James William Boyd

G.W. Ervin.jpg It's been a while since I read the other version of this. I think there were in all 1,000 men on this raid and that Tupelo had a garrison of 14! The actual capture probably was the 15th, and I just remembered 14 (the number of men ). My ancestor joined at Saltillo on the 7th, so he'd only been with the partisans two weeks. He was lucky that exchanges were taking place, so he was only a POW for another two weeks. He went AWOL when Warren's men were sent to Vicksburg area as a part of the 10th Miss. Then he joined Moreland's Alabama Battn and ended the war in the 1oth Ala Cav. There's a story that he was captured by some guerrillas, which is what pro-Union partisans were known as in Northern Miss. They bound his wrists with leather strips and put him on a mule. It was getting dark and they were taking him into some woods to kill him. He broke the wristbands, and either had a boot gun or got one of theirs. Then he spurred the mule into a thicket and dared the three of them to come in and take him, but they just rode away rather than risk it. The word "guerrillas," accurately used, is what makes me think the story is true.
 
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This is from the American Civil War Research Database :

James W. Boyd

Residence Madison County TN;
Enlisted as a 1st Lieutenant (date unknown).
He was listed as:
* POW (date and place not stated)
Promotions:
* Capt
He also had service in:
"F" Co. TN 6th Infantry
Sources used by Historical Data Systems, Inc.:

- Index to Compiled Confederate Military Service Records
- Information provided by HDS subscribers
- Research by Christine Miller
(c) Historical Data Systems, Inc. @ www.civilwardata.com

NOTES:
The following was submitted by:
Dr. Chris Miller
Department Coordinator, Department of General Education
Davenport University
220 E. Kalamazoo St.
Lansing, MI 48933
517-367-8244

To amend your records, James W. Boyd of the 6th Tenn Infantry, Enlisted as Lt, promoted
to Capt.
He was part of company F (Madison County, Jackson Tenn) which ceased to exists and
was combined with other companies, including Company L which did not go to Shiloh but
Corinth. (letters of William Augustus Nobles,
http://www.geocities.com/sixth_tennessee/Nobles.html)
There, as part of Van Dorn's Army, he joined the Scouts, which upon passage of the
Partisan Ranger Act, in April '62 (see )
would take on increasing importance in the Mississippi theater. All cavalry scounts in
this theater would be partisans, irregulars, not regular cavalry. This made it difficult
for all generals to accept them, with the lessons of Missouri and Quantrill on their
mind. One General who did buy into the idea was a brigadeer in Van Dorn's army,
John B. Villepigue. Capt. James W. Boyd is next seen in charge of training scouts and
secret service while attached to Villepigue's Brigade, from the time Van Dorn enters
Mississippi until he is replaced by Pemberton (see a handwritten letter from Boyd
to Secretary of War Stanton, when Boyd is a prisoner in Carroll prison, February 14, 1865.
Images and transcription of original in Turner-Baker Papers microfilm set. Roll 135,
Frame Numbers 411-413). Here he gives his credentials with this army quite clearly.
He is offering his services to Stanton, in exchange for getting out of prison, as he
has a large family that needs him, and like many Tennesseans, he was essentially a
Union man anyway.

He does not, however, tell what he does next. This information he retains as a man of
honor and so do others that possess it, until all who can be harmed by it have passed on.
Shortly after the death of General Lunsford Lomax, John Singleton Mosby gives an
interview to Carolyn Harper Long in which he states:
General Lomax was with McCulloch in West Tennessee and after McCulloch was killed he
was with Van Dorn. In the Fall of 1862 he was ordered to Richmond on a special mission.
He was then detailed back to Van Dorn just before Christmas. He was a Lt. Colonel and
placed in command of the 11th Virginia Cavalry. When Lomax was in Richmond he learned
of his future transfer to Virginia. He had a scout sent up from Tennessee to assess
the military information situation and to set up partisan scouts in the valley. Up to
that time everything in this area had been disorganized and difussed [sic] and
relatively ineffective. Lomax wanted a scouting system identical with the very excellent
system which existed in West Tennessee. He picked his men from amongst the scouts in
West Tennessee and selected a man by the name of Boyd. He had been a railroad detective
and he was among the best they had. He arrived in Richmond several days before Lomax
left and Boyd proceeded on to Staunton where he was met by one of Winder's detectives
by the name of Turner. Boyd recruited and trained some 35 to 40 men in Rockingham,
Shenandoah and Augusta counties and formed them into the Linville Partisan Rangers.
He taught them the fine points of scouting, telegraph line tapping, use of blasting
powder, and all the other things a good scout needs to know. Boyd was one of Van Dorn's
best scouts and did a fine job of setting up the partisans in the Valley.

