Lincoln Conspiracy: a Diary, a Mummy and The Escape of John Wilkes Booth

History says John Wilkes Booth shot Abraham Lincoln and died twelve days later on a Virginia farm. But FBI forensic tests revealed his diary is missing 86 pages filled with names and payments. The body pulled from that burning barn had the wrong injuries and features. Multiple witnesses claimed it wasn't Booth. Then a Texas bartender confessed on his deathbed to being Lincoln's assassin, and his preserved remains toured the country for years. DNA testing could prove the truth, but every request has been blocked. Was Lincoln's assassination part of a larger plot to control America? And did the real killer escape? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wlc8b2j9-yM Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:00Speaker 00

  Hey Spotify listeners! When you travel with American Airlines, you'll enjoy comfort and convenience at every altitude. Before takeoff, unwind in the Admirals Club Lounge with curated self-serve offerings of hearty bites and refreshments. In-flight, stay connected with high-speed Wi-Fi. Sponsored by AT&T. Your journey is designed to feel easy from the moment you check in to the moment you arrive. No matter where you're going, American gets you there. Book now at aa.com.

• 0:26AJ Gentile?

  Everyone thinks they know how Lincoln died. John Wilkes Booth shot the president, escaped, and was killed 12 days later on a Virginia farm. But the FBI's own forensic tests discovered Booth's diary is missing 86 pages, pages filled with names, payments, and secrets. Lincoln's assassination wasn't the work of a single extremist. It was a plot to take control of America. And it worked. The evidence exposes secret allies, strange cover-ups, and why the truth was buried for more than a century. This isn't the story of how John Wilkes Booth died. This is the story of how he escaped and who helped him do it.

• 1:13AJ Gentile?

  In early 1865, the Civil War was in its fourth brutal year. The Confederates were losing, but they continued to fight, and Union casualties continued to mount.

• 1:24AJ Gentile?

  During this time, John Wilkes Booth was one of the most famous actors in America. He was known for his emotional performances and striking good looks. Dark hair, unusually dark eyes. He was lean and athletic. He was the first documented celebrity to have his clothes torn by infatuated fans.

• 1:41Speaker 02

  I am ever so grateful, sir.

• 1:44Speaker 03

  It is my pleasure entirely.

• 1:46AJ Gentile?

  Booth was obsessed with Shakespeare's Julius Caesar, a play he performed with his brothers. He saw Lincoln as a tyrant, like Caesar. Booth was from Maryland, a slave state. He identified as a Southerner, so when war broke out, he became a Confederate spy. As an A-list celebrity, he could move freely in polite society. He socialized with wealthy businessmen, politicians, and all kinds of important people. He then sent their secrets to the Confederates. Through a clerk with access to Lincoln's private correspondence, Booth saw the president's plan for after the war, and it horrified him. Confederate leaders would be tried for treason. Their land would be given to former slaves, who would also get the right to vote. Everything the South stood for would be erased from history.

• 2:31AJ Gentile?

  He had to act.

• 2:35AJ Gentile?

  Booth came up with a bold plan: Kidnap Lincoln. If the North wanted their president back alive, they would have to release all Confederate prisoners of war and give the South better terms. Booth assembled a team, and after months of planning, they were ready. Then, just before the plan went into motion, General Robert E. Lee surrendered at Appomattox. Booth was devastated. The war was over, and now the kidnapping plot was useless. Then Booth had a stroke of luck. He overheard that the president would be attending a play at Ford's Theater in Washington, D.C. Booth knew the theater well. He performed there many times. He even knew where the president would be sitting, because Lincoln attended one of Booth's performances there.

• 3:18AJ Gentile?

  So Booth came up with a new plan: Kill the president during the play.

• 3:24AJ Gentile?

  He knew he could move around the theater freely without raising suspicion, so getting in wasn't a problem, getting out was. But John Wilkes Booth had friends in high places, who wanted Lincoln dead as much as he did. They would help him escape. His contacts weren't Confederate spies deep in the South. They were right here in Washington, inside Lincoln's own cabinet.

• 3:49Speaker 00

  Hey Spotify listeners! When you travel with American Airlines, you'll enjoy comfort and convenience at every altitude. Before takeoff, unwind in the Admirals Club Lounge, with curated self-serve offerings of hearty bites and refreshments. In-flight, stay connected with high-speed Wi-Fi, sponsored by AT&T. Your journey is designed to feel easy, from the moment you check in to the moment you arrive. No matter where you're going, American gets you there. Book now at aa.com.

• 4:20AJ Gentile?

