bates shows him the tintype of St. Helen. Junius studies the picture and then says this is a picture of my uncle John Wilkes Booth, the best picture of him that I have ever seen. Bates writes that Junius is overcome by his feelings and wants to speak with his wife. He promises to return the next day.

Junius does return, and Bates tells him of St. Helen’s long life in the West. Junius volunteers to furnish Bates with a statement. Junius gives and signs the statement, taken down by Miss Wolf. 

In the statement, Junius states that he was born in Boston on January 6, 1868, and is the oldest son of John Wilkes Booth's brother, Junius Brutus Booth. The statement itself is signed by Junius Brutus Booth, but not dated. It is witnessed by "F. L. Bates." There is a statement signed by Miss Wolf that she wrote the statement on the typewriter at the dictation of one signing himself as Junius Brutus Booth. This statement of Miss Wolf is notarized by a notary public named H. C. Shelton on February 21, 1903.

Bates states at the end of this chapter, the end of the book, that it is a physical fact that John Wilkes Booth was not killed on 26 April 1865, but that he escaped and had a roving life in exile principally in the Western part of the United States and died by suicide in Enid, Oklahoma.