Lomax had also arranged for me to begin independent operations in Loudon County to the
North. I got started about the first of the year. At that time I only had a few men,
less than a dozen but we soon expanded and trained the men we had. We never were a
large group nor were we designed to be a large fighting force. We had to form up and
dissolve into the countryside in a few minutes. Secrecy was our greatest ally. We didn't
drill like regulars and we had no permanent camps to provide that camp drudgery so
disliked by regulars. We used dinner bells and whistles to signal with and to cause
assembly. ...

In June of that year my outfit was designated the 43rd Battalion Partisan Rangers.
But on his way back to Tennessee Boyd was captured and in fact did not get back to
Tennessee before Lomax was transferred to Virginia. In February, after the capture of
Boyd became known, the Linville Rangers were put under the command of Jake Cook but
they were never officially recognized by the Confederate government and they were never
paid. But they were active throughout the valley and they provided good information to
Lomax. (This article was copyright by Beth Rhoades in the Baltimore Sun in 1920.
Mosby had asked Caroline not to publish it until after his death, which she thought
a little unfair, since they were about the same age. Beth Rhoades was her executor.)

The story of Boyd's capture appears in the records of Lafayette Baker's National
Detective Police in October 1863. He was captured in his home. It is stated that he
agreed to go to Johnson Island to inform on the activities there in exchange for his
life. As his wife was suffering from chronic bronchitis, it was clear to him that his
family needed him alive, so he agreed to the bargain. The obituary of Caroline Boyd
in December 1864 or Jan. 1865 in the West Tennessee Whig states that her husband,
Captain James W. Boyd, of the 6th Tennessee Infantry, CSA, was "now a prisoner of war."

Boyd was released from prison, only to become a prisoner of fate. Mosby's statement
continues:


Between the first of October of 1864 and the end of March of 1865 there had developed
no less than five serious plots to get rid of Lincoln in one way or another. Before
long the plotters began to interfer with each other and it was suspected that before
long government detectives would make wholesale arrests. Instead it seems as if most
of the detectives were waiting to see who would come out on top so that they could
line up with the winners. During that winter of 1864-65 the capture plan kept being
delayed by one thing after the other ...Men who were sent to Booth from my command were
told that he could not move yet for one reason or another and so on and on it went.
I was by this time convinced that the man was not up to the job. He had brought people
into the plan who were totally unreliable and it was clear that he had a poor head for
organization of such an undertaking. Also, by this time events had moved along to the
point where inaction would mean lost opportunities and with these lost opportunities,
the loss of Richmond and the war. Booth was prepared by a man of proven abilities,
Captain James W. Boyd, the Tennessean....Then John Wilkes Booth shot Abraham Lincoln."

Compounding Boyd's difficulties was now he was working for both sides, with the same
loyalty and commitment he gave to every task. He was picked up by the rescue party,
along with Davey Herold, a known Booth associate--so says the testimony of a detective
from Baker's organization, who was trailing the real Booth when the order reached him
to return to Washington as Booth was dead. While this evidence cannot be corroborated--
in fact, contemporary historians (see Steers and Kauffman) have gone to great lengths
to prove both that the detective never existed and he is wrong, testimony given at the
trial indicates that there actually were two sets of fugitives, Booth and Hynson and
Boyd and Herold. How do we know? 1) the men who stopped at Mudd's were Booth and Hynson.
Hynson gave his own name because he knew Mudd knew him. Not knowing whether Mudd knew
Booth, he gave a false name for Booth. Neither Mudd nor anyone on his property, from
among servants or guests, identified under oath, the other person as Davey Herold.
Herold was tall, lankey, with a heavy growth. Hynson was short, clean shaven, not even
peach fuzz. At this time Booth shaves, according to testimony. 2) When the pair arrives
at Garrett's farm, Boyd gives his name as Boyd. He has a mustache, and in fact, the
mustache on the corpse is identified as curling around his mouth. 3) The lieutenant
who receives Herold as he runs from the barn hears him cry: "Who is that man you shot
in the barn?" The officer replies: "You know very well who it is. It is Booth." "That
is not Booth. He said his name was Boyd." Now, this is not a time when someone would be
predisposed to lie. He recanted later, but who wouldn't say whatever the interviewers
wanted you to say, if you thought you were going to walk away at the end? And everyone
who knew him said Herold was impressionable. He may have even been convinced by that
time it was Booth. Maybe. 4) In his diary Booth refers to his companion as praying
for him day and night. In the first released version of the diary, someone has put
in the bracketed name of [Davey Herold] though this does not appear in the diary itself.
No one had ever, in fact, heard Davey Herold utter a prayer or pious word. Ed Hynson,
however, was noted for his piety, a product of a catholic education and fervent in
religious practice. 5) Hynson's mother was the sister of the doctor who identified
Booth's body. He confessed he was reluctant to do so. The scar on the back of the neck
was the only identifying characteristic, and in a time of war, how many men could be
found with similar markers.