  Abraham Lincoln's second inaugural address was about unity. He called slavery a sin, but he avoided placing blame on the South. He famously said, "With malice toward none and charity for all." Lincoln wanted to pardon most Southerners and allow the states to regain their rights, but no slavery. The plan was not universally well-received. Like Julius Caesar, Abraham Lincoln was surrounded by enemies. On one side were the Democrats. They wanted a quick return to the status quo. They wanted most Southerners pardoned, and most Democrats voted against freeing the slaves. On the other side were the radical Republicans. They wanted all slaves freed and given the land seized in the war.

• 5:04AJ Gentile?

  They wanted federal military control of the Southern states and harsh punishment. Radical Republicans weren't just in Congress, they were in Lincoln's own cabinet. Secretary of War Edwin Stanton was the most powerful man in America after Lincoln. He controlled the military and all federal law enforcement agencies, but he could not control President Lincoln. Stanton believed showing mercy to the South was a betrayal of everything the Union soldiers died for. Lincoln wouldn't budge, but Vice President Andrew Johnson would. His loyalty was flexible. Stanton could control him and become the real power in Washington. Through his intelligence network, Stanton contacted John Wilkes Booth and gave him everything he needed to kidnap Lincoln.

• 5:48AJ Gentile?

  With Lincoln gone, Congress would impeach him, Johnson would step in, and Stanton would control the government. But if the public learned of a coup, it would divide the country. But if Lincoln were kidnapped by a Confederate terrorist, the country would unite, behind Johnson, essentially behind Stanton. Booth was the perfect choice. He was wealthy, famous, and an outspoken critic of Lincoln's. The whole country would believe it. Booth agreed. Stanton gave him Lincoln's schedule, security details, funding, maps of escape routes, everything he needed. But the war ended. The kidnapping plot wouldn't work. Stanton was trying to think of another solution when he learned that Booth was gonna kill Lincoln instead.

• 6:31AJ Gentile?

  It would happen in public, during a play in a Washington theater. Now Stanton had a decision to make. Warn Lincoln and save his life, or let Booth go through with it. Stanton made his choice. He made sure that the assassination would succeed. He removed military escorts and left escape routes open. General Ulysses S. Grant was supposed to join Lincoln at the theater. Stanton gave him different orders. Lincoln requested that Major Thomas T. Eckert be his bodyguard, but Stanton said he was needed elsewhere. He left Lincoln exposed. The more Stanton thought about the plan, the more he liked it. It was clean and dramatic. It was perfect. But as the plot to kill Lincoln unfolded, things would go very, very wrong.

• 7:20Speaker 00

  Hey Spotify listeners, when you travel with American Airlines, you'll enjoy comfort and convenience at every altitude. Before takeoff, unwind in the Admiral's Club Lounge with curated self-serve offerings of hearty bites and refreshments. In-flight, stay connected with high-speed Wi-Fi, sponsored by AT&T. Your journey is designed to feel easy from the moment you check in to the moment you arrive. No matter where you're going, American gets you there. Book now at aa.com.

• 8:00Speaker 03

  He gives our slaves freedom that they take up arms against us? I swear the man's gone mad. You know what he'll do next? Bring his carpetbaggers down here. Northern men with clean coats and dirty hands, buying up what's left for pennies. I did not fight to live under a Yankee boot. Lincoln cannot be allowed to continue. This is tyranny. If Lincoln will not listen to reason, we must take our grievances to the Congress. This is not merely about politics anymore, sir. It is about the future of the republic. We have to move against him now, while we still can. And what would you have us do? The war's lost, the Confederacy's ashes. What's left but survival? Sometimes survival is cowardice.

• 8:43Speaker 03

  Sometimes history demands blood to balance the scales. You speak... of treason.

• 8:52Speaker 03

  I speak of patriotism. Careful, John. Union spies are everywhere. These walls have ears. Oh, let them hear. History listens too. I'll not stand by while Lincoln crowns himself emperor of a mutilated nation. You're an actor, not a soldier. Don't play hero in the wrong tragedy. Every play needs its villain. History will decide which one I am.

• 9:26AJ Gentile?

  On April 14th, 1865, Washington DC was celebrating. Robert E. Lee had surrendered at Appomattox five days earlier. The Civil War was over. But something had Lincoln rattled. During cabinet meeting, he mentioned a recurring dream he had about a president being assassinated, killed by a shot to the back of the head. Secretary of War Edwin Stanton listened, but said nothing. President Lincoln and his wife Mary Todd decided to celebrate by watching a performance of "Our American Cousin" that night at Ford's Theater. Booth's plan went into motion. That morning, he drilled a peephole in the door of the presidential box at the theater. He'd know exactly when to make his move. Evening came, and the president and first ladies settled into their seats.

• 10:10AJ Gentile?

