The Life, Crime, and Capture of John Wilkes BoothTownsend, George Alfred
History
The Life, Crime, and Capture of John Wilkes Booth
Townsend, George Alfred
Assassins -- United States -- Biography; Booth, John Wilkes, 1838-1865; Lincoln, Abraham, 1809-1865 -- Assassination
Guided by Officer Lloyd, the little band dashed on, arriving at
Bryantown on Tuesday. Here they arrested John Lloyd, of the hotel at
Surrattsville, of whom they had previously inquired for the murderers,
and he had said positively that he neither knew them nor had seen
anybody whatever on the night of the crime. He was returning in a wagon,
with his wife, whom he had ordered, the day before, to go on a visit to
Allen's Fresh, The Monday afterward he started to bring her back. This
woman, frightened at the arrest, acknowledged at once that in her
husband's conduct there was some inexplicable mystery. He was taciturn
and defiant as before, until confronted by some of his old Union
neighbors.
The few Unionists of Prince George's and Charles counties, long
persecuted and intimidated, now came forward and gave important
testimony.
Among these was one Roby, a very fat and very zealous old gentleman,
whose professions were as ample as his perspiration. He told the
officers of the secret meetings for conspiracy's, sake at Lloyd's Hotel,
and although a very John Gilpin on horseback, rode here and there to his
great loss of wind and repose, fastening fire-coals upon the guilty or
suspected.
Lloyd was turned over to Mr. Cottingham, who had established a jail at
Robytown; that night his house was searched, and Booth's carbine found
hidden in the wall. Three days afterward, Lloyd himself confessed--and
his neck is quite nervous at this writing.
This little party, under the untiring Lovett, examined all the
farm-houses below Washington resorting to many shrewd expedients, and
taking note of the great swamps to the east of Port Tobacco; they
reached Newport at last and fastened tacit guilt upon many residents.
Beyond Bryantown they overhauled the residence of Doctor Mudd and found
Booth's boot. This was before Lloyd confessed, and was the first
positive trace the officers had that they were really close upon the
assassins.
I do not recall anything more wild and startling than this vague and
dangerous exploration of a dimly known, hostile, and ignorant country.
To these few detectives we owe much of the subsequent successful
prosecution of the pursuit. They were the Hebrew spies.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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