The last section requires proof that does not exist. Historical truth in assassination
history takes the back seat to official stories. If political forces would move in the
direction of exhuming the remains of the alleged Booth, it would be easy enough to find
the descendants of James W. Boyd, to prove conclusive he was the man in the barn. Till
then, the first part of the story, through Mosby's statement, is verified in print.
The rest is conjecture but in many cases conjecture is all we have and is not a
victim of such rapid opposition.
 
This may be the final answer to the mystery of the "man-in-the-barn", at Garrett's Farm, in the search for John Wilkes Booth. "If that man was not John Wilkes Booth then it was as Davey Harold claimed, James Boyd." The controversy has lasted for 150 years!

Sent to the Texas State Archives:

Subject: Identity of possible 1870's Frontier Battalions and McNelly's Company, and/or Missouri-Pacific RR Ranger James William Boyd/James Boyd/Jim Boyd

On October 25 of this year, my wife and I stopped at the State Archives during the last few minutes of the day. I made a short demonstration of one of our two photos of my great grandfather, James William Boyd, and a similarity overlay of the his image with that of the Civil War captain of the same name.

Attached to a follow up email request for assistance letter I included 2 photos for comparison to any era photographs of known Rangers:

From family collection are scans of two original prints (no negatives were kept in the collection)
Mid-1910's photo of my Great Uncle, James Wesley Boyd ( born in 1907) and his father, James Wm. Boyd. I Note the detail of the exposed left shoe lacing.
  • Early 1920's photo of James Wm. Boyd as a resident of an "old age home". The date is based on my grandmother's typical possession inscription on the back of the photo. Her usual "Blanche Boyd" had changed to "Mrs. J. B. Hagan"; she was married in 1921. By her account, James Wm. Boyd died in 1924.

What I know: Among other details of Captain Boyd's activities during the Civil War and his operation as a Captain of Scouts under General Earl Van Dorn's (Texan) command:
  • An older family member told us that my Great Grandfather, James Wm. Boyd, had been a Texas Ranger.
  • My Grandmother explained the two photos of her father and about the way he lived his retirement years. "He was always very old". She said that he described himself as being an "orphan".
  • My Grandmother's photos include her ownership notes the back side. One shows their address in the early 1900's. This may indicate his location during or after Ranger service. It is also close to the Missouri-Pacific rail route. Another of her photos implies a specific interest in the Missouri-Pacific RR.
  • A photo of Boyd appeared on "Wikipedia". I used that photo to compare the image to the photos of my Great Grandfather. At first, I assumed that he was the eldest son of the Civil War captain. CivilWarTalk's site provided a full sized photo of Captain Boyd's photo taken with mixed uniform apparel- obviously, his re-allegiance just sworn- in Dec. 1864. Comparing the better resolution likeness of the younger Captain to the photos belonging of my Grandmother's father proved too similar to be the Captain's junior. This would have been his second family.
  • I, now would like to fill in the blank of any activity as a Texas Ranger. I know that Boyd had a reason to believe that the federal government would continue to consider extreme measures if he were captured. Stanton had been told by Boyd that he could do good work in the Tennessee and Mississippi area. Stanton thought that he had a valuable agent.
  • On the day that I visited the State Archives, I had purchased a copy of Frederick Wilkins' The Law Comes to Texas, the Texas Rangers 1870- 1900. References are given by William Callicott about the "older man was Jim Boyd". That indicates his being, already, in McNelly's "Special Company" (Pg 86). [ Captain Jas. Wm. Boyd was born in 1822; in 1865 he would have been in his mid-40's, in 1875- mid-50's.] Another person who joined the unit was known as Parrott; he had photographic equipment.
  • According to the Wilkins description of the requirements for the formation of the organizations to replace the "Frontier Companies", the selected company officers were to hire privates who were young and properly equipped. McNelly's "Special Company" included the "older man". What was his status?
  • James Wm. Boyd, of the Civil War, was a Captain of scouts, a specialist in stealth observation and concealed travel. He, also, was able to tap and read telegraphy. Col. John Mosby said that Boyd, an ex-railroad detective, was the best scout there was- he was selected to train elements of the northern Virginia cavalry.
  • The day after consulting the Archives, I was looking at a friend's copy of Chuck Parsons' Images of America The Texas Rangers. At page 49 is a photo of "likely William Scott Cooley". Two other individuals are noted as "unknown"; one is older (mid-fifties possibly), standing behind the two seated- one being "Cooley". I noted that the other seated man was in his mid twenties, approximately the age of J. Wm. Boyd's first born son by Caroline (Malone), from Jackson, Tenn. I purchased a copy. The buttons of their vests and suit coats are all reversed from the normal; the photo appears to be printed in the reverse.
What I strongly suspect after over a year of historical research of a man who was considered a spy (nothing seems to be available in the genealogy world):
  • Colonel John Mosby had held back a portion of his memoirs. He left additional details to be published in the Baltimore Sun to one of its reporters, according to Dr. Christine Miller (I can answer her question about "1903"). His information was too glowing for a "trainer" and he went on to describe Boyd's activity as a "double agent". The "full sized photo" is that taken at the time of his swearing re-allegiance to the U.S. Mosby and Boyd understood each other; men who take risk for the mission.
  • Boyd's letter to Sec. of War Stanton, requesting an early release from prison, describes himself as being part of the scouting work in western Tennessee and northern Mississippi and that he could continue as an employee of the Union as long as he maintained complete anonymity. The records of the National Detective Police do not include James Wm. Boyd in the extensive listing of Confederate spies; Stanton must have granted the request for an anonymous departure.
  • A commonly accepted historical note says that J. Wm. Boyd sent his oldest son a note to meet him in Brownsville, for a trip into Mexico but that he did not show.
  • He may have returned to his pre-War occupation as a railway detective, possibly for the Missouri-Pacific RR.
  • He may have taken any form of employment that fit his abilities and still remain outside the scrutiny of the federal government.
What I have corroborated from several sources is that Col. Mosby knew a lot more about Captain Boyd than he dared say. When I put the rest of an outline together, I will provide it on this site. Spies are difficult to trace but they do make waves. The "limping man" traveling in the search for Booth, accompanied by young Hinson/Henson/Hynson, was part of a Civil War "special ops" group as described in Prentiss Ingraham's and mentioned in Judge Bingham's summation of the Lincoln Conspiracy Trial.