  Outside the door, Lincoln's bodyguard was replaced by John Parker, who had a history of being drunk and sleeping on duty, assigned by Edwin Stanton. Once the play started, Parker left his post and headed for the saloon. The only person left outside the door was Charles Forbes, Lincoln's valet. Forbes wasn't a bodyguard. His job was to run errands and plan travel. So when Booth approached the presidential box, Forbes let him pass, just another celebrity stopping by to see the president. Once inside, Booth quietly wedged a piece of wood behind the door and broke the lock. Now, all he had to do was wait for the right moment. And that moment would come during the third act, the biggest laugh of the night, the line

• 10:54AJ Gentile?

  "You're a psychologizing old man trap." He knew exactly when this line was said. At 10:15 PM, the audience exploded in laughter.

• 11:11AJ Gentile?

  Booth stepped forward and raised his pistol.

• 11:14Speaker 03

  "Ever thus to tyrants."

• 11:19AJ Gentile?

  One shot, lost in the roar of fifteen hundred people laughing. President Lincoln slumped in his chair.

• 11:27AJ Gentile?

  Booth jumped from the box and onto the stage. At first, the crowd did nothing. They thought this was part of the show. Then Booth raised his knife and yelled, "Sixtemper tyrannis." "Thus always to tyrants." The line Brutus said when he stabbed Julius Caesar. It's also the state motto of Virginia. Booth turned to run and felt pain shoot up his left leg. He broke his ankle, but adrenaline kept him moving toward the unguarded back door. Outside, a horse was waiting. Within the hour, Edwin Stanton took control. He shut down every bridge, leaving Washington except one. The one Booth used for his escape.

• 12:02AJ Gentile?

  Everything had gone according to plan. Lincoln was dead, and Stanton would control the investigation himself. There was just one final loose end Stanton had to deal with. John Wilkes Booth.

• 12:28AJ Gentile?

  Within hours of Lincoln's assassination, Secretary of War Edwin Stanton mobilized the largest manhunt in American history. Every bridge out of Washington was sealed. Every road was blocked. Every farm was searched. The reward for John Wilkes Booth and his conspirators was a staggering $100,000. Almost $2 million in today's money. The authorities preferred him alive, but Edwin Stanton preferred him dead. Booth hooked up with another conspirator, David Harold. Together, they slipped through the Union dragnet and headed toward Virginia. Their first stop was Dr. Samuel Mudd's farm in southern Maryland. Mudd set Booth's broken leg and gave them a place to rest. By dawn, word of the assassination had spread. Mudd, suddenly realizing the danger, forced them to leave. David Harold guided them deeper into Confederate country.

• 13:13AJ Gentile?

  They moved at night. They hidden swamps during the day. Other Confederate agents gave them food and newspapers. Six days later, they crossed the Potomac River into Virginia. They thought they'd be safe in Virginia. The Confederacy was dead, but Confederate sympathy was still very much alive. They found shelter, food, and horses from local farmers who still hated the Union. But the manhunt was closing in. On April 24th, Booth and Harold reached the Garrett farm near Port Royal, Virginia. Richard Garrett, a tobacco farmer, offered them a place to stay. He thought they were Confederate soldiers heading home from the war. For two days, Booth rested and played with the Garrett children. His broken leg was feeling better. He talked about going to Mexico or maybe heading west. The future looked possible again.

• 13:57AJ Gentile?

  But on the night of April 25th, everything changed. Twenty-six soldiers from the 16th New York Cavalry surrounded the barn. They called for the men to surrender or they would set fire to the building. David Harold immediately gave up. He stumbled out of the barn with his hands raised, yelling, "Don't shoot, I'm David Harold." But Booth refused to surrender. As the flames started to grow, a soldier saw a figure moving around inside. The man was holding a rifle. The soldier raised his pistol and shot the man through the neck, severing his spinal cord. He couldn't move, but he could still breathe, but just barely. The soldiers dragged Booth out of the barn. He whispered, "Tell mother I die for my country." By sunrise, John Wilkes Booth was dead. Justice had been served, the case was closed, and America could finally move on.

• 14:42AJ Gentile?

  But John Wilkes Booth had a secret.

• 14:54AJ Gentile?

  At the height of his career, John Wilkes Booth was one of the highest-paid entertainers in the world, earning close to half a million dollars a year in today's money. His career depended on his bachelor image. But in 1859, Booth secretly married actress Isola Martha Mills. Within a year, Isola gave birth to their daughter, Ogerita. Booth quietly supported them. The arrangement worked until the assassination. And after reports of Booth's death, John Stevenson proposed to Isola. He'd loved her for years, but she refused. She quietly told him she was still married. Booth was alive and hiding in San Francisco under a false identity. She was meeting him there in a few weeks. On the other side of the country, a British passport was issued to John Byron Wilkes.

