Monday, January 28, 2008

John Wilkes Booth

Glen Rose, Texas


Weather: low 50 degrees, high 68 degrees, cloudy all day. Rain is in the forecast for tonight.

This morning we went to the library in Glen Rose to return some books and check out more. Both of us are avid readers, and the little library in Glen Rose is one of the best that we have used. They always seem to have books that we want to read. Before going to the library, we stopped at Burger King for a Croisanwich and tater tots. Tasty!! It doesn't take much to satisfy us.

Carolyn had her second session of physical therapy for the vertigo today. The physical therapist added a number of exercises for her to perform at the facility, and also more to perform at home. The next session will be this Thursday.

We are starting to get road fever, which can only be cured by taking a road trip. We may try to take a ride later on this week. I'm not sure where we will go, and probably won't decide until we are on the road.

Today, I'm going to tell everyone about another of the quirky stories that we heard about for Granbury. Everyone knows that John Wilkes Booth shot Abraham Lincoln in 1865. The official history of the following escape is that Booth fled from the scene of the shooting, and was cornered in a barn in Port Royal, Virginia 12 days later. During the ensuing shootout, he was wounded and died a short time later.

Now, the Granbury version of what happened: Booth changed his name to John St. Helen amd with the help of sympathizers, made his way to Granbury, where he tended bar in a local saloon. He is said to have confessed to the murder of Lincoln in the late 1870s. He is not buried here, because after his death, St. Helen was mummified and displayed in traveling shows until 1972, when the mummy vanished.

The building where Booth tended bar is still there on the courthouse square in Granbury, only now it is a bakery called The Nutshell. On its wall is a painted mural of Booth tending bar. Truth or fiction?

More to come. Be careful.

Today's Town - Granbury, Texas: Where Texas History Lives




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