The result of further investigation will enhance the history of the Texas Rangers' early period or RR service and serve the refinement of the Civil War history.

Attached to my request were MS Word files of the two scanned Boyd family photos, front and back, to assure proportionality. I have used those photos with Photoshop variations of opacity to overlay the comparison subjects.

The Captain's darker hair works well with the image of my Great Grandfather in the setting of his old age home; the photo has greater detail exhibiting the matching dark streaks of his eye brows; it proves to be a ghostly image of exactly the same person. His ears had elongated with age.

The "unknown" older person in the photo of Ranger Cooley, standing behind the two seated, is a little more difficult to align and proportion because of its lesser resolution. I can't provide a copy for the current publication on this site due to copyrights noted. During my trial alignments, fine features become obscured; the heads are turned slightly in opposite directions. The "older man" has more of a scowl that pulls the features of his brows down to ridge. But, I suddenly realized that even though the hair was growing thin on top, the outline of his hair on the sides of his head were absolutely "shadowed". How else could you catch a spy who has avoided the detection of the Union Army? I'm sure that John Wilkes Booth died in possession of his own diary; logical, isn't it?

Oh, the result of the Texas State Archives' search revealed that, fitting this profile, there were two enlistments of a J Boyd. One enlistment of an eighteen year old on October 13, 1865 followed by another enlistment on October 14, 1865 into John Teague's Minutemen in Wise County, Texas. Another of their sources quoted in their search reveals J. "Boyd (Maj.)" and "Boyd (Master)"; I can only guess what that means. (Engineer not Historian or Writer)
 
There's a lot of other evidence also though John Wilkes Booth had jet black hair in the body taken from the barn had reddish hair. John Wilkes booth didn't have freckles but the body taken i'm in the barn did in fact. And there's claims that John Wilkes Booth was James Byron Wilkes. but there is more evidence that booth went by John St. Helens why can the Franklin County Courthouse There's actually a marriage license signed by JW Booth after this assassination of President Lincoln. And there was also a picture that Resembled booth given to Finis bates
 
James Wm Boyd 3Combo copy.jpg Have you read the account of the corralling of John Wilkes Booth by Prentiss Ingraham as suggested on this thread?

That is the most logical explanation of what happened. The identity of the three Confederates joining Booth on his crossing of the river into Virginia are very interesting, two being from Mosby's unit. The summary of the conspiracy trial judge, Bingham, corroborates the ranking of the three soldiers. R. E. Lee's surrender was destroyed, in essence, by Booth's action and those responsible for his training could not let him escape.