• 15:38AJ Gentile?

  Wilkes and his wife boarded the Indian Queen, a former Civil War blockade runner. John and Isola sailed to India. But Isla couldn't stay. The heat, the unfamiliar culture, the isolation. She was pregnant again and couldn't imagine raising a child in India, so she returned to the States. Months passed without a word from Booth, so John Stevenson proposed again. This time, she accepted. She needed stability for her unborn child. Stevenson said he would claim the child as his own. Not long after, Isla gave birth to her son, Harry Jerome Stevenson. Back in Bombay, John Wilkes Booth wrote out a last will and testament. He signed it "John Byron Wilkes", then mailed it to the States. The will was detailed. Money and property to his wife Isla,

• 16:22AJ Gentile?

  his daughter and son, Ogarita and Harry Jerome Stevenson. He named Sarah Scott and Mary Louise Turner as his other daughters by other women. He left money for his personal valet, Henry Johnson, and his wife Sarah, who looked after the children. Word of the will spread. Ulysses S. Grant himself ordered an investigation to locate all the heirs. Eventually, John Wilkes Booth's estate was distributed exactly as the will instructed, but Grant never let it go. How could a man named John Byron Wilkes know every detail about Booth's secret life? His lovers, his children, his financial affairs? Information that only Booth would know. But aside from the will, Grant had no real evidence. He was forced to let it go. So the official story was

• 17:05AJ Gentile?

  John Wilkes Booth was killed on Garrett's farm in 1865. But in the summer of 1872, someone saw a ghost in a dusty saloon in Texas. And that ghost was pouring whiskey and reciting Shakespeare.

• 17:27Speaker 00

  Hey Spotify listeners! When you travel with American Airlines, you'll enjoy comfort and convenience at every altitude. Before takeoff, unwind in the Admirals Club Lounge with curated self-serve offerings of hearty bites and refreshments. In flight, stay connected with high-speed Wi-Fi, sponsored by AT&T. Your journey is designed to feel easy from the moment you check in to the moment you arrive. No matter where you're going, American gets you there. Book now at aa.com.

• 17:54Speaker 04

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• 18:26AJ Gentile?

  The man behind the bar was John St. Helen.

• 18:31AJ Gentile?

  Average height, lean build, dark hair going a little gray at the temples. He quoted Shakespeare from memory, and when he thought nobody was looking, he practiced drawing a pistol from his coat. St. Helen drifted into town in the spring of 72. He said he was from back east, but didn't talk much about his past. That suited everyone fine. Texas in 1872 was full of men running from something. After a few whiskeys, John St. Helen would recite Paul Shakespearean soliloquies. It was during one of these performances that Finest Bates first walked into the bar. Bates was a young lawyer from Memphis. Smart, ambitious, easy to talk to. The kind of man who bought drinks for interesting strangers and listened to their stories. St. Helen and Bates hit it off immediately.

• 19:16AJ Gentile?

  The bartender was well-read, articulate, and had opinions about everything from politics to poetry. They spent hours talking after the saloon closed, sharing whiskey and stories. Well, Bates shared stories. St. Helen mostly listened. They spoke about the war and the future of the country. St. Helen never mentioned his past.

• 19:35AJ Gentile?

  That winter, St. Helen caught pneumonia. For days, he ran a high fever and drifted in and out of consciousness. Bates sat by his bedside, convinced his friend was dying. On the third night, St. Helen grabbed Bates by the wrist and pulled him close. He was still running a high fever, but his eyes were bright and focused.

• 19:53Speaker 03

  Finest, I need to tell you something before it's too late. I'm not who you think I am. My real name is John Wilkes Booth.

• 20:05AJ Gentile?

  Bates thought John was delirious, but he wouldn't stop. He told Bates everything: the conspiracy, the escape, the years in hiding. He described details that only Booth would know: the layout of Ford's Theater, the feeling of the wooden stage beneath his feet, the sound Lincoln made when the bullet hit. Bates was stunned. Either his friend was having the most elaborate fever dream in history, or he was the most wanted man in America.

• 20:30AJ Gentile?

  By morning, the fever had broken, and John St. Helen was gonna live. And that's when the panic set in. He said too much.

• 20:37Speaker 05

  What have I done?

• 20:40AJ Gentile?

  Three days later, he was gone. All that was left of John St. Helen was an empty room and a bartender's apron hanging on a hook. John Wilkes Booth had once again disappeared.

• 21:01AJ Gentile?

