Izola Martha Mills

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I would have to take this story with a pinch of salt even though I know for certain that John Booth (publically known as John Wilkes Booth) was not killed in Virginia. However Izola’s story is quite possible for the following reasons and circumstances: With the recent inauguration of a new United States president, I was reminded of some of the odd bits of presidential history. I found once such story in my sister-in-law's family tree. Martha Lizola Mills; her daughter, Ogarita Elizabeth Bellows; and her granddaughter, Izola Louis Hills, all believed Martha was the secret wife of John Wilkes Booth, the person many witnessed assassinated then president Abraham Lincolon. They also believed Booth escaped and lived several more years and that he fathered a son with Martha Lizola after Lincoln's assassination. Booth never planned to kill. Indeed it was a set up and a total illusion of the assassin jumping from the box. Lincoln was shot through the Spy-Hole according to James Gifford (theatre manager and designer) who said Fergueson the Restaurant owner could not have seen the flash of the pistol nor the assassin. This was stated by Fergueson himself in court and Gifford got 39 days in the Capitol Prison for saying it. There was no question that Rose and her sister, Asia, had differing personalities. Asia was extremely sociable while Rose was on the quiet side. In a letter Asia wrote to Jean in September of 1856, she stated, “The Talmud saith, ‘Allah sent ten measures of garrulity (talkativeness) to earth, and the women took nine.’ Rose thinks I got my share and hers too. For a fact, nature has cheated her tongue out of its right, and my brain of its wisdom.” At the Globe theatre with the Boston Comic Opera Company is an actress whose name and family connection impart a great degree of interest in the general public. Her maiden name was Rita Booth but she is now the wife of Mr. Henderson, the director of the company.

John [Wilkes Booth] had one daughter Ogretia and one son Alonso. Ogretia was beautyfull. Alonso was very much like the old Mr Richard Booth. Johns wife is still living. her name was Izalia. I do not know her maiden name. John told Roslie he would give her two oil wells, and he wished her to take care of those two children, which she did, although they were with there Mother. Rosie calls them her Children. John was not married to there Mother. after Johns Death Izalia she went with the Children A way to the Ilenoiise. they the Children are both married now. poor Children… None of the family takes any account of John Wilks’ Children but Roslie. she is very kind to them: does not visit them, but sends them money every spring and fall. calls them her Children.” What is so frustrating to me is that (, just like Rosalie,) only ONE image of Blanche De Bar Booth is available, at least to my knowledge, and I have NEVER been able to locate an image of Marion Booth at all. One would think that of all the different museums involving the Booth family that at least a few photos of these rather obscure women in the family should be some where and made available. Joe is of little use, poor Rose – of none at all… ’Tis for poor Rose I feel the most anxious – she has just sighed, barely loud enough for me to hear, “I wish I was gone to”; poor, poor soul! I must arrange something now for her.”In literature about the Lincoln assassination or the Booth family, Rosalie is mentioned very little, if at all. In the brief lines where Rosalie is discussed, she is often subjected to unsubstantiated claims of being mentally inept. Author Stanley Kimmel who wrote the book, The Mad Booths of Maryland, seems to be the source of these claims stating that Rosalie, “had little of Junius [Jr.]’s calm common sense, being inclined to a neurotic moodiness that kept her from enjoying the normal social pleasures of a young girl. Apparently she was never able to throw off this morose disposition, even as a grown woman, for we seldom hear of her participating actively in the lives of her brothers and sister…” While Rose (as she was called by her family) was not the outgoing girl that her younger sister Asia was, family letters demonstrate that she not only engaged in social pleasures as a young woman but also took an active interest in her siblings throughout their lives and even beyond. Below you will see an advertisement for the Floy Crowell troupe from April 5th 1892. Although Rita and her husband Al Henderson are not mentioned, they were among the 19 players in the production of revolving plays that promised, “NO DULL MOMENTS.”

After she married Abram, mother and I had a new name. Mother became Izola Mills, and I became Martha Lizola Mills. Mother was relieved and believed we were now respectable, but the church and my mother’s neighbors could not forgive her for giving birth to me. BoothieBarn biography of John Wilkes Booth's sister, Rosalie, contains information about Ogarita's mother's claims of Booth paternity. A city inspector named George A. Lincoln was assigned to oversee the exodus to Glenwood Cemetery. He kept a diary of the goings-on. His March 6th entry is peculiar: There is a marked silence of all the Booths in the years following John’s crime. Asia, in her grief and busy motherhood, wrote less often to Jean. She buried herself in work, writing a biography of her father in an attempt to reclaim the honor of her family name. Edwin retired briefly from the stage but returned with America’s unanimous support. He would never again act in Washington, D.C., however. During this period Mary Ann needed Rose more than ever. The mournful hours the two spent together are immeasurable. From 1865 onward, the references to Rose in family letters slowly change from the vibrant, young woman at the family farm to an increasingly isolated and sad individual. I have written a book about Izola. I know many people will disagree with some parts of the book, but everyone reading the book should come away with the feeling that Izola was a good person.This is the story of how Izola (mother of Ogarita) had received a letter (circa 1st June 1865)from John Booth, about 6 weeks after Abe’s assassination. He asked her to meet him in Central Park (NYC) and she did; and both then went to Montreal. They spent only two weeks together there, awaiting his mail to arrive. ‘During this time he executed a Power of Attorney which gave powers to proceed with litigation in regard to some oil property he owned in western Pennsylvania.’ After this they parted and she never saw him again. However this story gives me a clue that what you say about Kate Scott may have some substance to it. The reason I question it is because she was connected to Andrew Potter in sharing a will ( supposedly found in a certain Bear Cave in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia?), most of it to be inherited by Sarah. Potter was supposedly deligated by General Lew Wallace under President Grant to investigate other murders surrounding Lincoln’s death and to possibly trace Booth. It is true that John Wilkes Booth was not shot and killed in Garrett’s Barn in Caroline County, Virginia. The man killed in the barn was an unknown Confederate soldier, shot and killed by Sergeant Boston Corbett under direct instructions from the NDP under Colonel Baker and Officer Conger (later promoted to Lt. Colonel for delivering the soldier’s out of date diary (1864) to Baker in Washington).