Explain how it was that the "limping man" exchanged traveling companions before arriving at Dr. Mudd's and the Booth autopsy showed only a roughly placed splint on his bone bruised left leg. The trial examination of witnesses did not identify Davy Harold as being the man accompanying the patient that Dr. Mudd treated. The patient seen by Mudd lost his entire boot when his ankle required a reset and cast. The boot, in its entirety, was the evidence that sent Mudd to prison. No witness said that Booth was running through the wilderness area, shoeless.

General Lomax was a Col. at the time that he selected Boyd to travel from Van Dorn's division in N. Mississippi/Tennessee to Virginia to train his people in scouting techniques in the late fall/winter of 1862. Boyd was not with Van Dorn for the raid on Holly Springs.

Mosby, Boyd, and others trained by Boyd (according to the accounts of Mosby) were the "Special Ops" people of that war.

I've only begun to post what I know. The photos that I sent to Texas do not show freckles and the darkness of the hair does not show a color base. The Captain's photo from Old Capitol Prison is all that I had to work with since my family photos only had a name, being that of my mother's-mother's father, James William Boyd.

But, then again, if I can identify an unknown Texas from comparison of the Captain's photo and that of my Great-grandfather's photo, we probably have first hand proof that Boyd lived and Booth died with his boots on. Copy sent to Texas-
 
I'm going to have to read all this again. I'd forgotten about this thread.
I posted the photo to explain the survival of Captain Boyd. If Boyd survived, only Booth could have been in the barn. I have sent copies of our two photo files to the Jackson library, Tn. Room, inviting anyone to check by overlay or by facial recognition. There must be a reason that everything else seems to fit logical conclusions.
 
I have a photo in my possession, taken ca 1865, of Mr. J.W. Gates, also a member of Henderson's Scouts. Gates was a newspaper man from Jackson when he enlisted. His official unit designation was the 6th Tenn Cav, CSA. He was captured in Marshall County, Miss. in 1864, near Byhalia, a small town near Holly Springs. Gates was confined in the Memphis jail, then sent to Alton, Ill., and ultimately to Fort Delaware. After the war he resumed his newspaper work in Jackson, Tenn. His photo was in an old family album, and I can only guess that he might have been a gentleman caller on the young girl, a direct ancestor of mine, who owned the album. It was given to her at Christmas 1865.
 
I posted the photo to explain the survival of Captain Boyd. If Boyd survived, only Booth could have been in the barn. I have sent copies of our two photo files to the Jackson library, Tn. Room, inviting anyone to check by overlay or by facial recognition. There must be a reason that everything else seems to fit logical conclusions.
Wasn't an autopsy done on Booth's exhumed body in the 20th century? It seemed like the skeleton had a broken leg, thus they determined it really was Booth.
 
Wasn't an autopsy done on Booth's exhumed body in the 20th century? It seemed like the skeleton had a broken leg, thus they determined it really was Booth.

You are exactly right; the autopsy was allowed and the proponents of "Booth escaped" demanded a DNA sample be taken. The judge denied DNA testing and left the autopsy open to criticism. Booth had a bone bruise on the lower left leg as recorded by the military examination in 1865. Boyd's left ankle was damaged during his arrest and was reset and cast. His entire boot was removed by the doctor. Dr. Mudd was convicted because he had an entire boot in his house that was marked with JWB.

My posting from Monday was meant to say that Boyd was not in Garrett's barn and that I have photographic evidence that can be considered. The posting at 12:33 was in response to Kara. and demonstrates the merge of two photos.

Ray Neff proposed that Captain Boyd was the man shot in Jackson, Tn. on New Years day 1866. The Tx Rangers connection also would refute that idea. There was more reason for James Waters Boyd to have been that victim; he had enemies in western Tenn. His reputation as sheriff in McNair county and for the way he disposed of prisoners that were supposed to be transported to POW custody made him a target for reprisal.

That's a great find on Gates; the Union Army also attributed Boyd to the 6th Tn. on his capture document. When was Gates muster date?

But, I will have more on Boyd.
 
You are exactly right; the autopsy was allowed and the proponents of "Booth escaped" demanded a DNA sample be taken. The judge denied DNA testing and left the autopsy open to criticism. Booth had a bone bruise on the lower left leg as recorded by the military examination in 1865. Boyd's left ankle was damaged during his arrest and was reset and cast. His entire boot was removed by the doctor. Dr. Mudd was convicted because he had an entire boot in his house that was marked with JWB.

My posting from Monday was meant to say that Boyd was not in Garrett's barn and that I have photographic evidence that can be considered. The posting at 12:33 was in response to Kara. and demonstrates the merge of two photos.