  Bates didn't tell anyone about John's confession, but he never stopped wondering: was John St. Helen really John Wilkes Booth? Or was that a sick man's delusion? Well, in 1903, a painter in Oklahoma committed suicide. When they searched the man's belongings, they found a handwritten note. It said, "If anything happens to him, contact a lawyer named Finis Bates." The telegram reached Bates three days later. After 26 years of questions, he was about to get an answer. When Bates arrived at the funeral parlor, his hands were shaking. The undertaker led him to a back room, where a body lay on the table. He was told the man was David E. George. Bates pulled back the sheet and stared for a long moment. The man on the table was older and thinner, but it was unmistakable.

• 21:46AJ Gentile?

  It was John, going by the name David E. David E. George had been living there for several years, working as a painter. He was quiet, he kept to himself. He was forgettable, but he had secrets. David E. George drank too much, he talked to himself. Late at night, neighbors in the boarding house heard him reciting Shakespeare. The landlady, Mrs. Harper, said David George had been acting strange for weeks. He was nervous and paranoid. He kept saying "they" were coming for him. She thought he meant bill collectors. On January 13, 1903, David bought a bottle of strychnine from the pharmacy. He told the clerk that he had a rat problem. That night, he drank the poison.

• 22:25AJ Gentile?

  He lived long enough to call for a minister. The minister found David writhing on his bed, foam coming from his mouth. The minister held his hand when David made his confession. He whispered that he was John Wilkes Booth, the man who killed Abraham Lincoln. He begged God's forgiveness, and then he was gone. Among David's possessions were newspaper clippings about Lincoln's assassination and the manhunt for Booth. Some pages were yellow with age, there for decades. Bates was convinced: this was John Wilkes Booth. He asked the local authorities to preserve his body. If this really was Booth, then this was the most important corpse in American history. The body was embalmed and put on display. For months, crowds lined up to stare at the preserved remains of David E. George, aka

• 23:10AJ Gentile?

  John St. Helen, aka John Wilkes Booth. The mummy toured across the country. It appeared at carnivals, state fairs, and local museums. Doctors examined the body and found intriguing details. The corpse had a broken left leg, just like Booth. A deformed right thumb, also like Booth. And there was a scar on the back of the neck that matched the location of a scar Booth had from a tumor removal. The mummy eventually disappeared into storage and then into legend. But the story continued. John Wilkes Booth had lived for 38 years after supposedly dying at Garrett's farm. So, how did Booth get out of that burning barn? Well, he didn't. The man who was shot on Garrett's farm was someone else.

• 24:02AJ Gentile?

  When Union soldiers surrounded Garrett's farm that night, they had orders: capture Booth alive. But Secretary of War Edwin Stanton let it be known that if Booth were found dead, the reward would still be paid. After Booth was killed, the military demanded an autopsy. The body was quickly wrapped in a horse blanket and transported from a wagon to a steamship, then to a government tugboat, and then finally to the USS Montauk at the Washington Navy Yard. The identification was... hasty, highly controlled, and deeply suspicious.

• 24:34AJ Gentile?

  Surgeon General Joseph K. Barnes conducted the autopsy. A photograph was taken of the body, but it's never been released to the public. This was probably the most important autopsy in US history to that point, but the photograph has either been lost or suppressed. Dr. Barnes allowed three civilians aboard. None of the three knew Booth personally. Booth had friends all over Washington: actors, politicians, socialites. Barnes didn't call any of them. Instead, he called Dr. John Frederick May. May had removed the growth from Booth's neck a few years earlier. He was brought to verify the scar. May examined the body and hesitated. In his memoirs, he wrote that he didn't recognize it as Booth's. He wasn't sure about the scar.

• 25:18AJ Gentile?

  He noticed that the body had an injured right leg, but Booth fractured his left leg. Now, maybe the witnesses got that wrong, but the injury on the corpse was old. Booth's wasn't. He broke it less than two weeks before. And despite his protests, Dr. May was pressured into signing off that this was John Wilkes Booth. Other witnesses raised doubts. The man had the wrong proportions, the wrong bone structure. The body was buried quickly, in secret, beneath the floor of a military prison. Booth's family begged to see the remains. They were denied. If this wasn't John Wilkes Booth, then who did the soldiers drag out of that barn? Well, they asked David Harold, and he told them.

• 26:34AJ Gentile?

  David Harold came out of the tobacco barn with his hands up. The first thing he said was, "Don't shoot." Then he said, "That's not Booth in there." Then Harold named the man, James William Boyd. The soldiers ignored him. Boyd was an ex-Confederate soldier, the same build as Booth, same complexion, and coincidentally, the same initials. Harold said Booth was a day ahead of them in Harper's Ferry. The plan was to catch up, and Boyd would help them sail across the Potomac. But Boyd was a double agent. He was just released from prison by Stanton personally. And there was a reason for that. Stanton and Booth had a deal. Booth would be allowed to escape to India with his wife. Boyd would stand in and take the fall. So Boyd and Booth swapped coats.

