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Suspect Lincoln

To Be or NOT to Be!

November 19, 2019

An eBay seller recently sold this “John Wilkes Booth” CDV for $127. It looked a lot like Booth, it was identified as Booth in pencil on the verso and he was holding a diminutive riding crop or swagger stick which was a oft-seen “prop” in Booth photos. In addition, the photographer was located in Titusville, Pennsylvania, site of the oil discovery in Pennsylvania. Booth traveled to Franklin, some 20 miles distant, and obtained a lease on some property where he drilled an oil well, doing business as the “Dramatic Oil Company”. It all makes sense, right? Unfortunately, it is not Booth, as evidenced by the shape of the ear which is noticeably different in the close-ups provided. There are some other subtle differences, but we need go no further. Maybe it was Booth’s stand-in? “To sleep, perhaps to dream!”