Ray Neff proposed that Captain Boyd was the man shot in Jackson, Tn. on New Years day 1866. The Tx Rangers connection also would refute that idea. There was more reason for James Waters Boyd to have been that victim; he had enemies in western Tenn. His reputation as sheriff in McNair county and for the way he disposed of prisoners that were supposed to be transported to POW custody made him a target for reprisal.

That's a great find on Gates; the Union Army also attributed Boyd to the 6th Tn. on his capture document. When was Gates muster date?

But, I will have more on Boyd.
----------------------
Wasn't it the Booth family that put a halt to any talk of digging up the body buried in Booths grave?
 
You are exactly right; the autopsy was allowed and the proponents of "Booth escaped" demanded a DNA sample be taken. The judge denied DNA testing and left the autopsy open to criticism. Booth had a bone bruise on the lower left leg as recorded by the military examination in 1865. Boyd's left ankle was damaged during his arrest and was reset and cast. His entire boot was removed by the doctor. Dr. Mudd was convicted because he had an entire boot in his house that was marked with JWB.

My posting from Monday was meant to say that Boyd was not in Garrett's barn and that I have photographic evidence that can be considered. The posting at 12:33 was in response to Kara. and demonstrates the merge of two photos.

Ray Neff proposed that Captain Boyd was the man shot in Jackson, Tn. on New Years day 1866. The Tx Rangers connection also would refute that idea. There was more reason for James Waters Boyd to have been that victim; he had enemies in western Tenn. His reputation as sheriff in McNair county and for the way he disposed of prisoners that were supposed to be transported to POW custody made him a target for reprisal.

That's a great find on Gates; the Union Army also attributed Boyd to the 6th Tn. on his capture document. When was Gates muster date?

But, I will have more on Boyd.
Gates joined in 1861 but was discharged from Kentucky for disability. I think Boyd was listed in the 6th Tenn Inf, but that might be an error. 6th Cav makes more sense. Gates may have been exchanged, but I can't prove it. He's on a roster for the end of the war as being an unattached member of one of Forrest's units--forget which. I think he re-entered the service to do clerical work ca 1862-63, but his records offer no clues. His bio says he was a member of Henderson's Scouts and gives some details of his capture and prison experiences.
 
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View attachment 117181 Have you read the account of the corralling of John Wilkes Booth by Prentiss Ingraham as suggested on this thread?

That is the most logical explanation of what happened. The identity of the three Confederates joining Booth on his crossing of the river into Virginia are very interesting, two being from Mosby's unit. The summary of the conspiracy trial judge, Bingham, corroborates the ranking of the three soldiers. R. E. Lee's surrender was destroyed, in essence, by Booth's action and those responsible for his training could not let him escape.

Explain how it was that the "limping man" exchanged traveling companions before arriving at Dr. Mudd's and the Booth autopsy showed only a roughly placed splint on his bone bruised left leg. The trial examination of witnesses did not identify Davy Harold as being the man accompanying the patient that Dr. Mudd treated. The patient seen by Mudd lost his entire boot when his ankle required a reset and cast. The boot, in its entirety, was the evidence that sent Mudd to prison. No witness said that Booth was running through the wilderness area, shoeless.

General Lomax was a Col. at the time that he selected Boyd to travel from Van Dorn's division in N. Mississippi/Tennessee to Virginia to train his people in scouting techniques in the late fall/winter of 1862. Boyd was not with Van Dorn for the raid on Holly Springs.

Mosby, Boyd, and others trained by Boyd (according to the accounts of Mosby) were the "Special Ops" people of that war.

I've only begun to post what I know. The photos that I sent to Texas do not show freckles and the darkness of the hair does not show a color base. The Captain's photo from Old Capitol Prison is all that I had to work with since my family photos only had a name, being that of my mother's-mother's father, James William Boyd.

But, then again, if I can identify an unknown Texas from comparison of the Captain's photo and that of my Great-grandfather's photo, we probably have first hand proof that Boyd lived and Booth died with his boots on. Copy sent to Texas-
I only just now enlarged this photo. Kept going right past it looking for it. Wow!
 
You are exactly right; the autopsy was allowed and the proponents of "Booth escaped" demanded a DNA sample be taken. The judge denied DNA testing and left the autopsy open to criticism. Booth had a bone bruise on the lower left leg as recorded by the military examination in 1865. Boyd's left ankle was damaged during his arrest and was reset and cast. His entire boot was removed by the doctor. Dr. Mudd was convicted because he had an entire boot in his house that was marked with JWB.