• 27:18AJ Gentile?

  But Booth forgot to take his diary, which revealed everything. Names, meetings, payments, all pointing back to Edwin Stanton. When Stanton received the diary, he destroyed it. He destroyed all the evidence and created the official story that Americans believed for 150 years.

• 27:37AJ Gentile?

  John Wilkes Booth walked away from Garrett's farm. He sailed to India as John Byron Wilkes. He returned to America as John St. Helen and died in Oklahoma as David E. George. Three vertebrae were removed from the body during the autopsy. A DNA test could prove or disprove that the bones came from Booth. No testing has been allowed. His body is allegedly buried in the Booth family plot in Baltimore. And now people leave pennies on the gravestone they believe to be John Wilkes Booth's, as if giving Lincoln the last word. And the family has requested that the body be exhumed for testing. That request was denied. Nobody even knows where in the cemetery he's buried. His brother Edwin didn't mark the grave out of fear it would be vandalized. And John Wilkes Booth has a lot of descendants alive today, all through his marriage to

• 28:22AJ Gentile?

  his Ola. History says Booth didn't have children, but his descendants believe that he did. And as far as they're concerned, they're living proof.

• 28:37AJ Gentile?

  I'm a big fan of American history. If you made it this far, you are too. And this story was fun. But if Booth escaped, we have to rewrite history. So, did he? Well, let's pull it apart. Dr. John Frederick May identified Booth's body. It's true that he said he didn't recognize it at first, but that was because it was badly decomposed. When he saw the surgical scar, he was convinced it was Booth. He would know, he'd perform the surgery. And multiple witnesses confirmed the body's identity. The broken leg was also confirmed. Now, John Wilkes Booth did keep a diary, and it was tampered with. That's documented. But he didn't use his diary as a journal. It was more like a day planner. The missing pages may contain incriminating evidence, but probably not. Still, nobody knows for sure.

• 29:22AJ Gentile?

  James William Boyd was a real person. He was a Confederate captain and prisoner of war. And Secretary of War Edwin Stanton authorized his release. That's true. But this wasn't unusual. Boyd had seven children. His wife had died, and they would starve without him. He requested compassionate release, and Stanton granted it. The story of Boyd being a double agent comes from Finest Bates. The man who discovered John St. Helen wasn't just a lawyer, he was also an entrepreneur. In 1907, 30 years after his supposed encounter in Texas, Bates published a book, "The Escape and Suicide of John Wilkes Booth."

• 29:57Speaker 06

  There's always a book.

• 29:58AJ Gentile?

  Oh, now you're here? Why so quiet?

• 30:00Speaker 06

  Well, big presidents are only funny when they're in my wallet.

• 30:04AJ Gentile?

  Fair enough. The book was a hit, and made Bates famous. More importantly, it made Bates money. Bates went on speaking tours. He brought the mummy with him. He charged admission. The man who claimed his friend had confessed to being Lincoln's assassin built an entire career on that story. But here's what Bates never mentioned. When experts studied the handwriting samples he claimed came from John St. Helen, they didn't match John Wilkes Booth's confirmed writing. Not even close. They were from different people. The Isla story, that came from a 1937 book called "This One Mad Act", written by Isla Forrester. Forrester claimed to be Ogerita's daughter, the granddaughter of Booth and Isla Mills. And just a few years ago, the descendants of both Ogarita and Harry Jerome Stevenson

• 30:49AJ Gentile?

  had their DNA compared against confirmed Booth family DNA. No match. Neither family was related to John Wilkes Booth.

• 30:56Speaker 06

  Ugh, I love it when paternity tests come back negative.

• 30:59AJ Gentile?

  So Booth never married and didn't have children, at least none that we've found so far. And remember, when he killed Lincoln, he was only 26.

• 31:07Speaker 06

  If I was a 26-year-old movie star with ladies grabbing at my gills, I'd stay single, too.

• 31:14AJ Gentile?

  The entire romantic subplot was fiction, just like Booth's will. Most of the story elements come from a 1977 book and movie called "The Lincoln Conspiracy." And this wasn't a historical research project. It was entertainment. The authors even admitted they created composite characters and invented dialogue to make the story more dramatic. It was fiction.

• 31:34Speaker 06

  Ah, don't you do that.

• 31:35AJ Gentile?

  Quiet. "The Lincoln Conspiracy" was fiction, but people treated it like fact. The book recycled Bates's debunked claims and added nuance: the body double theory, the government cover-up, the missing diary pages that implicate Stanton. And speaking of Stanton, let's clear his name. Edwin Stanton was a villain in this story, but he was just as interested in helping freed slaves as Lincoln. He definitely thought Lincoln was too lenient on the South, but he was much closer to Lincoln's idea of Reconstruction than Andrew Johnson, a self-described racist. Johnson's leniency toward the South led directly to the Jim Crow era, and those are wounds that still haven't healed. But the most damning evidence against the escape theory isn't what's missing, it's what's there: the detailed, day-by-day record of Booth's movements

• 32:20AJ Gentile?

  during his 12 days as a fugitive. There were multiple witnesses at every stop: Confederate sympathizers who helped him, Union soldiers who pursued him. You can't fake that kind of evidence.

• 32:30Speaker 06

  Eh.

• 32:31AJ Gentile?

  You can't.

• 32:32Speaker 06

  If you can fake a moon landing, you can fake this.

• 32:35AJ Gentile?

  Now, I think John Wilkes Booth died on Garrett's farm, but many people, including some of Booth's alleged descendants, believe he got away.

• 32:45AJ Gentile?

  There's a reason stories like this capture our attention. They let us reimagine history. Everybody likes to play "what if." "What if John Wilkes Booth got away?" That's a fascinating and fun question. A more interesting question is, "What if Lincoln wasn't killed? What if he were able to serve out the almost four years left in his second term? What if Lincoln oversaw Reconstruction? What if Andrew Johnson, who owned slaves before the war, never became president? Would Lincoln have allowed the KKK to form in 1866? Probably not, but Johnson did. Johnson vetoed almost every civil rights bill that came across his desk. He has the dishonor of being the first president ever to be impeached. Oh, back when impeaching a president meant something. Yep. If Lincoln lived,

• 33:30AJ Gentile?

  I suspect we'd be living in a very different country, a better country, a more just and united country. And John Wilkes Booth took that from us, from all of us, black and white. 150 years later, his actions are still felt today. Now, I enjoyed this mystery, but I will not celebrate the man. Whether shot to death in a barn or mummified, humiliated, and turned into a sideshow exhibit, either is a fitting end for one of the most despicable villains in American history. There's only one thing I can tell you for sure about this story. If there's a hell, John Wilkes Booth is in it.

• 34:11Speaker 04

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• 34:41AJ Gentile?

  Thank you so much for hanging out today. I'm AJ, that's Hecklefish.

• 34:44Speaker 06

  Six Super Philly Concrete!

• 34:46AJ Gentile?

  This has been the Y-Files. If you had fun or learned anything, do us a favor. Like, subscribe, comment, share. I know I'm a broken record, but that stuff really helps, I think. And like most topics we cover on the channel, today's is recommended by you, by quite a few of you. And I'm glad you recommended this one. Um, as I'm recording this, I don't know how well this is gonna do. I'm hoping to be pleasantly surprised. If not, we'll go back to aliens. Anyway, if there's a story you'd like to see or learn more about, go to theyfiles.com/tips, email us, jump on Discord, send a chat, whatever you want to do. Remember, the Y-Files is also a podcast. You can take us on the road. And twice a week, I post deep dives into the stories we cover on the channel. I also post episodes that wouldn't be allowed on the channel, and those are labeled "unredacted."

• 35:30AJ Gentile?

  The podcast is called, wait for it, "The Y-Files: Operation Podcast", and it's available everywhere you get your podcasts. And if you are listening on an audio platform, do me a favor, hit the thumbs up, the follow, the subscribe, the all that stuff. That really does help us out. Now, if you need more Y-Files in your life, see a therapist. I'm kidding. Check out our Discord. Uh, I don't know if we're at 100,000 people on there yet, but we're coming close. So that means 24/7, there are people on there talking about the same weird stuff we talk about here on the show. It's a great community, it's really supportive, it's a lot of fun, and it's free to join. And speaking of 24/7, check out our 24/7 stream on the Y-Files Backstage. Link down below. Over there, we run episodes back-to-back with some surprise, fun content in between.

• 36:15AJ Gentile?

  And the live chat is more entertaining than the videos. If you want to know what's going on with the Y-Files at any given time, check out our production calendar. It's at theyfiles.com/cal. There we post our episode schedule, upcoming podcasts, live streams, all the stuff that's going on, we post it there. Special thanks to our patrons who made this channel possible. Every episode of The Wild Files is dedicated to our Patreon members. I couldn't do any of this without you. The channel means nothing without the support of our community. And if you'd like to support the channel, keep us going, and join this amazing community, become a member on Patreon. It's only three bucks a month. Get access to all kinds of perks like videos early with no commercials, exclusive merch only available to members, plus two private live streams every week just for you, and those are a lot of fun.