I am confused here. I am unaware of any exhumation or autopsy of Booth since his reburial in Philadelphia in 1869. The medical museum that holds the bones preserved from his spine during the official autopsy denied a DNA test due to the damage that taking a sample would inflict. Would you clarify this for us please? Surely you are not insinuating an ongoing Gov't conspiracy?

So, how does the National Museum of Health and Medicine fit in? The Silver Spring, Md., museum holds three of Booth's cervical vertebrae, which were kept by the U.S. Army after an autopsy. Given advancements in technology, DNA from the bones of Booth's thespian brother, Edwin, could be compared with DNA from the museum's bones to end the controversy. And a direct descendent has agreed to the exhumation of Edwin Booth, who was buried in Boston.

However, earlier this year, the U.S. Army Medical Command, which is in charge of the museum, denied the request, since a proposed DNA test would require using less than 0.4 grams of the bones. In a letter to Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), who helped submit the request, the museum said “the need to preserve these bones for future generations compels us to decline the destructive test.”
http://www.modernhealthcare.com/article/20130817/MAGAZINE/308179967
On exhumation:


Controversy over who is buried in Booth’s grave dates back to 1903 when a man named David E. George committed suicide in Enid, Oklahoma. Before he died, George claimed that he was John Wilkes Booth and that someone else had been killed at Garrett’s farm and buried in his place. George’s claims were “confirmed” by Finis L. Bates, a lawyer who said that George confessed the same to him several years earlier. Bates wrote a book entitled The Escape and Suicide of John Wilkes Booth and exhibited George’s mummified remains at carnival sideshows for years, thus keeping the rumor going.

Green Mount Cemetery opposed Booth’s relatives’ request for exhumation. Surratt Society members Steven G. Miller of Chicago, Dr. William Hanchett of San Diego, Michael Kauffman of Maryland, and Dr. Terry Alford and James O. Hall, both of Virginia, presented the documented history of Booth’s capture and death. On May 26, Judge Kaplan ruled that the exhumation should not occur. He concluded that there was no compelling reason for an exhumation. This decision was based on the facts that:
http://www.surrattmuseum.org/effort-to-exhume-booths-body
 
I am confused here. I am unaware of any exhumation or autopsy of Booth since his reburial in Philadelphia in 1869. The medical museum that holds the bones preserved from his spine during the official autopsy denied a DNA test due to the damage that taking a sample would inflict. Would you clarify this for us please? Surely you are not insinuating an ongoing Gov't conspiracy?

So, how does the National Museum of Health and Medicine fit in? The Silver Spring, Md., museum holds three of Booth's cervical vertebrae, which were kept by the U.S. Army after an autopsy. Given advancements in technology, DNA from the bones of Booth's thespian brother, Edwin, could be compared with DNA from the museum's bones to end the controversy. And a direct descendent has agreed to the exhumation of Edwin Booth, who was buried in Boston.

However, earlier this year, the U.S. Army Medical Command, which is in charge of the museum, denied the request, since a proposed DNA test would require using less than 0.4 grams of the bones. In a letter to Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), who helped submit the request, the museum said “the need to preserve these bones for future generations compels us to decline the destructive test.”
http://www.modernhealthcare.com/article/20130817/MAGAZINE/308179967
On exhumation:


Controversy over who is buried in Booth’s grave dates back to 1903 when a man named David E. George committed suicide in Enid, Oklahoma. Before he died, George claimed that he was John Wilkes Booth and that someone else had been killed at Garrett’s farm and buried in his place. George’s claims were “confirmed” by Finis L. Bates, a lawyer who said that George confessed the same to him several years earlier. Bates wrote a book entitled The Escape and Suicide of John Wilkes Booth and exhibited George’s mummified remains at carnival sideshows for years, thus keeping the rumor going.

Green Mount Cemetery opposed Booth’s relatives’ request for exhumation. Surratt Society members Steven G. Miller of Chicago, Dr. William Hanchett of San Diego, Michael Kauffman of Maryland, and Dr. Terry Alford and James O. Hall, both of Virginia, presented the documented history of Booth’s capture and death. On May 26, Judge Kaplan ruled that the exhumation should not occur. He concluded that there was no compelling reason for an exhumation. This decision was based on the facts that:
http://www.surrattmuseum.org/effort-to-exhume-booths-body
I read something about this years ago but don't remember the details. It may be that the leg bones were examined in that 1869 reburial. At any rate, no serious researchers believe that anyone other than Booth was killed in Garrett's barn.
 
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Wasn't it the Booth family that put a halt to any talk of digging up the body buried in Booths grave?
The Booth family may have been behind the Judges denial of DNA. The exhumed and examined remains were returned to the vault.
 
There's a lot of other evidence also though John Wilkes Booth had jet black hair in the body taken from the barn had reddish hair. John Wilkes booth didn't have freckles but the body taken i'm in the barn did in fact. And there's claims that John Wilkes Booth was James Byron Wilkes. but there is more evidence that booth went by John St. Helens why can the Franklin County Courthouse There's actually a marriage license signed by JW Booth after this assassination of President Lincoln. And there was also a picture that Resembled booth given to Finis bates
See the responses at #25 and #31 below.
 
I am confused here. I am unaware of any exhumation or autopsy of Booth since his reburial in Philadelphia in 1869. The medical museum that holds the bones preserved from his spine during the official autopsy denied a DNA test due to the damage that taking a sample would inflict. Would you clarify this for us please? Surely you are not insinuating an ongoing Gov't conspiracy?

So, how does the National Museum of Health and Medicine fit in? The Silver Spring, Md., museum holds three of Booth's cervical vertebrae, which were kept by the U.S. Army after an autopsy. Given advancements in technology, DNA from the bones of Booth's thespian brother, Edwin, could be compared with DNA from the museum's bones to end the controversy. And a direct descendent has agreed to the exhumation of Edwin Booth, who was buried in Boston.

However, earlier this year, the U.S. Army Medical Command, which is in charge of the museum, denied the request, since a proposed DNA test would require using less than 0.4 grams of the bones. In a letter to Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), who helped submit the request, the museum said “the need to preserve these bones for future generations compels us to decline the destructive test.”
http://www.modernhealthcare.com/article/20130817/MAGAZINE/308179967
On exhumation:


Controversy over who is buried in Booth’s grave dates back to 1903 when a man named David E. George committed suicide in Enid, Oklahoma. Before he died, George claimed that he was John Wilkes Booth and that someone else had been killed at Garrett’s farm and buried in his place. George’s claims were “confirmed” by Finis L. Bates, a lawyer who said that George confessed the same to him several years earlier. Bates wrote a book entitled The Escape and Suicide of John Wilkes Booth and exhibited George’s mummified remains at carnival sideshows for years, thus keeping the rumor going.

Green Mount Cemetery opposed Booth’s relatives’ request for exhumation. Surratt Society members Steven G. Miller of Chicago, Dr. William Hanchett of San Diego, Michael Kauffman of Maryland, and Dr. Terry Alford and James O. Hall, both of Virginia, presented the documented history of Booth’s capture and death. On May 26, Judge Kaplan ruled that the exhumation should not occur. He concluded that there was no compelling reason for an exhumation. This decision was based on the facts that:
http://www.surrattmuseum.org/effort-to-exhume-booths-body
I will admit to have been reading too many versions of accounts surrounding the "search for Booth".
I "believe" that the Booth family was in favor of an examination in 1995.
Some "believe" that the autopsy "bone bruise" was confirmed in reexamination.
I have read that the Judge hearing requests for DNA tests had denied that request.
Some believe that the controversy is over surrounding the dying body pulled from the Garrett barn not being Booth.
I believe that there is no logical explanation for the possibility that Boyd and Booth exchanged traveling companions.
I believe that Booth was carrying his own diary regardless of what Stanton may have done 18 pages.
I find the account of Booth being found by the cavalry is best explained by Prentiss Ingraham's 1890 four person testimony is the most logical.
Judging by the responses to recent comments, appreciated by the conversation on this thread, the controversy is not "over".

My purpose is to show that James William Boyd was not killed in Booth's stead. James Wm. Boyd was, more than likely, after Booth himself. Booth had violated the purpose of his mission and, in killing Lincoln, had magnified the level of retribution that would befall the Southern population. R. E. Lee had surrendered and now his honorable example had been soiled. Punishment was about to take its toll on Richmond. Sherman had already demonstrated the terms of the final solution; Richmond would have to burn to the ground.

Col. Mosby said that Boyd had trained Booth...and Booth shot Lincoln... Booth had surrounded himself with thugs, not special operations personnel. Lincoln as a hostage in Richmond "may have" held off the "punishment", a combination of fire and a repeat of the Dahlgren Raid.

If Boyd had been taken to Dr. Mudd to reset and cast his ankle, he would have made his way out of the area and Booth would have completed his escape to Virginia.

The photo that I previously posted is a composite of variable opacity versions my great grandfather, James Wm. Boyd, and the prison photo of the Captain of the same name. Only proportional resizing was involved in overlaying the two photos with some rotational adjustment. General features are very close but dark streaks of the eyebrows and moustache are too exact to be the features of his son. Now, I need a certified facial recognition analysis.

My maternal grandmother's father was "very old" at the time she was sixteen- I would say that he was about 100.
 
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