• 36:59AJ Gentile?

  So my webcam is on, but you get to meet the whole team. I'm gonna forget some people, but Gino's there, Victoria, Jen, AC was there this week, The Hybrid, Mary Jane, anyone else I forgot, those are our great mods. But you can put your cam on, jump up on stage, ask us a question, tell a joke, recommend a topic, maybe follow up on something that we covered here, whatever you want to talk about. I think it's the best perk there is. Another great way to support the channel is grab something from the Wild Files store.

• 37:27Speaker 06

  I grabbed a heck of a t-shirt. I wanted these festival coffee mods that you could stick your fist in and whatever you want to put in there. It's none of my concern. I grabbed a hoodie. Oh, stuck my face on it. I get one of these squeeze handle talking. Look how cute he is. One of these talking fish talk talk dolls.

• 37:42AJ Gentile?

  But if you're gonna buy merch, make sure you become a member on YouTube. YouTube members get 10% off everything in the Wild Files store. Get a new code every month. And it's only three bucks, so if you're gonna spend $40 on t-shirts, get the code and it pays for itself. And look, if you want to join, get the code and cancel, that's totally fine. The membership is not there to make me money, it's there to save you money. And besides, all that revenue goes to the team, not to me.

• 38:06Speaker 06

  Yeah, you wanna stop slapping your yap with that one?

• 38:09AJ Gentile?

  Those are the plugs and that's gonna do it. How long have I been talking for? Two hours? This has been, this has been a doozy of an episode. I hope you enjoyed watching it as much as I enjoyed researching it. Until next time, be safe, be kind, and know that you are appreciated.

• 38:43Speaker 05

  I played for Libya in Area 51. A secret code inside the Bible said I was. I love my UFOs and paranormal fun as well as music. Songs singing like I should. But then another piece of theory, see theory, becomes the truth, my friends. And it never ends, no it never ends.

• 39:21Speaker 05

  I fear the crackhead and got stuck inside mail's hole with MKUltra. I'm being only too aware. Did Stanley Kubrick fake the moon landing alone? On a film set, were the shadows before them? The Rockwell aliens just fought the smiling man, I'm told. And his name was Cold. And I can't believe I'm dancing with the fish. Have no fish on Thursday nights with AJ too. And whiff I'm on my feet all through the night.

• 40:02Speaker 05

  All I ever wanted was to just hear the truth. So whiff I'm on my feet all through the night.

• 40:27Speaker 05

  The Mothman sightings and the solar storms still come. To have got the secret city underground. Mysterious number stations, planet circle to Project Stargate. And what the dark watchers found.

• 40:46Speaker 05

  In a simulation, don't you worry though. The black nights had a light and told me so. I can't believe I'm dancing with a fish. Head to fish on Thursday nights with AJ2. And one more time for me all through the night.

• 41:08Speaker 05

  All I ever wanted was to just hear the truth. So one more time for me all through the night. Head to fish on Thursday nights with AJ2. And one more time for me all through the night. All I ever wanted was to just hear the truth. So one more time for me all through the night.

• 41:46Speaker 05

  Girlie loves to dance. Yeah, girlie love to dance on the dance floor. Because she is a camel. And camels love to dance when the feeling is right on wasting time. Girlie love to dance.

• 42:24Speaker 04

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• 42:51Speaker 07

  Shaq here. What's it like to buy a car from Carvana 100% online and get it delivered to your door? Let me tell you. Your car is here, Mr. Shaq. Thank you, Mr. Carvana guy. Can't wait to take it for a spin. Only the best for you, Mr. Shaq. Hey, have you always been so big, tall, and handsome? Not always. I was 6'10" once. Seven days to love it or return it, Mr. Shaq. Not that I would. You never do. No, I never do. So buy your car today on Carvana. Delivery fees may apply. See our seven-day return policy at carvana.com.

• 43:21Speaker 08

  From the studio that brought you WandaVision. I was an Avenger, but I'm not a hero anymore.

• 43:29Speaker 08

  The Vision returns for the final chapter of the groundbreaking trilogy.

• 43:33AJ Gentile?

  That family wasn't real. You sure about that? I had a father called Vision. How is this possible?

• 43:40Speaker 08

  Don't miss the two-episode premiere of Marvel Television's Vision Quest.

• 43:44Speaker 02

  Nothing bonds a family together quite like Mortal Jeopardy.

• 43:48Speaker 08

  Now streaming, only on Disney Plus.